I also picked up some official Grado G-Cush pads.. These were more different than the Ear Zonk’s than that I had originally thought they would be.
The acoustic foam used is pretty different. The Grado’s are a much softer foam with a resin is used to harden both the front and back. While the Ear Zonk’s are a solid piece of stiffer acoustic foam.
The Grado’s are pretty much an enlarged version of the Grado L-Cush which most of us have used with more resin used to hold the larger shape together (the whole back is a pretty solid). This resin does offer a benefit though... It holds the outer and rear shape together while allow the center to squish and adjust to your head, keeping the drivers level with your ear but still hovering over them.
The Ear Zonk’s, on the other hand, when receiving pressure from the font lose their shape on the rear pretty fast… This can cause cups to dig into the pad not allowing the drivers to hold themselves at a proper level angle or position to your ears. I did also notice that the top end tends to break up and get a little hot on the Ear Zonk’s, I believe this may be to this improper structure to the pads when they are worn.
I think Ear Zonk tries to somewhat get around this by making the bowls more shallow than the Grado’s.. Although IMHO making them more shallow just kinda defeats the reason for getting the larger bowl pads..
Here are some pictures to show what I mean
The Grado Pads are on the right.. Notice how the Ear Zonk's are more shallow than the Grado's
Grado pad with pressure being pushed on the front. Notice the minimal dig in from the rear cups into the pad..
Now look at the Ear Zonk's and how the cups are just compley digging into the pads...
