Pros — Fantastic Build and material choices
– Very comfortable
– Not as sweaty as the materials would suggest
– V-shaped tuning can be an interesting change from stock pads

Cons — Changes stock tuning too much, not for purists
– Price is higher than stock pads (due to material choices)
– Worse instrument separation/more congestion vs the stock pads

INTRODUCTION

Dekoni Audio is pretty well known for aftermarket earpads. They provide a range of options across a variety of price ranges and offer replacement earpads for popular models such as the Sennheiser HD6X0 lineup, Audeze LCD lineup, Denon/Beyerdynamic and so on. 

Their Elite series is basically as the name suggests: premium earpads made with premium materials. I received the Dekoni Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin and the Dekoni Elite Hybrid earpads (HD650 variant) for this review. Let’s see how things change between them and the stock pads.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. Dekoni Audio was kind enough to send the Elite pads for review. Disclaimer.

Price, while reviewed: $80. Can be purchased from Dekoni website.

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

IN THE BOX…

The earpads and some stickers. That’s about it.

APPEARANCE, HAPTIC, AND BUILD QUALITY

The Elite pads are built exceptionally well. The seams are well put together and fit and finish is top-notch. The stock Sennheiser pads look cheap and janky in comparison. The plastic mounts are glued to the back and didn’t seem to budge even with some force applied. 

For the Elite Hybrid pad you get a velour front (the part that touches your skin), leather sides, and fenestrated sheepskin on the inside. It’s an interesting choice of materials but the combination doesn’t look out of place. 

The Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pad, on the other hand, has fenestrated sheepskin layers all around. Both earpads utilize memory foams inside though the foam on the Hybrid pad is softer/less dense.

One thing you should note is that these pads don’t come with the dampening foam (there is a foam between the drivers and the earpads on the HD600 series headphones). So you should probably keep the old foams handy (or get a replacement of those foams elsewhere). 
5/5

ERGONOMICS, COMFORT

The Elite Hybrid and the Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads are both very comfortable but there are some differences between them. Due to the softer foam, the Elite Hybrid pad has a more supple fit. I personally find it more comfortable of the two though again: both are a substantial improvement over the stock earpads on the comfort front. In terms of feel the Fenestrated Shipskeen is smoother vs the coarser Elite Hybrid pad. I prefer the Shipskeen pads in terms of feel. 
4.5/5

SOUND

The sound changes are quite interesting to say the least. You can look at the graphs on Dekoni’s website here. The following images are courtesy of Dekoni:

First up: the Dekoni Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads. Compared to the stock pads, they boost the bass noticeably and some of it even slightly spills into the lower mids. As a result you lose some separation of instruments and imaging takes a hit to my ears (center-imaging esp). On the other hands, dynamics improve and the resulting sound signature is a pretty fun one and definitely suits Pop, hip-hop, RnB and such genres more than the stock pads. One thing that I noticed was how the lower-treble became peakier with the Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads. Compared to the stock pads, these are definitely a more V-shaped offering. 

The Dekoni Elite Hybrid earpads on the other hand provide less mid-bass and upper-bass emphasis vs the Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads. They do have more sub-bass but given the limitations of the HD600 series driver (cannot reproduce sub-bass notes that well) it’s not that noticeable in most cases. I personally prefer the presentation of the Elite Hybrid pads over the Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads as they sound less cluttered in the midrange and the treble response is slightly more even-handed. It’s still not as smooth and laid-back as the stock pads but then again: the Dekoni pads are for those who are looking for a different signature. Comapred to the Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin pads, the Elite Hybrid pads also offer better instrument separation, though both pale in comparison to the stock pads in that regard. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS

In the end, if you are looking for the stock Sennheiser sound with a different/more comfortable earpad material — such an earpad does not exist to my knowledge. Sennheiser surely knew what they were doing (and they knew it very well) so the one-to-one replacement of the stock Sennheiser pads are… stock Sennheiser pads.

However, if you want to taste a different flavor of sound to the stock HD650 tuning, or perhaps you like to switch things up from time-to-time — try the Dekoni Elite series pads. They are superbly comfortable, has great feel and finish, and are suitable for modern genres along with movies/gaming since those usually benefit from bass emphasis. 

MY VERDICT

Overall Rating: 4/5 for Elite Hybrid Pads

Recommended (if you want a V-shaped flavor of the stock HD650 sound)

Overall Rating: 3.75/5 for Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin Pads

I prefer the Elite Hybrid pads more overall so these are gonna get a pass

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Product Pages

Dekoni Audio Fenestrated Sheepskin Replacement Ear Pads for Sennheiser HD 600 Series Headphones

Dekoni Audio Elite Hybrid Replacement Ear Pads for Sennheiser HD 600 Series Headphones

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