This is the Ghost-Dracula-Mod, so titled because it makes the headphone sound transparent and seems to remove all reflections. It very dramatically improves overall sound quality, gives a very clear holographic soundstage, and makes the headphone very neutral and true to the components feeding it.
So to understand the ultimate problem of this headphone and perhaps all the others that use this pad, run your fingers over where the baffle holes are on the bottom and top. There's a nice space between the holes and the pads and your heads far away, cept for one thing. Press down on the pad with your hand to simulate how it looks during actual use, the pads eat up the space and, while not closing the vents off, do suffocate them.
My mod started as an attempt to improve on lorspeakers thing with the gauze on the side. I had trouble with it and figured cotton balls would be close enough and easier and I jammed two into each side. Enough that it wasn't touching the holes and held up the left side of each cup. I assumed what I was hearing was mildly improved soundstage from the angle but I didn't realize part of what was going on was i was lifting the pad further from the vent holes, I think this largely explains the sound difference in this mod. I started jamming cotton all over, I even did them in all 4 corners but I guess I didn't use enough. Here's what I've settled on:
1. You need the brainwavz pleather memory foam pads, I guess, maybe you don't, but I used those, so go to amazon they're like 20 bucks. Get some cotton, whatever kind. you're gonna rip it off and roll it up into a little, tightly compacted ball. Fortunately there's a sizing reference right on the headphones:
Should just barely fit in that circle, this one's a bit too big, so just rip a lil off and roll it up again until its right.
2. Place one in each corner of the headphone and one in the middle, squish em to the lining of the pad and make sure they're giving enough resistance that when you press down on the pad they hold the pad a good distance off holes.
3. Press your hand on the pad all over and poke over where cotton is. Now look straight down at it:
Do you see what's wrong? In the lower right there's a lil bit sticking out, that matters. The pad overhang starts where the hole ends, so any overflow is gonna effect the magical sound holes.
4. That's it.
Gonna just find stuff on youtube and say how it sounds, through fiio x3-II.
Very delicate liquidy chimes, sound real. Violin hits, sounds like a violin, that seems like a good thing. Guitar's sound even more murderous and menacing than usual, great contrast from the other instruments. The reproduction is as effortless as the perfomance (that's cliche writing but it's true!). Sounds just sorta erupt out in this, I'd say it imparts a liquid smooth character on everything while maintaining tonal accuracy and realism. In my experience it will just sort of impart the character of the amp. The brilliance of cymbals is something like I've never heard, I originally thought it was a coloration since I'm so used to them either sounding muted or excessive. The birdcall at like 5:30 actually sounds like a bird, must be a real good one or Jamie Muir is really good at birdcall.
Switching gears a bit I've always thought this album was really well recorded but it's always a little too much for my headphones to keep up, but not now. The atmosphere of the guitars is wonderful, the strumming is clearly defined all instruments can be focused on independently of one another and operate in 3d space. Impact, atmosphere and most impressively there is no harshness at all. The guitars are soft and atmospheric and don't sound in your face or aggressive, which I believe is the intention, tho again I think my player is imparting this facet to some degree, I'm sure other people will chime in with how their setup sounds.
So ya stick 12 cotton balls under the earpad of the headphone and the ancient m50 driver sounds amazing, weird.
