Yeah Iām hoping that one of the BW round pads will be The One but seriously that headband is atrocious! Looks like I have some work ahead of meā¦
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Well I bought the pads already but not for fit/comfort reasons, only to experiment with sound signature. I will hopefully get some time this weekend to switch them out and see what they do for me. If I donāt care for it I can pop the others back on no worries. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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I also asked myself this question, but considering they spent so much time on the new pads, I think they tried that and it didnāt work out. Iāll actually shoot Sivga a message and ask why the new pads dont use the same materials as the stock ones.
The size of the pads impacts the sound signature, and there is simply no way that they spent month of work on new pads without using the same materials as the stock ones. Maybe the current material had a more fit sound signature, who knowsā¦ but overall, it is a bit disappointing because this is a great headphone, the comfort aspect is among the bigger issues
So Iāve been waiting on some BW round pads to come in and Iāve finally been able to test 3 of em: Pleather, Hybrid, Velour. The rest (Sheepskin, Perforated) are still being shipped. In case anyoneās interested in pad swapping, here are my results.
Important Notes
The original Phoenix pads could not be used for testing purposes because one monstrous headphone junkie decided to rip the pads off their clips. The clips were locked back in place after this occurred and remained so during the test. Before all this occurred, I did compare the og (original garbage) pads against the BW hybrids and my first impression was that the BW pads pushed back the sound. I did not notice any large differences in soundstage between the rest of the BW lineup so assume that they produce the same effect.
I went off of memory from what I remember the og pads sounded like, but for the most part, the BW pleather pads were used as the reference point for the test.
Songs used for testing
Act Like You Know - Fat Larryās Band
Why So Serious? - The Dark Knight OST
X Gonā Give It to Ya - DMX
Toxic - Britney Spears
Do it Again - Steely Dan
Dust in the Wind - Kansas
Gear Used
Sivga Phoenix - obviously
iPad (7th Gen) - cuz the Phoenix doesnāt need a dedicated dac/amp
My Ass - cuz who else is gonna do it
The Pads
Brainwavz Round Pleather (reference pad):
Bass - These pads have impact and rumble, possibly even better than the stock pads. Definitely brings meat to the table.
Mids - Veiled, but in a good way. The bass does overshadow it a bit but I like how it makes vocals sound full. Transition to midtreble is excellent. You know when someone hits their high note cuz it makes you squeal!
Treble - Lively. Not sparkly or rivaling the Sundaras but just enough to enjoy the music. I guess some would call it ānatural?ā
Further Thoughts - Spoiler alert! These are the ones! Going off memory, these sound closest to stock, possibly even better than stock. They definitely are more comfortable so no tears for the lost padsā¦
Brainwavz Round Hybrid:
Bass - Less but not anemic. Goodbye meat cansā¦
Mids - Forward and airy, but not in a good way. Still somewhat veiled but airy at same time? Maybe less detail? The midtreble magic is no longer there. Hearing the lead singer of Kansas hit his high note doesnāt do anything for meā¦
Treble - meh. Donāt even want to bother.
Further Thoughts - Just get the pleathers.
Brainwavz Round Velour:
Bass - Aaaaaandā¦ Itās gone!
Mids - ugh
Treble - I was so unimpressed, I canāt even remember what these sounded likeā¦
Further Thoughts - Seriously, just get the pleathers. This shit is itchy anywaysā¦
Final Thoughts
I still have yet to test the leather and perforated round pads but the pleathers are looking to be the winners. Those two pads would seriously need to do some magic if they wanna compete. Please give a moment of silence to Sivgaās crap padsā¦
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just ordered this headphones today for 230 dollar. where I can buy another pads? Not sure he will ship to my country ā¦
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Amazon? Maybe Aliexpress?
Contact Sivga, you can send them an email to see if they can ship to you
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I donāt want their new padsā:joy:
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Besides their own pads, you are out of luck - unless you want to mod the stock ones
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Definitely recommend the Brainwavz round pleather pads
Thereās a giveaway on Sivga Phoenix:
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Hi guys, how are the testing with the new pads from sivga? Is it worth it or the stock pads are better?
more bass. less soundstage. not a big difference
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I just changed mine out today after watchin this video. Iāll be honest I could not get them off beforeā¦ After seeing the different method vs. the Sivga instructional video, and also not really worrying so much if I were to break them, lol - it worked! They went on much easier than off.
SQ - Iāve upgraded my signal sources since I originally got the Phoenix, and also added other HPs to the collection and I really havenāt been using the Phoenix much lately, it will be like starting over. Iāll need to leave these new pads on for a couple weeks and then switch them out for the originals before being able to offer an opinion.
I can say this upfront - I much prefer the feel of the originals cloth vs. the new pleather where they make contact with my head/ears.
I tried really hard to like the new pads but I felt they had a negative impact on the sound so I switched back to the stock pads.
The new pads just didnāt do these headphones justice. And they were only marginally more comfortable. Now the headphones and stock pads have been broken in they are a lot more comfortable and I donāt really think about it.
Now, having a pair of new ear pads that are not in use I decided to do a little experiment. I basically dismantled the ear pads in order to extract the ring adapter that connects the ear pad to the headphone.
I then have been experimenting by A B testing my collection of Brainwavz ear pads: PU (flat and angled), sheepskin (angled), velour (flat) and hybrid (flat and angled). This is done by making holes in the appropriate places on the pads and then attach the ring adapter to the pad before attaching to the headphone.
The current leaders in this trial are the hybrids, they are the nearest in terms of sound to the stock pads. Some of the energy (e.g. āpunchā and āslamā ) has dissipated but this is compensated by the fact they provide a much more soundstage and depth, the treble is nicely articulated, mids are gorgeous, the only area that is slightly lacking is in the sub bass, its a lot more warm, polite and natural which is not an issue for me because I am not really a bass head!
With the hybrid angled pads they open up the sound even more and dare I say the sound reminds me a lot of the LCD 2C although I would say the Phoenix sounds less refined and laid back than the LCD 2Cs (I found the LCD 2Cs to be too polite for my tastes but then again I was driving them using a dap and not a high end amp which is what I think they really need).
I donāt see the hybrid angled pads as a replacement for the stock pads, just a better alternative compared with the new pad offering from Sivga. In the meantime I will keep the hybrids on for some longer listening sessions and do some further analysis. But so far I really like what I am hearing!
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Iāve had a couple of small discussions with others about the pads on the Phoenix. Some love the stock, some like the upgraded, some (like you and I) have gone the extra mile and put a variety of alternate pad options on the Phoenix. Glad to see others experimenting. 
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The new pads vs the originals are for me pretty much an even wash. I did not find the original set uncomfortable. So youāll have to take that for what its worth. The new pads are not dramatically bigger but, do have a more ācomfyā feel. Even after breaking in. I just wish they were not pleather, and were like the original āclothā material. For me, that set feels more āpremiumā.
Regarding how they (new pads) sound, I think they are really similar to the original perhaps taming some of the upper mid treble wonkinessā some, while the sub-bass keeps rumbling strong, bass is full, vocals and instruments are clear, treble is good and detail retrieval is ok. They make for a good fun, musical sounding sub $300.00 headphone, that worked well across the eclectic variety of genre I listen to.
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Can u help me with replacing the pads? I canāt do it
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I had the same problem, as hard as people told me to twist the pads, I simply could not do it.
The simple trick is to get a credit card, feel out where the āteethā are, and then just push so the pads untwist. I managed to do it, which means you can do so too. You just have to know in which direction you need to push.
Let us know if that did the job for you
Until you answered I succeeded without it. Need the in the right point activate a bit of power. not much like I do at first. Not that complicated when discovering the method. Just need to get close to the point you said.
by the way how the headphones for u? which dac + amp u use and could recommend me? my pc couldnāt drive this headphones although the low impadance. my ipad do better work with much higher volume. itās really sad
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I posted my review in this thread. However, if you want to read it on Head-Fi, here it is:
I usually use either the EarMen TR-Amp or the EarMen Sparrow. If you donāt plan to use the amp/dac with IEMs, you can just go for the cheaper EarMen Eagle.