I promised I would give some feedback on the Dekoni ear pads, so here goes.
Alright, so I got myself two sets of Massdrop-exclusive Dekoni ear pads made for the Fostex TH-X00, but they're also compatible for the Denon D5000.
Alright, so pulling out the contents of the UPS box, I was greeted by two teal-colored boxes with a white center stripe. Each are labeled with the type of leather used, Premium and Sheepskin.
Guess I'll start with the Premium pads.
Looking at the Premium pads, I noticed right away the the ear opening looked more smaller than the Denon pads.
Swapping out the pads and trying them out, I noticed that the leather and foam were more firm than the original pads. As for the openings, they didn't feel any different compared to the Denons.
The material is made out of pleather, though it's not identical to the pleather you would find on the Denon pads. The Dekoni leather is a bit thicker, and more firm. As for comfort, I couldn't imagine myself wearing these for long amounts of time.
Time for the Sheepskin pads.
With the sheepskin pads, the ear openings are a bit smaller than the Premium pads.
Foam is as thick as the Premium pads, but the leather is slightly thicker, I'm guessing because of this pair uses actual sheepskin leather. On comfort, I would prefer the pleather on the Premium pads than the sheepskin on the Sheepskin pads. The pleather is a smoother material than the sheepskin, but between the three, I would still prefer the originals for long listening sessions.
Comfort
Compared to the Premium and Sheepskin ear pads, the foam found in the Denon ear pads are extremely plush and soft, which I find to be very comfortable to wear on my head.
The foam Premium and Sheepskin pads are more firmer than the Denons. When I wore these pads on my head, I could feel the foam press onto my head much more than the Denon pads. It takes a while to get used to, but afterwards, they're not that bad.
Texture
With the Premium pads being made out of pleather, it does have a more softer feeling compared to the Sheepskin pads. However, both these pads lack in softness compared to the Denon pads. Overall, all have a smooth surface. Some just have smoother surfaces more than others. Not that this is a bad thing.
Sound
I’m not good with audiophile terminology, so I'm not going to attempt to use words I don't know.
Mmm, nothing really clicked with me. I didn't really hear that "Foster/Fostex/Denon" sound they're known for. For a lack of a better term, the sound was "eh." This was sort of a heartbreaker for me. For sound, I'd rather go for the originals.
Dimensions
Denon 9H30001706: 107mm diameter | 66x43mm ear opening | 12-25mm thick
Dekoni Premium: 103mm diameter (w/ POM ring) | 59x40mm ear opening | 16-29mm thick
Dekoni Sheepskin: 103mm diameter (w/ POM ring) | 62x31mm ear opening | 17-30mm thick
For what this is, I think that Dekoni made a decent product; nothing too good or bad. The sound was kind of dulled, but nothing too bad. These ear pads weren't for me, I didn't really prefer the sound compared to the original pads.
TL;DR: They're okay, I guess. Different strokes for different folks.