Posts Tagged
‘Testing’

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Sennheiser Game One line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience. 

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). For high quality performance, durability, and feel, we have covered the memory foam with Choice Leather. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. These pads fit a wide variety of headphones, from the legendary Sennheiser HD 598, HD558, modern HD 599 and HD 559, and also the headset champions PC 360, Game One, and Drop Exclusive PC37X, and many more. These do NOT fit the HD 58X Jubilee, but we do make pads for that! Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we are sharing the raw data except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we provide the raw data, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock Velour pad.

We use supple, animal-free Choice Leather that is the softest synthetic available today. The graph shows us a similar character to the stock Velour pads, with more midbass over a wide range of frequencies, and a narrow decrease in brightness at about 4 kHz, though overall it has dips and peaks in amplitude in all the same places, keeping the same overall character. If you were a gamer wanting gunshots to sound more meaty but have less fatiguing bite, this is a good pad for you! The Choice Leather is also excellent for trying hard and playing sweaty, because it easily wipes clean with a damp cloth or our safe cleaning products.

Having a hard time seeing how the midrange is mostly similar between the stock and Choice Leather pads? We usually only publish our graphs with the different frequency curves overlaid to line up at 300 Hz for consistency, but if we move them to overlay at the midrange, say around 2.5 kHz, you get the dark purple line as seen here:

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Our Sennheiser pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com through the following link:

Choice Leather

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Koss ESP/95X line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience. 

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). For optimum performance, we have covered the memory foam with Fenestrated Sheepskin. We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we are sharing the raw data except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we provide the raw data, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs.

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock Vinyl pad.

We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today. Our Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it) Sheepskin is almost indistinguishable from the stock pad, except for the slightly more linear bass extension as the frequency drops, and of course the comfort is improved with the leather texture, superior heat dissipation, and still easy to wipe clean with a cloth.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Our Koss pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com through the following link:

Fenestrated Sheepskin

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our AKG K701 line of Earpads,  specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience. 

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have K701 pads available in Protein Leather.  We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we aren’t using compensation except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, a dip in the midrange is to be expected since human ears are more sensitive to that region, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. With our measurements, we used the well-known K701, which comes Stock with AKG’s Velour.

We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated. With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see the largest deviation from stock, where the listening experience will feel like more bass, and overall a stronger v-shaped sound. Keep in mind the dip in the midrange between 1kHz and 5 kHz is to be expected in an uncompensated graph, because of our sensitivity to vocals and the midrange in general, but this will still be a v-shaped sound with emphasis on treble and bass!

Our Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it) Sheepskin is almost audibly indistinguishable from the stock pad, except for the leather texture and the slightly better bass extension as the frequency drops. Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads.

Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it traces very similar to the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads on this headphone, with just a bit less energy in the lower mids. In fact, this is a great opportunity to choose based on your comfort preference for cloth or leather, contrary to most velours which lose low end and high end pitch quantity that leave a bare the midrange.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure with more amplitude and linearity in the midrange, and a smaller contrast between the 4kHz and 6 kHz valleys and peaks than stock, but again overall a similar frequency curve shape as the stock pads.

Finally, our Protein Leather pads trace a very similar signature to the Sheepskin. That’s because they’re all sealed pads, though it should be noted that the Protein Leather has further bass emphasis and extension for an even more exciting v-shaped sound. Because Protein leather manufactured from eggshell protein instead of procured from animal hide, it has a more even grain structure, and it’s thinner to contain less heat.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and earpads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Our AKG pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally, and dekoniaudio.com through the following links:

Elite Sheepskin

Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin

Elite Hybrid

Elite Velour

Premium Platinum

Dekoni Audio is pleased to share a “deep dive” look into our Beyerdynamic DT Premium line of Earpads, specifically tuned to elevate your listening experience. 

We start with comfort, using our soft, high density, slow rebound memory foam for an extra plush experience that conforms to the shape of your face (and accommodates glasses stems). Like all our earpads, they are offered in a wide range of fabric options, including Elite Sheepskin, Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin, Elite Velour, and our Elite Hybrid pads. We also have Beyerdynamic available in Choice Leather and Choice Suede.  We ensured the pads mount just as securely as the stock pads. Finally, we shaped and measured the pads to tune the sound and share a preview of how they sound compared to stock pads.

In our measurements, we aren’t using compensation except to cancel out the ear response of our microphone dummy head. We have been fortunate to have acquired a certain well-known Audio Precision-based measurement rig, and will continue to keep the measurements coming! Some measurements by others are made with adjustments to reflect the effect that the shape of a generic inner and outer ear will have on the sound waves – we don’t do that, because as every experienced audio enthusiast knows, we all have different ears! So, as part of a series of Dekoni Describes posts, we will walk our readers through understanding our graphs

The first thing to understand about an uncompensated graph is that it will sound different to the listener than the graph will show. For one, we haven’t smoothed our graphs, so there are many peaks and valleys that would have been lost information, but also there are other factors, such as the human’s extra sensitivity to vocals, and that the shape of our ears and depth of our ear canals can actually amplify certain frequencies. For the purposes of swapping earpads, it is enough to say that a flat line along the 0 dB line wouldn’t sound “good” on these uncompensated graphs, and mainly we want to focus on how a Dekoni pad compares to the Stock pad. With our measurements, we used the refined DT1990, which comes Stock with Beyerdynamic’s Velour.

We use supple, natural Sheepskin that is the softest and most breathable available today, available in solid or Fenestrated (French for “windowed,” it has little holes in it). With our solid Sheepskin, overall we see a similar shaped frequency response and only up to a 5 dB deviation from stock, where the biggest change is a smoother transition between bass and mids around the 2 kHz range. Keep in mind the little “bowl” in the midrange between 1kHz and 5 kHz is normal, because without it, vocals would sound “shouty” and louder than the extended frequencies!

Our Fenestrated Sheepskin is also similar in shape to the stock pad, though the transition from bass to mids is a bit more abrupt while transitioning to the highs is more gradual, and this “shelf” makes the midrange sound more distinct from the lows and highs. You could also look at this as a good choice for anyone who felt like the treble could use just a bit more amplitude relative to the bass. Fenestrations are also airy in that they allow some more heat to escape through the pads.

Our Elite Velour has a higher thread count and tighter weave than typical velour pads, soft and breathable but as you can see there is no loss of foundational bass – in fact it traces very similar to the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads on this headphone, with just a bit less energy in the lower mids. In fact, this is a great opportunity to choose based on your comfort preference for cloth or leather, contrary to most velours which lose low end and high end pitch quantity that leave a bare the midrange.

Our Hybrid pads, which are sealed with solid Sheepskin on the outside face, neutral Fenestrated Sheepskin on the inner face, and comfortable with Velour on the face facing your face, measure with more amplitude and linearity in the midrange, and a smaller contrast between the 4kHz and 6 kHz valleys and peaks than stock, like our Fenestrated Sheepskin but with a bit more kids presence.

Dekoni’s Protein Leather is an economical alternative to skins, as it is made from eggshell protein, and has a thinner weight and a more even grain structure than the Sheepskin. As you can see from the graph, it forms a very good seal, changing the overall tilt of the response curve towards a bass-emphasized, treble de-emphasized signature for a more relaxed sound.

Finally, our new Choice Leather and Choice Suede pads that have been making waves on the forums lately, trace a very similar signature to each other (which is also very close to the Sheepskin). That’s because they’re all sealed pads, though it should be noted that the Choice Suede noticeably lacks a treble peak around 9 kHz.

The subjective factor of experiencing headphones and ear pads matters the most, of course. If it sounds good, it is good! One great feature of Beyerdynamic’s pad mount design is the relative ease of changing pads, so pads can be changed on a whim. to We listen with our pads for several revisions before release, and we want to thank the reviewers and our patrons on Head-Fi and other platforms who have shared their experiences. Real user experience is the best judge, and we thank everyone who has tried to describe their experience!

Dekoni DT pads attach to the DT770, DT880, DT990, DT1990, DT1770, MMX, Custom One Pro, MMX, T1, T5, Amiron Home, and many more within the Beyerdynamic brand, but also work other brand headphones such as the Razer Kraken Pro Tournament, Enigma Acoustics Dharma, AKG K240, and many more. Dekoni DT pads are available now at our fine dealers internationally and dekoniaudio.com through the links below:

Elite Sheepskin

Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin

Elite Hybrid

Elite Velour

Choice Leather

Choice Suede

Premium Platinum