[DekoniAudio]

I'm really curious about the fenestrated sheepskin pads - they sound great on HD650's, and jeepers, you can't beat them for comfort.

We actually just tested the HD650 in our test rig about a week ago. We just need to compile the data into a graph.

 

[nil opmas]

All of Dekoni's earpads guarantees comfort and great sound. Looking forward to getting one after I get a K701.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I think a some Dekoni pads for the new LCD-1 would be... <3

 

[DekoniAudio]

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Beyerdynamic DT Premium line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience.

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have Beyerdynamic available in Choice Leather and Choice Suede. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we aren’t using compensation except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs.

​

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. Keep in mind that our Amplitude (y-axis) scale is only 40 dB... compared to some graphs that scrunch the Y-Axis down to a flatter line, ours shows more contrast. With our measurements, we used the refined DT1990, which comes Stock with Beyerdynamic’s Velour.


We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it). With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see a deeper v-shape with more bass emphasis than stock. Keep in mind a little “bowl” in the midrange between 1kHz and 5 kHz is common, because without it, vocals would sound “shouty” and louder than the extended frequencies, however this pad is firmly in bass-lover's territory.

Our Fenestrated Sheepskin is very similar in shape to the stock pad, though the transition from bass to mids is a bit more linear, and the treble has just a bit of the edge taken off compared to the rest of the frequency range. This pad is popular with DT owners who like the stock sound but prefer the feeling of leather. Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads, compared to solid sheepskin.


Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it traces very similar to the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads on this headphone, with just a bit less energy in the lower mids. Not shown on these graphs is the comfort difference between our memory foam and Beyerdynamic's stock foam... ours is softer with more give.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure with more sub bass amplitude and less lower midrange for a more airy sound. This pad sounds like our Fenestrated Sheepskin, but with a bit more sub-bass presence, and you feel velour cloth in contact with your skin.


Dekoni’s Protein Leather is an economical alternative to skins, as it is made from eggshell protein, and has a thinner weight and a more even grain structure than the Sheepskin. As you can see from the graph, it forms a very good seal, changing the overall tilt of the response curve towards a bass-emphasized, treble de-emphasized signature for a warm, "big" sound.

Finally, our new Choice Leather and Choice Suede pads that have been making waves on the forums lately, trace a very similar signature to each other (which is also very close to the Sheepskin). That’s because they’re all sealed pads, though the comfort preferences still remain yours.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and ear pads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! One great feature of Beyerdynamic’s pad mount design is the relative ease of changing pads, so pads can be changed on a whim. We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!


Dekoni DT pads attach to the DT770, DT880, DT990, DT1990, DT1770, MMX, Custom One Pro, MMX, T1, T5, Amiron Home, and many more within the Beyerdynamic brand, but also work other brand headphones such as the Razer Kraken Pro Tournament, Enigma Acoustics Dharma, AKG K240, and many more. Dekoni DT pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally and dekoniaudio.com, with prices ranging from $34.99 to $79.99

 

[SoundHelmet]

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Beyerdynamic DT Premium line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience.


We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have Beyerdynamic available in Choice Leather and Choice Suede. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.


In our measurements, we aren’t using compensation except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. With our measurements, we used the refined DT1990, which comes Stock with Beyerdynamic’s Velour.


We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it). With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see a similar shaped frequency response and only up to a 5 dB deviation from stock, where the biggest change is a smoother transition between bass and mids around the 2 kHz range. Keep in mind the little “bowl” in the midrange between 1kHz and 5 kHz is normal, because without it, vocals would sound “shouty” and louder than the extended frequencies!

Our Fenestrated Sheepskin is also similar in shape to the stock pad, though the transition from bass to mids is a bit more abrupt while transitioning to the highs is more gradual, and this “shelf” makes the midrange sound more distinct from the lows and highs. You could also look at this as a good choice for anyone who felt like the treble could use just a bit more amplitude relative to the bass. Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads.


Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it traces very similar to the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads on this headphone, with just a bit less energy in the lower mids. In fact, this is a great opportunity to choose based on your comfort preference for cloth or leather, contrary to most velours which lose low end and high end pitch quantity that leave a bare the midrange.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure with more amplitude and linearity in the midrange, and a smaller contrast between the 4kHz and 6 kHz valleys and peaks than stock, like our Fenestrated Sheepskin but with a bit more mids presence.


Dekoni’s Protein Leather is an economical alternative to skins, as it is made from eggshell protein, and has a thinner weight and a more even grain structure than the Sheepskin. As you can see from the graph, it forms a very good seal, changing the overall tilt of the response curve towards a bass-emphasized, treble de-emphasized signature for a more relaxed sound.

Finally, our new Choice Leather and Choice Suede pads that have been making waves on the forums lately, trace a very similar signature to each other (which is also very close to the Sheepskin). That’s because they’re all sealed pads, though it should be noted that the Choice Suede noticeably lacks a treble peak around 9 kHz.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and ear pads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! One great feature of Beyerdynamic’s pad mount design is the relative ease of changing pads, so pads can be changed on a whim. to We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!


Dekoni DT pads attach to the DT770, DT880, DT990, DT1990, DT1770, MMX, Custom One Pro, MMX, T1, T5, Amiron Home, and many more within the Beyerdynamic brand, but also work other brand headphones such as the Razer Kraken Pro Tournament, Enigma Acoustics Dharma, AKG K240, and many more. Dekoni DT pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally and dekoniaudio.com, with prices ranging from $34.99 to $79.99

Wrong pictures? Text is about DT pads but pic are about lcd pads

 

[DekoniAudio]

Good point, link URL issue... will fix
Edit: Tada! We're publishing a few more measurements this month, and we'll keep the table of contents updated.

 

[DekoniAudio]

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Koss ESP/95X line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience.

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). For optimum performance, we have covered the memory foam with Fenestrated Sheepskin. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we are sharing the raw data except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we provide the raw data, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock Vinyl pad.

We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today. Our Fenestrated (Perforated) Sheepskin is almost indistinguishable from the stock pad, except for the slightly more linear bass extension as the frequency drops, and of course the comfort is improved with the leather texture, superior heat dissipation, and still easy to wipe clean with a cloth.



The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!


Our Koss pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com.

sales@dekoniaudio.com | dekoniaudio.com | facebook.com/dekoniaudio | instagram: @dekoniaudio.com​

 

[DekoniAudio]

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Sennheiser HD 6XX line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience.


We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have just added HD 6XX pads in our new Choice Leather and Choice Suede. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads – these pads will fit the HD 660 S, HD 6XX, HD 58X Jubilee, HD 650, and HD 600. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we use the measurement data from the headphone coupled with the realistic ears of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! The data is presented raw and uncompensated, except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head, and it’s the average data from 5 slightly different seatings of the headphone. Some measurements by others are made without headphones actually sitting on ears, or with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs. Tap or click any graph to enlarge.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the effect from the earcups and pads resting against a head and around ears, the human ear’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. With our measurements, we used the well-known HD 650, which comes Stock with Sennheiser’s velour pad.


We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated. With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see a similar frequency response curve shape as stock, except the bass response is stronger relative to the rest of the frequencies than before. Great for anyone who felt the HD 650 was a little flat, and could use a touch of excitement (and leather)!

Our Fenestrated (From the Latin root meaning “windowed,” it has little holes in it) Sheepskin is also a bit bass-stronger than stock, except the bass boost isn’t as strong as the solid Sheepskin and the upper mids/treble rise is a little more subdued. One thing the graphs don’t show but we hear all the time from our customers: the Fenestrated Sheepskin seems to unmask extra detail. This has been our bestselling pad for this model! Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads, but are small enough to allow a damp cloth to wipe away sweat and grime easily without damaging the memory foam beneath.

Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it is stronger relative to the mids and highs! This is the most v-shaped pad in this lineup with more bass and a bit more treble relative to the midrange, but still our Velour pad presents largely the same sonic character as stock, and improved comfort due to the less stiff memory foam which also retains its shape better through repeat listens.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure very closely to the Fenestrated Sheepskin, which makes sense because both have Fenestrated Sheepskin on the side of the pad that faces the driver and the path of the sound, however it has the soft Velour on the side that touches your face and head, and a sleek sheet of Sheepskin to dress up the exterior face of the pad.


Last but not least, the newest pads are the Choice Leather and Choice Suede pads. Boasting a 3 dB increase in bass, they trace a very similar signature to the Sheepskin, though it should be noted that the Suede option creates the least energy near 10,000 Hz out of all the pads. These are vegan synthetic alternatives to animal hide, and their smooth, soft surface has a more even grain structure than a natural product, and it’s thinner to contain less heat.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Our Sennheiser pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com.

sales@dekoniaudio.com | dekoniaudio.com | facebook.com/dekoniaudio | instagram: @dekoniaudio.com​

 

[DekoniAudio]

I'm really curious about the fenestrated sheepskin pads - they sound great on HD650's, and jeepers, you can't beat them for comfort.

Did you see that the measurements are up? Thanks again for the compliment!

 

[dsrk]

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Sennheiser HD 6XX line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience.


We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have just added HD 6XX pads in our new Choice Leather and Choice Suede. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads – these pads will fit the HD 660 S, HD 6XX, HD 58X Jubilee, HD 650, and HD 600. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we use the measurement data from the headphone coupled with the realistic ears of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! The data is presented raw and uncompensated, except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head, and it’s the average data from 5 slightly different seatings of the headphone. Some measurements by others are made without headphones actually sitting on ears, or with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs. Tap or click any graph to enlarge.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the effect from the earcups and pads resting against a head and around ears, the human ear’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. With our measurements, we used the well-known HD 650, which comes Stock with Sennheiser’s velour pad.


We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated. With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see a similar frequency response curve shape as stock, except the bass response is stronger relative to the rest of the frequencies than before. Great for anyone who felt the HD 650 was a little flat, and could use a touch of excitement (and leather)!

Our Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it) Sheepskin is also a bit bass-stronger than stock, except the bass boost isn’t as strong as the solid Sheepskin and the upper mids/treble rise is a little more subdued. One thing the graphs don’t show but we hear all the time from our customers: the Fenestrated Sheepskin seems to unmask extra detail. This has been our bestselling pad for this model! Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads, but are small enough to allow a damp cloth to wipe away sweat and grime easily without damaging the memory foam beneath.

Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it is stronger relative to the mids and highs! This is the most v-shaped pad in this lineup with more bass and a bit more treble relative to the midrange, but still our Velour pad presents largely the same sonic character as stock, and improved comfort due to the less stiff memory foam which also retains its shape better through repeat listens.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure very closely to the Fenestrated Sheepskin, which makes sense because both have Fenestrated Sheepskin on the side of the pad that faces the driver and the path of the sound, however it has the soft Velour on the side that touches your face and head, and a sleek sheet of Sheepskin to dress up the exterior face of the pad.


Last but not least, the newest pads are the Choice Leather and Choice Suede pads. Boasting a 3 dB increase in bass, they trace a very similar signature to the Sheepskin, though it should be noted that the Suede option creates the least energy near 10,000 Hz out of all the pads. These are vegan synthetic alternatives to animal hide, and their smooth, soft surface has a more even grain structure than a natural product, and it’s thinner to contain less heat.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Our Sennheiser pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com.

sales@dekoniaudio.com | dekoniaudio.com | facebook.com/dekoniaudio | instagram: @dekoniaudio.com​

Looks great, thanks.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Can you guys do graphs of LCD2 classic with your Suede pads, as well as the Fostex Ebony with suede pads?

 

[sennfan83261]

Any planned deep dive with your Hifiman pad lineup?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I would love some suede pads for the big boy Hifiman cans.

 

[Cyberchaos]

Any plan for new HD800 measurements?

 

[thefitz]

Hello all,

I thought I'd post the review I wrote for the Dekoni Choice Suede and Leather pads I wrote on Drop:

This headphone hobby can really be insane. The price people pay for freaking headphone cables that make no measurable performance difference (expensive cables always seem to magically cure whatever a headphone's ailments are, and they always "open up the mids"); claiming to be able to "hear" USB jitter (it sounds "metallic" and "fatiguing"); leaving your DAC on so it's always at the right temperature (OK, I do this!); endless tube rolling; the list goes on. Yet, there are things that have a huge impact on a headphone's sound that are difficult (if not impossible) to find consistent and reliable information on: things like a device's output impedance (crucial for balanced armature IEMs); a BA IEM's impedance curve (what will happen when plugged into something with a little impedance?); the effect earpads and eartips can have.

Earpad/eartip rolling is a hobby unto itself. It has turned some IEMs from harsh messes into audio perfection (every try 2-flange SpinFit tips on the Noble Kaiser 10?) and has turned some of my headphones from "For Sale" listings into crucial pieces of kit. Dekoni pads are a huge reason for this, particularly the Choice offering.

While I wish they’d revisit the measurements of some important headphones since purchasing Tyll’s storied measurement rig (I’m looking at you, HD800!), their latest measurements have really demonstrated the impact pads have on a headphone.

Not all of it is good; it appears that there’s no salvaging the HD700, the HD650 turns to mud with anything other than stock pads, and beyerdynamics seem to explode when using certain materials. I’ve experienced this first-hand, and I’ll elaborate on that in a bit. However, you do notice that certain earpad materials have attributes in common, regardless of what headphone they’re on.

Both the Choice Suede and Choice Leather pads appear to have very specific characteristics that are consistent across all their available measurements, and I can personally verify that the Choice Suede and Leather pads do what the measurements say they do.

The Choice Leather pads appear to smooth out the 8kHz-10kHz region tastefully and fortify and smooth out the 2kHz-5kHz area, but they also seem to have a bit of a bump at 45Hz before divebombing in the sub-bass. The Choice Suede pads appear to leave the bass alone, while retaining that 2kHz-5kHz consistency. The real magic here is the fact that they completely smooth out whatever spikes exist at the 8kHz-10kHz range, for better or for worse. I find this area of the sound spectrum particularly irritating when it’s boosted, and in my experience a lot of headphones have trouble here.

I have a pair of Audeze LCD-X headphones that I was actively shopping. They sounded fine, but I had an Audeze LCD-3F I liked better. Both headphones had a little too much heat in the 8kHz-10kHz area for me, and the Audeze LCD-X had a withdrawn low-treble which made this peak stand out even more.

When the LCD-3F’s vegan pads started to fray (oh no!) I decided to pull the trigger on the Choice Suede pads to see if they’d calm down the treble heat. When they arrived, they did precisely that – that smoky, romantic presentation remained, with nary a hint of unbecoming crispiness up top. The whole 2kHz-10kHz spectrum seemed to flow into itself much more evenly, and I thought it was a great match.

At that point, I revisited Dekoni’s LCD-2F measurements (https://dekoniaudio.com/audeze-lcd-2-measurements/) and noticed the Elite Sheepskin pads also provided a small 8kHz-10kHz cut yet extended the bass to 0. My curiosity got the best of me, and I purchased them for my LCD-3F, where they remain today (partially because I don’t know how many pad swaps those 3M adhesive rings will handle!).

I wasn’t getting much interest on my LCD-X ad. Instead of lowering the price, I decided to throw caution to the wind and remove the stock leather pads and replace them with the Choice Suede pads I just took off the LCD-3F. I mean, these pads should cool the treble here too, right?

My goodness was I ever right. Whatever magic they performed on the LCD-3F was tripled for the LCD-X. It’s like it inverted the headphone’s frequency response from 2kHz-10kHz – the transition was so much more natural, and there wasn’t a hint of harshness in the upper extremes. With the LCD-X’s drier midrange relative to the LCD-3F, the presentation was so balanced it ventured into “boring” territory in the best way possible. I can imagine a Choice Suede armed LCD-X would be the mastering headphone to rule all mastering headphones: every shred of detail is available from 0Hz-20kHz, yet nothing is emphasized. This headphone went from having an irritating treble profile to becoming a consummate all-rounder, almost to a fault.

I revisted the LCD-2F measurements again – and it made my curious to hear how the Choice Leather’s similar if not quite as drastic treble attenuation and 45Hz bump/divebomb would sound on the LCD-X. Off I went to purchase a set, and I installed them.

First of all, the adhesive rings of the Choice Suede pads were quite worse for the wear after their second removal. I bet they’d stick on a third time, but I anticipate a third removal would require a new adhesive ring. Who knows where to source those? Hopefully Dekoni can help on that front.

The Choice Leather pads have a fantastic synergy with the LCD-X, and they shall remain on them (although I wish pad rolling was easier on Audeze headphones!). This “45Hz divebomb” is a fascinating artifact: while the lack of extension was evident, the texture and speed of the bass improved considerably and left me appreciating the bass response more than I did before. You could hear the pump of kick-drum skins and the satisfying ‘thunk’ of an upright bass in addition to feeling the air move, and I believe these details were lost under the sheer wallop of the LCD-X with other earpads.

The treble was toned down to a point where it is almost beyond reproach, sitting at a near-identical level with the bass. The Choice Suede pads definitely imparted a warm quality to the LCD-X, whereas the Choice Leather pads kept things neutral without a touch of harshness. Snare drums and cymbal work that used to cause a squint with stock pads or carried a tastefully warm timbre with the Choice Suede pads, now sat perfectly in the mix, to the point where I am more easily noticing aural cues compared to before. I am amazed at how much detail can get lost in a haze of crispy treble and far-extended bass. The upper-mids were as tastefully fortified as they were with the Choice Suede pads, which made the LCD-X much more cohesive sounding compared to it in the stock configuration.

Jumping between the Choice Leather-clad LCD-X and Elite Sheepskin-clad LCD-3F lead to some very interesting comparisons. The LCD-3F definitely lead the charge on the bass extension and treble presence front, although the treble was just a hair crispier than I’d prefer. The LCD-3F’s romantic mids yields one lush mass of sound, where your focus is on the overall soundscape before you delve into the details. The LCD-X’s drier mids, even treble, and speaker-like bass response allowed you to be the judge, allowing me to drift your attention between the macro and the micro with ease. I feel that both Dekoni-clad cans are all-rounders, with the LCD-3F being a euphonious all-rounder, and the LCD-X is a more traditional all-rounder. I could not have asked for a better duo of headphones to be able to jump between.

I twice owned an LCD-XC and twice ditched it due to the sheer treble onslaught I was presented with – I felt like I was listening to a concert in a venue with all the lights on, and the bulbs being 5k “cool white” lights. I bet these Dekoni pads, particularly the Choice Suede pads, would be a complete game-changer for them. If anybody is on the fence about selling their LCD-XC, I implore you to try the Choice Suede pads before making your final decision.

Now, my dumb ass also ordered a set of Choice Suede pads for my beyerdynamic T1, instead of the Fenestrated Sheepskin ones I meant to order. I can confirm the horror of those DT1990 measurements (https://dekoniaudio.com/beyerdynamic-dt1990-measurements/) on the T1. The bass increased to this indistinct mass that would shame a TH900 in its quantity yet compliment it in its quality. Yes, the 8kHz hell-spike of the T1 was smoothed out, but next to that atomic bomb of a bass profile it was a dreadful mix. There are other headphones that can give you this sound for a much better price.

For a time, the beyerdynamic Choice Suede pads were relegated to my “unused Dekoni pad” shelf. Then, I thought I’d investigate if I could get these going on my HiFiMAN HE-560s, which can be glaringly bright in the very problem area I’ve been describing for some time now.

Yes, they’re a little too small for the HiFiMAN mounting rings, but I had a spare set I trimmed down that came from a pair of Focus pads that inevitably came apart.

Now we’re talking. It gave the HE-560 the warming up it direly needed. Frankly, the entire HiFiMAN HE range could use a fair bit of treble reduction, and Dekoni is sitting on goldmine if they decide to release Choice Suede HiFiMAN HE-series pads… as much of a goldmine as aftermarket earphone pads can be, of course.

With Choice Suede, the HD700 just might be listenable after all. It might turn the HD800 into the HD650 successor people hoped it would be. It might be the HE-6 pad. Yet Dekoni has no official offering for any of these headphones. What a shame!

With the currently available offerings, however, I used to have headphones that I was considering/actively selling, and now I proudly listen to them. And it's due to the Dekoni Choice earpads.

tl;dr Choice Suede pads are great for cooling the treble of hot headphones. The Choice Leather pads provide a more tasteful treble tempering, at the cost of some sub extension – just check the measurements to ensure they don’t make the bass explode.