[537778]

Example of the issue starting on stealth pads:



This issue has affected multiple (if not all since the Aeon?) Dan Clark Audio headphones. I don't see evidence that having a different material on one side as the only change will prevent the foam twisting underneath the pad, which is what happens to Dan Clark Audio headphones.


What? That's not what you told me over email, these are the replacement pads, and I had to buy them full price. What is going on here?

Shady business practices and bit of damage controle perhaps!

That's the driver reacting to the pressure. If you don't like it stop pressing on it.



That sucks, and is considered a warranty issue. Drop us a note and we'll replace those pads.

Sewing has tolerances, folk, normally it's +/-2mm for a lot of pad vendors, we've managed to get it to +/-1mm but even then a sewn seam will almost never lay on the sharp edge of the foam, it will usually go to the outside edge causing a bulge. AEON pads are very narrow so foam movement is more of an issue because the ration of seem size to contact area is lower so the foam can more readily shift, most pads do fine but not all do and we will cover problems like your photo under warranty.

Lastly, the larger the pad the less likely the problem. It's a question of ratio of seem to surface area of the top surface to the size of the seem, more or less. A fat round pad won't move because there's a lot more surface area relative to the seem size. But then you have a bulkier, heavier headphone that covers a big part of your cheek.

The Stealth pads are wider and therefore much more stable and to date I am not aware of anyone having a problem, and the photos that have been "shown" on other sites are not indicative of anything other than normal tolerances.

that's a stupid excuse tolerances as argeuemny - don't forget you are charging 4k for these. It's like buying a Ferrari and saying sorry we can't offer confortable seats because our tolerances won't meet the critareia.

 

[audioandy]

What do you expect? That the pads will not change any shape? Also is losing bass something you have experienced or you _think_ it might happen?

To be clear in the distinction between normal headphone pad fatigue and Dan Clark headphone pad foam twisting: All headphone pads on cans I've owned have some sign of fatigue and degradation over time. The question is what kind of issues arise and how quickly the arise. For example, my Clears absorb oil from my face, so the gray pads have become discolored, giving them an unsightly look. This is a common complaint of the Clears. However the pad material and shape have stayed in tact.

For pads that fatigue and lose their depth, this is usually slow, and the pads don't lose their shape, they just get more squished. This is expected and for all I know it's unavoidable. This kind of degradation is usually measured in years and at least for me, is an acceptable consequence of wear and tear of headphones from multiple uses. My LCDx headphones which I use regularly only show minor signs of pad fatigue over use. Of course if you buy a poorly designed headphone stand like the wooden curved ones that keep pressure on the pads at rest, your fatigue might be faster. Same with yoga blocks.

For Dan Clark Audio headphones, the pad foam twists on the order of weeks which is both unexpectedly fast and also a unique issue with Dan Clark Audio headphones. By the way, I didn't see this twisting happen with the luxurious Mad Dog pads, this seems to be a unique issue starting from the Aeon design on.

A pair of cans I've owned where the pads degrade in less than a year is the AudioTechnica anything, we've all probably experienced smears or flakes of pleather on our heads from these pads failing. At the price point of the AudioTechnicas, I don't really care, especially because they're great for throwing in a backpack and beating up in travel. For expensive headphones you keep at home? Not my cup of tea.

I hope that clears up the distinction about types of pad fatigue. Not something I want to risk in a $4,000 headphone purchase given what I've seen from others.

 

[mrspeakers]

Example of the issue starting on stealth pads:

This issue has affected multiple (if not all since the Aeon?) Dan Clark Audio headphones. I don't see evidence that having a different material on one side as the only change will prevent the foam twisting underneath the pad, which is what happens to Dan Clark Audio headphones.


What? That's not what you told me over email, these are the replacement pads, and I had to buy them full price. What is going on here?

That isn't a problem on Stealth it's a normal seem. What you had on AEON is, if the base of the foam moves like that it's an issue. We don't warranty normal wear on pads, but that's not normal. If you got a different answer from support email dan@ the company name with the correspondence and we'll sort you out.

that's a stupid excuse tolerances as argeuemny - don't forget you are charging 4k for these. It's like buying a Ferrari and saying sorry we can't offer confortable seats because our tolerances won't meet the critareia.

Ferrari seats have stitching tolerance too, my friend. It's just the seat is 20" wide so you can't SEE a 2mm tolerance.

I clearly stated this is not going to be an issue for Stealth pads. A little registration between the foam and the seem is normal. Foam rolling would not be.

 

[skootb]

I also did a listen with the niimbus US4+ amp. Did not like it at all. The niimbus puts this warm veil over the sound that just obscures the music.

This surprises me. I haven't heard the Niimbus, but none of the reviews I read said anything close to this

 

[DarginMahkum]

This surprises me. I haven't heard the Niimbus, but none of the reviews I read said anything close to this

Probably nobody compared it to HPA4 side by side, yet.

 

[537778]

Ferrari seats have stitching tolerance too, my friend. It's just the seat is 20" wide so you can't SEE a 2mm tolerance.

I clearly stated this is not going to be an issue for Stealth pads. A little registration between the foam and the seem is normal. Foam rolling would not be.

Ye but you never had a product before that qualifies 4k and all of sudden you have technology you make it sound like worth that much is bonkers.

Ferrari built their reputation over 75 years and it didn't just become a brand overnight.

 

[vonBaron]

This surprises me. I haven't heard the Niimbus, but none of the reviews I read said anything close to this

Niimbus is not very good with Stealth.

 

[Alcophone]

I have no issues with the pads on my Ether Flow and Ether C Flow that I bought four years ago. Of course the pads were swapped for the newer version three years ago. The Ether C Flow saw basically daily use until COVID hit.

Do they look perfectly aligned? Well, no. But they work just fine and are comfortable.

 

[elira]

I have no issues with the pads on my Ether Flow and Ether C Flow that I bought four years ago. Of course the pads were swapped for the newer version three years ago. The Ether C Flow saw basically daily use until COVID hit.

Do they look perfectly aligned? Well, no. But they work just fine and are comfortable.

The Aeon pads are the ones that exhibit the issue because they have very narrow walls. The ether pads have wider walls so it's harder for the foam to twist inside.

 

[Alcophone]

The Aeon pads are the ones that exhibit the issue because they have very narrow walls. The ether pads have wider walls so it's harder for the foam to twist inside.

I quote the broad accusation that inspired my comment:

For Dan Clark Audio headphones, the pad foam twists on the order of weeks which is both unexpectedly fast and also a unique issue with Dan Clark Audio headphones.

No "ÆON style" qualifier used.

 

[MSA1133]

No issues with my pads, maybe it's because of the light on the seams?

Moreover, fit and finish issues crop up from time to time with all manufacturers. I've had the rubber O-ring on my Abyss TC headband break in less than a year (to fix it you had to buy a new headband until the latest revision came with changeable O-rings access) and my Veritie Closed left cup fell off and I had to use locktite to screw it back to the metal rod in as per the ZMF instructions. These are multi thousand headphones that had issues, but the companies/owners took care of me and fixed it or showed me how to do it myself.

And this is just the fit and finish. I would spend ages talking about my Beyers drivers failing, Hifiman driver imbalances and Utopia's cable along with the other items that I have, but it is something to be expected when you are in this hobby. If it's within the warranty period, I have them repaired/replaced, if they are not, I buy the parts to fix them or send them in.

 

[mrspeakers]

Cough cough.... This ear pad was not made by us, note the stitching on the base. This pad was made by another vendor.

I don't mind accepting responsibility for our own issues, but I'm not owning this one.

 

[Alcophone]

Cough cough.... This ear pad was not made by us, note the stitching on the base. This pad was made by another vendor.

I don't mind accepting responsibility for our own issues, but I'm not owning this one.

Could be Dekoni.

 

[Jimthecoffeeguy]

So in regards to aeon pads, I wear thickish glasses and I've clocked up... I dunno 1300-2000 odd hours in them with musical listening and a loooot of gaming/streaming

I can say they still sound fantastic and have no issues in the last year odd.
I HAVE had the pad "issue" but this was and is easily remedied by tweaking the pads. In fact Dan did a video about it here:



I can say that my pads have some slight wear but you'd be hard pressed to know their not nearly new still.

The only noticable wear is the black paint finish wearing off a little bit on the gimbal near the earcups. From lots of adjusting with my hands and being placed on a hard surface (won't make that mistake with the Stealth's tho,!)

As for STEALTH, I've noticed it can do a similar thing to the aeons but not as bad, and probably only from wearing glasses. The same trick for the aeons works with stealth and is a lot easier too I might add.

I don't wear glasses with stealth now, but mainly because I get a poor seal and loss of bass from my glasses

 

[qboogie]

Cough cough.... This ear pad was not made by us, note the stitching on the base. This pad was made by another vendor.

I don't mind accepting responsibility for our own issues, but I'm not owning this one.

Ooh, I think that's called checkmate.