WCWicked Cushions PadZ - Thick & Soft Ear Pads for ATH M50X / M40X / SteelSeries Arctis/HyperX Cloud & Alpha/Logitech G Pro X/Compatible with Over 50 Headphones | Black

First let me preface this for why you might be interested these if you've got an Arctis Pro headset. When I purchased my Arctis Pro Wireless headset over a year ago, I was incredibly impressed by the way it sounded and the overall build quality was great... except one thing. Their "premium" airweave fabric cushions have a lot of "creaking" which is is barely auditable until they're on your ears. After which, at which point it was annoyingly loud. The only way to prevent it was to keep my head as still as possible or turn the music up louder than I wanted.To add insult to injury, the stock airweave pads did little to prevent my ears from touching the drivers. Something you never really notice until a couple hours later when you adjust the headset and realize your ears are sore. I was able to alleviate some of this by carefully applying pressure to the metal band to widen them up a bit, but out of fear of breaking them, there was only so much I was willing to do.And of course when I realized SteelSeries sold leather replacements, I wanted to buy them... in fact, I did buy them. But then a couple days later I got an email saying my order was cancelled and I was getting a refund.Alright, SteelSeries. That's fine. Fortunately for me, these in particular came as a recommendation and I've got to admit, they're impressive as hell. They're no more easy or difficult to install than any other earpads and the fit is tight enough that they feel stock but are just loose enough that at no point did I fear I could rip them.First impressions were immediate. As soon as I put them on, I was immediately taken back to my HyperX Cloud II's which I considered my most comfortable pair of headphones ever. And the thickness seems just enough that my ears don't touch the driver anymore. However what really took me by surprise (though it really shouldn't) was the impact it had on music.Anyone who's used multiple headsets have probably run into both fabric and "leather" earphones, so if you're familiar with the differences, it won't surprise you to know that compared to the stock airweave cushions, bass sounds fuller, volume overall is perceptively louder, and external sounds are going to be quite a bit more muffled. All of which are, in my opinion, perks but your mileage and expectations may vary. Just know that there is a difference.Fortunately in my case, two of the "worst" part of closed headphones are very easily fixed with the SteelSeries Engine software.> First off, Arctis Pro lets you emulate a wider sound. Good if you want that open sensation in your music without the external noise or sharing it with everyone else in the room.> Second, Side-tone. If you're using these for an Arctis Pro and haven't messed around with your sidetone settings (which are a built-in feature to the Arctis Pro) so you while your mic is enabled, you can still hear yourself talk. This is definitely one of the most jarring differences between fabric and leather earpads. I know many people who couldn't care less, but for me, it's very disorienting to talk without hearing yourself and no amount of third-party solutions ever work as well as having it built-in. So enjoy!Overall, there's not much more to say about these. They're well made, fit the model I purchased them for, and came with a host of benefits, some of which caught me a bit off guard. So yes, these come highly recommended.

So I have a pair of ATH M50’s the original coiled cable set. I’ve had these cans for about 10 years and they are the best headphones I’ve ever owned. Over time the headband started flaking off which i’m sure everyone who’s had these a while knows what i’m talking about, then the ear pads started getting a bit hard and weathered. At this point I needed to get new pads so I found these here for a very reasonable price. I was a bit skeptical about getting different size pads just because I didn’t want the sound quality of these headphones being lost. So I took a chance and I have to say coming from somebody who is very strict when it comes to sound quality I was actually impressed on how good and almost exact the headphones sounded after these pads were installed. The installation process was very easy just be patient and don’t force the band around or pull it. They’ll go on just fine. They feel super comfortable and almost gave me a fresh breath of air knowing I can slap another 10 years on these comfortably lol. Now here is where I get to the one specific part that I noticed immediately after playing my “Test” track lol. The construction quality is really top notch BUT as you’ll see upon opening them, there is a very soft padded mesh material inside separating the speaker from your ear. Ok great that’s how all pads should be, pretty self explanatory, no harm done very nicely stitched. THAT’S the slight issue with these pads in combination with the ATH-M50’s. As soon as I played a song, I noticed immediately the highs were a bit muffled. Basically picture the highs and a bit of the mids being blocked by that “Mesh Wall”. So what I did to experiment was I took the pads off and folded the band inside out exposing the mesh stitching around the leather. I basically cut next to the stitching on the mesh side all around leaving the speaker exposed. Tossed the mesh, folded the band back to normal, installed the pads back on the headphones and tried again. Ok for those who love the sound of their ATH-M50’s and any other headphones with this pad combination, THIS is the way to go. As soon as I started playing music again, all I can say was WOW .. The highs and mids were all back the way they sounded before. The signature sound of the headphones were not compromised and actually to top it all off, the upgraded pads with the mesh cut out gave a bit of a bass boost without losing ANY other levels!. Long story short, if you want to keep the sound you grew to love with these headphones, do this slight modification. Trust me if you’re a bit like me (OCD) lol, you won’t regret this. Overall the pads are amazing, feel super comfortable, people with big ears like myself will LOVE these lol. I’m very happy I gave this brand a chance.