[Ishcabible]

Many thanks for a thought-provoking review. Your observation towards the end - that the process of grappling with the Yamaha presentation was actually a useful process - really struck a chord with me - I found it required unusually close consideration of my own expectations and preferences. Like you, it seems, I can't find much to like about the Yamaha - but I remain impressed by the apparent determination of Yamaha to try a different approach. And I believe I really can hear some of these idiosyncratic elements jostling in the mix - with dire results to my ear - but striking, nonetheless. As someone who doesn't generally care for planars, I feel the attempt to escape the usual signature is particularly interesting - even though the result is disappointing (to me at least).

This is exactly how I feel actually. The Elite, LCD5, Solitaire, D8000 Pro, and Susvara generally shared the same “soundstage dip” into upper midrange rise and elevated upper treble, just to varying degrees. While the YH5000SE doesn’t agree with my preferences, I do respect that they did something different. The Caldera is my flagship planar of choice currently because it doesn’t do the things I normally dislike about planars.

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=60535&snA=24140&tnum=1

 

[HiFiDJ]

https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=60535&snA=24140&tnum=1

I mentioned this earlier in the thread. Early units are affected while later units should have been fixed. If you're in the US you can send it to the Yamaha headquarters and they'll fix quickly, like how they did with mine.

 

[jrkong]

Yikes! My pair has it especially bad... It's happening on both sides but the right side is popping out enough so that you can see the gap in the gold part. It's loose but it's not a big problem.

 

[jrkong]

Actually, let me correct myself, this went from maybe this is a problem to this is definitely a problem...

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

Actually, let me correct myself, this went from maybe this is a problem to this is definitely a problem...

Send it to Yamaha for service.

 

[commtrd]

Wonder how the pads secure to the framework? Easily interchangeable, not glued-on pads?

 

[commtrd]

That's all very cool, but the pricing is outrageous. As much as I like Yamaha as a company, it's sad to see them following the stupid pricing trend.
Serious competition at that price, we'll see how it does ...

You guys need to remember why inflationary prices happen. Everything continually rises in price, including headphones, because the fiat currencies are continually being de-based. The more central banks create money out of thin air, the more purchasing power disappears. This is sadly a fact.

 

[SolarCetacean]

Wonder how the pads secure to the framework? Easily interchangeable, not glued-on pads?

They're mounted to the headphone with a twist-lock system. They're not glued on to the earcup like on an Audeze. I think @jrkong would know best about the earcup attachment system. I don't know if the earpad is glued onto the twist-lock mounting bracket, for example.

 

[commtrd]

The pads on my LCD-4z have fallen off again for the third time. This why I will not buy another headphone that uses glued-on pads. Too much money to spend and then be at risk of the headphone being un-useable due to something that should be properly engineered to start with, and double especially at these kind of prices LOL.

 

[jrkong]

They're mounted to the headphone with a twist-lock system. They're not glued on to the earcup like on an Audeze. I think @jrkong would know best about the earcup attachment system. I don't know if the earpad is glued onto the twist-lock mounting bracket, for example.

They're mounted to the headphone with a twist-lock system. They're not glued on to the earcup like on an Audeze. I think @jrkong would know best about the earcup attachment system. I don't know if the earpad is glued onto the twist-lock mounting bracket, for example.

They are indeed twist and lock. One of the hooks have a small notch inside it to help hold it in place. It corresponds to where the L and R indicators are on the earpad. My 3D printed ring doesn't have them just so I don't have to deal with the extra hassle and they stay in well enough.

The notches on the side are for the hinges so they don't get in the way of the twist.

 

[Ishcabible]

The rings remove if you’re inclined to pad roll, which I did try to no real success, but it is nice that there is the option.

With Audeze stuff, I’ve had good luck scraping off the flaked pleather and using super glue. While I don’t really like that I have to resort to this, I get why Audeze chooses to and they are pretty much the only planar that extends totally flat to sub bass on my head.

 

[commtrd]

Very interested in seeing some reviews on this new headphone. I never buy the very first of anything, to make sure the bugs have been worked out and plenty of research too.

Audeze pads are glued onto felt pieces which provide vents I guess similar to the ports that ZMF uses on most of their headphones. For some reason I don't get more than a few months out of my 4z before the pads are falling off again. It is a total pain. Happily I have discovered that my Meze Elites sound just as good as my 4z and have better staging too, plus way more comfortable to wear for hours on end every day which I do. So I just put the 4z away, may send off to get the pads stuck on again but I doubt any time soon, as I would like to some day get a Caldera from ZMF to try.

 

[jrkong]

The rings remove if you’re inclined to pad roll, which I did try to no real success, but it is nice that there is the option.

With Audeze stuff, I’ve had good luck scraping off the flaked pleather and using super glue. While I don’t really like that I have to resort to this, I get why Audeze chooses to and they are pretty much the only planar that extends totally flat to sub bass on my head.

It's doable with some nudging and shifting around. The stock pads and ring have a pretty tight fit. I had to get my original pads off so my little brother could reverse engineer the rings so we could 3D print them.

As for pad rolling once you have the ring only, Dekoni DT/AKG pads just slip over the ring. Brainwavz pads require a more destructive approach where you cut holes for the hooks to go through. You want pads that are 100mm/100mm and no bigger then 102mm/102mm. 103mm/103mm might work if you have a big enough lip on the pads.

 

[Ishcabible]

Oh whoops, I meant to no sonic success! It seems like to keep the unique midrange character you need a thin-ish pad. I had some mild success with a Fostex T50RP stock pad but I didn’t think it was any better than the Yamaha pads. The upper midrange dip remained with pad swapping so the main midrange trait that changed seemed to be the 1-2k rise, and messing with that too much made them sound even more cavernous to me.

For reference, I did measure the YH5k without pads for anyone else that wants to experiment!