Hey team, I got my new ZMF Ori perforated sheepskin pads and handmade rings (crescent moon shape) mounted on the Lawton TH-X00s, and it’s a huge step up. Even with the perf, it’s still actually more sub bass than stock (verified by E-40, Jay-Z, and Tupac — RIP). And I love the added space and instrument separation. Between the Ori pads, the Lawton cups, and the dampening, it’s a headphone that is both seriously fun and technical adept.
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Comparisons are to stock pads, tracks A/Bed (but not blind, obviously)
For what it’s worth, I have two TH-X00’s Purplehearts and M9xx DAC/amp combo.
I went through and bought Lawton’s mod, 3 different ZMF pads and attenuation rings.
It unfortunately wasn’t blind testing but it was pretty close A/B testing with the same songs that I’m familiar with.
Long story short, stock was best for me and I’d only consider changing it if you find it too uncomfortable or the sound isn’t to your tastes.
This went against my expectations, as a lot of anecdotal comments were about how it improved the sound.
Unfortunately I didn’t keep my detailed notes (this was about 2.5 years ago in a house I was staying at temporarily).
A couple of the pads just made the treble way too harsh, or made the entire sound hollow.
All the pads required attenuation rings (can’t remember why now)
The Lawton’s mod seemed to pull back the sub-bass / mid-bass a bit, so that you could appreciate the details a bit more. However, I feel that is when you lose what’s special about these headphones.
There’s just some artist’s songs, e.g. Russian Circles - Vorel, that I’ll only listen to on the PH’s because of how that sub-bass makes me feel. If that artist/song comes up with my Aeon Flow’s, I’ll just press skip.
I’ve got the Yaxi pads being delivered soon, mostly for comfort in summer, so once I get my second pair back, and I remove Lawton’s mod, I will do another side by side test.
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Out of the three I tried, Oval, Ori and Eikon, the EIkon Suede seemed the most comfortable and impacted the sound the least offensive.
Maybe the other materials could be a better result, but as my comment above, I preferred stock and found that comfy enough.
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