The Sony WH-1000XM6 have a comfort problem, but there’s an easy fix

There’s a lot to love about the Sony WH-1000XM6. The design is clean, the noise cancelation is excellent, and Sony’s companion app and 10-band EQ make it easy to dial them in to your sonic preferences. These are the kinds of headphones I want to use every day, but the biggest issue holding me back is comfort. The stock ear pads compress quickly and don’t leave enough space for my ears, turning an otherwise great pair of headphones into something that becomes uncomfortable far too quickly. That’s not exactly a flagship experience.

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The Sony WH-1000XM6’s comfort issues start with the ear pads

The pads don’t leave much space between the headphones’ plastic chassis and your skin.

Once you focus on the ear pads, the issue becomes obvious. Even though they measure around 17mm deep, they compress quickly on your head, leaving very little usable space between your ears and the inside of the earcup. Even right out of the box, they look thin and slightly wrinkled, which feels and looks out of place on a flagship pair of headphones.

That lack of depth shows up quickly. My ears end up pressing against the inner mesh and hardware, and heat builds up faster than it should. After a while, the pads compress enough that I can feel the oval outline of the plastic driver housing around my ears, especially along the edges of the earcup. Comfort starts out fine, but it drops off much faster than it should for headphones meant for long international flights and all-day wear.

What makes this especially frustrating is that weight matters a lot to me for travel, and in that context, the WH-1000XM6 get a lot right. They’re much lighter than both the AirPods Max and the Sennheiser HDB 630, weighing 254g compared to 386g and 311g, respectively.

How third-party ear pads can fix the WH-1000XM6’s comfort problem

If the stock ear pads aren’t working for you, the only real option is to look at third-party replacements. Sony doesn’t offer different sizes or alternative ear pad designs for the WH-1000XM6 beyond standard replacements, which means there’s no official way to address comfort if the stock pads don’t fit your ears well.

There are a handful of aftermarket brands that make replacement ear pads for Sony headphones, but XM6-specific options are still limited. The pair I landed on was the WC PadZ XM6 from Wicked Cushions (), which are designed specifically for the WH-1000XM6 and are one of the few readily available alternatives to the stock pads. Installation is simple and tool-free, taking under a minute.

What stood out right away is how much more consistent the fit feels. The pads are only a few millimeters thicker than Sony’s, but the denser memory foam provides better support, especially at the very bottom of the cup below my earlobe. That extra structure helps the headphones sit more evenly and creates just enough breathing room to keep my ears from pressing against the inner mesh. As someone with larger ears, I’ll take any extra space I can get.

The stock ear pads (left) compress quickly, while the Wicked Cushions ear pads offer better long-term comfort.

While they’re slightly firmer than Sony’s stock pads, they’re still plush, which makes them feel sturdier and more supportive over long listening sessions. The PU leather feels nicer against the skin and doesn’t heat up as quickly, and from the outside the WH-1000XM6 still look stock, right down to the color match.

This doesn’t turn the WH-1000XM6 into a different pair of headphones. It just fixes the one comfort issue that kept getting in the way.

The swap didn’t change how the WH-1000XM6 sounded or canceled noise for me

Stock XM6 ear pad on the left, Wicked Cushions on the right. The difference is subtle in looks, but significant in comfort.

Swapping ear pads didn’t change the sound for me at all. In my day-to-day listening, the WH-1000XM6 still sounded the same after the swap, and I didn’t feel the need to touch the EQ again.

ANC also behaved the same way it did with the stock pads in my use. I didn’t notice any drop in isolation. If anything, the more consistent seal made things feel more secure when I was moving around, and the headphones were less picky about positioning. Just as importantly, the WH-1000XM6 still feel light on my head, and clamping force stays reasonable.

This is how the WH-1000XM6 should have shipped

It’s easy to see why one might be skeptical of Sony’s stock ear pads (right).

After spending time with both sets of ear pads, it’s hard not to feel like this is how the Sony WH-1000XM6 should have come out of the box. The thicker pads don’t change the character of the headphones; they don’t add bulk, and they don’t introduce new problems. They just make the headphones comfortable enough to wear the way a flagship pair should be.

For me, fixing the comfort is what finally makes these feel like the flagship headphones they’re supposed to be.

At this price, comfort shouldn’t be something you have to solve yourself. It’s a bit of a bummer to have to rely on aftermarket parts to fix a comfort issue on headphones that already cost this much, even if the fix itself is inexpensive at around $22. Sony clearly nailed the fundamentals with the WH-1000XM6, but the stock ear pads are the one weak link, and it’s frustrating because the fix becomes obvious once you experience it.

If the stock pads work for you, great. You may never feel the need to change a thing. But if you’ve struggled with comfort on the WH-1000XM6, swapping the ear pads turns them from a pair I wanted to like into a pair I actually enjoy wearing.