From my own experience, I never noticed any "improvement" on any headphone using any aftermarket pads... Quite the opposite, in fact.
You can get better confort or better seal for sure. But IMHO, the sound signature, that some engineers took months to create, will simply suffer by changing the pads.
The only time rolling pads is going to , perhaps, help the sound, is if the product comes with them, (2 sets) as in this regard, the engineers have already worked on the issue.
Other then that, buying pads to make your Cans sound better, is a shot in the dark + shipping fees.
And if you have headphones that require you to insert pads to make them sound better, or get more bass, then you are being led down a money path to nowhere.
Different, regarding all this altering of the body of your Cans, is not better.
Different is just different, disguised as better, or improved.
Just because you choked out the upper freq, or impaired the bass response, with some barrier..........= you have not made anything better..... except perhaps your feelings about your overpriced headphones.
The fact is.....You have only made it different then the factory originally designed it to exits and perform.
They could have also done this, but they didnt because they dont think its better.
Change pads....... because you hate the way your pads feel, but do expect some changes in the sound of your headphones if you do.
Nothing is perfect....ever.
Where this goes crazy is when you find pads you like, but they subtract from your Cans sonics in a way you dont like.
So, this tradeoff, can be very frustrating.
And for those of you who do not play acoustic guitar or electric, let me share with you something that is similar to what we are discussing here, regarding making customizations to specific parts of your Acoustic.
On an acoustic, the string are stretched by tuners that bring them up to 440 pitch, so that the guitar can function according to a certain math-matical criteria for making chords using strings, frets, and scale length.
The strings themselves are a scale length, usually 25.0, up to 25.6 (inches). with the string tension increasing, the longer the scale length.
So, a person gets a guitar and they want it to play easier......
Its always like this.
So, this is basically accomplished by lowering the string height, per string, in relation to the fretboard, as this is termed lowering the '"Action" of the guitar string(s).
The Action of the guitar strings, is in general, the way it feels when you press the strings against the frets, making chords, but can be also the way single strings feel when you are playing "lead".
So, the general rule to understand this is...."if its really hard to play chords" then the action is too high......or if there is a lot of buzzing of the strings on the frets, this is normally an indication that the action is too "soft" = the strings are too low over the fretboard and their vibration when being played is literally bouncing them off certain frets they are touching, and this is normally the very 1st fret next to the "guitar's nut"..
The "Nut" is the white piece with slots that sits between the end of the fretboard and the beginning of the headstock.
At the other end of the guitar, sitting on the body, below the soundhole, is the black wooden piece which is the bridge, and the white piece that sits in the bridge that supports the strings is called the "saddle".
Strings sit on the nut and the saddle.
So, you have the nut and the saddle, that holds the strings, and makes the scale length.
Got all that?
So, now, the problem is, the guitar is hard to play.......so what to do? Well, we need to lower the strings........and this happens in 3 ways..
First, we determine the optimum height for the biggest (Low E) string regarding its distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of this string. And we need it to be 3/32nd, or about 3.5mm.
So, we lower the strings first of all by sanding the bottom of the saddle, and check, and sand, and check, and sand, and finally we get it down, at the 12th fret, that Low E, to 3/32nds or about 3.5mm.
Then, we notice the nut slots are holding the strings too high, so, we take "nut files" or "nut saws" and we deal with each till all strings are lowered comfortably and equally, but not so low as to cause buzzing on the 1st fret.
Now did you notice the order?....... We do the saddle first, then the nut, as if you do this backwards, you'll ruin everything........so dont do that, if you are going to take your guitar and give it a try.
Finally, the neck on a guitar can be (adjusted) bowed, kept straight, or back bowed......
Bowed = a slight V in the center of the neck that tapers away from the strings.
Back Bowed, is a backward V'ing of the neck, that tapers the center of the neck towards the strings.
"Back Bowing" is wrong, you never do it, and if you do, its because the neck needs to be reset, as its lost its correct angle that lets the guitar play as it should..
I personally only use a very straight neck set up, as i have a soft touch, and i use very light gauge strings.
If you, or if the person playing the acoustic really beats on the strings with a Flat Pick, then they need larger strings, and a higher action, as to play really forcefully with a "plectrum" as you see performed in Bluegrass or Gypsy Jazz, causes the strings to super vibrate and if the action is not set up higher to accommodate this technique, then the strings will buzz like mad against many frets.
Now here is the issue.
The issue is...... Changing the action, changing the height of the strings, lowers the strings, makes the guitar easier to play...... but...... lowers also the TENSiON of the strings, as they pull against the top.
Keep in mind that a guitar's body is a speaker box, and energy transmits from strings to saddle, through bridge, into the box, and the box reacts to this energy its being given by providing sound. This sound is controlled by application.
Application of your fingers or pick against the strings, and application of using your fingers to create chords shapes on the fretboard.
So what is the problem?
The problem is, lowering the action, softens the string<> top tension, and the less tension being performed by the strings against the top lowers the volume and softens the tone.
So, its a trade off..
If you want the guitar to sound its best, then you have higher action, which creates more "top tension", and you get a louder more powerful sound, as the guitar is being "maxxed out".
But, its hard to play.
So, you lower the action, and it plays better, easier, YET< you notice you have lost some tone, punch, power, articulation, when you do it.
So, just like your headphones, can feel better if you get better pads, you will lose something in translation regarding the sonics.......so it is with your guitar......as you get it to play easier, you also lose some sound quality when you do.
So, just like most things in life.
You have a trade off, as nothing is perfect.....ever.
You accomplish one thing, to lose something else, and you can never have it all.
WISDOM, is being able to discern in all this, = what is the best result you should pursue based on the compromise you have to make to achieve it.
