[trollchu]

I haven't pad rolled HD540, but I did pad roll my Ovation 2 quite heavily and settled on Universe Suede perforated. Most any 100mm pad will fit them, except Beyer pads. For Beyer pads, the lip is too short to fit on either headphone's ring. To make it work, a mod would be needed.

 

[IgorUA]

I haven't pad rolled HD540, but I did pad roll my Ovation 2 quite heavily and settled on Universe Suede perforated. Most any 100mm pad will fit them, except Beyer pads. For Beyer pads, the lip is too short to fit on either headphone's ring. To make it work, a mod would be needed.

If it's not difficult for you, can share the link where I can buy these pads?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DT990-DT770-Ear-Pads-beyerdynamic-Black/dp/B09H7698DV/
I bought these and they fit perfectly on the plastic ring from the native pads. The quality is good, but I don't yet know how they affect the sound quality compared to others.

 

[trollchu]

It's a ZMF pad.
https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/products/zmf-universe-pads?variant=37219056222371

 

[sennsay]

Welcome me, I'm in the club. I bought the 600 Ohm version and I just can't believe that such sound quality still exists. The sound is so clear and so realistic! Before that, I had HD580s with a paper baffle, which sounded great, but they are far from the HD540s. And the stereo effect is much wider. I have already replaced the foam on the back and the tiny foam on the speaker magnets. I installed non-original pads from DT990. I listen to it with a tube amplifier.

Now I have a few questions for you.

If I already have the 600 ohm version, do I need the Gold ones? Do I need to upgrade my headphones according to the Golden? By installing such cotton rings, which are on the Golden ones.

Is there some proven way to kill the treble a bit without reducing the detail of the sound? In order not to additionally cover the speaker with something? Because the high frequencies here are magical, but they often can be unpleasant on some tracks. And how to increase the bass level a little?

For those who have experimented with different pads, can you recommend any good? Maybe even you can share the link?

Thank you all! These headphones are something new and unexpected for me. And happy holidays!

Hi IgorUA, you are indeed welcome to the wonderful world of the HD540 Ref headphones and those of us who are fans of this truly fine example of German art. I have two sets of 33 year old HD540 Refs and both of them are nigh on immaculate, my original 1989 pair having had huge usage as explained in my previous post and the headband and capsules show no signs of wear .... unlike all of my other cans, from Hifiman HE400S to Sony MDR-1R and the Denons, all of which have had headbands and pads fall apart within a couple of years.
The HD540 Refs are not as ultra-fine detailed as many new cans are, or anything like as bass heavy as some, but they have a beauty of tone and timbre unlike almost any other, an organic fluidity with the right amplifier that leaves many modern examples for dead. I, and others here, have had fabulous results with the headphone jack in older integrated amplifiers - a Sansui AU-2900 that I restored for someone comes to immediate mind, it was a fantastically musical combination and if I find another one on my travels I will snap it up. The HD540's don't mind at all the higher output impedance of 120+ ohms of some integrated amps, although the little Schiit Magni 3+ has virtually none and still sounds wonderful.
May you continue to enjoy your new cans, find some older amps too and play with them, either with LP or CD/DAP, they will tell you the quality of your source for good or bad, yet provide huge enjoyment (almost!) regardless. Cheers.

 

[sennsay]

It's a ZMF pad.
https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/products/zmf-universe-pads?variant=37219056222371

Interesting. I have tried a couple of the Dekoni pads and was horrified at the thick bass and dulled top end on both HD6xx and the HD540 Ref1s (after having both the HD6xx and the HD650 I will never buy those cans again, compared to the HD540 Ref .. blech! Despite a little more fine mid detail and focus with them, going back to the 540's was like coming home to music). The only pleather pads I've liked so far has been the wang_yifei, I'm now on the third set. My experience with anything that has memory foam has been so far unsuitable for my tastes and ears. The 'wangs' are a similar shape to the ZMF pads in the link, if not as thick. Thanks, I will add them to the (short) list of potentials.

 

[trollchu]

I have the wang_yifei velour pads. The Universe Suede perforated pads are angled with the ear opening oval shaped, as opposed to the round opening of Wang's pads. They also don't have a pleather underside to them inside the ear opening, much like on Hifiman's velour pads, the Wang pads do, and the two do sound quite different. At least with the Ovation 2, they do work quite well, I also think it benefits more from the perforations in the pads than it does with a sealed pad.

They're on the list for my Ref Gold, too, whenever I find some spare rings.

 

[sennsay]

I have the wang_yifei velour pads. The Universe Suede perforated pads are angled with the ear opening oval shaped, as opposed to the round opening of Wang's pads. They also don't have a pleather underside to them inside the ear opening, much like on Hifiman's velour pads, the Wang pads do, and the two do sound quite different. At least with the Ovation 2, they do work quite well, I also think it benefits more from the perforations in the pads than it does with a sealed pad.

They're on the list for my Ref Gold, too, whenever I find some spare rings.

One of the Dekoni pair that I tried on both HD6xx and HD540 were perforated and I was horrified at what happened to the tonal balance, I suspect maybe the density of the memory foam rather than the perforations necessarily. I have my old and only partly used Hifiman velour pads that came with the HE400S (I use the Focus A pads now), but they are somewhat larger than a perfect fit on the HD540s.

 

[trollchu]

I'm sure the foam is equally important to the sound. I was referring to this pad:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velour-earpads.html

HE400S has a velour unique to itself that I'm not as familiar with:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velpad-for-he400s.html

 

[sennsay]

I'm sure the foam is equally important to the sound. I was referring to this pad:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velour-earpads.html

HE400S has a velour unique to itself that I'm not as familiar with:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velpad-for-he400s.html

That first selection above actually looks rather good, if they're a tad smaller than the HE400S pads then they could be a good choice.

 

[sennsay]

I'm sure the foam is equally important to the sound. I was referring to this pad:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velour-earpads.html

HE400S has a velour unique to itself that I'm not as familiar with:

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/velpad-for-he400s.html

That first set of velour Hifiman pads are a perfect match in size, I'll see if I can get a set or two, they are actually 10mm less in width than the HE400S stock pads I have here, exactly the right size for the Senns.

 

[lantian]

Figure I'd share these replacements cloths, they are there to replace the foam discs Sennheiser are selling nowadays for the whole 540, 560 and 250 lines.
The ones they are selling now are not even comparable to the original foams they had in there, influence on sound is quite dramatic.
With these ones whole frequency spectrum is unaltered and comes through in it's whole glory, while hair and dust are kept out even better.
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s...0-525-535-545-565-580-650/1792523555-172-2002

Unfortunately only available from Germany.

 

[sennsay]

Figure I'd share these replacements cloths, they are there to replace the foam discs Sennheiser are selling nowadays for the whole 540, 560 and 250 lines.
The ones they are selling now are not even comparable to the original foams they had in there, influence on sound is quite dramatic.
With these ones whole frequency spectrum is unaltered and comes through in it's whole glory, while hair and dust are kept out even better.
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s...0-525-535-545-565-580-650/1792523555-172-2002

Unfortunately only available from Germany.

Oh that IS unfortunate, they look perfect! I could do with three sets of them to refurbish both pairs of HD540s and the HD430s. The quality of the originals is fantastic, mine only really starting to perish a bit around the edges after 34 years and I've used the heck out of them! They are on my noggin right now with the fabulous Andy Cowan's rocking' blues album, One Of These Days belting out some wicked rhythms.

 

[ArChaos]

Figure I'd share these replacements cloths, they are there to replace the foam discs Sennheiser are selling nowadays for the whole 540, 560 and 250 lines.
The ones they are selling now are not even comparable to the original foams they had in there, influence on sound is quite dramatic.
With these ones whole frequency spectrum is unaltered and comes through in it's whole glory, while hair and dust are kept out even better.
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s...0-525-535-545-565-580-650/1792523555-172-2002

Unfortunately only available from Germany.

@sennsay : "Oh that IS unfortunate, they look perfect! I could do with three sets of them to refurbish both pairs of HD540s and the HD430s. The quality of the originals is fantastic, mine only really starting to perish a bit around the edges after 34 years and I've used the heck out of them!...".

I remember them from a few years ago. It seems they're still on sale on eBay at this link (look exactly the same)...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354516569201?hash=item528ad58c71:g:uVwAAOSwRFVhmOKN&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4C1t+sCFysCsSTxSw6KWz89QuISuKc8Vfdoj2sJ+gVXrrxX8IbC0kndeZ0stN6fGlrjkBKbOQ5yEZDmJ8KRud2+QrZzfUbSPACmhiM4gFK65TWHLa6xNeECzPPyFw+IixODcd3Gav1cWGUCwrH87AEduWN08a9A0/T9+Gx21uXXMaXKc2RN52KtEjqLdpI604AD0goays+MoNzXfjVBNwsOM5x7idXNyWiPnMRQ6G3q+M5Ee5llPCFnyHWdvXBCx1WPHuMUghVG01K7y7V/shOilcEhg+s+/l3SEJoZK067P|tkp:Bk9SR-7p-KS5YQ

 

[lantian]

Thanks for sharing, seems to be same seller. Though seems weird that would sell one, he sold pairs on the smaller marketplace, says it should be a pair on eBay aswell.

 

[ArChaos]

Thanks for sharing, seems to be same seller. Though seems weird that would sell one, he sold pairs on the smaller marketplace, says it should be a pair on eBay aswell.

You are absolutely right-I confused him with another seller. Thanks for the correction! I edited my post accordingly.