Dekoni Sennheiser HD 600 Series Fenestrated Sheepskin Earpads And Hybrid Elite Earpads Review – Bold Statements
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin earpads and and Hybrid Elite earpads offer outstanding workmanship and comfort. However, they alter the characteristics the Sennheiser HD 600 have been known for and may therefore not be for everyone.
INTRODUCTION
The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones have been standard staples with audiophiles since 1997. They are characterized by a stellar, natural sounding midrange, great treble extension, and a somewhat poorly extended and slow low end. Their characteristic sound is generated by the combination of driver and earpads.
But the stock earpads have a wear-and-tear, they will loose tension over time and cause the HD 600 to sound “wrong”. Because of the large distribution of the Sennheiser HD 600/650/6XX “( the “HD 600 series”), it has become lucrative for companies to offer after-market earpads. We have recently reviewed the offering by Japanese manufacturer Yaxi that failed our test on grounds of tonality. It is obviously difficult to break into Sennheiser’s market as they had enough time in the last >>20 years to optimize the sound of their HD 600 series models.
Dekoni Audio is an American company out of New Jersey that offers high-end headphone accessories for a number of popular models. For the Sennheiser HD 600 series, they boldly offer six different kinds of earpads, ranging from $50 to $80.
The company also offers measurements of all their ear pads relative to the Sennheiser stock pads [here]. The Dekoni Audios ear pads for these Senns show a different degrees of midrange recession (“V-shape”) compared to the stock pads.
I selected the two with the least such recession, the “Dekoni Audio Fenestrated Sheepskin Replacement Ear Pads for Sennheiser HD 600 Series Headphones” and the slightly more V-shaped (graphing) “Dekoni Audio Elite Hybrid Replacement Ear Pads for Sennheiser HD 600 Series Headphones“.
PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY
Dekoni Audio claim that their pads are cooler and more comfortable than the stock pads. I tested them in the cold Canadian winter and leave the temperature judgement to testers in warmer regions. They are comfortable and have a lower elastic rebound than the stock pads.
The Fenestrated Sheepskin and Elite Hybrid have identical shapes with straight walls and flat tops. Material wise, the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads (fenestra, latin: window) feature the same material all around (sheepskin leather with little “window” holes). The Elite Hybrid feature velour on top, leather on the outer wall and Fenestrated Sheepskin leather on the inside.
The quality of these two ear pads is impeccable. I particularly like the Fenestrated Sheepskin that remind me of high-end leather seats in a luxury vehicle – compared to the Sennheiser stock pads resembling used back seats in a New York cab.
In terms of size, the Dekoni pads are narrower and 1-2 mm deeper than the stock pads and they have a slightly larger opening. The Dekonis also have a slightly smaller opening and a bigger contact area on the head owing to their flat top. The Sennheiser pads may have a bigger surface area but it is curved, and the inner walls are not straight either.
In terms of strength, the Dekoni pads (I assume they have the same fill) are firmer than the stock pads and the also have the much slower elastic rebound. I found the Dekoni pads very comfortable over longer listening periods. I leave the fit discussion to co-blogger Kazi and will focus on the most important thing: the sound.
Installation: You find lots of videos on how to replace Sennheiser HD 600 series pads on YouTube or on the Dekoni website. It is easy. You essentially rip the pads off and click the new ones into place.
TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES
Follow these links for some background information:
My tonal preference and testing practice
Equipment used: MacBook Air; EarMen TR-amp, Sennheiser HD 600, Dekoni Audio Fenstrated Sheepskin and elite Hybrid pads.
The two types of Dekoni earpads do alter the sound of my Sennheiser HD 600 in that they make it darker, bolder, weightier – at the expense of the lean original signature. The stage becomes slightly deeper but less airy. The Fenestrated Sheepskin pads alter the sound less than the “bassier and more recessed” Elite Hybrid pads.
Fenstrated Sheepskin Pads
After my bad experience with the Yaxi earpads, which pulled the weight too far down in the frequency spectrum, the Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads came as a somewhat pleasant surprise.
The Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads do not alter the bass quantity however reduce the frequency spectrum from the upper bass up. This translates to slightly perceived bass boost, a recessed midrange and less treble extension (compared to the Sennheiser stock pads). Such recession is adherent to all Dekoni models and is least evident in the fenestrated sheepskin pads, which probably makes them the most recommendable ones.
The reduction in upper and lower midrange has positive and negative effects. The good is that the shoutiness reported by many users has been essentially eliminated, which thickens the vocals and adds more note weight to them. The bad is that the midrange loses energy and air, and becomes darker. Some may perceive vocals as duller than before, others may welcome the increased note weight.
And yep, the treble extension the Sennheiser HD 600 has been known for certainly has been tamed to some extent and caters more to treble sensitive listeners. Cymbals have become more subtle but without losing definition.
Technicalities such as timbre, soundstage, separation and layering have been largely untouched. The HD 600 have never been known for their soundstage, Dekoni claims their pads increase it because of their bigger depth relative to the stock pads. The stage may have become a bit deeper but that difference is insignificant for daily use. Soundstage with the Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin pads is fine.
Elite Hybrid Pads
The Dekoni Elite Hybrid earpads are only different from the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads through their boost below 300 Hz. When playing music without bass, both models sound essentially identical. The extra-boosted low end (with respect to the stock pads) appears to turn my HD 600 into an HD 650.
Since an earpad does not change the driver speed, the boosted low end amplifies its weakness and makes it sonically fuzzier and thumpier than with the stock pads.
In the mix (the human ear hears the whole frequency spectre in context), the boosted low end pushes the vocals further back (than the fenestrated sheepskins) and can somewhat congest the transition bass-midrange. It also pushes the treble further back.
IMO, the Dekoni Earpads Hybrid earpads push the weight too far down towards the bottom of the frequency range. But all it does is bloating it as the HD 600 is not basshead material because of the driver’s limited articulation down there.
I therefore much prefer the Fenestrated Sheepskin pads of the two models.
In comparison to the Dekoni pads, the HD 600 with the Sennheiser stock pads may sound leaner and they have more air, but a shallower stage. Everything with the stock pads is more subtle and it is bolder with the Dekoni pads.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The Dekoni Audio earpads tested are superior over the Sennheiser stock pads in terms of build and haptic – they are also pricier. The Fenestrated Sheepskin pads produce a thicker/weightier but less energetic sound than the stock pads on the Sennheiser HD 600. The sonic differences between the stock pads and Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads are, however, not earth shattering – and may be not be a dealmaker/breaker. However, they do alter the characteristic sonic signature of my HD 600 probably too much to please purists.
The Elite Hybrid, on the other hand, very similar to the Yaxi pads, add to much weight to the bottom of the frequency spectrum imo that is missing in the midrange and on the top. I would not recommend these to listeners who treasure the original sound of the HD 600.
Until next time…keep on listening!
DISCLAIMER
The earpads were provided by Dekoni Audio through their Head-Fi campaign – and I thank them for that.
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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