My first post here, just to raise some concerns about the quality of Brainwavz eacups. To keep it short, about 3 years ago I purchased a pair of replacement ear cups for the ATH m50x. I didn’t use these very often, at most a few hours per week. Time passed and recently I noticed that the inner part of the cups started to peel. Initially I thought that those are just cracks (which is normal even for genuine leather), but because the process accelerated, now I can clearly see that there is a wave pattern behind the very thin layer of leather/skin.
I have contacted Brainwavz and they are telling me that this is normal and the earcups are made of genuine leather.
Also, reading the 1 star reviews on Amazon, I found out that more people are having this issue.
I’m frustrated because I was expecting these earcups to last for a lifetime (I’m a bit ironic here, just in case in need to mention it). Again, the only problem I have is with the inner side of the eacups. The rest are perfectly fine, even after 3 years, but I feel that Brainwavz should mention this on their product page - these are not 100% genuine leather (I can’t give a percentage, but genuine leather is used only for the external parts - hope it makes sense). Can’t understand the reason of doing this, the most important part of the earcup, where it “touches” your ear and there’s higher humidity in that area is made from a material prone to peeling…
What’s your opinion about this? Have you experienced or seen something similar?
Thanks for that link, but I’m not sure if I can understand properly. Is there a very tiny chance that the peeling layer is made from real sheepskin glued to that fabric for extra strength? Very unlikely and even so, why would they choose to do that in the most delicate area?
The way it’s built, the strip of material which is used to fix the earcup on the plasting housing is made from faux leather; that strip of material is goes further (sewed) into the inner side of the ear cup - exactly where is now peeling. Hope I’m explaining it right, I’ve taken another photo which shows it better.
I know I’m repeating, but the rest of the ear cup is totally fine, maybe a bit loose due to its age, but that’s normal.
If you want to take the time and read other 1 star reviews, people are reporting the same peeling issue. It’s obvious something is wrong, either in general, or with a specific batch.
Could be. I am no leather expert, I just know that “genuine leather” means “almost not leather”.
Construction wise, a thin (textured) plastic on fabric can be made to be a lot more flexible than leather. Could be the reason why it was done that way.
More new information, thank you for it @MazeFrame.
I did a quick search and found few Full-grain leather pads for Focal headphones.
They were like 250$ and with a even quicker comparison if the Brainwavz are something like 40$… the price alone makes them, not so common pad choice for many.
Don’t know why but i feel like a full leather pad might be the most comfortable choice ether.
