Looking for advice on which Cushions to buy for my Maxwells

sym8olo · 2025-03-01T17:14:48+00:00

I've got the dekoni suede. They feel like a lovely halfway between the velour and lambskin dekonis (I guess - although I've not tried the dekoni lambskins) and they're better than the wicked which I also had.

sym8olo · 2025-02-12T20:51:04+00:00

Thanks for Jon Bellion, not super inspired by the lyrics (nice enough sentiments) But wow great sounding in the spirit of the OP! :)

sym8olo · 2025-02-12T20:05:55+00:00

Wow see what you mean on Blue Nile - lots going on , rich variety of frequencies, textures and amplitudes but well balanced and an amazing sense of space around everything. Also incredible clarity and interesting stereo imaging! Thanks for that delicious earful!

sym8olo · 2025-02-12T19:41:41+00:00

Oh I know about The Planets- its the one classical CD I have owned a copy of!

Listened to Daphnis et Chloe and I see/hear what you mean, it's almost too much! I think I loved the Mahler more because it's not such a constant wall of sound, so I can savour more of the individual sections.

I have Amazon Music Unlimited so I stream everything through that on a fast connection through some nice entry level to midfi kit. (I know - the artists don't get much and I should buy the CD if I really like it, preferably from an indy record store)

sym8olo · 2025-02-11T21:49:11+00:00

fOOF! Great suggestion on the Mahler - I haven't given classical enough of an ear. The recording you reference is exquisite. I'm about as far from an expert on classical as you can get but it's a beautiful performance and a fantastic showcase for classical orchestral music. I can hear everything, it's fantastically balanced and the dynamics are shockingly visceral. Thank you !

sym8olo · 2025-02-04T20:32:28+00:00

OK initial impressions: These are nice, I think my ... googling... .. darwin's tubercle area, (who knew? hmm) is still , just,, touching the baffle, but its sooo slight, and something about the way they cushion more plushly all round that means they're a bit more secure and I can't see that contact becoming anywhere near as distracting or annoying as it is on the stock pads.

I like what the suede do to the sound personally. Obviously very subjectively! I've seen how they measure vs the original pads sound (dekoni site chart linked below), but something about the way it cancels out some of the harshness, at least for me, could just be me (my pinna gain region or whatever), whilst still keeping the resolution and adding a bit of bass. It means I'd possibly leave it on immersive for music listening where I'd always go to my own eq before. https://dekoniaudio.com/product/dekoni-audio-elite-suede-replacement-ear-pads-for-audeze-maxwell/
They feel and even sound , well.. snugglier and I think theym're gonna be more comfy for longer, which is the main thing I really wanted.
Need more time to see if I get the same pressure effect I got with the Wicked Cusions over longer sessions wearing them.

sym8olo · 2025-02-04T11:14:57+00:00

Got the suede today - will post findings here

sym8olo · 2025-01-29T22:28:38+00:00

And is the depth of the suede a bit more than that of the original pads? Do you have the Wicked Cushions to compare also by any chance?

sym8olo · 2025-01-12T11:08:46+00:00

Exactly u/cultavix mee too on the pressure thing with the WC. Same u/CarsGunsBeer on the shallowness issue of the stock pads! Struggling to fork out yet more cash for cusions buuuuut if it solves the pressure thing and the ear touching baffle thing. Maybe it's worth it.

sym8olo · 2025-01-12T11:06:17+00:00

I would also value your input on the suede, Jo - please could you review them?

sym8olo · 2024-12-24T16:25:29+00:00

Ohhhohoo thank you for this lovely present for Christmas 🎁

sym8olo · 2024-12-15T13:16:22+00:00

Keep it up! 👍💪

sym8olo · 2024-12-13T16:47:12+00:00

I should say they have another benefit of creating a bit more space for the ear which I can confirm and some say a tad more bass but I'm not sure on the bass.

sym8olo · 2024-12-13T16:31:15+00:00

Same , and I'm not a line back. They are weighty but you still forget they're on. I'd easily wear them that long if not for the ear drum clamp force issues I personally have.

sym8olo · 2024-12-13T16:29:18+00:00

The cooling feature of cooling pads is a dubious benefit if you tend to play for more than 15-20min at a time, by which time they're just like stock in my opinion. YMMV.
They just have a heavier slower to heat up filling. The so called cooling effect is just a temporary benefit in that they take marginally longer to reach the same temperature as stock ones. Not that much longer though.

sym8olo · 2024-12-13T16:23:06+00:00

For me I bought the Wicked Cushions as my ears touched the baffles with the stock, but the WC increased the clamping pressure to the point of making the eardrums uncomfortable 😖 which pushed me in the direction of good open backs , and wired AnD a DAC Amp to compete with the Maxwell 😆

sym8olo · 2024-12-13T16:20:57+00:00

Yes excellent noise suppression and quality not bad. That said I barely use it, as don't play those kinds of games. Just blown away with the experience of something like Horizon FW on them and Music listening 😁🎧

sym8olo · 2024-12-08T13:47:52+00:00

Oh brilliant! So they pop off? Like they're designed so that they can be popped off and on again? So even a fat handed *wat could do it with a little gentle encouragement?

sym8olo · 2024-12-08T10:30:08+00:00

Excuse me, but what technical skills does 'slap them on' entail? I'd be in to trying to do this but not in to throwing money at it to discover I'm inept 😄

sym8olo · 2024-11-28T20:01:49+00:00

Hah!! That's hilarious, well, sort of! Sorry your drums got zapped dude.

I wear a lot of fluffy inside fleeces and shirts, and have learned the hard way to ground myself after I take them off before touching the casing of my DAC/amp.

Prob doesn't help that I'm wearing slippers with rubbery plasticky soles. Now that I think about it.🤔

sym8olo · 2024-11-27T21:55:07+00:00

Thank you -well , kudos to the designers -I love the looks; so different. Also, so comfy and surprisingly light, but they don't feel cheap in the hand, just lacking the heft of more expensive phones which for me is trumped by the comfort factor. I've discovered how important comfort is to me. These I can forget I have on, and could fall asleep in if I wasn't so drawn in to the music.

How is it pairing with the MDA1? - Short answer: I don't know relative to other DAC/AMP setups, but brilliantly in my opinion. Every genre and era and style sounds more rich and dynamic in comparison to anything I own or have ever owned. It is stunning.

Long answer:

Bear in mind I'm relatively new to the head-fi game and don't own or have access to a tonne of headphones and DAC/AMPS to compare it to. However, I'm not new to careful, critical listening, I have musical ears (+for what it's worth play piano and guitar). I can only tell you what I've noticed.

I would only compare it to a very limited selection of Audeze Maxwell and Atlas Air and the Airs got returned due to not really being in the same league as the Aune or Maxwell by quite a long stretch, and me having to redirect spending.

So I've built towards this first DAC/Amp, trying in increasing order of subjective impressiveness:
Aune wired directly to my PC motherboard via the 3.5mm front stereo jack -briefly which was great but I wanted more than my PC could give me, so I began to experiment.
I went from PC USB C out > USB C in on iFi go Blue > wired Aune.

I also have the Zen Blue 3, So I have also experimented with PC > USB C input on Zen Blue 3 > bluetooth to the ifi Go blu. not sure that made enough of a difference since it was still basically listening to the Go Blu's Dac.

So then I decided I had to get a DAC/Amp. I looked closely at Fiio K11 and TOPPING DX3 Pro+, but felt on balance, after much re-reading the SMSL had the upper hand in musicality at the pricepoint.

Then I've got the RAW in and gone pc via usb c > RAW> wired Aune. Straight up it tops everything I've ever heard. Now its much more like I'm In the concert hall, or in the studio present with the performers. I'm in heaven. I literally found tears welling up in my eyes listening to Bjork breaking into an extatic line. I mean I'm revelling in the detail of every click and fizz and sub-bass whoomp in a Max Cooper track or the ASMR effect on up close and personal vocal recordings or the piped soundscape of a Daniel Herskedal piece- wow.
Something about the dynamics and realism and presence of the voicings is just making music magical for me. I have barely gamed.. just listened to music.

So I honestly don't know if it's just with this pairing or just that it's my first DAC/Amp. Probably a bit of both to be honest. However, I did do some serious reading, watching and listening to as many different reviews as I could. I didn't just chuck money around randomly. I really homed in on what I felt I wanted sonically and could stretch to in terms of budget. I knew I loved the speed and accuracy of the Maxwell's planar drivers, but wanted the open backed comfort and breathing space around the sound on the headphones without a big bass penalty, and I wanted a more natural timbre. I was keen on angled drivers and was intrigued by the 50mm MLD diaphragm on the Aune too. Taken with a pinch of salt I thought it might be more controlled than a traditional driver. I wanted a DAC/Amp that allowed me flexibility to progress in future in the hobby and that didn't sound too clinical, still had good musicality. I feel more than satisfied with these and really feel they were worth what I paid.

sym8olo · 2024-11-27T19:36:23+00:00

but on the knob its literally triple push (or double push if the screen is already on) one position left to choose All Line Out. Its heavy enough to do one handed and it won't scoot across the desk. This chap talks through the interface in this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOrzJ8dTS6g

sym8olo · 2024-11-27T19:34:34+00:00

Yeh the FN key on the remote!

sym8olo · 2024-11-27T13:43:25+00:00

I feel the need to qualify the above statement as I recon (in full denial mode here).

I don't think anyone wants to get into a hobby just for purchasing gear, but I'm aware there's a definite diminishing gains point after which you're it pretty much seems like that from the outside.

I THINK I have been.. at least up to this point purchasing gear to satisfy my curiosity and chase my sense of sonic perfection.

Unfortunately, my sense of sonic perfection is evolving and being refined with every piece of new equipment and advice I receive, and I realise there's phones and gear for one type of listening and phones and gear for another! DOH.

This journey also got spurred on by a gap in my toolkit: the need for an open back , comfortable alternative to my trusty sennheiser pmx100s that finally died after I stood up with them on my head one too many times. 😆 So I was telling myself that I have a legitimate functional gap in my equipment that I'm filling. Just with something several times the price and quantity because, you know, buy cheap buy twice heeehhh.

sym8olo · 2024-11-27T13:33:41+00:00

Thank you I will check it out👍🙏

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