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Topic: Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups. (Read 4662 times) previous topic - next topic
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Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

I just pulled apart an old set of headphones that had stopped working on one channel. I managed to fix the wiring, but I ripped up the foam lining inside the cups while getting it apart. I'm not talking about the ear cushions, I'm talking about a thin foam lining that goes between the drivers and the ear cups. In my headphones it's just plastic with lots of holes in it between the driver and the cup space where your ears go. Then this thin foam lining over the top of this plastic next to the ears.

Well now that those foam linings have been damaged I've removed them from both cups and to be honest I can't notice any difference in how they sound. So I'm just wondering if that foam is supposed to have any sonic function, or is it just for comfort?

Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

Reply #1
I guess the foam protects the diaphragma from hairs and other stuff intruding the assembly. A hair touching it might produce audible noise when listening.

The foam linings from my >20 years old Sennheiser HD265 disintegrated to dust last year ans luckily I found Sennheiser spare parts

Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

Reply #2
HD265s aren't quite as old as that. They only came out in '94!

BTW, you can try HD545/565/580/6x0 earpads if you're tired of the boomy sound these produce. That obviously wrecks isolation though.

Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

Reply #3
Oh you are right... overestimated their age a bit 
Must have been around 95 when I bought them. Back then we worked on MP2 encoding for broadcast.

For classical music the sound is great IMO, for Pop/Rock bass level is a bit too thick

Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

Reply #4
I just pulled apart an old set of headphones that had stopped working on one channel. I managed to fix the wiring, but I ripped up the foam lining inside the cups while getting it apart. I'm not talking about the ear cushions, I'm talking about a thin foam lining that goes between the drivers and the ear cups. In my headphones it's just plastic with lots of holes in it between the driver and the cup space where your ears go. Then this thin foam lining over the top of this plastic next to the ears.

Well now that those foam linings have been damaged I've removed them from both cups and to be honest I can't notice any difference in how they sound. So I'm just wondering if that foam is supposed to have any sonic function, or is it just for comfort?



Thin foam is unlikely to have much acoustic effect.

Foam lining in enclosed headphone cups.

Reply #5
The foam lining possibly acted as a low-pass filter/attenuation for treble.
It generally makes the sound less harsh and sibilant. Try removing the one on Superlux HD668B and your ears are going to bleed (mine almost did).