Announcing HeadRoom's All-New Website

[TwoTrack]

Love the new site!

Pretty, easy to navigate, great content as ever. Well done.

[Valens7]

I hate to say it, but I really don't like the look of the new site. It looks painfully generic. I found the old design classy. I think you guys would have been better served getting that version of your site totally up-to-snuff rather than messing about with a new one.

Oh well.

[jpelg]

Nice to see the updated site.

A couple of constructive criticisms:
1. Runs slow. Not good for keeping customers from clicking off your site in frustration.
2. Lose all the fancy semi-transparent menus - Someone went a little crazy with the web technology, but it is visually unappealing & not easy to read.
3. Had to do a "search" to locate the B-stock page, as it does not seem to be on any of the main menus (unless I missed it somewhere).

[Jamey Warren]

Hi Jpelg,

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I assume you're talking about the flyout menus with product listings. I had to change the angle of my monitor to see the transparency problem but I understand how that could be an issue depending on monitor settings.

Thanks again,
Jamey

[moogoob]

Originally Posted by Jamey Warren

Hi Jpelg,

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I assume you're talking about the flyout menus with product listings. I had to change the angle of my monitor to see the transparency problem but I understand how that could be an issue depending on monitor settings.

Thanks again,
Jamey

Apple had the same problem with their menus in early versions of OS 10.5. The first update turned the opacity from about 75% to 95% (nearly opaque). I have no problem with their menus now.

[moogoob]

Originally Posted by Currawong

The site design is better for navigation, but I think the combination of greens is revolting, sorry.

I agree. The site layout is great and I have no problem finding what I'm looking for but... you should have stuck to blues and greys.

[Naris]

There seems to be a few broken links when you look for more nested details on the product (review, HR official thoughts, etc.).


Also... I know it's been said by a lot of other people but I do kind of miss the cheeky nerd factor of the old site. There were a few random little Easter Eggs, everything was simple to find, etc. I understand that much of the general population probably will like this nice polished site a bit more, but I suspect most of Head-fi will have to go through the pain of change...

[violeta88]

I like the redesign, but I found a few errors in your "selection guide" and problems with the operation of the website in Safari. If I change pages quickly the site freezes and will not respond. Also, in your Selection Guide>Full Size Headphones page, in the Full Size Open Headphones Category, the Sennheiser HD428, HD438 and HD448 are erroneously categorized as Open Headphones. As others have said, there are a bunch of broken links, such as your "coupon codes" link in some of your product descriptions. I do like the new menus as I no longer have to hunt to find a specific headphone, but your choice to highlight mediocre headphones in your opening page, while understandably a business decision, is very unfortunate in my opinion, and serves to cast an unfavorable light to your existing audiophile customers. Maybe a compromise is due in that regard. Best of luck though and overall I think the website will serve HeadRoom well.

[tvrboy]

Skullcandy? Really? I guess I would do the same thing if it was my business...good luck getting that new demographic.

[aimlink]

Had a look at the site and have mixed feelings about it.

I think the HomePage rocks. It's very nice looking. The drop down menus listing your various products by category is really useful for those looking for a particular product or who wishes to quickly scan your products.

However, things go downhill somewhat once you get into the site. There's a generic feel, which is a minor point.

What I really dislike is that the pages are crowded with a lot of content vying for attention. The overcrowding of content has led to having to use smaller fonts, putting more pics together etc. I wasn't even looking at the boxes on the left since they struck me as ads. After reading some of the comments here, I did look at them and saw that they contained legitimate content. I felt sad for them. At times, when I look at a page, I do realize that, short of the busy column on the left, the content isn't that much different from what was there before. However, there are so many colours and line boxes for everything etc. that it does add to the overall clutter that overwhelms the senses.

It's one thing to look and feel pleased at how much has been included and hence how much can be potentially done with the page. However, consider how many will not scroll down to look at the box stranded in the left lower corner of a long page.

As with everything, I guess I'll grow accustomed to all the bling and glitter that's now there. There's that, very difficult to draw, line between a site being uncomfortable because of lack of familiarity and one that is uncomfortable since it's just that. Both can be grown accustomed to and tolerated over time.

Anyway, there's a general trend towards flogging the senses.

[techenvy]

i really want to get the desktop amp/dac 999. mainly for its connectivity and optical ins and two jacks in front,, can you keep them both plugged at same time , with a switch hopefully,,, but moreover how do they compare to some competitors?

[JorgeC]

Originally Posted by techenvy

i really want to get the desktop amp/dac 999. mainly for its connectivity and optical ins and two jacks in front,, can you keep them both plugged at same time , with a switch hopefully,,, but moreover how do they compare to some competitors?

Howdy Techenvy,

Sure, no problem keeping all your digital and analog audio sources connected to the HeadRoom Desktop Amp w/ DAC and switching between with the amp's Source Selector controls.

You can connect up to five sources; 3 via USB/optical/coax digital inputs, 2 via analog RCA inputs

Cheers,
Jorge
HR Sales/Product Manager

[kdaq]

First let me say - this is a nice looking site. The front page is a solid launchpad and the overall feel is modern.

I appreciate the driving motivation behind the redesign. Appealing to the general masses is a simple business decision, and a sane one - no argument here over moves like selectively adding Skullcandys.

But I implore you - inject more personality!

And sure, grabbing an audience requires brevity. Yet boiling down can leave you with dregs, and this does not turn heads.

Headroom is quirky. You have to be to design a BUDA...just like you have to be to buy one. Tyll, your charisma came through in the original product descriptions. They made me laugh, and they made an impression. Don't lose that in this website.


Kudos on the current Amp/DAC product line, by the way. It strikes me as the perfect balance of focus vs choice (also price vs performance ).

[JorgeC]

Originally Posted by kdaq

First let me say - this is a nice looking site. The front page is a solid launchpad and the overall feel is modern.

I appreciate the driving motivation behind the redesign. Appealing to the general masses is a simple business decision, and a sane one - no argument here over moves like selectively adding Skullcandys.

But I implore you - inject more personality!

And sure, grabbing an audience requires brevity. Yet boiling down can leave you with dregs, and this does not turn heads.

Headroom is quirky. You have to be to design a BUDA...just like you have to be to buy one. Tyll, your charisma came through in the original product descriptions. They made me laugh, and they made an impression. Don't lose that in this website.


Kudos on the current Amp/DAC product line, by the way. It strikes me as the perfect balance of focus vs choice (also price vs performance ).

Hi KDaq,

Many thanks for your comments.

Rest assured, the HeadRoom 'personality' has NOT been lost and will be finding its way back into the website as we continue to refine & update our approach, product lines, and brand. The HR website you see now is an iteration of what will hopefully be an ever-evolving approach to attracting headphone enthusiasts of every stripe. For us, this philosophy continues to include researching & developing the best-sounding reference products in the industry for serious listeners -- as well as perhaps doing some educating along the way for the newcomers and having products that allow them an entryway into this wonderful headphone universe .... err, i don't think Tyll's "charisma" could be really be contained anyways HA!

And, oh yeah, that BUDA/UDAC/DPS stack is sooo sweet -- gots one on me desk with Amphions!

Cheers,
Jorge
HR Sales/Product Manager

[Wilashort]

Completely Agree!...
As a commentary about the site. It seems to me nice, and with more variety of headphones and other articles as before. I like both styles. The old and the new.
I need to explore more it to give possibly more comments...

Originally Posted by drizzt

To me the site makes sense in the way you're promoting it. I think people are missing that you want to reach a broader crowd. Promoting lower end products bring new people to your site. People from here looking to buy products from your site pretty much know what they want and just purchase through you. We do our research here at head-fi so there is no reason for many of us to use your learning center. New people however will browse the site and find that SCs may not be there best choice. If they buy them it's a sale for your company and that is the goal for any business, to sell products. So Tyll, to answer your question, I believe you guys are pointing more broadly.