Top to bottom: Cotton fabric suede pads (brown), Real leather hybrid pads (w/ perforated inner walls), Protein pads (w/ perforated inner walls), Real leather pads (w/ perforated inner walls), stock pads (bottom right). The XS is fitted with Dekoni Elite Velour on the left side and stock pads on the right.
First up is the Dekoni Elite Velour pads. These are a bit thicker and plusher than stock, and denser too with the memory foam filling (stock is not as far as I can tell). In terms of fit the ELVLs are also quite comfortable, and breathable.
Specifically, the elite velours are more laid back, fuller with smoother treble. Even though the XS is already the most balanced or warmest out of the egg-shaped hifiman planars in production some may still find them to be a bit trebly or lean. The scooped mids region between 1-3khz also contribute to an ethereal character along with the elevated treble above 8khz and 11khz. Although the elite velours sound overall warmer the bass is actually reduced for better or worse. Some have noted that XS has certain bloom in the bass, the ELVLs cleans that up. Personally I find the bass elevation quite enjoyable but the ELVLs sound great as well cause they retain the perfect bass extension. Overall these are a very good complementary option to the original pads for modern genres and vocal-oriented music. Overall speaking warmer and fuller than the default pads.
Made-in-China pads from Taobao that cost between AU$22 (protein) – $66 (leather):
Similar to what I’ve measured before on the HE1000 V2, these pads bring down the whole treble region a bit. Not bad sounding, but even a little like what Audezes sound: you have the laid-back upper mids region between 2-4khz. Mid treble is very linear though, making instruments sound realistic. Upper treble shimmer is reduced by a few dbs making them less aggressive.
The real leather ones produce very similar results to the protein pads. The most noticeable difference may be a further reduced upper treble. These are more comfortable being real leather.
These are hybrid pads that have the same construction as the stock pads, only that they are made of real leather instead of protein. It means that they have mesh fabric on the side touching your face, perforated leather on the inside, and full leather on the outside.
Sonically these are still darker than the stock pads like those above. But the whole treble region above 4khz is more linear though.
These are marketed as suede pads but feels more like fabric. Not much difference to the rest but only a bit more trebly, as can be seen from the 5khz, 8khz and 11-12khz spikes.
These are probably the most comfortable out of all the pads tested though, maybe on par with the Dekoni Elite Velours.
Finally, a comparison of all the pads tested.
the unheard of headphone lab 
2 thoughts on “[LEGACY] Dekoni et al. third-party pads for HIFIMAN Edition XS and HE1000 V2 (UPDATED)”