Hmm, Jerg "Fuzzor" (TM) has me inspired. Will scan the headphone driver to make a cutout pattern.

Quote from: AstralStorm on November 18, 2013, 09:17:42 PM

Cups? Where we're going, we don't need cups.
Seriously, just remove that bit of a plastic. It's completely optional and that even might do something to the sound.



I wonder if cotton can be used instead. I don't have correct kind of felt or foam.

If you have a Michael's or any other arts/crafts store near where you live, you could pick up some Creatology adhesive-backed felt/foam probably. I don't see how cotton can be used without blocking the open parts of the driver slits as well.

Unfortunately the two shops I know around here don't sell such foam. Silly Poland, even artist have it bad here. :potato:
I could find 2mm art adhesive rubber foam (not Creatology, Moosgummi), that might be it? Looks like fused smooth surface. Alternatively, adhesive 5mm acoustic foam (looks like typical acoustic open cell) and 1.6mm adhesive "mousepad" rubber foam (looks like closed cell or mostly closed cell).

About cotton, I thought about cotton pads, not straightforward unwoven cotton.
Those can be cut given a sharp enough knife, but is 3mm thickness too thick?

You guys have me interested!

You really should do the Jergpad mod first before doing any of these "secondary" mods, if you haven't already.

I can't imagine it would hurt the sound in any way. I'm currently running jergpad-ish modded alpha pads (I'll need to get a second pair for the Mad Dog now...). By that, I mean I cut open holes in the bottom of the pads, trimmed the pad "lip" so the fit more easily, did the adhesive mod, and have the back vents in place.

Yesterday, I also cut several slits on the outside of the pads and the "front" part that seals on your head. That was mostly inspired by the optional jergpad step where holes are cut on the outside of the pleather pad, though part of it was just to see what would happen. I am planning on finding a way to adhere a velour or other fabric overlay on the pads, but that will take some more thought than the official jergpads.

There are two main differences between the HFM pleather jergpads and the jergpad-ish alpha pads. The alpha pads sound much more open and less like a wall of sound next to each ear, and I've found myself instinctively reaching for my receiver to make sure I didn't accidentally have the speakers on. They also sound more laid-back, both in terms of bass and treble. I'm almost positive the treble hump around 8-10KHz is not as strong as with the HFM pleather jergpads, and it sounds a bit more natural to my ears

As for the bass response, I'm having a hard time identifying what's going on with it. The official jergpads give the sound noticeably more weight, heft, and rumble, granted the jergpads also bring a tasteful bass hump and extra HD to the table. I honestly don't remember what either of the stock pads sounded like on the HE-500 because neither of them really "worked" well for me (probably the same things jerg heard with stock pads and his reasoning behind the mods). The velour was good, I remember, but I also knew I was going to be cutting it up shortly for the jergpads.

The jergpad-ish alpha pads, on the other hand, remind me more of the HD598. They don't lack bass necessarily, but it's right at that point where it's hard for me to tell if the bass has enough presence and/or if it rolls off a bit. I do miss the official jergpads in that regard, but the additional comfort, more laid-back sound, and more open sound brought by the modded alpha pads keep me from switching back.

Those slits I added to the pads yesterday seem to have help fill in the treble dip somewhat. Without those, you could still hear a dip rather well in SineGen, and it sounded less defined than I remembered after making those slits. Could be wrong...wasn't optimal testing conditions like I had done the first time. I'm sure that dip also contributes to the more laid-back sound. The slits might have also help bring back a bit of bass presence, but I kept flip flopping on whether or not it changed much. So, realistically, probably didn't change much there.

Once I get a chance to make it out for errands, I'll probably pick up some adhesive felt and do these additional mods. My custom wood cups are currently being shipped from over seas.

Oh you have the HE6s, not the HE500s. My bad. Yeah no the earpad mod I composed is specific toward HE500 and fixing its unique issues (HE6 has a totally different profile and is probably incompatible).

The "Fuzzor" aka backwave diffusing felt mod should be ubiquitous for ANY headphone though, it makes sense if you think about what it does.

The felt definitely makes sense. Even removing and reapplying the little piece of stock felt had a noticeable change in the treble and midrange. Brought the midrange forward a bit.


Where did you buy your felt? It's going to be a lot harder to remove my pads than install that felt...