Your gaming headset is an essential piece of your setup. It places you into the games you’re playing, delivering acoustic immersion and crisp audio cues like player footsteps or bullet-fire direction, and facilitates crucial team communication over Discord. Also, your headset needs to be comfortable to wear for hours. Unfortunately, over time, even the most premium headsets from brands like SteelSeries, Razer, Corsair, Beyerdynamic, and Audeze suffer the same inevitable wear and tear, and one of the first things to go is the cushioned earpads.
Worn, flaking, or compressed earpads don't just look bad; they significantly compromise the sound quality of your headset. If you’re running a set of closed-back headphones, it can compromise the acoustic seal and let the audio bleed out (annoying friends and family) or let outside noise in and lessen your enjoyment of the audio you’re listening to.
Some replacement earpads also offer upgrades to your headset like cooling gel, extra padding, different materials (memory foam instead of normal foam), or even different sizes. I upgraded the ear pads on my Corsair Virtuoso headset, and the larger pads made for a far more comfortable fit. It’s worth noting that Corsair doesn't provide a way of buying official replacement earpads, so I would have had to have binned the headset if it weren’t for the third-party alternatives on Amazon.
(Image credit: Future)
The good news? You don't need to shell out hundreds for a brand-new headset. Replacing the earpads is an easy, cost-effective way to restore comfort, improve audio performance, and significantly extend the life of your favorite gear. Some headset manufacturers provide spare earpads as part of the packaging, or maybe provide a choice of leatherette earpads or velour fabric-covered earpads that offer better breathability for sweaty gaming sessions.
Here are some examples of popular gaming headsets, and the availability of replacement earpads on Amazon. This is obviously not an exhaustive list, but a good idea of what options are available to you.
The Simple Steps to Earpad Replacement
While the exact attachment method varies slightly between brands and models, the general process is fairly straightforward:
1. Identify Your Headset Model
This is the most critical step. Earpads are not universal. You need pads specifically designed for your headset model to ensure a proper fit and seal.
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