Part 1 - An Intro to Ear Pads & Tuning your Sound

Dekoni's mantra in developing ear pads for headphones has been about giving users a wide range of options to finetune their listening experience. The largest facilitator of this is the variety of materials used during the construction of the ear pads, and this design philosophy has extended down to the Earpadz line as well in the form of the Platinum, Midnight, Jerzee, Standard and Velour series of ear pads. What most may not know is exactly what these materials can do to modify the comfort, sound and isolation of your headphones when compared to the stock pad. In this writeup, we'll be looking to define each of these terms and explain how the construction of the pad influences each of these aspects. So let's begin, starting with defining each of these terms:

1. Comfort - on the face it's simple enough, though something more commonly attributed to the foam inside the ear pads: how much padding do the pads offer? But there are other areas of consideration too, such as heat generation, the texture of the pad against your skin, the impact of wearing classes and more. The ultimate goal for comfortable pads is to check all of these boxes, ensuring listeners can wear headphones for long periods of time without any form of discomfort. Foam plays a significant role in this, however it's important to consider the material that will be contacting your skin during use as well.

2. Sound - ear pads are one of the easiest ways to tune the sound of your headphones, with a few general trends making it easier to identify exactly what you'll find different when swapping pads. A general rule of thumb is velour or fabric materials reduce bass, while protein leather and leather pads increase it; that said, there are finer details specific to each model of headphone that's worth considering when looking for specific sound changes.

3. Isolation - isolation specifically refers to how much isolation a listener has from outside noise. For example, closed back headphones are very isolating, while open-back headphones allow sound both out and in through the backside of the earcups. ear pads also contribute to this, though the impact is much more present on closed back headphones. In line with the general rule about sound impact per material above, more breathable materials such as velours or fabrics allow more sound in and out, while leathers are more isolating.

To tie all of these together, there are some basic things you can expect from our foam/material combinations (relative to each other, not necessarily stock): - the higher the density of the memory foam, the more isolation from outside noise - sealed materials like leather, suede or similar have more bass and isolation - porous materials like cloths and velours have less bass and isolation, for a more open sound at the expense of external noise leaking in more easily That covers the absolute basics in ear pads and exactly how important they can be to your listening experience, well beyond simple comfort. In our next post we'll take a closer look at exactly what our materials offer to help make your choice that little bit easier.