Great review! Looks like I'll be giving them a go, especially with your notes on comfort! What's another hit to the wallet? I do wish there was a hybrid pad with the enhanced depth offered by the Alcantara/Angled Alcantara, as I really like the sound signature for longer listening sessions, but hopefully the AA are still manageable even with their more revealing sonic characteristics
Pads arrived yesterday and I figured I'd add my rambling impressions to the no doubt numerous and more eloquently worded impressions found elsewhere in this thread.
The angled Alcantara served my number one concern, in that my ears don't touch the sides and have considerably more depth to them, increasing comfort dramatically. I could see these being less comfortable in warmer months or if you tend to get sweatier, but for cooler setups they are quite comfortable. The comfort is such that I now much more easily see why people say that the Elites are some of the most comfortable headphones out there. I could listen to these for 4+ hours and still feel comfortable (and that's exactly what I did!)
They also look and feel better than the original, non-angled, alcantara pads. They seem to be made out of slightly better alcantara, whereas the original alcantara remind me more of velour. I also didn't really find anything improved sound quality-wise (they were still more comfortable than the shallow hybrid pads), whereas I do feel like the AA bring a different flavor to the table that is more enjoyable in some respects.
That leads into sound. A disclaimer at the start that these are all with Crin's Harman Target EQ profile set for the AA pads.
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Lavricables Grand XLR >> Elites
First, their sense of space is definitely improved. Still not on par with the HD800s, which had me looking literally over my shoulder me because I thought someone was talking next to me, but the soundstage does improve moderately in the horizontal direction (I think the elites in general do a great job with vertical.) This could likely also be a factor that my ear has room to breathe in these pads and isn't smushed right up against the driver.
Details in general are probably these pads biggest strengths. The Elites already have fantastic detail retrieval (maybe not par with the other hyper-analytical Summit-fi out there), and these ear pads ensure that you will be catching details you've never heard before in your music. Slides on guitars, tremors in held singing notes, inflection, microdynamics, you name it. Also, I think these do an even better job than the hybrids of ensuring no bleed between frequency ranges. All ranges and instruments seem to get represented equally (at least according to your setup parameters)
Sub-Bass: Sub bass takes the biggest hit, but can be adjusted somewhat by an EQ shelf. Even then, it just doesn't create the rumble that the hybrid pads do. Neither of the two pad setups are super rich like Audeze's offerings, but they still both do a respectable and faithful job of sub-bass recreation. If sub-bass rumble and presence is your number one requirement however, stick with the hybrids (if comfortable).
Bass: Less of it, but still engaging. Altogether more tightly controlled - on tracks with a really punchy, quick decaying kick/bass drum, it feels like a perfect match. You'll feel perhaps even more slam than the hybrid, but I would definitely prescribe "dryer" to the bass in general. This is all relative keep in mind; there's still a good amount of tightly controlled base that really shines with some EQ, it's just more dry than the hybrids.
Mids: More or less unchanged as far as my brief impressions go. Male vocals seem to get a boost, with acoustic guitar also seeming to sound more "plucky", but that could be I'm noticing it more due to less bass.
Highs: One of my biggest fears is that these would be too sparkly, as I have high sensitivity to sibilance around the 8k mark. Usually, alcantara, velour, or more porous materials lean on the brighter side. These definitely increase brightness and splash, but aren't too bright, although that is with the EQ applied. I even set it to a perfectly neutral EQ, and they still weren't too bright (although an admittedly shorter listening session) There were a
few tracks I listened to that started pushing there, especially anything with tambourine hits, but I'd say on average, the increased treble presence was manageable. Might EQ down the treble peak just a bit if I find this bothers me more over time. Regardless, high hats, crash cymbals, bells - these all sound excellent with the AA.
Final thoughts - I think for my personal preferences, a Hybrid pad with increased depth for more ear comfort (without changing anything sonically, if that's even possible) would be my ideal pad. That being said, I was worried that the AA pads would make my very fun, very engaging, all-around best pair of headphones
less fun, to the point where I would describe them as too analytical. They definitely don't do that - the Elites with the AA are still the super fun, transport-you-into-the-music, toe-tapping good time they are with the hybrid pads, just with more soundstage and detail retrieval, less sub bass, dryer/tighter bass, slight increase treble presence, and most importantly for me -
more comfortable. Definitely a worthy buy, and if you only have the hybrid pads I would highly recommend trying these out. These will likely be my daily driver going forward!
