CHOOSING THE RIGHT EAR PADS
Ear pads are designed to nestle snugly up to your ears and make headphones comfortable to wear. But what happens if the ear pads of your headphones become worn due to constant use and exposure to sweat, dust and even moisture? This blog article will answer that question and tell you when you should consider replacing ear pads, and what you need to bear in mind when you do.
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Influence of ear pads on sound quality
Worn-out ear pads often no longer fit properly on or over your ears – this not only makes the headphones less comfortable to wear, but also has a negative effect on sound quality. If ear pads no longer sit right and, as a result, the contact pressure is no longer optimally balanced, this has an audible impact on the sound. This is because over-ear headphones should firmly surround and enclose your ears, and on-ear headphones should rest perfectly on your ears and act as a tight acoustic seal. If that isn’t the case, then air can escape from the front of the enclosed space, which can lead to a consequent reduction in the amount of bass you hear: low-frequency sounds are then no longer directed straight into your ear, some of them get lost on the way. It is also possible that an ear pad’s foam filling changes over time, losing its shape or becoming softer. Putting your headphones on then serves to compress and compact the ear pads even more, affecting the sound across the entire mid-range and bass areas. In both cases, worn-out ear pads can result in very audible differences in sound quality, noticeably upsetting the proper balance between bass, mid-range and treble.
If the pads are flat or the velour/artificial leather material is scuffed, it’s high time to think about replacing them. The point in time when this becomes necessary obviously depends on how often you wear the headphones. Unfortunately, wear and tear also increases the longer you actually own the headphones, due to ingress of moisture and dust into the material, particularly when they’re not correctly stored. Exposure to sunlight over a long period can also cause problems, with the UV rays attacking and degrading the foam filling. This is why it’s impossible to give a definitive statement on when ear pad replacement is absolutely necessary in every case. As soon as you notice that your earphones are less comfortable to wear or the sound quality has diminished, that’s the time to start looking for new ear pads.
What differences are there between ear pads?
Artificial leather vs. velour
What are the differences between velour ear pads and those made of artificial leather? Artificial leather ear pads deliver a particularly clear and detailed sound, and can be wiped clean with a soap-free, damp cloth. However, cleaning products designed especially for artificial leather are also available on the market.
Ear pads made of super-soft velour nestle comfortably against your head. However, they don’t sit as firmly over your ears, and consequently don’t block out noise quite as effectively. But they do provide better ventilation – you don’t sweat as easily as with the artificial leather model. What’s more, the soft pads have a sound-absorbing effect. The sound produced by the headphones differs in that low and bass frequencies in particular are reproduced with extreme precision.
Memory foam
Did you know that we have further improved the comfort of our PRO X headphones through the use of ultra-modern memory foam?
This foam wraps itself softly around you head and ears using your own body warmth and the pressure from the headband. Viscoelastic memory foam can do this better than any other material.
Tips for those who wear glasses
There are a few things that people who wear glasses should bear in mind when choosing the perfect headphones: after all, only a well-fitting set of headphones will ensure that they remain comfortable when you’re also wearing glasses. In this case, over-ear headphones are your best bet as, unlike on-ear headphones, they won’t sit as firmly on your ears and will therefore exert less pressure. Our DT 880 Edition, DT 990 Edition and T1 models, for example, are great for extended listening sessions thanks to their semi-open-back or open-back design. The headband on these models exerts a particularly low contact pressure and clamping force. Because of its open design, the DT 990 Edition, for example, is even lighter than the DT 880 Edition, which is also beneficial for those wearing glasses. On top of this, the soft, breathable velour pads also ensure that the headphones remain comfortable even after hours of use.
For any wearer of glasses looking for a suitable closed-back, over-ear model, a good choice would be, for example, the Amiron wireless or its Amiron wireless copper design variant. The Alcantara ear pads nestle softly against the ears and completely enclose them. Thanks to the perfectly balanced contact pressure, ambient noise is automatically attenuated as soon as you put the headphones on. In addition, the Bluetooth® headphones guarantee optimum sound quality and total freedom of movement.
Headphone hygiene: Tips for cleaning ear pads
When headphones with headbands are in constant use or not correctly stored, they are exposed to dust, dandruff and sweat. On all beyerdynamic’s high-quality on-ear and over-ear headphones, it is possible to detach the ear pads from the ear cups. This enables you to clean the ear cups as well as replace the ear pads.
Further reading: Here you can read in detail about the best ways to clean in-ear, on-ear and over-ear headphones: Cleaning headphones: this is how it’s done
Tips for replacing ear pads
At beyerdynamic, we pride ourselves on producing high-quality products that give our customers years or even decades of enjoyment. This also involves offering replacement parts for our headphones, such as headbands, connection cables, charging cables, ear pads and housings. Being able to replace worn components guarantees the longevity of our products.
Further reading: Here is a step-by-step guide for replacing the ear pads on our PRO headphones: How to: Replacing ear pads on PRO headphones
Various manufacturers sell replacement parts for headphones, especially ear pads. However, when shopping around you should make sure that you order the right pair and opt for the same material again. This is because the material is specially chosen for and matched to each model of headphones, in terms of both comfort and sound. If, for example, you were to replace your artificial leather ear pads with velour ones, this could have a serious negative effect on the sound produced and could make the headphones significantly less comfortable to wear. Switching materials has an impact on the contact pressure which, as already mentioned, has a major influence on sound quality. The somewhat cheaper replacement parts sold by third-party suppliers often don’t fit the ear cups as exactly as the originals, and this is ultimately reflected in the poor sound quality achieved. They may also be not of such a high quality as the original products. We would therefore advise you to follow the manufacturers’ recommendations and opt for original replacement part, and so continue to enjoy first-class sound quality for a long time to come.