BRAINWAVZXL Large Sheepskin Leather Replacement Memory Foam Earpads - Suitable for Many Other Large Over The Ear Headphones - Sennheiser, AKG, HifiMan, ATH, Philips, Fostex, Sony (Sheepskin Leather)

I have a pair of AKG K550 headphones that are about 4 years old that are one of my favorites. After years of fairly gentle use and hanging from a headphone stand, I was disappointed to see that the pleather covering of the ear pads was cracked and flaking off on both ear pads.AKG's Customer Service was of no help as their Parts Department initially stated it does not carry replacement ear pads. 2 days after my call they responded that you can purchase replacement from them. After a number of searches online, I came across the Brainwavz XL Large round replacements that I ordered here on Amazon.First off - any AKG K55x user must use the XL large round ear pads with the 110 mm opening. Anything smaller will be too small. The Brainwavz were incredible easy to install. The originals have a vinyl/plastic-y flange that fits over and into the slot on each earpiece. My originals were in such bad shape, they ripped when I took them off.All said, it took less than 5 minutes to install the new pads. One tip - the K550 has a small grove or split on the earpiece that makes it easy to get the ear pad flange into the receiving side. Just feed the flange into the slot and then just slowly stretch to position the flange. It literally took 2 - 2 1/2 minutes per side to fit the new pads.So far, no complaints. I went with the sheepskin for durability. They are very comfortable and slightly thicker than the originals, which is fine as I hate have my ear rest on the interior mesh covering the speaker.ON EDIT - OK, so I've just completed an extended listening session of about 2 hours using the K550's and the new Brainwavz XL's. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. With the new ear pads, the headphones are much better fitting and comfortable. You now get a proper seal around your ear, which was my complaint of the original pads - the originals are rounded in shape and compress with time resulting in a less than proper fit.Sound-wise, the K550's sound great. In fact, I would say they sound a bit better now due to the proper fit of the ear pads. The soundstage is a richer and more expanded. Sonically, you are now hearing more detail in the music presentation. I found no degradation in sound that often occurs with aftermarket "Universal" ear pads. All around, I would say this the new pads provide an improved sound to the K550.Lastly, the sheepskin leather is very comfortable. I was concerned that the leather would be hot and sweaty after extended use but they were very comfortable and a delight to use even after a 2 hour listening session.If you are are at all hesitant or concerned about spending $40 on earpads for a $300 headphone, just do. The K55x series are remarkable headphones and easily one of the best-in-class for the price, frankly outperforming some more expensive headphones with their skewed sound performance. The Brainwavz ear pads are a worthy add to replace the original ear pads.

To be specific: the Brainwavz Round XL Memory Foam Earpads perfectly fit the AKG-K55x series headphones. Their 110mm diameter exactly matches the 110mm diameter of the AKG-K55x series earpad mount. Indeed, just like the AKG pads they are a loose enough to freely rotate during use and cleaning.I chose the Sheepskin Leather version because something in the oils of my skin seems to devour "pleather," and I did not want "velour" because it is difficult to clean. In terms of comfort, I much prefer these to the original AKG pads. It is difficult to put in words the comfort difference. Right from the package they are clearly more "substantial." In service the memory foam and leather combination is a bit firmer than the AKG pads, yet they were still plenty supple to conform comfortably to my head in a gentle way. With the AKG pads I sometimes felt like the memory foam had compressed completely, and that my ears were just barely touching the backing-mesh. With these, I feel like the headphones are better and more comfortably supported around my ear, and that my ear has a bit more space between it and the backing-mesh as well as between it and the inner edge of the earpad. They also seem cooler and dryer; perhaps the "additional space" and the leather allow for a cooler and dryer environment?These differences also affect the sound, as other reviewers have noted. What I experienced was a slight attenuation of the bass, most likely due to my ear being a bit more distant from the driver; yet a slight increase in my experience of spaciousness, perhaps due to the "additional space" that these earpads provide. In large part I purchased the AKG-K550s for their sound -- warm and articulate, with extended bass. I did a lot of early-on experimentation with equalization, but returned to "flat" input to the AKGs to enjoy their designed sound. With the Sheepskin Leather Brainwavz Round XL Memory Foam Earpads, I chose to create and apply a very slightly increasing equalization curve below A-440 to compensate for the bass loss from these earpads: +1dB at 240Hz, +2dB at 135Hz, and +4dB at 76Hz. (10dB is considered to about double the volume psycho-acoustically. I was originally too assertive with my adjustment, and backed down to what I just shared.) What resulted for me was very close to the original listening experience with a bit more spaciousness -- BETTER for me.A note on installation... There is a very good video on YouTube about replacing the earpads on the AKG-K550s. During the installation of the second pad, the presenter mentions a "notch" that was "undoing" his work. Although he warns the installer of this inconvenience, I figured that I could use it to ease installation; I thought, "If it can undo what he is doing, it can help me do the installation." The material that mounts the Brainwavz is a bit thicker and wider than the original earpads. Using the "notch" to feed the mount behind the plate made installation trivial. In the YouTube video the presenter uses fast-forward during his mounting process; making the notch to work for me, I had the whole thing done real-time quicker than his fast-forward. Having similarly struggled before, like in the video, with replacing the earpads on my Senns, I was super grateful to AKG for providing that little notch.

Sheepskin leather is very comfy and the material does wonders by comparison for my skin during extended use where heat and moisture can accumulate. Inner foam is plush and soft. The leather is expertly stitched. I purchased these for a pair of Beyer Dynamics DT 990 Pros but soon after ended up swapping headphones to Sennheiser HD 650s. To my surprise and delight these fit both headphones despite the different earcup shape. They can be a little tricky to get on, I would compare to replacing a tire in the way the lip must be pulled around. It does deepen the base sounds as other reviewers mention, I personally didn’t find this a problem, and was reasonably able to adjust to taste with the software on Amp/dac. As someone who initially thought these to be expensive and even superfluous, I am a firm advocate for the product and I’ll be a returning customer.

The sheepskin leather earpads are truly a game changer. I purchased these for my Audio-Technica ATH-A990z headphones, and they fit very well. Not as tight as the stock pads, but tight enough that they don't move around at all. The leather and memory foam are just ridiculously soft and comfortable. I really can't overstate how soft these earpads are. I can wear these all day without issue, which is not something I could say about the stock pleather pads. I'm not a crazy audio expert, but I would say they have also improved the sound a bit, with slightly deeper bass and a slightly wider soundstage, but this might just be confirmation bias. All in all though, great pads, very comfortable and I can definitively state that they sound at least as good as the stock pads while being tremendously more comfortable.

Sheepskin pads are a must have !Soft and supple leather makes this a great replacement for the stock ones.I would definitely recommend these !

Ersatzpolster für AKG K 271 MK2Meine original Polster waren erstens schon in die Jahre gekommen und zweitens viel zu klein.Die neuen Brainwavs Echtleder-Polster passen perfekt und umschließen die Ohren ohne zu drücken. Auch längere Aufnahmesessions damit ohne Schmerzen und Druckstellen machbar. Das Leder ist super angenehm auf der Haut und gut aussehen tun sie auch noch.Ob es das Echtleder sein muss oder ob es auch die günstigeren Kunstleder-Polster tun, muss jeder selbst entscheiden. Es gibt ja auch moralische Gründe, auf Echtleder zu verzichten.Wie auch immer: Klare Kaufempfehlung.

Bought myself a pair of the Sheepskin Leather pads for my AG1X's as the OEM pleather pads had deteriorated. They were a little bit of a stretch to install but they fix perfectly and are a great upgrade for someone looking to get better pads or replace OEM ones that are ruined.

These fit my AKG 550s perfectly and they feel better than the OEM ear pieces on my K553 Mk2s. Would recommend these ear pieces 100%.

Buena calidad, pero cambian el sonido.