Why do headphone cushions suck?

[Incarnate]

The hardware always outlives the fake, awful leather.

Is there some workaround, cause it always looks like crap when that synthetic layer flakes off. Is there real leather pads you can buy?

[Talby]

^ true, if you can score some all-natural beeswax, that is a very good DIY conditioner for leather / pleather - prevention really is worth a pound of cure, just put on a clean cloth to rub into the leather before it starts to crack.

[Shadow]

Get yourself a Studio Headphones they are the most comfortable such as DT-770s, DT-880s and DT-990s have the best comfort.

They aren’t leather either or any of those fakes.

[pasa]

Leather cushion? For me that is problem even regardless of lifetime. I use plush. But the lifetime still limited by the padding soft material that collapses. On the bright side it's easy to replace, and every decent headphone has pretty long support to order it too.