Headphone Accessories

Headphone accessories are the parts that keep a headphone alive and sounding right: ear pads, cables, stands and carry cases. None of it is decoration – you hear or feel every single part.

Ear pads: the biggest impact

The ear pads have the biggest impact. They're wear parts: once the foam goes hard or crumbly, the headphone sits worse, seals less well and loses bass. A fresh original pad brings back both fit and sound – at a fraction of the cost of a new headphone. With Grado, the pad shape even deliberately changes the character: flat (S) sounds intimate and bass-heavy, the bowl shape (L) airier, the large G pad delivers the widest soundstage.

Headphone cable

The headphone cable is the second lever. Many good headphones now have detachable cables – a replacement cable is no longer a repair job, it's a part you swap yourself. Then there are extension cables for when your amp sits further away than your chair, and balanced versions for headphone amps with a 4.4mm or XLR output.

Headphone stands and carry cases

A headphone stand, finally, is more than furniture: it takes the load off the headband, keeps the pads from getting squashed, and saves you from kinking the cable over the edge of the table. On the go, a carry case keeps the treble range exactly where it belongs – inside the headphone.

Advice at HD Zürisee

At HD Zürisee we carry original accessories from Grado, Yamaha and AudioQuest. Which pad is original for your model and which cable fits your amp – we'll tell you on the phone, via WhatsApp or in the shop in Wädenswil – better to ask once than order twice.