Aurorus Borealis Mods & Pad Rolling Adventure!

The way the borealis is constructed makes it really easy for its owners to modify it to their desires. Since the quarantine has put my studying on a halt for now, I thought why not start playing with mods and pad roll haha. All the mods are removable because I still like the stock sound and just want to see what I can get out of modding these. I don't have any exotic materials, but used whatever I had laying around in the house. I wish I had a measurement rig because I was definitely going mad trying to tune by ear. I used the JAR650 as a reference point to make sure I didn’t f**k up the timbre or tonality too much. I’m more than happy to send my unit out if any friends want to measure these.

Listening Rig: Pi2AES > Bifrost 2 > Black Widow > Borealis | JAR650

Borealis Mods: (all removable!)

• LCD Headband swap: They’re expensive af but I think they’re worth the upgrade if the stock headband doesn’t fit you properly. @brencho said he liked the comfort on these much more than the stock headband when he tried mine. Obviously no sonic improvements, just for aesthetics and comfort. If you have questions about this mod, feel free to PM me and I can help out. I didn’t really take pictures of the mod and I’m too lazy to take it apart just for pictures.
  
  
• Curtain sheet fabric on the driver: reduces the 7k peak, slightly brings up the upper mids, and a wee bit more bass extension. Super simple mod, but one downside is that it can hurt the clarity in the mids. (literally putting a curtain/veil over the driver lol)

• Front damping around the driver: I used the same foam material used for JAR650 to see if there were any effects. Putting these directly on the metal donut ring doesn’t seem to change the sound but when put over the mesh screen it does make a difference. It seems to reduce the bass and make them slightly brighter, but it also leads to a less open sound. There’s definitely trade offs doing this mod, but I can see this coming in handy for modding.

• Carpet liner on/around the driver: reduces treble peak and brings up upper mids as well. This one seems to reduce the peak more but also makes the mids a bit wonky sounding when used too much. It made the piano in Jazz tracks sound weird and muffled. This is when I realized that I should probably refrain from putting too much shit directly facing the driver and had to try a different method for mods.

• Adhesive Felt ring mod: I remember with the HD800, the plastic gave off really nasty reflections so I covered the 3d printed parts around the driver with adhesive felt and it did shave a bit of the 7k peak. This is a pretty minor mod that won’t affect the sound too much, but really comes in handy when you mix with other mods and pads. You can remove these but it’ll be a bitch to get all the leftover adhesives off the chassis. I recommend putting a layer of masking tape before putting these on so it doesn’t make too much of a mess when you remove them.

• Superdupont / Helmholtz resonator mod: I got the idea from Superdupont mod for hd800 and thought maybe it could work for Borealis as well. The hole is a bit bigger than the hd800 so I had to make them a little bigger to fit the driver. It actually does a fantastic job of mitigating the peak and also seems to increase the bass quantity/ extension for better or worse. Sometimes I feel that the resonator does too good of a job to kill the peak so I’ve been playing around with different materials and sizing. Just be careful with this mod because there’s not a space between the driver and the enclosure so if it’s too thick it might touch the driver.

Borealis Pad Rolling:
**Big thanks to @brencho for letting me borrow this big stack of pads for this experiment!

1. Verite Lambskin pads: I thought of trying these first because they’re similar width and depth to the stock pads. mids and treble were fine but a huge chunk of low end missing. Not recommended
   
   
2. BE2 Pads: More or less the same result from Verite Pads. Not recommended
   
   
3. Universe Suede Pads: These weren’t that bad, but treble lost a sense of liveliness and macrodynamics took a big hit. Not recommended
   
   
4. Universe Hybrid perf. pads: Holy mother of god, this one sound AWESOME with the Borealis. Super Comfy, BIIIIIIG, spacious, and balanced sounding. Clamping is a bit harder than the stock pads but I actually like a bit more clamp. These are probably my favorite pads for the Borealis. I think the mids are not as forward (less 2k shout?), upper mids seem more filled, and 7k peak seems less evident or maybe better blended in. Upper mids are still not as forward/present as my JAR650 but I think this hits the sweet spot between the stock pads and 650. One possible downside might be that macrodynamics gets dialed down just a bit and loses a bit of character compared to stock and maybe sounds “too normal” / “neutral” like Auteur and HD650-eque. Still slams and sounds dynamic, but mids to treble transition is much better integrated compared to the stock pads. I’m not really a “stage head” but Borealis sounds much more grand with better front and back layering. It makes enough of a difference for me to mention this in the write up. But seriously, every owner should try these pads… I like these pads so much I will be buying these off of @brencho . Highly recommended
   
5. Universe Hybrid perf. Pads +resonator mod: bass noticeably extends lower and hits harder. The added resonator effectively solved the issue with the bass, but it kills too much energy off the treble and throws off the tonal balance.
   
   
6. Auteur perf. Lambskin pads: Upper mids are filled, but the 7k peak is still evident or maybe more. I think these are still worth playing with so recommended if you’re willing to do a little mods or w/e. (Read the reasoning for #7 below.)
   
   
7. Auteur perf. Lambskin pads + resonator mod: wowie these sound pretty good! Quite similar sounding to the Auteur based on memory. resonator kills the 7k peak and somehow the bass THUMPS even more (I can feel it vibrate my head)! Sometimes I feel the bass can be a bit overwhelming but a very enjoyable listen. I think the bass quantity can be fine-tuned by modifying the inner diameter of the resonator. (Bigger hole seems to reduce less peak and doesn’t affect the bass as much and vice versa) Sounds like a hybrid between Auteur’s tonality with Borealis’s liveliness and slight aggression. These are my 2nd favorite set of pads. Recommended
   
   
8. Auteur perf. microsuede pads: meh, this one has a bit of a treble glare and limp-dick dynamics. Not recommended.
   
   
9. Rosson Audio RAD-0 Pads: Wow this pad is tall and thicc! IF you want to turn your Borealis into Beats by Dre, then these are the perfect pads for you! Muddy bass and wonky FR. Could not listen to them for more than 5 seconds. My guess is that the non-perforated leather is not letting out enough air and making them sound bassy af. Not recommended!!!!

So far out of all the mods and pads I’ve tried, I like the Borealis with the adhesive felt ring and Universe hybrid pads. Auteur perf. Lambskin pads + resonator mod is also good, but it’s kind of a PITA to make your own so it’s much easier to recommend the Borealis with the Universe Hybrid pads and call it done. Remember that all the mods I’ve described are totally removable because the stock tuning is still extremely fun and enjoyable for me to go back to. I may update the thread if anything interesting or worth writing about, but I’ll probably leave that up to others who want to try tinkering with the headphone.

 

After reading what @tommytakis wrote here, I ordered myself a pair of Universe Hybrid Perforated Pads for my Borealis. I was hoping this would fix issues I had with each instrument image being a bit too big and the overall sound being a bit congested. For the most part, it has: layering is significantly improved, and the Borealis seems to resolve complex musical passages with much greater ease with these pads. Unlike Tommytakis though, I don't notice any reduction in the 7k peak (which doesn't bother me in the first place). What I do notice is that bass impact is dialed down a bit, and the headphone sounds more "generic" and less like the Borealis. It's a lot more similar to something like an Auteur with the upper-mids filled in, though the dynamics and speed are still much better. String and percussion timbre is still excellent, but they lose just a bit of realism with these pads: the plucking of a string somehow sounds less visceral and real, though it becomes easier to discern its place in the soundstage.

There's sometimes a "spookiness" to the timbre of the Borealis, where one hears the vibrations of strings, voices, and drums, tricking one into thinking one is really there listening to live music. Regrettably, using these pads seem to eliminate this. However, I'm more than willing to trade this for the improved clarity, resolution, layering, separation, and soundstage that these pads bring. And the timbre is still excellent.

Overall, I like what these pads do to the Borealis, and will be using them for the foreseeable future.

 

@dematted glad you're liking them! The hybrid pads are not perfect and comes with some trade offs as you mentioned (reduced macrodynamics/slam, less intensity/visceral-ness? lol idk) but the improved layering and a more cohesive tonal balance is a nice addition to the Borealis.