Tune, Live, and Quantum Ear Pads Are Separate Kits
JBL ear pads flake the same way on a commute pair and on a gaming headset. The cover goes chalky, then it sheds onto your cheek. That is when people search "replacement ear pads for JBL" and get a pile of listings that all say JBL and almost none of them say the same model.
The brand is not the size. Tune, Live, and Quantum are three shopping piles. Inside each pile the number still matters. A Tune 760NC kit is not a Quantum ear pad replacement, and it is not a Live 650 cushion either.
Start in JBL ear pads and stay with the listing that prints the model you can read on the cup or in the JBL app. Compatible ear pads for JBL means that string, not the logo.
Read the line, then the number
Buy JBL ear pads for your model only after you know which family is on the desk. JBL ear pads by model is the whole job. Color comes after.
| What is on the cup | Pad listings that already group these | Leave these alone |
|---|---|---|
| Tune 600BTNC, Tune 660NC, T600BT | One Tune 600 kit covers that trio | Tune 700 kits, Live, Quantum |
| Tune 700BT, Tune 710BT, Tune 750BTNC, Tune 760NC | One Tune 700 kit covers that group | Tune 600, Tune 770, Live 770, Quantum |
| Tune 770NC, Live 770NC | Only a listing that names that exact model | A Tune 760 pad just because the number is close |
| E35, E45, E45BT | Shared E35 / E45 kits | E40, E55 |
| E40, E40BT | Their own pair | E35 / E45 |
| E55BT | Its own pair | The E35 kit and the E65 kit |
| E65BTNC, Duet NC, Live 650BTNC, Live 660BTNC | One kit is sold across this set | Live 400, Live 500, Tune |
| Live 400, Live 400BT, Live 460NC | Often one listing | Live 500BT |
| Live 500BT | Its own listing | Live 400 and the 650 kit |
| Quantum 100, 200, 300, 350W, 400, 600, 800, 910, Quantum One | Each number is its own pad | "Quantum ear pads" with no number |
| Live Pro, Live Pro+ | Ear tips, not over-ear cushions | Any over-ear pad |
Replacement pads for JBL Tune are still two kits in that table, not one. JBL Tune ear pads for a 660NC and JBL Tune ear pads for a 760NC are both Tune, and they are not the same clip.
What owners ran into
The flaking shows up fast if the headphones live in a gym bag. In June 2025 someone posted a Tune pair that had shed its cover in under two years of workouts. A reply from a Tune 720 owner said the same thing had happened on theirs, and pointed at a white aftermarket set whose title also named the 700BT, 750BTNC, 710BT, 760NC, and 770NC. That title is doing a lot of work. The 700 through 760 group is a real kit. The 770NC is the part people keep getting wrong.
In September 2024 a Tune 770NC owner went through Amazon and kept hitting reviews that said the pads did not seat. By December someone shopping for a Live 770NC found a Soulwit set sold for the Tune 770NC and was not sure those were the same cup. In August 2025 another Live 770NC owner was told, secondhand, that Tune 700 through 770 pads share a clip. That was a guess passed along from a search result, not someone who had both headphones on the table. If the listing does not print Live 770NC, or Tune 770NC, skip it. A nearby number is how the wrong ring shows up.
Live 650 is the other trap, because the number 650 also exists on Tune. In February 2024 a Live owner bought a set that would not go on. The plastic rim from the old cushion was still clipped to the cup, so the new pad had nothing to catch. A later reply on that thread said Live 650 and 660 pads are the ones to search, and to ignore anything that says Tune. In May 2021 someone put larger memory-foam pads on a Live 650BTNC, liked the room around the ear in hot weather, and heard the treble come up and the bass drop until they pushed it back in the app. In June 2025 a different owner just bought the official Live 650BTNC cushions from JBL and called it done.
Quantum is its own headache because the pads can cost a painful share of a cheap headset. In July 2026 a Quantum 100 owner said a fresh pair was close to half the price of the headphones, so they pulled the original plastic ring, stuffed it into protein-leather memory-foam pads shaped for another brand, cut openings, and glued the stack. They reported the seal felt fine and the sound did not shift. In September 2026 someone else with a Quantum 100 said the stock cover had died in four or five months and they were copying that glue job. Back in August 2021 a Quantum 100 owner asked outright whether pads for the 200 through 800 would fit the 100. The thread never produced a yes. In July 2024 a Quantum 400 owner priced an official cushion, decided it was steep, and talked about buying another headset instead.
So a JBL Quantum ear pad replacement is the listing with that Quantum number on it. JBL Quantum ear pads with the same cup mount means 100 stays with 100, 400 stays with 400, 800 stays with 800. OEM or aftermarket black ear pads for JBL are fine once that number matches. A pad sold as "for Quantum" with no number is a guess.
Cover and thickness, after the cup matches
Protein leather JBL ear pads after you check that model's mount are what most of these headphones shipped with. They seal. They also peel, especially if they go in a bag damp. Black protein leather pads for your JBL Live model are the ordinary repurchase on a Live 650 or Live 500. They still have to be that Live model.
Thick velour ear pads for a specific JBL Tune model run cooler on a long session and usually let a little more room noise in. Protein leather and velour JBL ear pads matched to the model is a cover choice, not a fit choice. Velour or protein leather ear pads for a JBL Quantum model follow the same rule. The Quantum number is already settled.
Thin and thick JBL ear pads after a model check change how close the driver sits. Extra depth can ease a hot ear. It can also soften the bass the noise cancelling was tuned around, which is what the Live 650 owner heard with the larger foam. Memory foam ear pads for JBL as a pair means both cups from the same kit. A new left pad next to a two-year-old right pad sits at two heights.
JBL Tune ear pads clip-on or ring mount is the last check before you pay. Some cushions clip. Some stretch over a ring you have to peel off the old pad first. If the new pad will not meet the tabs, it is the wrong mount. Forcing it tears the cover you just bought.
Putting the pair on
Ten minutes, one cup, decent light.
- Work a thumbnail or a plastic spudger under the lip. Lift the ring. Pulling the soft face leaves the plastic on the cup, which is exactly what stopped that Live owner in 2024.
- Wipe the groove. Flakes and skin oil keep the new cushion proud of the shell.
- Set the new ring on the tabs, or stretch it over the ring you kept, and press around the oval until it sits even. A light tug all the way around should feel the same. A section that lifts missed a tab.
- Do the other cup from the same kit.
- Play a song you know. If one side sounds thin, reseat that cup before you blame the driver.
A dead cup or a hinge that crunches is not a cushion problem. Fresh foam will not wake a failed driver. Flakes, a smell in the foam, and a seal that went flat are the cushion.
JBL Live replacement ear pads, JBL Tune ear pads, and a JBL Quantum ear pad replacement are three orders. Inside Tune, the 600 kit and the 700 kit are two more. Order the number on the cup, then pick the cover you can live with until it flakes again.
