As you may know, ears and nose continue to grow throughout your life. As a 63 year old gamer, I guess my ears have gotten big enough to outgrow the standard ear cushions. They would hurt after a few hours of play. These are much thicker. I could also see where the original ones would compress enough that the mic in each ear would press against my ear as well. These replacement earpads do the trick for now. I'm still breaking them in to see how long they keep their form, the outer layer stays on, etc. As of now, I'd buy them again.