So, I return from the pad swap adventure. I tried a number of AliExpress, Dekoni, and stock DCA pads.
One of the key takeaways that I got from pad rolling was that some pads eat a lot more of the sound than others, allowing you get more out of the drivers by pushing more power from the amp. I think that one of the weaknesses of the CX is that they ship with flat pads that work great but don't hold up. Overall, the sheepskin pads with a lot of crush (Dekoni LCD, AliExpress squares, Dekoni TH900 sheepskin) were the most comfortable and sounded the best.
- The angled sheepskin Ether C 1.1 pads improved the sound, added soundstage, but didn't make them into a pair of Ether C 1.1 - I still feel there is room for both in my collection
- Lawton angled pads gained soundstage but lost imaging precision, better or same tonality as stock, kept the neutral presentation
- Dekoni Elite Sheepskin for DT series was a pretty good sub for the stock pad but also had the most-near soundstage, better than an HD650 but imaging was very good (in "Who We Want to Be" by Tom Day there is a bell that passes back and forth and it sounded distinctly behind me and moved crisply and precisely). Comfort was okay with the most clamping pressure and the least downward weight. My ears just barely touched the driver so it was on par with a compressed stock pad. They do feel a bit small for the mounting ring and they have a smaller physical footprint but the height makes them wobble very little. Isolation wasn't perfect.
- Dekoni TH900 Elite Hybrid pads were a disaster, sucked the midrange out, muted the bass, and amplified the extremely high treble. It sounded like some $100 Sony monitors Music sounded unnaturally thin. Absolute pass.
- Dekoni TH900 Sheepskin pads were a completely different story from the hybrids, basically the Dekoni Sheepskin DT with a little more comfort but worse seal around glasses. I need more time to decide if they're as better than or just on-par with the rest of the pads.
- Dekoni Audeze LCD Sheepskin & Fenestrated: I struggled to get a good seal on the Audeze LCD pads with the backing ring and adhesive removed but the soundstage was among the best improvements over stock. The LCD Sheepskin definitely had a bit more of a "fun" tuning and a bit more spice to the treble but the seal was so inconsistent. I think that I might try cutting the mounting lip back by half and gluing a felt ring on the mounting lip to help with seal. The LCD Velour were terrible, don't bother.
- The Sheepskin AliExpress Square opening pads are probably tied for my favorite with the Dekoni DT Sheepskin, better soundstage, seal, sound isolation, and stability. I have construction equipment, AC units, and industrial air scrubbers running near my office and home office and I literally couldn't hear them even without anything playing. Physically, it feels a bit like an Audeze pad. The downside is they don't provide as much clamping force and the foam is not memory foam so you do feel pressure on glasses or ears. I wish there wasn't a jersey material all the way around as it doesn't cool much and doesn't perform quite as well as a complete sheepskin pad.
- The AliExpress Denon pads were the jack of all trades and worked better than the DCA Ether C angled pad but soundstage, tuning, bass impact, etc. were improved but not the best. Comfort was just fine, but the same problem with fast rebound foam pressing glasses arms into the side of the head.
- The other AliExpress Denon pads felt identical to the above, I'm keeping them labeled and separate to know which one is which, these were just cheaper.
- Other pads I've tried on the Ether CX don't bear mention: Brainwaves XL round leather pad, Dekoni Choice (protein) Leather, etc.
When I get a chance to get either the EARS or a 711 rig out, I can try getting some fr graphs for the different pads on each of the three CX.
Pad rolling leaves me remembering that I'm a huge fan of the Ether C and the CX. Changing up the pads can help bring a little bit of the punch to the bass while fixing the tinnitus that I inevitably get when the stock pads compress after a couple months.
