New headphone earpads have changed the way they sound.

[Stel. P.]

Hi people of the LTTs.
Recently, thanks to the ads on LTT videos with Denis, and his soggy headphone ear cushions, I looked at and bought a set of the Wicked Cushions for my M50x headphones.
The one thing I personally enjoyed a lot about these headphones is the not so bassy and clear flat profile audio, honestly they've been the best headphones I've ever had, these things are now 7 years old, and I don't want to change them any time soon The original cushions on the other hand were done, all the faux leather texture was gone, even the head band cushion is peeling away with only the top left that still has most of the AT logo on it. Anyway, so I changed the cushions, and I will say, they are so much more comfortable, larger, softer, just all round better than the originals. My issue now though is that they've changed the way the headphones sound. I've noticed significantly more bass, to the point I've had to use the Xonar studio centre software my soundcard uses to reduce the low end, from the 30hz slider to the 250hz slider just to get a similar sound profile that I had before. 
Has anyone else had this happen at all? is it that I just can't remember how they sounded when they were new so long ago, and the slowly deteriorating cushions just had me ever so slowly get used to the changing audio???
Is this something maybe LTT labs can check out? 

[mistermodcreator]

I would guess that the new cushions seal better against your ear, thus giving you more bass. This mainly happens on closed headphones, which yours are. LTT has mentioned that in a video as a side note, they connected this effect with glasses or the LTT beanie breaking the seal between headphones and head, resulting in a loss in bass. The reverse would be a better seal resulting in more bass, which could be what you are experiencing.

This issue should not show on open headphones.

Since I recently switched headphones to beyerdyamic DT-990 Pro, I can say from experience that you absolutely can get used to your headphones sound signature quite quickly.

As a side note, here's something to consider when buying new headphones: The original cushions should be easiely available as replacement parts (as is the case with my DT-990s and your headphones).

You could try swapping to new original cushions, like these ones. (German retailer, but with excelent customer service, you will find them somewhere else if necesary)

[Cocococo]

This is exactly the problem i have with wicked cushions sponsorship, nowhere in the ad or video do they say that "these replacement earpads will drastically change how your headphones sound" and the simple truth is that ear pads play a gigantic role in the sound of your headphones. 

 

For what you appear to be hearing the cooling gel (imo gel pads suck, they're cool for like an hour and then insulate way more than fabric) absorbs more of the high pitched frequencies than memory foam, added to the larger amount of foam from the driver and you have an earpad that low bass notes have a much easier time getting through, emphasising the lower frequencies despite the volume the driver outputs being the same. Unless you wear glasses while using headphones you won't notice much of a difference in seal (unless the earpads don't envelop your ears i guess, you did mention the old ones being heavily worn) The difference in material and amount/ location of said material would play just as big a role as if you were using open back headphones, don't think it's just a closed back problem.

 

To give some examples to help you better understand just how large an impact even earpad wear has on your headphone sound i'm linking a couple examples of frequency response graphs of very well acclaimed and popular headphones that basically every database should have, Crinacles in my opinion show the difference the best, and if the sound changes that much with just pad wear then imagine just how different non OEM earpads impact sound Sennheiser HD650 – In-Ear Fidelity (crinacle.com) Sennheiser HD600 – In-Ear Fidelity (crinacle.com) 

 

Not all non-original earpads change sound for the worse, Focal Elegia (imo one of the worst of Focals closed back lineup) swapped with the earpads from a Focal Utopia suddenly jumps up so massively in sound quality that i would happily call them the best sounding Focal closed back headphones (even better than the multi thousand dollar Stellia)

 

Koss KSC-75 are very well regarded as the one true god of budget audio and Yaxi makes earpads for Koss headphones that (somewhat) remedy the KSC-75's shortcomings so much that i would have a very hard time deciding if i wanted to use them or some $150usd Sennheiser HD560S for music listening.

 

These are just examples of some pad swaps being better than OEM, there are others out there (Grado lovers like putting SR80 pads on the Hemp headphones for example) it's all down to personal preference on which you prefer. One word of advice, if earpads are changeable with more than just one chassis of headphones; like some M50x pads working on some Steelseries headset then the earpads were not made to sound good, they were made to be more sellable which is my main gripe with wicked cushions, Dekoni are prolly the only replacement pad makers that have some good widely available options (their aftermarket focal pads are the best non OEM out there and aren't insultingly expensive like Focal)

[saintlouisbagels]

Not to play the blame game, but it's on the product page...

 

It's amusing you loved the original not-so-bassy sound profile. I guess you never got a good seal on them to begin with because the ATH-M50 series are the worst headphones I've ever owned specifically for the terrible bloated bass.

[Psittac]

Pads are an entire sub-genre in this hobby, They are the easiest most cost effective way to get a different sound short of getting a different pair of headphones.  If you don't want to adjust the EQ I would suggest finding something with perforations on the inside of the ear cup, or even ditch the faux leather entirely.  My dt880-600 became a lighter and airier headphone by going with a suede type pad.

[mistermodcreator]

10 hours ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Not to play the blame game, but it's on the product page...

 

It's amusing you loved the original not-so-bassy sound profile. I guess you never got a good seal on them to begin with because the ATH-M50 series are the worst headphones I've ever owned specifically for the terrible bloated bass.

Exactly thats the problem. They state that new cushions will improve your headphones sound. Especially for studio headphones this is rarely the case, as the earpad design is affecting the sound. Any change in earpads will change their sound, which is something you would never want with studio headphones, but also with most other headphones. I can see how some users may see more bass as an improvement, but that is far from the only change earpads can cause, and those changes are mostly negative, as headphones are tuned to deliver good sound with their original cushions. 

 

So the marked text in your picture isn‘t false advertising, it just doesn‘t tell the whole story. And that earpads change the sound signature must be mentioned, especially on the product page for studio headphone cushions, but also in sponsor spots.

[Cocococo]

4 hours ago, mistermodcreator said:

So the marked text in your picture isn‘t false advertising, it just doesn‘t tell the whole story. And that earpads change the sound signature must be mentioned, especially on the product page for studio headphone cushions, but also in sponsor spots.

I think the easiest way is to just not trust YT sponsorships, i know it sucks for the creator but how many VPN sponsors had to change their script after Tom Scott released his video on how a VPN actually works? How many youtubers dropped Raycon sponsorships after Dankpods video on them? How many youtubers were sponsored by Established Titles before the series of videos exposing them as a scam came out? 

 

LTT literally voted Raycon as "best TWS earbuds" in a budget earbud roundup before the dams broke on Raycon's pathetic quality and garbage sound, there's just no way to not know if what you're being promoted works, works how you think it does or is just a straight up scam. Also don't buy into "studio" marketing, literally all studios want is a durable headphone and a long fixed cable so artists can't accidentally leave with a pair, any mixing and mastering is done with speakers because headphones cannot touch the instrument separation, detail or imaging that crazy good speakers are capable of. (Also some mastering is done with airpods lmao)

[Psittac]

You can't expect a company to go into the nuances of their product in a simple advertisement or sponsored spot, that's just NOT how it works.  Throw in that it Could be negative to some and marketing isn't going to waste valuable time.  There is responsibility on the consumer, not everyone should be expected to hold everyone's hands at all times.  Put the pitch forks down people

[mistermodcreator]

1 hour ago, Psittac said:

You can't expect a company to go into the nuances of their product in a simple advertisement or sponsored spot, that's just NOT how it works.

They should at the very least mention this rather important detail on their product page (maybe there could be some text in the spot additionally?), which they not only not do right now, but they state that their earpads will improve sound quality. However, in practice this is rarely the case and mostly dependent on the users sound-taste. So really, they should state that the earpads change sound quality and that the outcome is dependent on the user and the used headphones.