My pair just arrived and this is kind of hilarious. Since 2009 I've been using some JMoney Beyer pads. First on my 880s, then in 2020 on my 1990s after getting them.
Whatever magic was done when those pads were designed has not been replicated through the other notable third-party pads. None of the Dekoni, Brainwavez, ZMF etc have been able to replicate their sound signature, which tames the shrill, sibilant treble they have with stock pads, and also bring out the bass without actually sounding boomy or bloated and it also doesn't negatively impact dialogue (I mainly use them for movies through various devices).
I've been using those same pads since 2009 and they are pretty deteriorated, and I've not been able to find a suitable replacement. Nothing, and I mean nothing comes close to the way they sound. I even contacted Vesper Audio recently to see if they can try to reverse engineer mine and make me a new pair. After recently dumping $300 on a bunch of ZMF pads, I ended up grabbing the XS for $269...
They come closer to sounding like 1990s + JMoney than anything I've heard yet. Almost, but not quite identical. To the point in which I would be perfectly happy with just using these. They also have the upside of having planar bass, and they seem even more open sounding overall.
Downside? These headphones are uncomfortable as hell. I've never worn a pair of headphones that actually gave me a headache after only ten minutes, but these do it. The top of my head is not perfectly round, and the top/back has very slight point, and these rest directly on top of that. I've seen the various complaints about how uncomfortable these could be, but I had no idea until now. Definitely going to be looking at the various aftermarket headbands for these.
It also seems like I've found my preferred sound signature, so from now on I can just use their frequency response as my baseline, since there wasn't really a way for me to graph the 1990s + JMoney.