Hm Iām using some AliExpress cheapo fenestrated sheepskin earpads with an adapter with some success with my he 560, not sure if those are good for the 400 but itās another option 
Think those had a 100 or 110 mm diameter
Diameter meaning both width and height are 100mm? Sounds huge. Link those please if you still know how to find them! I believe the 560 frame is the same as the 400i.
I just opened another browser to look through AliExpress since itās been altering my search results, and found that with a ānew user discountā I could order a pair of rings for 1 cent! Wild. Jumped on the opportunity of course. Even if theyāre not good thereās no loss.
think its those angled Sheepskin Pads in 105mm diameter
Just not sure with the diameter, it seems like i did buy 100, 105 and 110 XD , did messure them on my 560 and its looks like 105 are on them
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Make sure you report back on how the pad hunt goes. I, for one, would be interested to hear how they work out and what you settle on. I just ordered some elite velours from Dekoni and a couple options from AE myself and will report back once I get them and have some head time with each.
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Sure! Iām not really rushing anything right now as I am pretty much used to the terrible Hifiman pads though so donāt expect an answer too soon, also with the rings I ordered from AliExpress, it is reporting an expected delivery date in goddamn Januaryā¦Right now the ones I am eyeing the most are the ZMF Auteurs in Hybrid (Suede and Lambskin), which has a bit of a smaller diameter so could prob fit a little better on the headphones without sacrificing on ear cavity size. But those ones linked above are also interesting because of how cheap they are not gonna lie. Weāll see how it goes.
FWIW, my stuff from AE always arrives about a month before those estimates. I have never understood why the estimates are so far out. Anyways, this thread isnāt gonna disappear so take youāre time. Happy hunting and happy listening! 
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Funnily enough just after posting my reply above I looked at the tracking and it seems like itās already in my country. So Iāll definitely get it much sooner which is a pleasant conclusion. Might order the Auteur pads soon but I am not sure on what material to get.
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Figured Iād just ask, what would you guys recommend? ZMF offers lambskin, suede, protein and hybrid suede/lambskin. The hybrid seems like it is the closest to the original 400i pads, which are (I believe) a velour/pleather hybrid, but I am not sure how similar these materials are really. I am also unsure whether to order them perforated or solid, as the 400i pads are only perforated on the inside.
Obviously with such a different size in pads thereās going to be a sound change but in terms of material, which would preserve the most of the original frequency response, or instead how would these influence it? Personally donāt really have complaints with the 400iās sound but Iām fairly inexperienced with headphones so I might be missing something. All I know is I donāt like the HD 6XX.
Got the plastic adapter rings yesterday, and ended up ordering the Auteur pads in Hybrid. For documentation, here is how the focus pads look after 2 years of use (for me anyways):
You can see that the outer pleather has completely disintegrated and left a pitiful gray layer, the velour is crubmling too and the internal perforated layer has entirely disconnected from the insides of the pad, revealing a very standard foam inside the pads. By the way, is this standard? Are the pad materials only supposed to be a covering? Because I thought these were just made out of pleather and velour, not foamā¦
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Nah pads are nearly always some kind of foam covered with a material only Grado pads and some other come to my mind with a pure pad
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Yeah, pads are normally made that way. All pads have some kind of filler material like foam to give them their shape and the material names generally only refer to the material(s) used for the outer layer or covering. Thatās why two pads from different companies with the same outer material and measurements can sound very different because their inner foam/filler materials are different.
When you say you bought adapter rings, do you mean that you bought the normal mounting rings for the HE400i or did you buy some special kind of ring?
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Thanks for the explanations! And itās just the standard mounting rings.
Pretty awesome to order something from AliExpress with 1 cent! And having it delivered!
For 1 cent?!?! Do you happen to have a link?
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It generally costs 5 dollars. I couldnāt find anything on AliExpress because when you have an account you used already, it completely ruins the search engine and gives you stuff that is totally unrelated to your search. So I opened Edge which is a browser I donāt use and saw that for a new account they are offering a 99% discount, so I just bought it without thinking about it at all.
Still pretty cheap though.
(Hereās some proof)
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Thatās one heck of a deal! Nice grab!
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Got my pads! Had a new trouble that I think these pads kinda fix! (for the short term at least)
You can see in the second image pretty clearly, the hook in the headband between the earcup holders and the upper part has weakened and does not sit right anymore. Itās bent, which means the whole earcup is kinda tilted downwards and that plastic part digs into my head. The former is still true but because the pads are so much thicker than the originals, I donāt really feel that plastic part dig into my head anymore.
Iām kind of ashamed to say I really couldnāt succeed securing all 4 plastic hooks into their place on the headphone. No matter how much I tried to align it and move it, one just never got in. In both of them itās the bottom one and I really think I spent 2 hours trying to get it in on the left earcup. I give up. I hope this doesnāt sacrifice the seal.
Anyways to the actual topicā¦Goddamn these are soooo much more comfortable. They feel so strange on these headphones, like they float on my head instead of the OG pads that sat very tightly. They feel lighter now somehow. They also feel more open, like less background noise is being omitted.
Need more time to assess sound quality but Iām really happy with it so far. Getting plenty of bass for sure so maybe the fourth hook not being in is not a big deal in terms of seal. I feel like the soundstage maybe wider, and I also feel like they are brighter, which is a welcome change for me. Everything is pushed back a little more because of the added soundstage I think and I like it a lot.
Pad swapping is incredibly hard with this mechanism though. I really struggle to understand how others do it. I just canāt.
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Did you try checking out any pad replacement videos for the HE400i? Dekoni has a good one on their website (also on YouTube) that shows a how to do it pretty cleanly.
Anyways, are those the AliExpress pads you guys were discussing before? Iām glad theyāre working out. Which size are they? BTW, I believe you can fet replacement headbands from Hifiman.
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As always a few tricks you pick up if you do it often enough, but I really hope the hinges will hold up on your HP 
Think I did hook up the adapter rings first and then put the pads on like on some zmf but I could be wrong itās quite a while since I swapped my pads 
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I did check those out. They just do it super easily. I literally canāt. No matter what I do, one hook doesnāt go in. Iām completely lost
These are the ZMF Auteur Hybrids with the mounting rings that I showed I ordered for 1 cent. Loooove how they feel, finally space for my ears.
Edit: Forgot, about the headband. Yes they sell them, but for the price of one plus shipping, I could get a brand new headphone. Itās insane. I really donāt know what to do as I havenāt found any other place that sells them. I did find some aftermarkets on AliExpress and eBay but I spoke to the sellers and they say you need to remodel it yourself to fit the headphones and I have none of those skills.
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Yeah I donāt know itās just so frustrating for me. Hopefully they will last because Iām really screwed if they donāt!