[Condocondor]

Would love to know how the Elite Hybrid sounds on the Massdrop HE4XX with the fenestrated sheepskin compared to the stock pads? I'd like to boost the bass a bit and tame the treble.

 

[shwaz]

@DekoniAudio any chance of some discount kindness for sweet, sweet replacement pads? i've loved the elite foam enough to want to try another of yours

 

[thefitz]

@DekoniAudio any chance of some discount kindness for sweet, sweet replacement pads? i've loved the elite foam enough to want to try another of yours

The Hifiman pads are on massdrop right now, and the chat has a frequency response chart to show what the pads do.

 

[thefitz]

Installed a set of sheepskin HE earpads on my HE-5LE, replacing the TH-X00 sheepskin pads that were on it before.

I loved the sound of the TH-X00 pads - they did amazing things to the overall texture, quantity, and slam of the bass, but they also introduced some peakiness that made them fatiguing after a while.

Putting on the proper sheepskin pads, the headphones settled on both ends - the peakiness went away, and the intensity of the bass evened out. They're a fantastic match.

 

[Audio Addict]

I recently received my Fenestrated Sheepskin and put them on my HE-6s. In addition to the overall comfort and quality over the HiFiMan Focus A pads, the Sonic's just improved adding needed clarity and detail the Focus A pads were missing. A definite must have over HiFiMan pads.

 

[thefitz]

Moved the Denoki Sheepskin onto my HE-560. If you were ever finding the HE-560 to be a little on the grainy side, here's your solution.

I just find it funny how these seem to even out treble. On pretty much every other set, sheepskin increased the treble considerably....

 

[Voxata]

Really good to know, thanks for sharing. I use other methods to even out the treble however I'll be needing new pads at some point. Patient on this, will try to wait for a drop.

 

[thefitz]

Really good to know, thanks for sharing. I use other methods to even out the treble however I'll be needing new pads at some point. Patient on this, will try to wait for a drop.

For full transparency, the sheepskin is the only one I tried from this drop, due to measurements I found (which I can no longer locate). It extended the bass considerably, and seemed to have the most even treble.

Granted the HE-560 is still bright, but the grain and harshness is gone. It's almost like it's a grain filter, haha

 

[DekoniAudio]

For full transparency, the sheepskin is the only one I tried from this drop, due to measurements I found (which I can no longer locate). It extended the bass considerably, and seemed to have the most even treble.

Granted the HE-560 is still bright, but the grain and harshness is gone. It's almost like it's a grain filter, haha

Interesting findings, thanks for sharing your experience! We’ll put up measurements with our pads on the HE-400i we have, soon, but first we’re going to publish a graph for our Audiobook Technica AD-series pads (because we already finished the measurements).

 

[Voxata]

For full transparency, the sheepskin is the only one I tried from this drop, due to measurements I found (which I can no longer locate). It extended the bass considerably, and seemed to have the most even treble.

Granted the HE-560 is still bright, but the grain and harshness is gone. It's almost like it's a grain filter, haha

Interesting, not sure I'd want the HE-560 bass extended lower. I think the reach is more than adequate! I use a shelf liner with a quarter size hole cut out below the screwplate to even the treble.

 

[thefitz]

Interesting, not sure I'd want the HE-560 bass extended lower. I think the reach is more than adequate! I use a shelf liner with a quarter size hole cut out below the screwplate to even the treble.

If memory serves, the graph was in the drop chat. But then again, if memory served, I'd have the link!

EDIT: Found em

 

[DekoniAudio]

Interesting findings, thanks for sharing your experience! We’ll put up measurements with our pads on the HE-400i we have, soon, but first we’re going to publish a graph for our Audiobook Technica AD-series pads (because we already finished the measurements).

Our HE-400i is returning home after some demo use, and next in line for a graph... and so is some near-production pads for a new set of headphones

 

[thefitz]

I have an update, for anybody who's interested.

I had spent considerable time exclusively listening to my HE-560s with sheepskin pads on them. My observations above still stand - the bass extends to zero and the upper octave seems to extend forever. The leather pads did make the HE-560 sound a bit "reedy" in some settings and the overall treble energy could get a little fatiguing over time, especially with cymbal-heavy music and crunchy guitars.

After doing some research, I decided to invest in a pair of velour pads, figuring I'd conjure up a bit of the "Focus-A" effect. For me, they ended up being a much better fit for the 560 than the sheepskins on their own. Yes, there's a slight sub-sub-bass rolloff (starting at 30Hz according to the graphs), but the pads also tame >10kHz which was sorely needed - graphs also show the velour pads rolling off this treble energy in a natural way, whereas the sheepskins extended it throughout.

Given my HE-5LEs needed more help in the bass and treble, I think the sheepskins are the best fit there. Granted I did not try the velours with the HE-5LEs.

 

[Asahi Templar]

Our HE-400i is returning home after some demo use, and next in line for a graph... and so is some near-production pads for a new set of headphones

Would be great if you could do some measurements of changes on a Sundara or one of the other newer Hifimans. They have a different earpad than the older ones so it would be great to see how sound changes compared to the new pali pads.

 

[DekoniAudio]

Would be great if you could do some measurements of changes on a Sundara or one of the other newer Hifimans. They have a different earpad than the older ones so it would be great to see how sound changes compared to the new pali pads.

We would have to see if we could borrow a pair somewhere ^__^
However, the HE-400i with Dekoni Pads should have some strong resemblance to Sundara with Dekoni pads, right? We just haven't had ears-on time with that newer model yet, been building new pads for more headphones (like HD 598, more in the works!)