BrainwavzXL Micro Suede Upgrade Earpads For AKG 701 & Suitable For Many Other Headphones - Sennheiser, AKG, HifiMan, ATH, Philips, Fostex, Sony

I bought these pads hoping for a bit more comfort when fitted to my Philips Fidelio X2 headphones (which I love). This is my first experiment with replacement headphone pads, and I may try something different in the future. These are just my own subjective impressions, for what it's worth.Comfort: It's a huge win for me - compared to the velour stock pads, the micro-suede material feels nicer, and the larger size means there is absolutely zero contact with my ears. Also, the memory foam in the Brainwavz pads is somewhat softer, and it just molds to the sides of my head in a very comfortable way.Manufacturing quality: Again excellent, I can't really fault it, and I would say the pads are excellent value for money in this regard.On fitting to Philips Fidelio X2s: The pads are a slightly loose fit on the Philips X2 headphones specifically, of course they will be better for other headphones with slightly larger earcups - but they do still seem to work fine on the X2s. I just unclipped the stock pads (so I can refit these at any time) and it's fairly easy to ease the pleather fabric "skirt" on the Brainwavz pads around the X2 earcups. The fitting posts for the stock pads on the X2 earcups don't cause any problems. You could perhaps add a strip of some material around the rims of the X2 earcups to increase the circumference and achieve a tighter fit, but I'm not sure I will bother myself.Effect on sound: What I say is obviously specific to the Philip Fidelio X2 headphones I have. The pads basically increased the bass (which is not lacking on the X2s anyhow) to the point I found it overblown and somewhat boomy. At the same time, the treble frequencies were reduced and softened, and there seemed to be a loss of detail, and a less resolved soundstage. So first impressions not at all good, and I really thought I'd made a mistake getting there pads, despite liking the comfort. But what has totally saved the day is that I've found that with these pads the X2s respond beautifully to eq-ing - I used an s-shaped curve, reducing frequencies below 500KHz, and boosting those above. Quite amazed, but with a bit of experiment all the detail and soundstage can be brought back (even improved) and any boomy-ness in the bass can be removed, leaving a deep but clean bass response. In fact, with the eq tweaked to my taste, I think I prefer the sound over the stock pads - there seems to be an effortless, natural quality to the sound that is for me an improvement. So as long as you have access to some kind of decent graphic eq, you may actually like these pads for the Philips X2s. That said, this was my first replacement pad purchase, I don't have any particular "audiophile" qualifications, and I am wondering if the pleather pads Brainwavz makes would have been a better choice - only one way to find that out I suppose.So there you have it - it's hard to be absolutely conclusive, but these Brainwavz pads are certainly well made and very comfortable. If you really don't like the idea of relying on eq to get a sound you like, then maybe they're not the best choice for Philips Fidelio X2 owners, although as one such I am happy enough. And I'm sure there will be other headphones out there for which these pads are just excellent, without the need for changing the eq - perhaps those with a bit of a bright sound profile and lacking a bit in bass response.

I'm using these on AKG 712s, which I use for extended periods while gaming. I mainly bought them to have a second option so I could wash the original cushions and still use the headphones. These are even more comfortable than the originals (which is saying something because the AKGs are the comfiest headphones I've ever tried). The cushions are even deeper and wider than the originals, the memory foam is dense and conforms to your head wonderfully and the cover feels luxurious. They were fairly easy to install.I think they have changed the sound a little, just a touch more isolation from outside and the bass feels fully now.I will probably buy the same again for my DT990s that I use with my guitar.

I bought these as the stock pads that came with AKG K275s were too shallow and the driver was pressing against my ear. They are deep and comfortable. Don't get sweaty after hours of use.They are extra wide so they go over the whole headphone rather than in the groves for the original pads.Edit - I've switched between these and the stock pads. There is a slight reduction in treble, mainly cymbals sound lighter and a reduction in very low bass / rumbling sounds. Probably mainly due to the extra distance they put between the driver and your ear (you can press them in further to hear the difference). Still, the extra comfort is worth the trade off.

XL Micro-Suede Black – Super easy to fit and good colour match for the AKG K550 headphones. The pads are deeper than the originals and have a much larger opening. But as the original ones had literally fallen apart these are a good alternative. Well worth a try.

Compared to stock Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250 Ohm pads:+ Much more comfortable++ 65mm inner diameter vs 55mm inner diameter for stock pads. My ears are about 65-70mm tall.++ Really nice microsuede material.+ Microsuede doesn't squeak on my glasses+ Less pressure on ears, glasses/temples, etc.+ Clamp force feels reduced+ Sound quality is very similar, to my ears. I'm using Oratory AutoEQ with Peace + Equalizer APOFor abour £30, my closed headphones have gone from "useful for blocking out noise, but uncomfortable after 5 minutes" to "I can wear these for hours without overheating, with similar sound, and still good passive noise blocking".Took a few minutes to get on - but I didn't have to cut the holding ring.

arrived no seal on bag bits on covers of earpads looked used blue die on the inside of the bag where earpads had been sitting touch quite nice but beware blue residue on earpads and not worth 35 pounds

These earpads are EXTREMELY comfortable but unfortunately on the AD series of headphones they absolutely ruin the sound. They are double the thickness of the stock pads so your ear becomes very far away from the driver making the sound muffled, it's very noticeable. Such a shame, if they made these about 20mm thick instead of 30mm thick I bet they'd be great.

I have a modded pair of Philips SP9500 headphones that allows for rounded ear pads and these fit perfectly, just what I needed. These ear pads are extremely comfortable and they feel like they're going to last. Was going to get sheepskin for extra life span but couldn't find them in XL. I think I'm glad I bought the microsuede instead as the comfortability is just amazing.