SolarCetacean
500+ Head-Fier
I followed the instructions that Dekoni gave for swapping the Susvara pads. Same procedure. The clips on the earpads point to the outer edge of the earpads, so you have to pull inwards on the pad to remove them. I find the inner plastic ring under the earpad, grip that, and gently tug inward until the hook comes out. I hadn't heard of the credit card trick when I swapped pads, but I'd expect sliding the credit card under the earpad will unhook the earpad clips by pressing them inwards.Is it pretty easy to swap the stock pads with the dekoni ones? May have to give it a try.
I've actually swapped back to the stock pads after a brief experimentation with the Dekoni sheepskin ones. The sheepskin pads weren't actually an improvement in comfort, as they increased the clamp force and somehow increased head pressure (maybe greater depth of the earpads). This is something I've experienced with basically all leather/pleather pads, and they also feel nasty when it gets warm. Sound-wise, while I liked the improvement in bass impact, I didn't like the huge midrange boost they produced, and I think they might have taken away the airiness of the treble that I so enjoyed, though they did also fix the odd treble transition. More importantly, my goal with pad swapping was to reduce/replace EQ for the midrange and treble, and while I did require fewer EQ bands to fix the sound, it made the SGL's stock sound worse to my ears. The default sound is very good, but with a few issues here and there. The sheepskin pads replaced that bunch of small issues with one big issue. One step forward, one step back, and it didn't bring me closer to my goal.This is very interesting! In spite of the similar form factor, it hadn't occurred to me that pads would be swappable between Susvara and Shang Junior. I have the Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin on my Susvara and will move them over to the Shang Jr. in place of the stock pads this evening to see what happens.
That's the issue with earpad swaps; they are blunt instruments that affect many different parts of the sound. I wanted a whittling knife, but got a chainsaw instead. And the driver difference I mentioned before means I can't really predict what will happen when I change the pads. Based on Dekoni's measurements on the Susvara, the sheepskin pads were exactly what I wanted, but the same pad does different things when used with an estat driver. I already have the fenestrated sheepskin and hybrid pads on order, so there will be more experiments in a few days. Maybe one of those will provide me with the perfect sound I want.