A very unscientific, subjective test on HD6XX pad swapping

hd6xx_pad-swap-test.md

HD6XX Pad Swap Test

Disclaimer

This test is utterly unscientific, unproven, and subjective. All of the stuff stated here are my own experiences that I jotted down when visiting my local audio shop, Stars Picker.

Test list

Constant

• HD6XX
• FiiO K9 (connected to phone, supplied by shop)

Variables

• Original pads (thin, right pad has a ripped part)
• Fusion pads (supplied by shop)
• Velvet pads (supplied by shop)
• Suede pads (supplied by shop)

Test songs

1. Tomoya Ohtani - Find Your Flame (feat. Kellin Quinn & Tyler Smyth), second chorus

General test for vocal, subvocal, and instrumental clarity

2. Bossfight - The Pit, first drop

Test for bass texture, bass punch, and EDM in general

3. Frankie Valli - Can't Take My Eyes Off You, first chorus

Test for upper mids - treble focused songs, along with individual instrument clarity i.e. trumpets and double bass

Method

Swap from original -> fusion -> original -> velvet -> original -> suede

Original

1. Clear definition of instrumentals and vocals
2. Bass punch is there, and each texture is clearly represented
3. Trumpets and double bass sound well-defined

Fusion

1. Sound in general sounds like there's a blanket on top of the headphones
2. The drop has little bass and punch
3. The vocals and instrumentals sound blanketed too

Velvet

1. Bass is slightly more emphasised than original
2. Bass texture is less emphasised than original, however bass punch is there
3. Double bass is slightly more prominent than trumpet

Suede

1. A bit more bassier than velvet, but not too apparent
2. The punchiest out of all, but also the bassiest
3. Trumpet sounds softer, and the prominence of double bass is the same as velvet

Ranking

1. Original ofc
2. Velvet
3. Suede
4. Fusion