ohhgourami's HE-6 info and mods

I got my vegan pads today. I received two white rings with each pad that I assume are the adhesive rings but do not look "double sided" adhesives to me. They certainly ain't black (as per the photos provided by @ohhgourami. Can someone please shed some light on this? Thanks

 

The adhesive rings are white on both sides, and once you get the white layers off it ends up being completely clear. I had a really hard time getting the white layers off, so maybe that's why it doesn't seem double sided?

 

Well, my rings are clear on one side and have a thin paper coating on the other side. I can peel the paper off with an exacto knife and get to the adhesive side but believe me the clear side is smooth but not sticky.

 

Please see pics of both sides....

 

Both sides look right to me but it's been about a year since I did this. I remember being baffled as well and then amazed that the side you pictured first also peeled off. Unfortunately that's about as much as I can recall, hopefully someone can provide more clear insight

 

Yeah there are two protective sides that need to come off. I got the easier paper side of first and adhered them to the pads and then used an exacto knife to take off the remaining layer. It wasn't easy but finally came off. Also, if you ever want to take the pads off make sure you touch the adhesive to a cotton shirt a couple of times to lessen the stickiness or they might tear the pads when you pull them off.

 

The glossy smooth side always comes off easiest while the papery side is very hard to take off. It helps to peel the glossy side first and stick to the surface. Use your finger nail to scrape outwards towards a corner to make it stick more firmly. Now try to peel from that corner and the paper will give before the adhesive.

I suggest cutting the rings into quarters to get the inner diameter of the adhesive as close to the inner diameter of the pads as possible. You get more contact with the headphone that way. Do pat the adhesive on a cotton shirt to remove a bit of stickiness, it's way too much when it's clean.

 

Jason thanks. I already ruined one of my Audez'e pads. Had to order another set. Do you think that the Brainwavz HM5 pleathers are a good alternative?

 

Haven't tried the HM5 pads. I know some guys on HF love them for the direct impact but I bet there's a huge drop in imaging.

 

I tried some other pads than the audeze vegans and I have come to find that the Audeze pads make the treble a bit too bright for me and the bass is not as warm. the pads do have the felt inside as per the mods on this thread. I think I need to get some ZMF Cowhides. The Alpha pads add warmth and help mitigate the issues I have with the sibilance but the soundstage closes in and something sounds off. As a matter of fact I probably won't ever put the vegans back on the HE-6 again and don't like the alphas either.

 

You found the vegan pads bright?? I find them too dark/murky for me.

 

Please let us know if you find a pad that darkens them relative to Vegan. I find vegan (with or without felt around the edge) darker than stock, but also wouldn't mind bringing it down a bit more as well. I have HM5 angled pleathers, will have to try those now that I think about it

Do ZMF cowhides typically have a darkening effect in general?

 

I need to qualify this because they are not being ideally amped but they are brighter than the alpha pads.

The ZMF cowhides do have a darker sound in general. but the imaging and soundstage should be better than on the alphas.

 

In my experience, the ZMF Cowhides on the T1 darkened them to near LCD-2 levels, but added bass nearly to Fostex TH-900 levels.

You'll definitely get much stronger bass levels with the cowhides. The Alpha sheepskin & ZMF cowhides have equal amount of darkening factor though.