Over the last few weeks, I've been refining my testing with various pads, and wanted to share the results of the pad I have finally settled on.
After additional testing, I ended not being crazy about just slipping new pads over the stock cups (as seen here):
The fit was just too loose to provide a tight enough seal, and bass suffered as a result.
Therefore, I have concentrated my recent testing on pads that reuse the stock plastic mounting ring. This retains the clip mounting system, as well as the stock foam ring, providing a stock-like seal and no loss of bass.
I settled on an oval replacement pad designed for Beats Studio 2.0. I have used these a few other headphone projects, and I like them a lot. They're the most compact oval pad that I've ever found that is truly over ear. While the Beats pad isn't as generously sized as larger pads (like HM5), it has exactly enough room to fit my ear fully inside (YMMV depending on your ear size). It's a bit thicker than stock, which provided me enough room so that my ears didn't rub on the ceramic tweeter (which was worth its weight in gold).
If you want to know how well this pad would fit with your ears, simply go anywhere that sells Beats (Apple store, WalMart, Best Buy, Target, etc) and try on a pair of Beats Studio 2.0 (wired or wireless). You can also have someone measure the H x W of your ears for you.
The Beats pads are available in multiple colors and materials (including protein leather and velour). I got black protein leather, and paid $15.
Here's how the size compares to stock:
- Stock pad - Round, OD (80mm), ID (45mm), Thickness (15mm)
- Beats Studio 2.0 pad - Oval, OD (90mm H x 80mm W), ID (55mm H x 40mm W), Thickness (20mm)
Here's the 2 pads side-by-side so you can visualize the difference:
The Beats pads do require the removal of the stock pad from its plastic mounting ring. Harvesting the plastic mounting rings require destroying the stock pads, so you should consider the stock pads as 'sacrificial'.
However, if your stock pads are worn out beyond saving (as
all of our pads will be at some point down the road), this is no big deal. Also, since my ears rubbed the tweeter due to it's poor depth and small ID, I was perfectly fine sacrificing my stock pads (as the result was a usable and comfortable solution).
Perhaps someone can/will come up with a 3D printed mounting ring at some point (maybe even me) so the stock pad/mounting ring doesn't have to be touched at all.
1. Anyways, you start by removing the stock pads from the headphones (by prying w/a credit card, dull non-serrated butter knife, spudger tool, etc).
2. Once you have the stock pads removed, you separate the stock pad from the plastic mounting ring by simply peeling it off:
3. With the stock pad separated from the plastic mounting ring, remove any adhesive residue by rubbing the residue with your thumb in a continuous rolling motion. Here's what you're left with.
4. Before you mount your Beats pad, remove the thin layer of foam from the back of the pad (if you don't, the sound will be veiled). Just tear/peel off the foam layer off and discard. The Beats pad will still have the layer of fabric in the center (like the stock pad where the L and R is written). You can see the foam layer here (the color of the foam can vary):
5. The Studio 2.0 pads come with 3M adhesive pre-attached (the good quality pads at least; the cheap ones have generic adhesive that adheres poorly). You simply peel the backing paper off, center the pad using the 4 clips as a guide (ie like 'cross hairs'), and stick the Beats pad to the face of the plastic trim ring (pressing firmly/evenly to ensure complete adhesion):
6. Now snap the pad back onto the headphone and you're done. Make sure you line up the 2 alignment
pins on the plastic trim ring (shown in the top photo) with the 2 alignment
holes in the face of the earcup (shown in the bottom photo):
Here's the finished product:
Because the internal volume of the Beats pads is very close to the stock pad, there is virtually no change in sound (other than a slightly wider soundstage). They are now truly over-ears (at least my ears), with no rubbing on the tweeter - success!
I feel this solution supersedes my previous pad replacements I posted a number of pages back. However, if your ears are just too large for the Beats pads, the method I laid out to use the HM5 pads (and example) is still a valid option.
Finally, replacing the Beats pads (when they eventually wear out) couldn't be easier. Just pull them off, pitch them, and peel and stick on a new set.
