Brainwavz XL Earpads Review

After 7 years of heavy usage, the earpads on my DT 770 Pros finally reached the end of their life. I really liked the sound signature they had, however they were constantly falling off and in dire need of replacement.

To replace them, I settled on the Brainwavz XL earpads – these were popular earpads that were comfortable and easy to fit. They are also made out of sheepskin, so are easy to clean.

Fitting the earpads was easy – they simply slid over the top of the headphones, and fit snugly and didn’t move. Visually, I liked the look of them – the black sheepskin fits in well with the headphones.

Sound quality was my major concern moving to completely different earpads – I had the standard Beyerdynamic earpads on my headphones since I got them, so I was very accustomed to the sound signature that they had. The Brainwavz had a noticeable effect on sound quality – for the DT 770s, I felt that they impacted sound quality in a negative way. The sound stage was widened, and mids and bass felt a lot lighter than it did with the standard earpads. This is most likely down to the larger earpads moving the speakers further away from my ears. However, they were far more comfortable, and I found the sound change insignificant enough to keep with them.

Sound isolation is also a little weaker with these pads – I thought that memory foam and sheepskin would have offered better sound isolation than the cloth earpads I had before, but I find they struggle to block higher pitched sounds out. I haven’t used them on a flight yet, but I expect that the aircraft noise will be louder. Once again, the comfort of the pads are worth the slight loss of isolation.

The earpads are very comfortable – I can happily wear them for 14 hours at a time with no issues. They can get a bit hot, most likely down to the sheepskin that they are made of, however I live in the UK so heat is typically welcome. The memory foam means that they sit comfortable on your head, and adapt if they shift positions.

Overall, the Brainwavz XL earpads are brilliant if you are looking for some earpads that will enhance the comfort of your headphones- if you do not want to change the sound signature, its probably best to not replace the earpads of your headphones, or if you have to, to get the same ones as you previously had on it. The Brainwavz XL pads have a noticeably different sound signature, but are far more comfortable than other earpads I have used.

They can be purchased off the Brainwavz site here, or off of Amazon here.

Advertisement