I love my Audiotechnica ATH-M40fs headphones - I really do - but, after a couple of years, the coating on the pads starts to flake off and I end up with bits of black stuff in my hair and in my ears. I called my local A-T service centre to order the replacement parts, and the guy dictated the instructions off the top of his head. Very impressive. First, the old earpads come off:
Get a spudger or small flat-blade screwdriver into the gap around the edge of the earpiece and use it to pull the edge of the pad out. Work this all the way round and then slip the pad off the earpiece. We'll fit the new earpads last - first we have to pretty much strip the headphones to get at the headband pad. Remove the screws and lift up the driver:
Make a note of which wires go into which part of the distribution block:
Then loosen the screws in the block and remove the driver part altogether:
You do need to remove both earpads if you're replacing those, but you only have to fully disassemble one side of the headphones to get the headband pad off. I got a bit overexcited and did the whole thing before I realised that it was unnecessary. Here are the pics of the other side for reference. Apart from the wiring, the two sides are identical.
Now pop one side of the earpiece hanger out of its hole in the earpiece, then do the other side. There will be enough flex in the plastic to do this fairly easily. Thread the cable back out through the hole:
Now we need to remove the hanger mechanism (from one side only). This is to give enough access to slide the headband pad off. So remove all the screws, take the mechanism apart and thread the cable out, making a note of exactly how it's routed to help you put it back together later:
I don't have any pics of this last bit, but I've done this twice now and it takes me about an hour just to take the old pad off and fit the new one. It's probably quicker to use scissors and carefully cut the old pad off, but be VERY careful not to damage the cable. Once you've got the old pad off, you need to put the new pad back on. It's a tight fit and you need to make sure the cable stays in the right place as you do it. Stick with it, you'll get there eventually. Once you've got the new pad fitted and you're happy that it's even, reassemble the hanger mechanism, threading the cable carefully through, and gradually work your way back down til you have the drivers connected and screwed in.
Now comes the final tricky part - fitting the new earpads. Locate the edge of the pad in the groove around the cup, then use a spudger or similar to gradually stretch and work the edge of the pad until it all slips into the groove. Take care not to slip and cut or damage the pad.
All done! Put them on and crank up some tunes!
Get a spudger or small flat-blade screwdriver into the gap around the edge of the earpiece and use it to pull the edge of the pad out. Work this all the way round and then slip the pad off the earpiece. We'll fit the new earpads last - first we have to pretty much strip the headphones to get at the headband pad. Remove the screws and lift up the driver:
Make a note of which wires go into which part of the distribution block:
Then loosen the screws in the block and remove the driver part altogether:
You do need to remove both earpads if you're replacing those, but you only have to fully disassemble one side of the headphones to get the headband pad off. I got a bit overexcited and did the whole thing before I realised that it was unnecessary. Here are the pics of the other side for reference. Apart from the wiring, the two sides are identical.
Now pop one side of the earpiece hanger out of its hole in the earpiece, then do the other side. There will be enough flex in the plastic to do this fairly easily. Thread the cable back out through the hole:
Now we need to remove the hanger mechanism (from one side only). This is to give enough access to slide the headband pad off. So remove all the screws, take the mechanism apart and thread the cable out, making a note of exactly how it's routed to help you put it back together later:
I don't have any pics of this last bit, but I've done this twice now and it takes me about an hour just to take the old pad off and fit the new one. It's probably quicker to use scissors and carefully cut the old pad off, but be VERY careful not to damage the cable. Once you've got the old pad off, you need to put the new pad back on. It's a tight fit and you need to make sure the cable stays in the right place as you do it. Stick with it, you'll get there eventually. Once you've got the new pad fitted and you're happy that it's even, reassemble the hanger mechanism, threading the cable carefully through, and gradually work your way back down til you have the drivers connected and screwed in.
Now comes the final tricky part - fitting the new earpads. Locate the edge of the pad in the groove around the cup, then use a spudger or similar to gradually stretch and work the edge of the pad until it all slips into the groove. Take care not to slip and cut or damage the pad.
All done! Put them on and crank up some tunes!
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Dude, thanks for this! I'm seeing that you posted this blog more than ten years ago, but it just helped me *today*! I have several sets of M40fs headphones and love how they sound. But after nearly 20 years, the pleather was just gross. Audio Technica sells the parts, but offers no clues as to how to replace them properly (at least you got someone to rattle off the instructions off the top of his head… the guy I got said I could return them if I didn't know what to do with them!). I'd been searching the Internet for days trying to find any clues. Because of you, my cans are good as new!
That's great. I'm really glad you found it helpful. The third time the headband got flaky I ended up just wrapping it with black electrical tape and ran them like that for a while (with new ear pads).
Another problem I found is that the flat rings of foam around both drivers have deteriorated, making the headphones less comfy and less isolating. I tried replacing them with pieces cut from some packing foam I had but it wasn't the same. Not sure if it was the type of foam or if the dimensions of the new pieces were too different.
They have been consigned to a drawer as I've recently upgraded to a set of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80ohm headphones. They sound (to me) similar to the M40fs and I guess I'll find out what they're like to maintain. Happy listening!