# B&W P5 Modifications



## pjoliver182

Hello all - this is my first post.
   
  I have had such success with my P5's that I decided to sign up to Head-fi for the sole purpose of sharing the following information:
   
  As with everyone who tries the P5's I was looking for the ultimate closed back headphones for ipod/iphone etc.
   
  I burned them in for days using a mixture of pink noise, white noise, frequency sweeps....actual music too!
   
  I've never been happy with the sound.
   
  Far far too much bass...boom boom boom...muddy sound...or 'veiled' as some have described it.
   
  Recently I started experimenting...
   
  I took the ear pads off completely then pushed the cans against my ears and listened to some music.  Obviously it was really trebley and tinny...but I also noticed it was very very detailed.
   
  Conclusion - ear pads 'create' bass
   
  Next I took the 'round the ear' pads off my Creative Aurvana Live cans and listened to the P5's through them.  This time I got some bass back with no loss of detail.  The space inside the Creative's cups is far greater than that inside the P5's.
   
Conclusion:  The size of the cavity inside the ear pads affects the amount of bass.
   
Looking inside the P5's ear pads you can see that the opening for the sound to travel through has been reduced by the shape of the foam.  I decided to be brave and take a pair of scissors to mine and 'open them out' to match the shape of the grill on the driver unit.
   
...although reckless you might say...this is the best mod I've ever done!  I did it in stages and noticed the drop in bass and reduction in 'muddiness' with each iteration.  They now sound almost perfect to my ears!  The detail and separation between instruments and vocals is amazing for closed back cans!
   
I decided to see how far I could push the 'envelope'...
   
  At this point I decided that the engineers who had likely designed the 'perfect' headphone driver were not responsible for the ear pads.  Here I assumed that the goals were luxurious comfort and that this may have impeded the sound quality.  You'll noticed that there is a 'void' in the upper section of each ear pad where there is no foam.  I concluded that this had been left out in order to increase wearing comfort on the ears, but will likely cause internal reflections of sound.  I took one of the girlfriends make-up removal pads, rolled it up into a cylinder and pushed it into this void.
   
  This made a marginal difference, but to my ears it tightened up the bass slightly.  It also makes the cans less comfortable to wear though; confirming my suspicions that the placement of the foam is to optimize comfort, NOT preserve SQ.
   
  Finally I have replaced the cable with a section of Sennheisser HD595 that I'd chopped off months ago.  The small 2.5mm jack was a pain in the bum however and in the end I bought one from Maplin, removed it from it's plastic barrel then used a hand-held rotary grinding tool to reduce it's diameter to fir the P5's cavity.
   
  Another large step up in performance!  I would say that you should be careful with cable choice here as the amount of clarity and treble may not be to everyone's liking.  I tried to use 24AWG SPOFC Van Damme microphone cable initially but not only was the cable too fat to fit inside the P5's, the treble was too much.
   
  I'll get some photos sorted out to show you all when I figure out how to do it 
   
  Anyhoo...that's about it.
   
  I just wanted to share the joy since I'd been looking for a thread like this to 'show me the way' with my P5's.  I hope that this will allow all you other P5 owners to get the most from your investment!
   
  pjoliver​


----------



## pjoliver182

So here's what I did to the foam in the ear pads.  This is the CRUCIAL mod and will take you about 5 mins to do​


----------



## pjoliver182

Excuse the yellow electrician's tape please - I'll be adding proper heat shrink soon.  Note that the 2.5mm jack has been removed from it's barrel and ground down to fit.  The cable used is from some Sennheiser HD595's.  I'm only using 3 out of the 4 conductors however.​


----------



## pjoliver182

Here's the P5's assembled showing the shiny new 3.5mm jack ​


----------



## gjohnston

How do they sound with the mods?


----------



## gjohnston

I think what I'm wondering is whether you'd rrecommend buying a pair to mod or simply invest elsewhere?


----------



## pjoliver182

Unfortunately I have not tried enough high end headphones on the market in order to be able to be able to say.
   
  What I can say is that I have tried the infamous Dr DRE Monster Beats and various Sennheisers and Bose headphones in stores up to £350 and I can say that my modded P5's beat them all for balance and clarity.
   
  I now have no need to look at any other portable headphones; I cannot hear anything that could be improved upon.  I'm currently working on a portable amp that is worthy of my P5's as I can hear every flaw in the reproduction of the music now.
   
  Many on head-fi consider the P5's to be 'the king' WITHOUT modification, simply extensive burn-in.  But I can empathise with all of the negative reviews concerning the flabby bass and 'veiled' sound. I bought mine 2nd hand off eBay for about £120 but still I was fairly disappointed with how they sounded.  In fact I ended up shoving them in a drawer for months and went back to my HD555's.  It was after I started modding the HD555's that I thought about modding the P5's.
   
  The cable was a bit of a nightmare but 'trimming' the ear cushions is a piece of cake and is a must.  I firmly believe that the P5's were designed to live up to B&W's reputation but were spoiled right at the end of the engineering design process by the sloppy implementation of the foam cushions.
   
  Clearly I am biased....but to answer your question I would say buy a pair and snip a bit of foam out of them.  You won't be disappointed.
   
  PJ


----------



## gjohnston

Much appreciated. I'm sorely tempted to get a pair before I go on holiday on Friday. Especially if I can carry out a quick mod and enhance the sound.


----------



## pjoliver182

I can't promise they'll sound as nice as mine if they haven't been burned-in but there's no way you could be disappointed with the P5's.  Their build quality, looks and materials alone are truly awesome.


----------



## pjoliver182

gjohnston - did you get yourself a pair in the end?
   
  PJ


----------



## Jackk127

HOLY CRAP scissors plus p5's scare me, i could never do that to my p5's id just freak out. Glad that it worked well for you tho.


----------



## Thraex

I've just subscribed here to post a big *THANK YOU *pjoliver182!!!!
   
  I was really close to return my P5 then I've tried this simple case mode and now I love them!
  All you have to do is put some soft material inside the removable earpad (even cotton is ok to try) and you can tell the difference yourself, try it before returning these lovely headphones.
   
  The bass isn't loose anymore and you gain more dynamics and detail. Cheaper biggest upgarde of all time!
  I'll post a little review here to push up some review point for the P5 which aren't high enough for the real potential of these B&W's HP.


----------



## pjoliver182

You're very welcome mate; did you try snipping a bit of the blue foam out with some scissors?  This was the biggest improvement in clarity and balance to me.  If you like very bass-heavy music then perhaps you might leave them as they are, but I like to listen to every detail of the recordings so I was going for clarity and a neutral tonal balance.


----------



## Thraex

Thanks again, maybe I'll order some replacement pads to experiment, but actually I like this kind of bass, considering actual clarity and transparency is enough for me. Coming from Grado's maybe I'm so bored I just want the opposite.
   
  What could be interesting is to upgrade the cable, but apart that particular 2.5mm connector I'm scared to enlarge the metal thin cable passage inside the ear pad. I'm not sure I'll try it now, maybe after warranty ends.
   
  So to upgrade and check the ultimate potential of the P5, now I'm searching a portable amp with iDevice connector + USB DAC 192k combo so to convert digital files from iDevices or notebook and battery + USB powered. Don't know if it exist...
   
  I've read a good notebook solution with iBasso D7 (usb powered 192k dac/amp), but I still miss iDevice connector for universal use.
  Any suggestion?


----------



## DarkSleip

maybe many of them were not tuned correctly at some point, because I bought one pair of P5 myself and thought they sounded wonderful, one of my friends got them as well after hearing mine and that sound just like you describe them, mine sound far better even without the modifications you are mentioning here, it would be cool if you or B&W made an alternative set of ear pads that make them fit as over ear headphones


----------



## pjoliver182

I'm not sure about portable DAC's but I use my P5's with lossless encoded music from my iphone's line out, in to an O2 headphone amp - sounds just wonderful.  The limiting factor will now will be the DAC circuit inside the iphone.
   
  With the ear cushions I think a large factor is how much they compress against your ears since this will change the volume space inside them.  Personally I have to extend the arms to almost Max when I wear mine and I find the force against my ears is probably a little more than it needs to be.  Perhaps those with smaller heads don't compress the ear cushions as much, keeping the sound clearer?


----------



## GL1TCH3D

After several hundred hours of use, without the mod I think these sound fantastic (though in the first 50-100 hours I did notice some of that crap that people complain about).
I'm very interested in doing this mod, though, is there a place I can buy a new pair of earpads in case I screw this up?


----------



## pjoliver182

Yes, you can ring B&W directly - I recently purchased a replacement carry pouch.  It was only about £20 inc p&p.
   
0800 232 1513


----------



## DarkSleip

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


> I'm not sure about portable DAC's but I use my P5's with lossless encoded music from my iphone's line out, in to an O2 headphone amp - sounds just wonderful.  The limiting factor will now will be the DAC circuit inside the iphone.
> 
> With the ear cushions I think a large factor is how much they compress against your ears since this will change the volume space inside them.  Personally I have to extend the arms to almost Max when I wear mine and I find the force against my ears is probably a little more than it needs to be.  Perhaps those with smaller heads don't compress the ear cushions as much, keeping the sound clearer?


 


  nope, I have a huge head, for some it's difficult to adjust the ear pads so the headphones sound correctly, something i have found to help many people is to try to align the grill of the headphones with your ear hole (is that it's name?), if that doesn't work you should try many positions to ensure you are getting their full quality


----------



## dsp0704

I checked the blue foam on mine and it is already shaped to the driver (like your modded pics). I guess that is why I haven't really had any complaints regarding its muffled bass or lack of clarity. However, I do notice what others describe in lack of clarity in treble.. compared to listening to my AKG Q701 with NuForce Icon HDP but when I'm on the road I'm not listening to music analytically, I'm just enjoying it. And also I don't know how much of SQ will improve since I'm still burning mine in (while I listen) but to me they sound ok for portable use as is.
   
  EDIT: I have listened without the magnet cover and wow.. so much clarity. No bass though.


----------



## pjoliver182

Yup that's what I found too; hence what lead me to think that the drivers themselves were incredibly detailed in their performance; it was the cushions that were the weakest link.  Interesting that yours are already re-shaped...I wonder if it was a design modification?  Perhaps after initial poor feedback?


----------



## DarkSleip

from what i know the initial feedback was the best it got, maybe they got sloppy at the factory for some reason


----------



## dsp0704

I am pretty sure mine was not in the "initial production" line.. I just picked them up ~10days ago... This makes me want to go to Apple Store and open some of the P5s on display


----------



## DarkSleip

mine weren't on the first production line as well, maybe they have returned back yo normality


----------



## GL1TCH3D

Well the foam might look like it's shaped for the driver but pressed against your ear they squish towards the middle, covering part of the diver.


----------



## DarkSleip

Quote: 





gl1tch3d said:


> Well the foam might look like it's shaped for the driver but pressed against your ear they squish towards the middle, covering part of the diver.


 


  what if we put something like a driver shaped ring in the side of the foam so it doesn't go inwards, I think I'm not making much sense;


----------



## GL1TCH3D

darksleip said:


> what if we put something like a driver shaped ring in the side of the foam so it doesn't go inwards, I think I'm not making much sense;




I thought of something like that... The only thing I could think of was removing more foam to make a cavity all around then use those make-up remover pads to block it from squishing back in but this will probably affect the seal greatly...


----------



## dsp0704

Very interesting.. I didn't realize that the foam would "cover" the driver area when pressed. I put this to test by taking off ear cup and pressing on it to see how much foam is visible. So when it is pressed (by hand) it seems the blue foam spills out a little.. about 1mm. Although I doubt my ears have as much force on the foam as my hand. In conclusion, I don't think snipping off the foam (for me) will have much benefit as other P5's with larger foams.


----------



## DarkSleip

now that I've tested it, the foam only bends inwards when it hasn't "memorized" (memory foam?) a profile, testing it with a table it doesn't appear to do that anymore, it just compresses on itself


----------



## GL1TCH3D

Don't forget pressing it on a table is compressing it straight down... compressing it on an ear, it will most likely only be compressed on the outside of the foam and spill into the middle


----------



## DarkSleip

It's not like ears are completely cone-shaped, so it should't make a difference under the right circumstances, that could be the reason the sound varies when PUTTING THEM ON IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS


----------



## dsp0704

What position on ears do you guys find the best sound? For me it's a little bit back and tilted foward.


----------



## GL1TCH3D

I like the pads to be angled a little more inwards so the doing squish my ear after several hours.


----------



## thgraham

I just picked up a new set of P5s and the foam pattern looks different from the pre-mod photo at the top of this thread (less foam and no protrusions beyond the plastic rim).  Perhaps B&W has revised the design?  Either that, or I'm missing something!
   
  At any rate, I'm enjoying the P5s so far.
   
  Travis


----------



## GL1TCH3D

thgraham said:


> I just picked up a new set of P5s and the foam pattern looks different from the pre-mod photo at the top of this thread (less foam and no protrusions beyond the plastic rim).  Perhaps B&W has revised the design?  Either that, or I'm missing something!
> 
> At any rate, I'm enjoying the P5s so far.
> 
> Travis



Oh wow... Definitely nothing like mine. I guess they changed the earpads after getting some bad initial rep... You should still try putting a makeup remover pad in the top cavity... It seems like they haven't filled it from the pictures you posted.


----------



## dsp0704

Mine looks just like yours. I believe they have revised their foam since I got mine 2weeks ago.
   
  By the way, what does putting padding in the upper section do to SQ?


----------



## scootermafia

I just copped a new (minus the box) pair for $210 on eBay.  They have the new pad style and sound great.


----------



## GL1TCH3D

Maybe I'll ask for a replacement set...


----------



## pjoliver182

Hah looks like the engineers at B&W came to the same conclusions as me regarding the 'veiling' of the sound! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




   
  That's pretty cool...I guess this modification has become obsolete now already hah!
   
  I might contact B&W and ask how much the replacement pads are...
   
  PJ


----------



## DarkSleip

this thread has officially died


----------



## weeksy79

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


> Hah looks like the engineers at B&W came to the same conclusions as me regarding the 'veiling' of the sound!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

  
   


  Quote: 





gl1tch3d said:


> Maybe I'll ask for a replacement set...


 

 I've contacted B&W before for spares after I tore one of the awfully made C5 tips. They were quite resilient to the idea (I was told to stop being so heavy handed), but if you're polite and persuasive you should get the goods.


----------



## GL1TCH3D

pjoliver182 said:


> Hah looks like the engineers at B&W came to the same conclusions as me regarding the 'veiling' of the sound!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I already contacted the. Replacement pads are 21$ + shipping (I think they charge shipping?)
Regardless, I sold my bowers because I want to upgrade to some Edition 8s >=D


----------



## DarkSleip

Quote: 





gl1tch3d said:


> I already contacted the. Replacement pads are 21$ + shipping (I think they charge shipping?)
> Regardless, I sold my bowers because I want to upgrade to some Edition 8s >=D


 


   
  That's a harsh jump, and even if they are beautiful I wouldn't want to have a sound below the senn or the stax


----------



## GL1TCH3D

I don't listen to music enough at home to warrant a home setup. I've considered getting a koda2 (modded t50rp) and a nice desktop amp/dac combo but in the end I wouldn't use it as much as a pair of edition 8s.


----------



## GL1TCH3D

gl1tch3d said:


> I don't listen to music enough at home to warrant a home setup. I've considered getting a koda2 (modded t50rp) and a nice desktop amp/dac combo but in the end I wouldn't use it as much as a pair of edition 8s.



Also in terms of awesome portable phones choices are limited and there's a big void between the 300$ price point and the 1000$ price point... also, IEMs definitely don't agree with my ears... maybe custom IEMs but that's a different story and I don't feel like spending the time and money just to try.


----------



## DarkSleip

Quote: 





gl1tch3d said:


> Also in terms of awesome portable phones choices are limited and there's a big void between the 300$ price point and the 1000$ price point... also, IEMs definitely don't agree with my ears... maybe custom IEMs but that's a different story and I don't feel like spending the time and money just to try.


 
  they said the hd700 paired well with portable rigs, get an Ibasso dx100, or a hm-801 and you are set for an audiophile adventure


----------



## mindbender9

Can someone post an image of the headphone pad with the modification to the top of the ear cavity? I'd love to improve the sound on these if I could.
   
  Edit: Disregard. I should've looked closer to the pictures on the first page.
   
  I think I have the "1st" generation of the P5 but the clarity definitely improves after some burn-in time.
   
  Thanks for the assistance.


----------



## DarkSleip

there's a critical sound improvement somewhere along the burn-in period, just experienced it with my friend's pair


----------



## ityk212

Hi everyone,
  This is what the pads on my p5 look like. I'm not sure on how to carry out the mod.
  Mind helping?


----------



## pjoliver182

Hi there,
   
  When I did this I just took a small pair of scissors and carefully 'snipped' out pieces at a time.  The green foam is not glued to the leather so you can gently push the bottom of the scissors underneath the foam in order to cut it.  Just follow the line of the rectangular hole as seen from the view in your 1st photo.
   
  Good luck and enjoy!
   
  Paul


----------



## DarkSleip

Hey, arranging a "u" shaped clip inside also works perfectly fine


----------



## DarkSleip

Close-up off the retail cable headI see about 8 visible threads on the outside, and there's more on the inside, they are almost hair-thin. Hence, awesome cable quality


----------



## pjoliver182

FYI for anyone who is interested, a new set of replacement ear cushions will cost £35 including VAT and p&p.
   
0800 232 1513 Option 2 for the UK Customer Support Centre.


----------



## MxChino

So I scored a killer deal on a set of p5s off Craigslist. Three weeks old for $130. Came with everything except the non iPod cable. 

Mine had the old style of foam I gently snipped around opening and wow, what a difference. Muddy flabby bass gave way to clarity and sparkly treble with a nice tight and deep low end. 

Color me impressed. 

Oh and a shout out to top notch b&w customer service I emailed them asking how I could buy replacement cables and that I bought my set used and was missing a cable and the one I had was bent at the jack. They're sending me out one of each cable at no charge.


----------



## Luke-

Gonna give this mod a try will report back if i notice a diffence.


----------



## Holger

Hello,
   
  thanks again for the instruction to do the mod. On my IPhone it is now nearly perfect. I guess it will need some more hours for burning in (so far only 50 hours of burn-in)

 Nevertheless on my COWON S9 it is still not as good as expected. I really had to activate the Equalizer and push more bass (after the additional filling clarity improved but with S9 bass decreased too much). Anyone of You experience with P5 together with S9?
   
  Did anyone of You try to experiment with different materials to fill the P5? I tried with cleaning paper and the result was a very bright sound. Claning pads of my wife did a smoother job. Any more suggestions?


----------



## pjoliver182

Hi Holger
   
  First of all I would satisfy yourself that the P5's a fully burned in - are you using an iPhone app?  Run some low frequency sweeps for like 24 hours or something and see if you notice any difference.
   
  As for the bass response, its personal preference...if you have more bass, you have less of everything else (for the same overall volume).  I personally like everything to have a 'flat' EQ balance so that only the amount of bass recorded is what is reproduced.  I found that there was easily enough bass for my tastes after the mod, but if you like hip-hop or heavy metal or drum and bass etc perhaps you prefer more bass in you music than is actually there?
   
  I like the idea of experimenting with different filler materials...have you tried anything harder?  Like rubber or maybe some blu-tack / Plasticine?
   
  Good luck!
   
  PJ


----------



## Holger

Hi,
   
  I burnt it in with music from my MP3 player and I noticed now the the "screaming upper midths" are disappearing. I agree with You, I also prefer a flat well balanced sound. I mainly listen to singer/songwriters and jazz. Therefore clarity and details are crucial for me.

 I tried now also foam to fill in the space within the ear pads. But concerning the bass the effect was zero. And it decreasing the clarity and some of the high frequencies. Make up pads from my wife did a better job. But  I noticed that the quantity also is crucial. I filled them according to Your picture and suddenly much more clarity but no bass at all anymore. So I reduced the quantity until the balance was there again. The next thing I will try is rubber


----------



## pjoliver182

Hi again - your recent posts got me thinking so I've done a couple of experiments myself:
   
  The best material I've found so far is from some hearing protection buds from work - the small squishy ear buds that you push in to your ear canals to protect your hearing in noisy environments.  There's a lot more 'thump' from the bass drum right now as I listen to some rock tracks from my iPhone.
   
  FYI I use an Epiphany Acoustics O2 headphone amp with a line out cable from the iPhone.
   
  Did you have any luck with some rubber or other materials?
   
  PJ


----------



## ShakaZulu

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


> I just wanted to share the joy since I'd been looking for a thread like this to 'show me the way' with my P5's.  I hope that this will allow all you other P5 owners to get the most from your investment!
> 
> pjoliver​


 
  Hi pjoliver182
   
  This is my first ever post on this forum. I signed up a few minutes ago so that I could say thank you very much to you for sharing this mod. After having had enough of what I thought were really uncomfortable B&W P5 cushions, I ran a search online using the phrase "B&W...pads...uncomfortable". Your post came up. I read it and decided to try your simple mod (trimming out the foam). Not only did this sort out the comfort issue (I can now keep the headset on for hours, because there is less pressure on my ears), but the sound quality has improved phenomenally! Thank you so much! Because my P5s haven't been burnt in yet, I am yet to replace the cable. I will be inserting some makeup removal pads into the cavity tonight to see what difference that makes. As it is right now, I am amazed at the difference...
   
  Just one more thing, I removed as much of the foam as I could - I did not just trim it down. I might end up just pulling the whole thing out completely! I will be asking my mates to let me know if the sound now leaks. I am in heaven.


----------



## pjoliver182

Hi Shaka
   
  I'm glad the mod convinced you to keep your P5's.  I remember being so disappointed with mine when I first got them; but at that time there were no forum threads containing anything useful about improving them - just a few posts saying how much people didn't like them!
   
  My own view is that the drivers themselves produce excellent sound quality; its the bit between them and your ears that fouls up the musical accuracy.  Interestingly there seem to be a second version of the ear cushions (according to some other photos posted by other users) where the foam does not obstruct the drivers.
   
  Regarding the foam and how much to trim, I would not remove more than is necessary.  What we're aiming to do is create a 'seal' around the driver that forms a 'tunnel' straight to your ear.  If you remove too much foam, the 'tunnel' will become larger than the driver and (in laymen's terms) you could create echoes within the tunnel.  That was my theory as to why the upper cavity needs to be filled in with something.
   
  On that score, I found that make-up removal pads are not the best solution.
   





   
  I took a pair of foam hearing protection ear buds and trimmed the sides to make oblong blocks (like bricks almost).  These are the best material I've used so far; the bass is so beautifully tight and realistic now - the bass pedal of a drum kit sounds really clear for example.
   
  I use these ear buds at work so it was easy for me to grab a pair to experiment with.  If you can't get hold of some, I would assume eBay have them.  Totally worth it!
   
  I wouldn't worry too much about the cable upgrade to be honest; its very fiddly - potentially a lot of work for only a small improvement.
   
  Spread the word - the P5's ARE as good as they were marketed to be!  They just need a simple mod to undo a poor designers over-sight!
   
  Cheers,
   
  PJ


----------



## Thraex

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


>


 
  Hi pjoliver182!
   
  I've just reappear to inform you that a very expensive and high-end cable from Stefan AudioArt is avaiable for the P5 look here: http://www.stefanaudioart.com/headphone%20cable%20E%20Series%20P5 .
   
  It's handcrafted by a very competent and experienced engineer.
   
  Since I love so much my P5 maybe someday I'll give it a try.


----------



## pjoliver182

Ah yes I found that cable last year but decided it was waaaaay too expensive!
   
  Interested to know what difference it'll make though; let us know if you get one


----------



## Thraex

Now I'm in the process to upgrade pre/power amps, but headphone setup will come next, when I'll try it I'll let you know.


----------



## Lorspeaker

http://www.douglasconnection.com/Furutech-NANO-Liquid-Contact-Enhancer-FUNANO.htm
   
  i had an old bottle of SETTEN diatonic carbon squalene oil  contact enhancer...
  ( its a decade old, not sure if its avail these days..)
  applied some on the internal plug and the external plug...clarity improved a notch to my ears.


----------



## DarkSleip

Quote: 





thraex said:


> Now I'm in the process to upgrade pre/power amps, but headphone setup will come next, when I'll try it I'll let you know.


 
  Quote: 





thraex said:


> Hi pjoliver182!
> 
> I've just reappear to inform you that a very expensive and high-end cable from Stefan AudioArt is avaiable for the P5 look here: http://www.stefanaudioart.com/headphone%20cable%20E%20Series%20P5 .
> 
> ...


 
  Quote: 





lorspeaker said:


> http://www.douglasconnection.com/Furutech-NANO-Liquid-Contact-Enhancer-FUNANO.htm
> 
> i had an old bottle of SETTEN diatonic carbon squalene oil  contact enhancer...
> ( its a decade old, not sure if its avail these days..)
> applied some on the internal plug and the external plug...clarity improved a notch to my ears.


 
  You all have reminded me of the reason I didn't enter head-fi anymore


----------



## pjoliver182

Hey people.  Custom Cable do a replacement for the P5 at a very reasonable £15.  I bought one and tried it against my own custom design and can't tell the difference.
   
  It looks the part, fits perfectly and is cheap.  No need to look elsewhere in my opinion.


----------



## Jazz1

God help me! I'm a sucker for custom cables


----------



## rwmcjazz

.


----------



## Firminator

Quote: 





rwmcjazz said:


> OMG!!!  $300 dollar cable upgrade for a $300 headphone?  Do they make a "I have a family, mortgage, and car payment" cable?
> 
> Does anyone else have trouble keeping these horrible fitting P5's stay on their head? Anybody have a fix for it?


 
   
  Put them around a big lamp (one roughly the size of your head) for a few days. It should loosen up a bit and start to fit nicely


----------



## Thraex

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


> Hey people.  Custom Cable do a replacement for the P5 at a very reasonable £15.  I bought one and tried it against my own custom design and can't tell the difference.
> 
> It looks the part, fits perfectly and is cheap.  No need to look elsewhere in my opinion.


 
  Thanks again pjoliver182! I've ordered the Custom Cable for P5 and report back asap.
  For the preamp upgrade I've also find an amazing VFM piece, the SPL Volume 2, with the op-amp upgrade fom the stock TL071 to the much better TLE2071 it's a real high-end gear at just a few hundreds Euro.
  Nice way to end the year: cheap and big upgrades to my setups!
   
  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!


----------



## Thraex

Quote: 





pjoliver182 said:


> Hey people.  Custom Cable do a replacement for the P5 at a very reasonable £15.  I bought one and tried it against my own custom design and can't tell the difference.
> 
> It looks the part, fits perfectly and is cheap.  No need to look elsewhere in my opinion.


 
  Custom Cable for P5 arrived 2 days ago, from the first few hours of testing I prefer the B&W stock cable over it, the stock cable seems to me a little more open, dynamic and musical. I thought bass could be more datailed, but that's not the case here.
   
  pjoliver182 do you think it can benefit from a little more break-in? Till now not impressed.


----------



## pjoliver182

Tharex
   
  Unfortunately sound quality and tone equalization are extremely subjective; whilst I love the sound of my own P5's you may not like them if you listened to them.
   
  The biggest improvement for me was the ear cushion mod; if you have done that already then that's what the P5's sound like.  The other mods to cables etc will only make subtle changes in my experience.
   
  Break in - I'm not sure.  I bought mine 2nd hand so I don't know what they sound like when brand new.  I did break mine in for a number of days by playing frequency sweeps and white noise etc continuously through the night (under a pillow) using an iPhone app.  I remember that process making a significant difference actually.
   
  Hope this helps,
   
  PJO


----------



## Thraex

A couple of days of working and now it's a little bit better than stock cable, bass is more controlled and detailed, not much more just that bit to be able to pump up the volume without booming and to understand more lower bass lines, also a clearer differentiation of variuos instruments playing at same time. Little differences, but now satisfied after a bit of burn-in. And the cable is more robust and less sticky.


----------



## devoker

What kind of scissors did you use for cutting? I tried but foam was too soft to cut.


----------



## Psy-Blade

Oh my!! That (tight) bass!
   
  To anyone considering this, do it! As above the boomy bass on mine has tightened up significantly, and the highs are more defined too. Well worth it.


----------



## Psy-Blade

Quote: 





devoker said:


> What kind of scissors did you use for cutting? I tried but foam was too soft to cut.


 
  I just used the first pair I saw in the office to be fair, your standard, run-of-the-mill scissors. It helped a bit to press the pad on the desk and compress the sponge to make some initial cuts but it wasn't too hard at all.


----------



## Tamirci

I modded today. Just pulled the sponges out save the short upper line of the rectangle. The result is just like I love after getting accustomed to armature based iems. Fast and puchy basses and high clarity.The only probable issue is vocals getting closer, almost in my face atm
 Lack of sponges did not have a negative effect on the comfort even though I am wearing glasses


----------



## arnevf

Noob question: cable on p5 goes only to right ear, so I think replacing cable only make right speaker sound better, since there is another stock cable from right ear to left ear. Am I right?


----------



## michaelgordon

Sorry to bump a really old thread but i just got a pair of P5s and not that impressed, out the box sounded just like all the reviews here muddy and not what i expected reading all the website reviews.  I checked the pads and they seem to be the newer version i have put some filler into the top, just some rolled up vet wrap i had and again seems a little better but again not what i expected.
  
 They are burning in and have been since Friday, 48 hours with noise and sweeps (i think) and they will have another 48 with music.  I did try after the first 48 hours and they sounded better but not as good as the CALs they are replacing. 
  
 Im hoping the extra hours burn will help as i really want to like these.
  
 Im also looking at cables and can see two available for a relatively low price, the black sheep from custom cable already discussed and this one.  I know knothing about cabling is this better / any good at all?
  
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2m-New-Silver-Plated-Audio-upgrade-Cable-For-B-W-Bowers-Wilkins-P5-Headphone-/221655946147?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item339bb953a3


----------



## paulkemp

HI! I have the cable with iPod remote, and unfortunately I have run over that cable with my office chair and destroyed the "remote" part of that cable. Where can I get a close to original cable as possible? It does not have to be original, but a high quality cable to suite the cans. Thanks! 
  
 edit: wow what a bump! Return to the threads of the living! 
  
 edit2: the cable in question can be bought here for around 17£
 http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/b-and-w-p5-replacement-1.2-metre-lead-including-mic.html


----------



## delSol

SLIGHTLY off- topic.....but....
  
 I just bought a used pair of B&W P5, Series2..........with the new, completely redesigned drivers.
  
 The SQ, when playing lossless files, through a Fiio E17 headphone amp/DAC............is FABULOUS!
  
 A definite audible improvement over my Senn HD 598's......for the gendre of music I listen to (blues).
  
 I feel that this is an important consideration. The "best" phones for a (say) classical listener, are probably NOT "the best" for (say) a rock listener.
  
 Cheers, del Sol


----------



## Thraex

michaelgordon said:


> Sorry to bump a really old thread but i just got a pair of P5s and not that impressed, out the box sounded just like all the reviews here muddy and not what i expected reading all the website reviews.  I checked the pads and they seem to be the newer version i have put some filler into the top, just some rolled up vet wrap i had and again seems a little better but again not what i expected.
> 
> They are burning in and have been since Friday, 48 hours with noise and sweeps (i think) and they will have another 48 with music.  I did try after the first 48 hours and they sounded better but not as good as the CALs they are replacing.
> 
> ...


 

 So how's the P5 sound now?
 They're my best portable headphones, but at the beginning I hated them exactly like you, unimpressed at the point I was asking myself how B&W could sell this crap!
  
 Don't mess filling pads the first days, they need to memorize your ear shape, just let them play a lot, and maybe later do the mod only if bass is too boomy.
 My last pair of pads were OK from start and don't need any mod. I believe B&W made its own mod in the meantime.


----------



## sgthien

Hi everyone,
sorry for digging this post up. Last year i bought a second hand P5 (still sounded good and looked new). Lately its left ear (where the cable comes in) have ceased to sound. I have tried may ways and got the results below; I'll name everything i noticed, since I'm not a professional, somethings might be not relevant:
- I tried to_ switch cable_, it still didn't work. I even checked if the cables were broken with my multimeter, the cables were in good condition.
- I plugged it to the _phone port on my mixer_ (with which I can send in very strong signal and pan completely on the left side). I did so, of course I was very cautious, i put the volume knob (initially at minimum) to maximum and muted it immediately after. After a few tries, the left earpiece began to sound normally. However, as i wore the headphones on my head, the left piece was mysteriously muted again. I tried this way several times, this kept happening.
- I_ first removed the ear pad _of the left piece, then conducted the same experiment as above. It functioned very stably. It only became muted after i put on its ear pad. More precisely, it still sounded after i put on the ear pad, but once i wore it, it was muted again. I did several more times and found out, it would only be muted (after being enabled by sending in very strong signal through my mixer, like described in the section above)* if the ear pad is on and is pressed*. I thought that this must be due to the interaction between the MAGNETS inside the piece as well as on the ear pad (those are used to attach the earpad to the speaker, not that what belongs to driver), but as i put strong neodym magnets on the ear, they didn't affect.
- According to the result mentioned above, I thought it should work fine if i separate the ear pad a bit from the ear piece. I used a very thin magnetically-conductive (prob. conventional iron) metal leaf, folded it 2 times with total thickness about 0.8mm and inserted it between the pad and piece at the position of their magnets. The piece now work perfectly stably.
This were my attempts. Though I'm fine with this for now and the sound quality is not affected, that small distance makes the left piece sounds noticeably quieter than the right one (can fix through cutting the foam a bit off so the ear pad become thinner) and more important, I can't know if and when this problem will occur again. Like i mentioned it's second hand, i can receive no guaranty. Can you guys guess what can be the cause? thank you so much


----------



## Pro-Jules

I have some noise cancelling B&W PX on the way.

If they are too dull sounding, I may try some of the above. I also dowloaded a burn in iPhone app. 

Love this forum!


----------



## delSol

Trying to resurrect this thread again...………

Anybody have modifications for the FABULOUS P5, Series2?

Cheers, del Sol


----------

