Audrey

@AudreyDog

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Audrey @AudreyDog12/9/2023, 12:35 PM

walking mirage @atomicthumbs

walking mirage @atomicthumbs12/9/2023, 9:48 AM

just a PSA: if you buy Bose headphones, they will degrade in the nastiest way possible after a few years of use. The ear cups will squish out of shape and the cups and pads will leave gross headphone flakes all over everything. Yes, even if you paid $449 for them. They all do this, reliably, in a way I haven't seen from any other manufacturer, even those that charge half what Bose does.

Audrey @AudreyDog12/9/2023, 12:35 PM

I've really wondered if this was an intentional choice to force people into replacing ear pads. When it does happen, aftermarket replacement ear pads are an option. Replacing ear pads every couple years isn't too bad compared to replacing the headphones.

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B.I.E. Unit: Explorer-B @GoopySpaceShark12/9/2023, 10:28 AM

Sony MDR-ZX660APs (catchy!) used to do this too, but still worked fine. Past tense because they were discontinued and Sony only make cheap plastic e-waste or studio grade equipment now, with no in-between.

count swagula @clip12/9/2023, 12:07 PM

I've seen the pleather flakes thing happening with a pair of ATH-M50 as well but they were like Very heavily used.

cthuflu @cthuflu12/9/2023, 2:53 PM

I've had it happen with heavy daily use on multiple pairs. I replaced the pads with generic fabric aftermarket ones that were far cheaper than audio technica's replacements.

Westor Lowbrood @Westor12/9/2023, 1:26 PM

Is there now way to replace the pleather ear cups?

belgianwaffle82 @belgianwaffle8212/9/2023, 1:27 PM

Those pads are replaceable. Pull them out, order new ones from a third party on Amazon, and they'll feel like new headphones again. I've had my QC headphones for more than 5 years and that's how I've done it.

walking mirage @atomicthumbs12/9/2023, 2:37 PM

it's true but I have headphones from the fuckin 80s that are still on their first set of pads

Christopher Snowhill @kode5412/9/2023, 1:32 PM

Sony WH-1000XM4, worked fine for over a year. Then spontaneously, one of the ear cup hinges snapped, and now they're useless. Good old shitty plastic construction in a $350 device. The pleather ear pads hadn't even cracked yet.

jack @JackDotJS12/9/2023, 5:06 PM

can confirm. bose QC 35II's here, and the pads are fairly consistently an issue even after several replacements. it's like once every 1-2 years i need to order a new set.

but at the very least, replacement pads are pretty cheap on amazon, and the replacement process is easy. don't even really need tools. not that it makes the problem any better considering these cost $350 or so to begin with, but still worth mentioning i think.

Jessica @ticky12/9/2023, 5:13 PM

I do appreciate that they actually sell the OEM replacements unlike Sony, but yeah, the durability on modern headphones is just kinda bad :/

shork @shork12/10/2023, 7:17 PM

sony has outsourced their official parts stores to different companies depending on the country, like https://sony.encompass.com for what I assume is the US because I'm getting geoblocked from it

iFixit has replacement cushions for XM2 and 3s but not for anything beyond that

Jessica @ticky12/10/2023, 11:13 PM

yeah and encompass want CA$120 for a pair of ear pads for the XM4, so fuck that

walking mirage @atomicthumbs12/10/2023, 11:57 PM

third party ones are like $25-50 iirc

Jessica @ticky12/10/2023, 11:58 PM

yeah that's what I ended up going with, but it sucks that you can't go OEM without a huge outlay

Jessica @ticky12/10/2023, 11:58 PM

like that's what Bose sell theirs for

🌷 doodlemancy 🌷@doodlemancy12/9/2023, 9:02 PM

good lord, i have a pair of no-name noise canceling ones that lived for like 3 years in an apartment with horrible climate control and they aren't this fucked up. and the wired Sades that were there way longer are just now starting to flake enough to be a problem lol. that is tragic