Resurrection or Redemption? Wicked Cushion Replacement Ear Pads for Sony 7506 Headphones

A quick replacement ear pad review: Testing non-flaking replacement ear pads on my “other” pair of headphones. Kinder to my head, but does it make them sound better to my ears?

Littering black, nylon “dandruff” flakes everywhere I used them, my Sony MDR-7506 headphones desperately needed replacement ear pads. Sonically, they’ve never been my favorite headphones. Some reviews suggested that upgraded ear pads made them sound better. Could new ear pads be all I need to redeem these?

Background and Favorite Headphones

When I began recording voiceover in my own studio, Sennheiser HD280 headphones immediately became my go-to reference for checking audio. I’d upgraded to those when buying my first VO-specific XLR mic setup, knowing the old Radioshack headphones I’d been using on the computer were not going to cut it. Those simply did not reveal all the sonic inconsistencies of my setup. 

The first time I listened back on the new Senn’s… my, oh my… I whispered a deeply felt “I’m  sorry!” to the folks who had to listen to the stuff I recorded before those arrived.  (And if you need a decent set of headphones, I talk about options and models in this article.)

As I began auditioning and working more regularly, it concerned me that I only had one good set of studio monitor headphones. With deadlines and projects increasing, the need for a backup pair became real. Having heard good quality audio, I could never go back to earbuds or consumer-grade headphones. With some travel pending, I thought it might make some sense to have a more portable set of headphones than the Sennheiser HD280’s. (After many years of use and one particularly bad move on my part, the HD280’s have been pastured… replaced by Beyerdynamic DT770’s).

While doing research, I came across comments by other voice actors and a few online resources citing the Sony MDR-7506 model as their favorite. The Sony’s folded up, had a travel bag and offered replaceable parts. It was worth a chance.

That “new headphone smell” wears off quickly

I bought a set of the 7506’s. And…yeah…no. They were just… “ok” to my ears.

They did fold nicely and were fairly light so I decided to keep using them. They got banged around while traveling and never complained. I learned to work with them, but never grew to like the quality of their sound. They did not render lower frequencies all that well – seeming hyped at the high end to my ears. On the plus side, they sat a bit more “on” my ears, and so – particularly during extended editing sessions in the heat of August and early September – I’d swap them on when my ears couldn’t deal with the sauna-like conditions inside the 280’s. 

With more use, I noticed two other things. First, after an hour or so of wearing the Sony headphones, my ears were noticeably fatigued. I needed to rest them much more frequently. I had not experienced that with the Sennheisers. Second, after only about 6 or 8 months of use, when exiting the studio, my wife would gently tell me to look in the mirror – which would lead to several minutes of removing black ear pad detritus from my hair and ears. Fun times.

Eventually, the Sony’s became a seldom-used headphone demo prop for my recording classes – mostly living in my equipment bag and coming out only for short show-and-tells. But, when I came home from class with a dime-sized flake unknowingly stuck on my earlobe, I realized something had to be done. 

Resurrection of the Sony headphones

Enter Wicked Cushions.

I’d heard the company name bandied about in some audio discussion threads.  And in a moment of internet serendipity (weakness?), clicked through a Wicked Cushions promoted post offering a 10% discount. The common toll of trading an email address for coupon access landed me on the site. 

Prowling around their products, I found a velour fabric replacement pad set for the Sony 7506 headphones which reminded me of the kitten-like pads on my Beyeredynamic DT770’s.

(Note – Unfortunately, as of early 2021, it now appears that the soft and comfy velour style has been discontinued, but there are other materials and styles which Wicked Cushions still makes)

They also made a “protein leather” version (which also appears to have been discontinued) – a phrase I’ll admit having to look up. Suffice to say that is a synthetic, leather-like material which may or may not be made from a protein base. I didn’t want that anyway.

The other Wicked Cushions offerings seem geared to consumer-grade headphones, though they do have an Audio-Technica ATH series replacement pad in both velour and protein leather.

Purchase Interruptus: Evening dog walk time intruded and I neglected to find my debit card before leaving the site. This proved to be beneficial, as the next day I found a 15% coupon in my email, encouraging me to follow through on my visit the day before. Now, I’m a sucker for retail follow-through, so I hopped online, put a pair into my cart, applied the now-15% discount (which for these was about a dollar difference – in other words, offsetting either shipping or state tax in total) and clicked “buy.”.  

Installing Wicked Cushion ear pads on the Sony MDR-7506

They stayed in touch via email updates, letting me know as the package left the warehouse, travelled north and quickly arrived. 

Only when I removed the Sony 7506 headphones under decent lighting did I realize how nasty they had become. Even just taking them out of the bag left a trail of black, flakey, ear pad dandruff on my table top.

I would vacuum later. In the meantime, the old pads popped off easily.

And a quick comparison indicated that they would attach slightly differently. The factory pads sat in the narrow channel on the edge of the plastic housing. Initially I tried to seat the elastic tension bead into that, but it proved too fidgity to stay seated. When I stretched the larger apron of the Wicked Cushions pad over the complete unit, it then settled into place. They appeared to be a bit thicker than the factory pads – not a bad thing. 

Of course, that’s when I realized that the headband pad was also beginning the “calving” process… unfortunately, that’s not something which Wicked Cushions addresses. But they were kind enough to dangle a 20% off coupon for my next purchase. 

They certainly looked a lot better. The velour is not quite in the “kittens for your ears” class of my Beyerdynamic DT770’s. But now the Sony MDR-7506’s are at least a bit more comfortable.  They easily conform to fit my ear. Out of the gate, these seem like good kit.

But, are the Sony MDR7506 headphones “redeemed”?

What about the sonic qualities? Do the new pads help the harshness?  I’ll admit, I’m more than a bit biased against the Sony’s. That makes it hard for me to give a balanced review. Switching between the Beyerdynamic DT770’s and the Sony 7506’s – I’d take the DT’s hands-down. They isolate better, sound better and – probably most importantly – I’m used to them. 

However, the Wicked Cushion ear pad upgrade does make the Sony’s more user-friendly.  The thicker ear cup fits better, is more comfortable and does allow me to gain a bit more isolation than the stock pads.

They might be marginally better in terms of sound quality. But, it’s impossible to craft a truly blind test, so that may just be a response to a better fitting and more comfort. 

I guess the reason I haven’t simply sold them off is that I’ve had enough hours on them to make the Sony headphones “translateable.” In other words, I know if a certain bit of audio sounds like “this” (kind of thin and harsh to my ears) on the Sony’s, it will sound like “that” (about right) over most speakers, earbuds consumer headphones. It’s another version of the VO-Engineer Decoder Ring equation.

Ultimately, everyone hears a bit differently. We are always attempting to make our audio work on a wide variety of playback systems. Everyone’s perspective and playback system varies. We always want things to sound as good as possible, but can’t really control the listener’s variables.

So, we make our best educated guess as to how something sounds. That comes from spending time comparing the same audio on different listening environments.

Unlike some other claims I’d read, the new pads did not make the Sony MDR-7506’s suddenly sound more balanced. I plan on trying them again on some longer-form editing in the next month to see if the new pads make a difference in the ear fatigue issue. I’ll likely post an update here or will mention it in one of my regular email updates.

In the meantime, if you like your Sony MDR-7506 (or your Audio-Technical ATH series) studio monitor headphones, this is a nice upgrade for comfort and fit.

Wicked Cushion Update: Velour no… Mour?

Note – as of early 2021, it now appears that the Velour/Fabric style has been discontinued. That’s really a shame as it made the Sonys much less “sticky” during warmer booth sessions. But Wicked Cushions do still make these replacements in other materials and styles for the Sony 7506 (and similar). 

Also in 2021, I went back to Wicked Cushions to see if they made a headband replacement. Yes, mine had finally begun leaving nice large black chunks in my hair after every use. Unfortunately, WC does not appear to have a band replacement, so I went with this from Geekria (via this Amazon link) –

Geekria Headband Cover Compatible with Söny MDR-V6, MDR-V600, MDR-V900, MDR-Z600, MDR-7506, MDR-7509, MDR-CD900ST Headphones/Headband Protector Sleeve/Easy Installation No Tool Needed (Black)

A word about “Affiliate” links on products, my gear recommendations and whether I might get a kickback if you click through a link

Items and products included in any article appear because I like them, have used them, and have an opinion about them. If a product interests me enough to investigate, I’ll typically buy the product just the way you would. That lets me consider how much something actually costs, and weigh that against how good it actually is.

Any time a company sends me something to try out for free, I’ll mention that explicitly. But, if I’ve chosen to talk about a piece of gear, or linked through to a specific retailer, it’s because they’ve treated me well and I appreciate it. (In case you haven’t heard me say it recently, Dave Brow at Sweetwater has always been a great resource and understands the needs of voice actors.) 

I currently do have two site sections – Gear and Books – which utilize Amazon affiliate links, and are labeled clearly to that effect. But, stuff doesn’t get listed there unless I like and use it. You can always use smile.amazon.com to support an organization which is important to you.

Of course, I always love working directly with you to address your specific voiceover recording challenges, or if you are good to go and this has been helpful, I always appreciate a cup of coffee.  Thanks for your time and attention here!

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