[maximum3535]

I've seen a lot of discussion on how pad swapping changes the tuning for various open back headphones. To me this makes sense as open back headphone pads are typically porous to some degree, and I imagine the delivered sound is modified by passing through these porous pads.

However, I haven't been able to find much about whether pad swapping affects closed back headphones, which usually have thicker, nonporous earpads. If closed backs are more forgiving to third party pads then that's a pretty significant advantage over paying insane amounts for original replacements (e.g. $180 for clear pads). Has anyone tried measuring pad swapping for closed backs?

 

[dunring]

Diyaudioheaven has done measurements on pads, it's the best place to start looking. Also dekoni has measurements on all their stuff to get an idea of the sound change over the stock profile.
I've done a lot of pad rolling and favorites are the Beyerdynamic dt770 silver pads, and Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin are terrific.

 

[HipHopScribe]

I haven't found closed backs necessarily more forgiving with pad swapping personally. Some headphones are more forgiving than others to begin with, but it's not an open vs closed thing in my experience. Density of the foam used, size of the opening, distance your ears sit from the drivers, variations in material even using the same type of material (not all leather or pleather is exactly the same), there are all sorts of factors even between pads that may outwardly look the same that can change how they sound.

 

[Strayngs]

Wouldn’t this be dependent on the headphone and the type of headphone? I have had a lot of headphones that change a lot and plenty that dont change with pad swaps

 

[castleofargh]

Main aspects are seal quality(bad seal=rolled off bass), distance between the driver and your ear, and overall internal volume.
So you can see how different pads probably will affect one or more of those variables and result in at least a few frequency response changes. But to be clear, you also get such changes between new and worn out pads.
How much depends on the headphone. Usually, big drivers mitigate the frequency response variations, but I have no certainty about other aspects.

 

[JonM78]

I've seen a lot of discussion on how pad swapping changes the tuning for various open back headphones. To me this makes sense as open back headphone pads are typically porous to some degree, and I imagine the delivered sound is modified by passing through these porous pads.

However, I haven't been able to find much about whether pad swapping affects closed back headphones, which usually have thicker, nonporous earpads. If closed backs are more forgiving to third party pads then that's a pretty significant advantage over paying insane amounts for original replacements (e.g. $180 for clear pads). Has anyone tried measuring pad swapping for closed backs?

Pads can make a difference as well for closed backs. I tried to pad swap Brainwavz oval sheepskin pads onto my Meze 99 Noir. It totally destroyed the bass and seemed to hollow out the sound. I recently put Dekoni Elite sheekskin pads for Meze 99 on and it totally made a positive difference in tightened bass, reduced bass bleed into mids and of course comfort was improved by a mile over the stock PU leather pads.

I don't have a means to measure but pads can indeed make a difference, closed or open back.