After much pad rolling I find myself split on the pads I'm using dependent on the wood. For my redwood burl set (low janka) I keep going back to the stock Caldera thin lamb pads. On my burnt ash (medium janka) it's the Auteur solid suede pads. I normally don't notice too much of a difference with the woods on the other sets but on the AC I do. The softer burl sounds best to me with the lamb pads' faster transients and overall speedier delivery. But the burnt ash with those pads are almost too fast for my preferences. I like the smoother, slightly slower suede more. I crossed the pads up a few times to make sure it was the wood and not my brain hearing differences, but they were consistently there. I have two different wood Atticus' and can't hear much difference there. Same when I had two different Auteurs. But the AC seems to bring out the wood's resonant characteristics more, making wood choice a bit more important. I do admit the difference between the burl and burnt ash isn't huge, but it is there. Once i started noticing it, i couldn't unhear it.
I can't leave without reemphasizing how dam fun these headphones are for metal. The bass thunders, the guitars have good weight and crunch when detuned, and vocals are present enough to be emotional without being harsh and overbearing. Between the AC and Bokeh my love affair with metal has never been hotter. Go on, bang your head!
