[jonathan c]

Thank you.
Am surprised that more audio shops/manufacturers are not using OCC ("Ohno Continuous Cast") wire, but it could be due to cost and/or a goodwill gesture to keep the aftermarket cable industry thriving.
(Professor Ohno's white paper is a short, worthwhile read.)

Indeed…Arctic Cables has been a longtime user of OCC wire.

 

[ahmonge]

Great stuff, here's a big chunk from the description of my cable from the advert on ebay. It's copper with silver soldering

I knew that a capacitor connected in parallel (a good simile of the capacitance produced by a wire) is a low-pass filter, but not that it introduced frequency-varying signal delays. I would like to see a group delay measurement of an stock and a high priced cable. And a frequency response as well

 

[pataburd]

Moon Audio and FBI Cables also subscribe to OCC.

 

[the1andonly]

Dekoni fens in hand, might get excited and double post (hopefully)
for me wanted to give the Ananda an 8.5 and with bass-boost available via iFi amp it turns into a double threat so like 9.5... but it is lacking some performance, I don't think it needs more soundstage just more technical performance but anyway I decided normally for me it's an 8, that is fair and with bass boost available an 8.5 since it makes it much better for music but still not ideal just because the bass is boosted.

Really like this headphone, going to test on my iFi Micro BL since I have gotten used to it, has bass boost and a nice switch to get it a bit smooth to more sterile and in between, then on the Oppo HA-1 since it can do balanced with a lot ogf performance smoother generally than the iFi BL's smoothest setting, but has enough performance to be both smoother and more grainy than the BL, and then the Woo Audio WA7 which is just super smooth never grainy....

Here we goooo

 

[the1andonly]

P.S. I am bad at grammar, I proof read this once, if anyone wants clarification, please don't quote this entire post, just quote the part that needs editing, I will respond to you and edit this original post. For anyone who finished this wondering, I will likely be using this on the HA-1 vs the WA7, the qualities lost to clear a bit of vocal graininess is too much!

I got the original pads which has some wrinkles, then talked to another seller on amazon like JDgear who said they don't stock B-stock and had them for $10 cheaper and bought from them and they came in better condition so the original Dekoni's went back and I kept the better $10 off ones!

Edit-On further testing on the iFi Micro iDSD BL the units "smoothest" setting the "standard" filter setting is by far the closest to natural being between the HA-1 and the WA7, but there is still a clear bit of noticeable quality lost to the HA-1 being a lesser DAC, that said not nearly as much as the WA7 even with the HA-1's DAC, so the iFi Micro iDSD BL with Standard filter is the best setting for movies I have found but still needs a bit more performance to completely exhaust the Ananda, I wasn't joking when I said there is quite a bit of extra technical performance unlocked.
Edit 2- on korean track sounds better with extra grain on "Minimum phase" setting overall giving the iDSD Micro BL big nod here for best dac/amp for movies, that said for games/music just use the best dac/amp you have and it will be amazing as that graininess isn't a problem for most music and for the stuff it's there it's really just flavor, for games it adds huge soundstage/imaging/layering/separation and detail gains, for me personally I only want to get "lost" sonically in the insane naturality when it comes with video, where I am ok giving up some quality for naturality.... to remove the layer that stop me from being fully immersed into the content, it's very hard to stop watching the movie/tv when it's right, probably better than Ananda AND Sundara with the right dac/amp for the contact and BL gets a big nod(again, movies/tv only!) for hitting it better and for the DAC switch that lets you adjust smoothness which let's you adjust to mix, this version is EXTREMELY picky!(although overall totally better) despite me wanting that extra detail, it's a gigantic improvement still over stock.

Ok so first off, almost all testing was done on the Oppo HA-1 Balanced(and later HA-1's DAC connected to the WA7's amp section SE), I realized very quickly it was enough on this DAC/AMP which to me is the one I know best to figure out what was going on. It also makes everything I say later easier to digest because there are A LOT of changes so we will keep a better control variable here.

First test the half and half, one side old pad, one side new.... First off this was nice because it's a bit... different. Basically the driver is seemingly exposed! Never ran a planar driver this way and I am indeed nervous, of course, in the end with the normal pad on there is simply a thin screen between you and driver so it is minimal protection but at least it's some.

Anyway clearly it is instantly much more open just being able to hear the background and this adds to the transparency of the sound to the benefit of realism... since there is nothing between you and driver, it sounds crisper. This test isn't supposed to actually let you tell the difference it's nearly impossible to do so with both sides playing. However switching between taking both sides on and off the entire presentation is MUCH clearer and crisper, it's bringing in a lot more forward detail, I am even sensing some extra bass getting thru... Crazy how much a little bit of fabric can block so much extra sound. I totally DO understand why it's there, to protect your Ananda's driver, so anyone who wants to try these be wary the original pad has SOME small protection you will be giving up, of course there is a fazor like structure protecting most things from actually touching the driver but this way it's open.




Access directly to the driver without screen adds quality all across the FR, treble is crisper, midrange is clearer, bass hits harder, out of all of those I think the pad itself is accentuating the bass the most. It may be the structure has more surface area on the head or the fenn leather is transferring more "bass feeling". It seems many of the other pads offered by Dekoni, the biggest difference is changing the inner ear fennestrated part, where this retains it and switches up the hybrid [velour?] part, the fen works just as good if not better vs the stock and the outer pad being fen doesn't seem to be letting out much quality or bass.

Anyway listening to an Elton song with normally very little bass without boost I can actually feel the thump in my left ear [Dekoni fen side] it's a noticeable healthy thump on the new pad, while the old one is muffled and muted with basically next to nothing there! The bass before imo wasn't present enough, this does an amazing job, not quite where I want it but closer than the 8+db sub bass boost of the iFi BL to where I would prefer it! Much closer to where I prefer it indeed...

I also have to question, clearly this pad is getting more sub-bass not only to the side of your face but to your ear, how much of this is simply a volume improvement, didn't want to spend too much time on the half/half ear test but I will now try left side steady volume and add a few db to the right side. Changing the right side[stock pad] higher doesn't make it very clear, it just sounds muffled in comparison, on the new pad the mid range is a bit back, bass more forward clearly and treble seems a little more forward. WIth the old pad + volume turned up it makes it seem like a dang HD600 over most of the FR in comparison, only the very tip of the mid range is fully clear, the bass is muffled and recessed! as is the treble! I would have never before said the Ananda was muffled, or muddy, or recessed anywhere but the bass but the new pad truly lifts a veil I did not know was there! It gives it some of that cleaner Sundara magic, but with bass on tap to avoid it having the "anemic" bright-ish sound. I have made it no secret I think the Sundara's tuning was closer to the "real life" effect VS the Ananda although the Ananda overall was better because of performance... I Can honestly say this matched the Sundara as far as music is concerned for impressiveness and clarity, and then jumps clear over it, only the double new pad test will tell if it hits the "sounds like real life" target or jumps too far over it to beat both the Ananda AND Sundara but this to me is tonally clearer! It has better bass than both while not being exaggerated! and performance wise I have to say I don't so much think it "adds" performance to the Anada but instead makes it clear the stock pads were hiding much of the performance that gave it it's original pricetag of $1000... When I had an LCD-2 and LCD-x AND LCD-3 my favorite headphone I first picked up the stock Ananda and immediately thought, objectively, this is clearly better, but I knew in my heart the X and 3 not only trumped it in performance but were my favorites as well and had soul... I am excited, the Ananda might get closer to that target, it might not all out beat the LCD-X/3 but we have added better timbre and tone to an already great headphone(Crinacle ranks it S- tuning, I would agree, this very well might be S or S+) AND seems to unlock some performance, clarity, detail, even resolving power that was frankly muffled and veiled somehow! THE STOCK ANANDA IS NOT VIELED, BUT THIS CLEARLY MAKES IT SOUND VEILED AND MUFFLED ACROSS BASICALLY THE ENTIRE FR!!!!


P.S. for the full switch pad test I want to add a couple things
1. These pads are very memory foam like, in addition the middle surface, instead of being rounded and smaller has much greater surfrace area, with those two combined IT IS POSSIBLE before I wasn't getting as good a seal(I also have glasses but have tested it with/without and heard no different) with the new pads you are almost certainly getting a full seal!

2.I see how @pataburd had issue taking off the stock pads, be VERY CAREFUL! You want to apply pressure but you aren't ripping them out and in fact just pulling out gets the hook into a concave angle where it will actually grip more. Pull the inside of the pad out(make sure the part you choose feels solid, top and bottom are best parts!) and also push the outer ring you can feel where the outside of the pad and outer driver housing meet, you only need to get 1/2 hooks off to get it all out easily after.

3. Had trouble getting the first pad on, the second was much easier, just get the pad into place don't shuffle it left/right and try to get half the hooks into place on the whole thing, and the angled ends of the hooks will assist in getting everything positioned. Then simple apply down pressure on the flat surface of pad, the part that touches your face and click them in one by one! MAKE SURE THEY ARE ALL IN BY TUGGING GENTLY AS IF YOU WERE PULLING THEM OUT STRAIGHT UP AND MAKE SURE THEY DON'T BUDGE, IF THEY DO, JUST PRESS THEM IN! Much faster and makes doing it the first time while your entire driver is exposed much better....


Now without further ado, the full test

I am not even going to bother with music. It is better, full stop, end of story. I cannot think of a single person, genre, anything where the default pad beats this. Part of this MAY be seal but I am fairly sure from using the Ananda a lot as well a manipulating it in different ways many times, pushing it in and letting it stay normal I WAS getting the full seal before. So I have to say I believe seal MAY have something to with this BUT then it still comes down to the pad and the default one just may not be able for many to get a technically "full seal", and to do as good of a job. I will add here I was listening first to an older Elton song, the song is grainy, period, with the original pads "veil" I can see how getting rid of the grain added "realism" HOWEVER the realistic sound aspect needs to be tested via spoken word and that means film or people talking, and one I know. I will dabble in how it effects other music but concentrate on the realism of the effects. Entire FR is cleared, more technical performance is shining thru, bass is enhanced both what you hear and what you feel, treble now has some sparkle to it.

Now onto the realism music test, I will add notes, the soundstage seems to have gotten bigger by a noticeable margin and as well IMAGING IS MUCH BETTER, that is what happens when you add clarity! Didn't expect this much enhancement to sound stage, I strongly prefer this. I didn't "love" the Ananda soundstage, I just didn't think there was anything wrong with it, I STRONGLY prefer this one, there is actual clear layering going on and placement and such... WOW Soundstage, overall this is an AMAZING package! Listening to a song which before had no bass.... seems there may be more sub-bass addition than I realized, the ability to "feel" the bass is clearly superior here dead stop, the fact a good portion is in ear, more so than what my face feels leads me to believe there is a substantial mid bass bump, and perhaps a good 3db sub bass bump, maybe 4-5 mid bass! Just so dang clear, the detail is extremely enhanced, the resolving decay is improved, hard to say the resolution is much more improved than in-between marginal and notable gains, but the new forward detail and clarity is amazing....


Here is the real question for people interested here, does it still sound incredibly realistic? So here we load up squid game, guys if you testing Netflix MAKE SURE AUDIO IS SET TO 2.0 CHANNEL! Right off the bat, I would say as far as the background, yes, haven't heard voices but the enhanced soundstage is CRAZY, reminds me of the intensity of the LCD-3 but just waaay more neutral. Squid games sound staging is very intense at many parts, overall the soundstage DOES mimic "realistic sounds" very well in fact I would say with the added bass that puts it a little bit into the more intense category the OEM pads lacked, and the soundstage gains briefly discussed earlier. The sound staging is WAY more realistic, and also at the same time more intense... I can hardly imagine if I wanted both realistic and intense staging it would be possible to be better, the added clarity is also playing very hard into this.

Now the part that counts, the mid range, overall the mid range is NOT more realistic, it is a fairly noticeable departure from the Ananda AND Sundara, and unfortunately does detract from the experience a bit, with the background sounds sounding incredibly hyper realistic but the mid range is lacking.... It's very hard to pinpoint what is happening but it seems the lower mids have been accentuated but the added clarity to the ranges above the lower mids in grainy and the contrast depending on the tone of the voice can range from improvement to a bit jarring, even on this very smooth DAC/AMP [P.S. I would Imagine this random graininess is less of an issue on tubes for anyone interested, will leave that out of initial impressions however]... SO even on my very smooth DAC/AMO combo there is a weird mix of both hints of smoothness/honey in the bass tones of male voices while also being somewhat grainy even on this smooth DAC at the same time. This seems to extend to more realistic presentation and not be an issue while playing music due to the processing done on that vs more realistic untampered voices of film with the priority being fidelity. This however does not seem to effect some Female voices! They are still quite realistic, in addition to this once the sound was switched from Korean actors who boast deeper voices to American actors with either voices less deeper or using audio equipment with less forward lower mids, the voices were fairly realistic and close to what I would have expected!

However this pattern keeps repeating, even on female voices with audio equipment or mixing clearly targeting more honey forward lower mid frequencies there is a clear detraction from realism unfortunately again going from some slight honey to jarring graininess.... It seems more than just blanket effecting a range of the mids, it mostly effects vocals than span multiple ranges, there is some recesses or spiciness in the lower treble targeting female voices that span either mid and upper mid range or in weird cases all parts of the mid, and same for male voices.... Likewise for male voices mostly in the lower mids this is not a problem unless they extend into the rest of the mid range, a little odd, and again tubes would likely "fix" this bit of jarring sudden graininess(will post test results later). SO this is NOT an end all be all for Sundara/Ananda lovers, and unfortunately while most of the background noise IS SIGNIFICANTLY more realistic AND intense resulting in a HUGE win there, seemingly with the oddities in the mid range going straight from honey to graininess being masked by the increased size of the stage and intensity of the layering vocals ARE NOT more "realistic" and are in fact a noticeably amount less realistic and do jerk you from the "effect" a bit . This may also be detracted from due to the clarity destroying some of the vagueness of the vocals with the stock pads, the way the HD 6 series has a veil that makes the entire vocal range have no graininess would be a lesser but good comparison of why the Ananda's vocal are more coherent here.... However the gains in basically all other areas make the new pads a huge overall net positive, don't get wrong... I AM NOT going back to stock pads anytime soon, and I have, on older TV shows experienced graininess before due to the mix being harsh, I will more than likely just focus on using this Version of the Ananda on tubes and finding the best tube setup with just enough tubiness to kill the mid range grain than ever switch back! Even this is isn't a huge priority for me to kill the graininess, it's not jarring by itself, just a bit abrupt compared to the rest of the mid range, and again this mainly only on vocals mixed for realism, on music is is basically a non-issue!


Conclusion: it isn't quite time to throw the stock pads out, and in fact having the stock pads and the Dekoni sheepskin fens make this somewhat of a double threat, the fens are clearly superior here, full stop, and the background noise realism added along with the intensity overall do not significantly detract from the stock experience despite the vocals opposing this. To anyone who enjoy the realism but wants a better headphone and is willing to sacrifice a bit of the realism or likely who has tubes, this is clearly for you, for any true believers of realism above all, at the cost of overall experience, time tro switch anyway and start experimenting with tubes to get rid of that bit of mid range graininess. Turns out the Ananda is intently gifted more so than almost anyone knew as far as soundstage, and dynamics.... The Dekoni Sheepskin Fenestrated pads may have lost the absolute realism but have made significant strides in basically every way possible for myself and for likely the vast majority of people, and despite clearly detracting from the fine line of perfectly realistic does remain overall still a very neutral, very realistic headphone both in a vacuum and in a world where the stock Ananda and Sundara exists. You do give up the magic of being able to many times, take off your headphone and forget they were the thing making sound, but you have still transported yourself to a completely different and amazing world as far as your ears are concerned!


We all know what tubes do here, so I did INFACT try the Ananda on tubes, UNFORTUNATELY the forward detail was lost A BIT, seems the graininess was also responsible for the insane increase in forward detail, that said, it's very obvious technically speaking it is still superior to OEM pads, just not quite as detail forward and the soundstage intensity is lessened a bit as well... HOWEVER, the mid range vocal graininess is completely gone when running my ES9018S DAC from my Oppo HA-1 that on that amp had graininess, but is not at all grainy thru my Woo Audio WA7 amp section. I would say overall it's as the same level of "natural" presentation as the Ananda/Sundara more or less with MOST of the improvements but sadly not the insane detail, and a good bit of sub-bass roll off... However the Dynamics, clarity, and soundstage are all still greatly improved thru the tubes.
The conclusion after indeed confirming after watching much Netflix, when used on tubes the midrange is fixed, and the jarring graininess is in fact, gone, the voices are more then "natural" enough to be grouped in and among the stock Sundara and Ananda.

Conclusion:
The Sundara with pad swapping is a bucking bronco for anyone unfortunate enough to have tried... The pads there are clearly tuned amazing well and even if you found a "better" pair I would 1. expect it to detract from the "realism" much more. 2. from having heard that headphone on many pads, might add a bit of clarity but there is almost no more performance there on tap...

In opposition, it seems to me the Ananda is clearly vastly more superior to the Sundara in technical performance than I even realized and the Pads significantly detracted from the performance to lean it strongly in the direction of the Sundara which is hugely effective at making people like it, for obvious reasons... The Sundara is a swiss army knife, the Ananda is apparently a whole tool box, and the default pads ARE a very effective tool in that box, the Ananda IS NOT as popular as the Sundara, not by a long shot, HOWEVER with how hard the OEM pads gimped it to me is a mark of how amazing it really is being quite popular in that form. I have no doubt the new pads are worth their weight in gold, and worth every single penny of $90-100! To me this pad swap crazily enough in raw technical performance may NOT triumph the LCD-3 but DOES beat the LCD-X which admittedly the soundstage I don't like, but fairly enough has tuning many people don't like. I think this pad swap does make it an LCD-X hunter and does shift it in value very close if not attaining it's original $1000 price tag....

The caveat here is to get the best mix of improvement and natural tone is going to require some serious amp tuning, the WA7 is a bit too lush, and the Oppo HA-1 a bit too neutral however the WA7 isn't exceptionally lush compared to other tube amp's and the HA-1 isn't exceptionally neutral, the opposite for both can be said in fact. For those of you with a dead neutral Analytic amp I don't think this is a deal breaker since those people likely wouldn't mind the vocal graininess to begin with and the huge detail/separation/clarity gains will likely be even greater(more tests later possibly with analytical amp/dac's). For others looking for the perfect natural mid range for movies and TV and still wanting the detail, separation and insane clarity you should look for [expensive]tube hybrids, very expensive but smooth amps, and generally tube-ish but not tube amp's with plenty of performance in both the dac and amp section on tap, as the WA7 in known to generally be less tubey but still a bit too tubey to retain much of the insane benefits to be had.

For anyone wanting to buy an Ananda but considering an XS you have been given a clear gift, while the best version of this headphone require the near perfect AMP that I don't have, despite having a smooth amp and a less tubey tube amp, perfection being somewhere in between, since Ananda's are going cheaper used than XS's so much so that a pair of these pads + an Ananda may match or be less than $50 away from an XS's current price. I have to agree if the XS edges the Ananda both in stock form and wins because of 1. price and 2.performance while seal is broken which these pads make a non issue, then these pads end the fight completely, even when paired with 2 close but clearly imperfect amp pairings.... A used Ananda with $90-100 pads if gotten cheap enough may technically be... no scratch THAT if you can get under $500(let's call it excluding tax) in my view is the heaviest of hitters by far under $500. While the fact it needs such a picky amp choice IS unfortunately a disappointment to me, with the AMAZING WA7 being a little too smooth and rolled, and I do think in the end it does have to be tallied and counted as a detraction (guys time to start the perfect amp hunt!). I would say both easily, not even close in tuning, and in performance as well, with it swinging a baseball bat very seriously at the Elegia, this is by far, the best thing you can get for about $500 used. It's a great day to be in the market for a $500 headphone today, on this day.

All Hail The New King.

 

[pataburd]

The Woo WA7 Fireflies is definitely not a tubey-sounding tube amp, even with the tubed power supply. My favorite budget, neutral tube/hybrid amp was the G&W T2.6F (2x 6922):

Had many an enjoyable and "neutral" hour with the T2.6F and the Beyer DT880 (2003) version.

 

[the1andonly]

The Woo WA7 Fireflies is definitely not a tubey-sounding tube amp, even with the tubed power supply. My favorite budget, neutral tube/hybrid amp was the G&W T2.6F (2x 6922):



Had many an enjoyable and "neutral" hour with the T2.6F and the Beyer DT880 (2003) version.

Posted an update at the top, I basically mirrored this which is strange since the Oppo HA-1 is smooth for a SS but sounded grainy, and the WA7 isn't tubey at all but sounded extremely tubey, my thought here is when unveiled clearly the AMP's properties are more apparent that is masked with the veil by quite a bit, but also there is a good bit of technical performance unlocked that is pushing past the limit of both the WA7 and the Micro iDSD BL, while the more analytic BL's amp section allows it to shine more there is clearly not only amp tuning but dac tuning or pairing that needs to be done here to achieve both the performance benefits and retain the natural sound... basically it's better overall by far but much much more picky, however that is a result of the insane performance unlock which now swings wildly from source to source.... Analytical focused people won't mind this one bit neither will those looking for all out performance and it still triumphs overall experience on basically every single AMP, just quite a bit more noticeable how extreme the tube effect is with veil lifted, you will feel disappointed at the lost detail, the WA7 is by no means a slouch but the same annoying graininess that is subtle but noticeable on the vocals has a HUGE effect on the rest of the sound and soundstage unfortunately, there is some good middle ground dac/amp solution here for sure.(EDIT- already found a good recommendation for most modern TV/movies and even music the iDSD Micro BL + switching the DAC settings on the side is pretty OP. starts off closer to target than the HA-1 or WA7 and is able to find tune to most things I tried better with the switch for a good medium between smooth and grain)

The headphone is insanely unveiled in this state, few headphones by look alone had so little between the driver and the ear ,huge net benefit for sure in virtually any case but also a huge change in the character of the Ananda and how it plays with other pieces. Would still consider the stock pads somewhat useful, but kills the value proposition and technical performance capability quite a bit.

Sorry to post part from my review again but I consider the "perfect" amp pairing only useful for movies and to retain absolute natural sound, as far as music and I imagine games, just use the best dac and amp you have, music is already mixed to remove the grain, for older music with the grain all this sort of is the true nature and I personally prefer flavor for naturality, to me it's only useful is movies and getting lost visually and sonically in another world. and with games doubt it matters + the soundstage, imaging, and layering benefits from the grain are HUGE!

 

[bagwell359]

Basica I see please your PEQ settings for the HE6se v.2?
I'd like to give them a try.
Have to check the Crinacle catalogue, too.
Thank you.

Well... I have the v1, and heard the v2 with my LG v40/TIDAL/EQ for nearly two hours. I use a six band EQ and 5 of the settings seemed basically correct.

My other thing is mods, and unit to unit variability:

* Custom Cans UK 2 meter cable
* DCA Ether Angled Lamb pads
* Felt on the stators (straight rip off of of HE-6 OG mod) should actually make them sound more like v2's
* bit of dynamat to cut bass fatness (I.E. more correct Q)
* rear screen off

That adds up to a good sized change in the stock sound.

I found the upper mid setting too much for the v2. I experimented with 1.8 - 2.2 db, and probably the Hz and Q settings.

 

[fullbass]

It's funny that everyone understands that Crinacle HP rating is very strange at least, but they continue to refer to it

 

[yeboyi]

I agree the stock pad of Ananda isn't fair for Ananda for both comfort and sound. Memory foam helps a lot imo.

 

[jerhowe]

Just received a pair of Anandas last week. Got an open box, but the pair I received had the new driver with the dust cover AND the old earpads with the dust cover. My impressions of the frequency response don't seem to line up with measurements at all, so I feel safe to say the double layer of mesh IS impacting the sound. I have been in contact with customer support to get the right earpads sent to me. Hopefully I can post an update of the effect the mesh has on the sound, I think it would be an interesting comparison!

 

[fullbass]

Show me pictures of old and new ear pads please

 

[DaOchin]

Good. Something different.
Please share your findings with us.
The Elite Hybrid are the closest approximation, material- and fabrication-wise, to the stock pads.

I have received the Hybrid Elite Pads, the very first thing I noticed was improved sub bass. I did do a quick test to see if it carried over to portable with the Hiby R6(2020) and while it's still present the Dx7 definitely had a more significant change in that area due to the total power output (750mW vs 1700mW). It won't rumble your skull but it feels sufficient where previously it could be argued that it was anemic in this regard. The mids are a bit more forward in the mix now and sounds fuller overall. I would describe it as if the sound passes through the stock pads and the Dekoni's contain it. This could be down to these pads making a better seal. The memory foam is much more comfortable than the stock pads, there's a bit of give that the stocks don't have and always led to that lower jaw pressure for me after extended periods. I always felt like there was more clamp with my head size and these have helped alleviate that pressure. No real change of soundstage that I could detect. I have the outer screen removed on my set as I felt there was some high frequency reflections with it on, no changes in this regard between pads. Ymmv but I've only experienced positives so far with the Dekoni's.
Majority of my listening was done on the Dx7Pro on high gain using 4.4mm balanced. Music: Nier Automata Soundtrack, Genghis Tron's "Dream Weapon", Chelsea Wolfe's "Birth of Violence". I tested with and without EQ.

 

[Vatnos]

2.5mm to 3.5mm adapters arrived so I can use my HEX balanced cable on the Ananda now. It is interesting to compare the results. Sounds very different, which could either be the properties of the stock cable or the balanced port sounding different on my amp. Better detail retrieval--faster bass and more treble sparkle, although not necessarily more enjoyable for listening in the end after EQ. It is closer sounding to a HEX with brightened treble now. I feel like my ideal treble level would be in between the two somewhere.

 

[pataburd]

Serenity replacement pads arrived:



Not sure about the evolution of Ananda pads, if any, historically. Did HFM go from "Focus" pads to "Serenity"? The replacement Serenity appear shallower than the one(s) that failed.

Am quite happy with the Dekoni Elite fenestrated sheepskin right now, but may switch to the Serenity on the weekend, Deo volente.