Oppo PM-3 YDYBZB Pad Replacement Guide

INTRO

The Oppo PM-3 pads and headband are notorious for flaking off even without use. The bonded leather is of terrible quality. I do not have a good handle on how to replace the headband or what to replace it with, so I just bought a zipper neoprene style headband to cover that. The following is a how-to guide and short review of the replacement pads. I performed this mod a year ago during the pandemic and the YDYBZB pads still seem to be holding up well.

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SUGGESTED TOOLS

• Plastic pry tool (or a butter knife) Plastic is preferred since it is softer and will no mark up the headphones. The butter knife should work too, but no guarantees it will not leave marks on the headphones.
• Small flat bladed screw driver or similar used to scrape and pry glue off or separate the pad.

REPLACEMENT PARTS

• Headband LTYIVABHTTW ($11)
• Brainwaves Sony Replacement Leather Pads–I did not think these fit the original aesthetic but some people use them ($29)-Option 1 (OK)
• YDYBZB Sheepskin leather replacement pads for Oppo PM-1,2,3 ($22)-Option 2 (Better)

PART ONE-PAD BRACKET REMOVAL

First step is to detach the pad retainer bracket off the Oppo PM-3 headphones. There are 6 clips that hold it onto the headphones. Using a blunt plastic tool (preferred as it it should not leave any marks) or a butter knife, carefully insert where the pad meets silver portion of the headphones between the clip sections so as not to break off any clips. Some of the other pictures show where the clips are located.

You can either use a prying lever motion, or a twisting method. I used a twisting motion with the blunt pry tool so that it un-clips without gouging or breaking clips.

PART TWO – PAD REMOVAL

Once the bracket it is off, there are two steps to remove the pads without destruction. If you don’t care then of course cutting and ripping off is an option. I prefer not to add to the destruction and I could technically re-use the pads later for comparison sake.

Using a small flat bladed screw driver, scrape or lift the pad edge that is glued to the backside of the retaining bracket. Slowly work your way around the edge of the pad until fully unglued.

Next, using the same blunt pry tool or butter knife, slide it on the inside of the pad between the filter and bracket and work it around the edge of the bracket to release the ear pad filter from the bracket. It is lightly glued to the bracket in six places as seen below in the photo.

PART THREE – PAD ATTACHMENT

Now onto the next step of attaching the new pads. I choose to use the YDYBZB brand pads because they were closer to the original size however still thicker (~1/16″ or 1.5mm) and felt more premium than the Brainwaves ones in both padding and texture.

The Brainwaves also had a wrinkled appearance that is found along the stitching similar to the Sony’s, but not the Oppo PM-3. The filter of the YDYBZB appears thicker but still relatively close to the original while the Brainwaves was easily thicker having two layers of cloth plus foam. I figured it would not alter the sound too much using the YDYBZB branded pads.

Slowly stretch the lip of the pad over the backside of the bracket. You might need to use the blunt pry tool to aid in stretching it over and use it to rotate around the bracket stretching it out and getting it over the edge. No need to re-glue it in my opinion.

Once it is in position, all that is left is to reattach the pad bracket back onto the head phones. It can be a bit tricky but I recommend slipping the top clips in first, then press firmly on the opposite bottom side to snap it back in to the two bottom clips.

Once those two clips are attached, press firmly along the left and right side edges working your way around to re-attach the remaining 2 side clips with a satisfyingly snapping sound.

SOUND CONCLUSION

So does it change the sound of the Oppo PM-3? Perhaps in a minor way because they are obviously thicker. There is less midrange enhancement, a little minor loss in bass punch and some upper treble softening. They sound a bit more open now, less closed in.

The advantage is that you should not feel the rim of the driver touching your ear for better comfort and of course no more leather flaking onto your ear. The YDYBZB pads are an excellent option for renewing the degraded Oppo PM-3 pads.

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