So I've just received the
Dekoni Elite Sheepskin for Audeze LCD.
As they are not available in Europ yet, I had to order directly from Dekoni.
Shipping cost was expensive, 30 USD + 23 euros for taxes...but it was fast. (US->France 4 days). Almost the price of an Hifiman HE400SE. For a pair of pads.
Next time, I'll be patient.
Installation was very easy, as eaasy as you can see on their YT video.
Dekoni's are thicker, almost as thick as Audeze's older pads.
The foam is memory foam, and is denser than Audeze's new pads' foam (so necessarly more clamping, but not an issue for me)
I will have to confirm with time, if the foam does squeeze itself, but at least
it has now solved my issue : My ears are not touching the grill anymore.
They are maybe slightly touching them, hard to say, but there is not that discomfort I had after only few minutes, anymore.
Aesthetically, the Audeze leather looks nicer, and is shiner. More luxurious.
The Dekoni's being brand new, they will maybe turn shiner with time (and human oil
).
I have a pair of Dekoni's for my D7000, they seems to keep their brand new aspect.
Regarding comfort, there is more clamping due to the thickness, and denser foam, on both side. Again, not an issue for me.
They are also smelling like strawberry. Surprising.
Regarding the sound
I was very skeptical when I saw the thickness of the Dekoni's.
I know why Audeze have changed their ticker pads for thinners, so I was expected a change in sound, and not in the right direction...
It has indeed changed the sound a bit, but not that much.
Dekoni shows a graph on their website, but I'm not sure they are comparing the newest Audeze pads, or the 21's drivers.
Because to my surprise, it seems to do exactly (well, at least that same direction) what the EQ I was using did (EQ from Headphones.com).
Slightly increase the bass, slighty lower mediums and highs.
Now, with my old EQ, the slap in the lower end is a bit too much, and voices are a bit darker.
As I can't go back, and do some back and forth to compare properly, this is just my feeling.
So am I happy with those Dekoni's pads ?
Yes. While I can't garanty they will works for every body's ears, this is obviously the only way to go if you are annoyed by the fazor being to close to your ears.
Would I still buy a pair if my ears weren't touching the Fazor grill ?
No. Because while I like the sound without EQ, the audiophile in me still want that Harman curve, but I can't trust other's EQ anymore.
I will need to find a way to measure my XC with Dekoni's pads.
On attached pictures, the back picture shows the Dekoni on the left, on the other, the dekoni is on the right.
We can't really see on that pic, but the hole for each ear is rounder on the Dekoni, more oval on the Audeze.