I've always felt that the standard felts under and above the cymbal on the cymbal stand, dampens the sound of the cymbal a bit. Especially when paying soft, but also the actual sustain of the cymbal. After trying these, I was right. the CymPad is a sort of foam-based ring instead of felt. this makes the cymbal ring more freely, and also prolongs (or maybe reveals the proper) sustain and after-tone in the cymbals. I can highly recommend these, as I'm very happy with the results.