Dekoni Audio Elite Ear Pads for Dan Clark Audio AEON

corgifall

1000+ Head-Fier
Dekoni Audio elite pads for Dan Clark Audio aeons
Pros: Great comfort, good variety of sound differences from each pad, finally some after market pads for the aeons!
Cons: Noticeable sound changes require you pick and choose pads carefully for the open or closed aeons.
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Shout out to Dylan from Dekoni Audio for sending me the pads to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the opinions in my reviews.

The Aeon series from Dan Clark Audio is a fantastic sounding set of lightweight planar headphones that really do well when it comes to comfort and sound quality overall in its price brackets($500 RT models)($900 Aeon 2). However there is one real thing that has always been missing for the audiophile enthusiast that own the Aeon. Pad rolling!!!! Dan sells a inner perforated pad and the normal synthetic leather replacement pads but no one else had aftermarket pads available. Another issue I’ll get into shortly is the stock pads have a strange deforming foam problem. It’s been a known issue and I believe for 80% of aeon owners it’s not a big deal. After catching wind that Dekoni Audio was planning to release three different ear pads for the aeons I was instantly stoked to see how they felt comfort wise and what changes to the sound they brought as well.

The Aeon pad issue- The issue the Aeon pads all comes down to the foam inside the pads. The pads feel great but as time goes on the foam will collapse and get caught against the synthetic inner leather and start to change shape inside the pad. I personally believe this has to do with how soft and thin the synthetic leather feels. For a lot of people this will only cause a cosmetic annoyance. I’ve yet to have the seal be broken with the collapsed pads but if I don’t “massage/pinch” the foam to reshape the pads then the top corner of my ear touches the felt. While not the end of the world most days, it still can really make or break a relaxing listening session if I attempt to just deal with it or have to spend 5 min messing with the pads. Another annoyance is that while doing the fix Dan recommends(he has a video on how to adjust the foam) is that it worked for a week, then eventually a few days and now it’s either a “do it everyday or just deal with it”.

Looks- They look fairly well made. The inside ear cavity of the stock pad is a little wider vs all three pads but I ran into no issues of my ears touching the walls of the Dekoni pads. All three look and feel great.

Comfort- I found both the sheep skin and fenestrated sheepskins cause heating issues with my ears a little faster compared to the stock pads. The Dekoni pads are comfy however so it’s a trade off I’m willing to deal with. The hybrid was the best for comfort with low heat overall. I was easily able to sit through a few hour summer day listening sessions without much heating irritations.

*note* I did all the pad reviews off the Aeon flow RT closed. I also did the testing with no tuning inserts to get the best impressions. Some of these pads will do better for the open vs the closed.

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Elite hybrid
Lows- The lows come in slightly lean compared to the stock pads. This has been fairly common of velour hybrid pads I’ve tested. You don’t get a perfect seal so a little low end is lost. Impact and rumble feel a little lacking. It however doesn’t kill the overall low end sound.

Mids- Mids feel fairly consistent with the stock pads. I felt no quality was lost or boosted when it came to vocals.

Highs- These sound a little brighter than the stock pads. They hit sibilance for me personally a little quicker. Detail in the top end is still fantastic however. For those less treble sensitive this may be a pro.

Imaging and Soundstage- Very much the same as stock pads.

Overall- These were fairly comfy and I didn’t run into heat issues as quickly as the stock pads. Slightly brighter sound overall. I’ve never been a fan of velour pads as they tend to irritate my skin and beard(if I have one). Plus they collect dust and lint like all velour pads and I hate seeing it haha. However! If you like a velour pad, then this is a great option for the aeons. Especially if most the music you listen to doesn’t focus on bass heavy sounds. I’d recommend these for both the open and closed aeons.

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Elite fenestrated Sheep skin
Lows- The lows take a step back in impact and take a more analytical approach. There is still bass presence but it reminds me of the OG Aeon closed house sound. Rather lean overall.

Mids- Mids sound slightly brighter overall. Very detailed but lacks a little meat. Vocals sound a little crisp vs the stock pads.

Highs- Top end is fairly bright while getting into sibilance really quickly for me. I’m sure with open aeons this can really bring out perceived clarity.

Imaging and soundstage- I heard/felt no difference between the stock vs the fenestrated pads.

Overall- I do believe these are meant for the Aeon opens. I wasn’t a fan of the sound coming out of them for my personal tastes. These specific pads sound like they were meant for a darker headphone. I would recommend these for the Aeon opens.

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Elite sheepskin
Lows- Nice and deep. A little more low end thump compared to the stock pads. No bleed into the mids either.

Mids- Sound about the same as the stock pads. Maybe a hair more forward but still sounds really good.

Highs- Highs retain their clarity. These are a tad more sibilant and there is still fairly good detail retrieval overall.

Imaging and Soundstage- Imaging remains the same as stock pads and the soundstage does seem a bit wider. The pads are a hair longer than stock so this may be why.

Overall- My favorite pads of the three. While a little brighter sounding, It has better low end presentation and keeps things very close to the stock pads. I like the feel and comfort of these over the stock pads hands down. I would definitely recommend these for the closed aeons.


Overall thoughts
One thing about the stock pads is even though I waited 3 weeks to do the review of the Aeon RT closed, the internal foam problems didn’t show up till a month and a half-ish after first getting the Aeons. Only time will tell if the Dekoni pads show the same foam issues as the stock pads but with how stiff the sheep skin feels on all three I feel very confident these will last a long long time. Thanks for reading!

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Last edited:
CT007
CT007
"Cons: Noticeable sound changes require you pick and choose pads carefully for the open or closed aeons"

I mean, that's the point, isn't it? To change and improve the sound over the stock pads. Unless you want to keep the stock sound, and just increase comfort. (Probably impossible to find 2 different pads with the same exact sound)
corgifall
corgifall
Yes, you’re correct. Though I wonder what my point was back then. Not sure if it’s like you said and it was a warning that the leather dekoni pads weren’t a simple comfort replacement to the stock pads that eventually start having the foam folding issue or if I was trying to make some type of other point.
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Syzygies
Syzygies
Hypothesis (just a guess):
  • Each style of Dekoni ear pad is identical except for shape, across all supported headphones
  • Each Dan Clark Audio ear pad is carefully tuned for a specific headphone
I make this guess after feeling like I've come to a restaurant on the chef de cuisine's day off. I listened for several days to Elite fenestrated Sheep skin ear pads on Aeon 2 closed headphones. The sound was exceptionally clean, but a bit closed in, "lacks a little meat" as the review says. My sense was that by choosing these earpads I over-damped.

I then ordered AEON Perforated Ear Pads from DCA, to turn my headphones into Aeon 2 Noires. DCA pads are tuned for DCA phones. I swapped them on as soon as they came, for a more effortless, wider sound and greater comfort. They are my overall preference of the three pads I've tried.

DCA claims to have fixed the foam issue, that my original ear pads exhibited. The Dekoni sewing tolerances were off by a similar degree.
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