Dekoni Audio Replacement Ear Pads for Sony WH1000Xm3 Noise Canceling Headphones (Choice Leather)

I bought these because even though I love the sound of the Sony WH1000Xm3 headphones I was not thrilled with the Ear Pads because they weren't thick enough and a little too squishy for my liking and my ears felt warm and like they were in a tight space. (I had a chance to compare them to the Bose 700 headphones which felt a little better on my ears but I liked the Sony's better for sound but it made me want better ear pads) The Dekoni ear pads solve all those problems. These are definitely more comfortable than the Sony's. My ears have more room to breathe and they just feel better and they look great. I got the leather ones even though the suede ones sounded more comfortable but some people were complaining that the suede ones lost a lot of the sound cancelling capability of the Sony's and I was not willing to sacrifice that. Maybe that is not true but there were a few complaints about that. My only small complaint is that they were twice as much as other replacements like the Wicked one's that looked really good also. These looked like the best ones and I figured I spent the money to get the best noise cancelling headphones so why not have the best ear pads for them so I went for it and am pleased.

Rarely write reviews but this, I felt compelled to warn potential buyers...if noise cancelling is even moderately important to you, you're better off going through Sony for earpads if you're within the 1 year warranty.With window AC units in the house, noise cancelling is extremely important in my case. With the OEM earpads, I can't hear the hiss of the units at all (depending on how loud music/audio is). If there's no audio playing with the OEM, it's like dulled white noise.However, with the Dekoni earpads, there was a whistle-type noise apparent, even with music playing at a comfortable level.The Dekoni pads were comfortable, but it really defeats the purpose if they completely destroy the standout features of the WH-1000XM3s.I think I see why the noise cancelling is so bad too. Compare the OEM pads to the Dekoni pads and you can see how differently they're sealed to the bracket/frame. The seal in the OEM is truly sealed, while the Dekoni are threaded with thick, visible threads. I'm not an expert in audio by any means, but I'd deduce the whistling I referenced before is due to the air flow between these threads.Overall, my first experience with Dekoni is disappointing. It seems so counterintuitive to design such a poor accessory when accounting for the intended use of a product: threaded, air-flow earpads for high-quality noise cancelling headphones (at least for general audience standards).It's as if someone chose to design a paper-thin flat screen television to stick on the wall that can double as a mirror...but didn't create any way for it to connect to the internet, cable, or anything. It's...kinda cool? I guess? But it really defeats the purpose of what the actual product (i.e., a TV) is intended to do (i.e., display visual media). Like the made-up product in my metaphor, the Dekoni earpads take the WH-1000XM3's and strip away what makes them "Sony active noise cancelling headphones" and merely makes them "mediocre, but kind of comfortable, minor-noise-reduction headphones."

(((UPDATE)))The dye in these pads transfers to the SILVER headphones. NOT to my skin!I had to use professional strength (not the cheap stuff) acetone (nail polish remover) to get them cleaner. But you can still see it. Before i cleaned them they were covered in black marks like the other review. Cleaning also removed the coloring on the headphones. Still works A+, but now headphones look like crap. Embarrassed on my flight to Florida before i cleaned them. Dropped 2 stars for what it did to my finish. Should not effect the black headphones at all.Let me start off by saying that after reading reviews I was skeptical. Then I realized there were two different types of ear pads being sold. Leather and Suede. I bought LEATHER because that is the way to go hands down. I believe that most of the negative reviews or based on the Suede ones, as I would assume suede absorbs sound. With the provided tool I had them changed out in under 2 minutes.I work in a Factory environment where the decibel levels are anywhere between 80 and 100 continuously. I have been using these headphones (WH1000xm3) in here for a long time and let me tell you I cannot tell the difference in quality and noise cancellation with the new ear pads (Black).The only complaint I would have, as you can tell, is with choice of colors. (Please maker silver ones!) But I'm not worried about aesthetics. I'm worried about noise cancellation in my current work environment. As you can tell I have a set of these and a set of Bose QC 2. I use the Sony's solely for their noise cancellation. Voice quality on phone calls is horrible with these headphones but the noise cancellation is world-class. I have the Bose solely for at work (phone calls) (world class in noisy environments) and use outside of work.Money wasn't an issue and these were well worth it.

The ear pads are very comfortable and of high quality. Except that the gray headphones are painted with black spots that impossible to erase.

being more solid and offering a little more material strength the Dekoni replacement pads look like a more comfortable option for the too soft and too narrow original sony pads. Time will tell ...