nsingh
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Posts
- 18
- Likes
- 11
Bonjour everyone, I'm a long time lurker and the occasional contributor to this magnificent website (though I'm inconsistent with accounts because I'm awful at remembering passwords and emails
). It's time I ask for some advice that I haven't been able to really find. I've done plenty of research but I haven't found any decent info regarding specifics on ear pads and I'm finally throwing in the towel to ask for help. If anyone is able to find anything, please link!
So, as my title said, the comfort from the AKG K240 Studio is horrible for me. I hate it. The issue comes from the fact that my ears get pushed in by the drivers. Appx. 30 minutes later, I'm forced to take them off and I can't wear them for quite a while, afterwards. I've been tolerant of the headphones for a few years now because I was too poor to buy more and they're amazing for studio use. But, I'm finally ready to invest in something new on a more casual-listening level.
For comfort, I've found the Bose AE2 to be absolutely perfect. The ear pads are soft, compress just enough to wrap around my ears to seal the sound in but don't squeeze my head like pliers, and the drivers inside the cups do not touch my ears. Turns out I'm a little sissy-boy with ridiculously high sensitivity to my ears being compressed. I'd stick with the Bose, but their sound is subpar. As a music producer of many years, and being the son of a home-audio audiophile for many years prior to that, good quality sound spoiled me and nothing less than the best is acceptable...
What I'm looking for is ear pads on a headphone that provide space of about 7cm tall by 4cm wide by 2cm deep (dimensions of the ear pads' openings for the AE2). The ear cups can be oval or round, as long as my ears are left untouched, which is the most important part.
As for sound, I would like a headphone that has a nice, wide sound stage with the clarity in the highs and mids as the K240s. However, I want something with a thicker/stronger low end. Not enough to drown out the highs and mids (like the Sony XB series), but not as flat as a studio monitor gets. I have no preference in open versus closed back as long as the sound stage is wide.
My taste in music is primarily Hiphop and Electronica with slightly less frequent dabbling in Rock and Jazz.
I've narrowed my research down to Beyerdymanic's DT 770, 880, and 990 as it seems they provide the best comfort with a higher low end. Among those, I've been eyeing the 990 but the price is steep, and I'd need to buy a headphone amp taking me well beyond my budget ($200 with $300 being maximum if convinced). I would love to consider the Sennheiser HD 598. But, I've tried some of their 4xx series and my ears feel cramped inside of their ear pads. I've also heard their low end isn't as pronounced as the Beyerdynamic's I've listed have. So, I'm not sure how well the HD 598 would match up with my preferences.
I'm using a Behringer MiniMon for my K240 as it's been great to amp the headphones as well as provide other necessary functions for my studio. However, I might have to invest in a headphone amp if I settle with the Beyerdynamic headphones as they exceed what my MiniMon can handle....
With all that said, what are some suggestions and opinions? Any help is appreciated! Sorry if I left out any crucial information. Just ask me, and feel free to make fun of me if I exhibit my noobish posting skills
. Thank you to all those that read all this!
So, as my title said, the comfort from the AKG K240 Studio is horrible for me. I hate it. The issue comes from the fact that my ears get pushed in by the drivers. Appx. 30 minutes later, I'm forced to take them off and I can't wear them for quite a while, afterwards. I've been tolerant of the headphones for a few years now because I was too poor to buy more and they're amazing for studio use. But, I'm finally ready to invest in something new on a more casual-listening level.
For comfort, I've found the Bose AE2 to be absolutely perfect. The ear pads are soft, compress just enough to wrap around my ears to seal the sound in but don't squeeze my head like pliers, and the drivers inside the cups do not touch my ears. Turns out I'm a little sissy-boy with ridiculously high sensitivity to my ears being compressed. I'd stick with the Bose, but their sound is subpar. As a music producer of many years, and being the son of a home-audio audiophile for many years prior to that, good quality sound spoiled me and nothing less than the best is acceptable...
What I'm looking for is ear pads on a headphone that provide space of about 7cm tall by 4cm wide by 2cm deep (dimensions of the ear pads' openings for the AE2). The ear cups can be oval or round, as long as my ears are left untouched, which is the most important part.
As for sound, I would like a headphone that has a nice, wide sound stage with the clarity in the highs and mids as the K240s. However, I want something with a thicker/stronger low end. Not enough to drown out the highs and mids (like the Sony XB series), but not as flat as a studio monitor gets. I have no preference in open versus closed back as long as the sound stage is wide.
My taste in music is primarily Hiphop and Electronica with slightly less frequent dabbling in Rock and Jazz.
I've narrowed my research down to Beyerdymanic's DT 770, 880, and 990 as it seems they provide the best comfort with a higher low end. Among those, I've been eyeing the 990 but the price is steep, and I'd need to buy a headphone amp taking me well beyond my budget ($200 with $300 being maximum if convinced). I would love to consider the Sennheiser HD 598. But, I've tried some of their 4xx series and my ears feel cramped inside of their ear pads. I've also heard their low end isn't as pronounced as the Beyerdynamic's I've listed have. So, I'm not sure how well the HD 598 would match up with my preferences.
I'm using a Behringer MiniMon for my K240 as it's been great to amp the headphones as well as provide other necessary functions for my studio. However, I might have to invest in a headphone amp if I settle with the Beyerdynamic headphones as they exceed what my MiniMon can handle....
With all that said, what are some suggestions and opinions? Any help is appreciated! Sorry if I left out any crucial information. Just ask me, and feel free to make fun of me if I exhibit my noobish posting skills