ATH-AD700 Uncomfortable...what instead?
Aug 26, 2009 at 4:36 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

Hicks

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Hello everyone, I've been a lurker for a while and this is my first post. I apologize if this has been covered, but all the searches I've done seemed to turn up the opposite results.

I find the AD700s uncomfortable, in fact downright painful. Every search and thread I read about them before my purchase painted them as one of the most comfortable. I can't really tell if my head was too big or too small, basically they dug into my jaw right below and behind my ears to the point that within only a few seconds I wanted to take them off. I tried rotating them in every which way and nothing helped. I made myself wear them for over an hour thinking maybe I'd get used to it. I did not. I also tried mounting them on a large ball for a long while thinking it might loosen them up, it did a bit, but not enough to help.

My whole reason for the purchase was because I also find my Grado SR-60s uncomfortable, albeit in a different way. So my question is, where do I go from here. Overall I liked the sound of the AD700s more then the SR-60s, but obviously any other Audio Technica with the 3D wing things will be just as bad. What direction should I go. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 5:03 AM Post #2 of 16
I found the AD700's uncomfortable. It was because the (huge)driver was touching my ear like my grado sr125. I got the HD555 instead, which is very comfortable. Keep in mind this was around 2 years ago. Now I use the hd650 for music, and hd555 for gaming. I personally believe closed headphones like the denon 1k/creative live, anything with very soft leather pads tend to be the most comfortable for me.
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 1:18 PM Post #3 of 16
Welcome.

What sound card or other equipment are you plugging your headphones into?

Apparently I have not been posting my warnings about the fit of the AD700 fast enough. I owned the AD700 and found it uncomfortable for the same reason, too much pressure below the ears and on the jaw. And, it did not fit properly because it was a little too loose on my head above my ears. Search "AD700" before buying.

If you're wanting similarly priced open headphones, I suggest the HD555 and then modify it to sound like the HD595. The HD555 was very comfortable for me.
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 1:21 PM Post #4 of 16
Did you turned the pads? Or just placed the headphone in a different way.

Turning the pads did wonders for me =]
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 1:35 PM Post #7 of 16
I both turned the pads and placed the headphones in a different way.

1Time, the pads will kind of spin in place if you carefully turn them. Too bad I didn't see your post before my purchase. As I said, all the threads I saw spoke only of their comfort
confused_face.gif


So far that's two for the HD555. May have to check them out. Thanks everyone.
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 2:04 PM Post #8 of 16
I had HD555 few months ago, the clamping was too hard for me..
I felt dizzy while I wear them..

Now I have AD700 and it's really comfortable, try to move the earcup forward, backward, up, and down till you find the best fit
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Aug 26, 2009 at 2:51 PM Post #10 of 16
Thanks for the tip runswithaliens. I may try that, though I'm more inclined to try something else. I'd rather not break them in the attempt and ruin them completely.

1Time, sorry, I just realized I never answered your question about equipment.
I currently listen to FLAC from either my Macbook, Sansa E250 with Rockbox, or a modded Xbox running XMBC throuhg optical to a Yamaha HTR-5890 receiver. For vinyl I have a Yamaha YP-D6 with Ortofon M20fl cartridge running through the same receiver. As far as headphone amps, all I have is a CMOY built by juice2214.
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 3:15 PM Post #11 of 16
Quote:

What do you mean by turning the pads? Is this a modification to the pads from their stock forum?


You can turn the pads, the pads are not equal everywhere. Stock, the thicker part is on the bottem.

You can easily turn them. Grab the whole pad, and turn it. Just like opening a peanut butter bottle
wink.gif
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 4:20 PM Post #12 of 16
Did you also try to angle the cups (like this --> /O\ where the O represents your head and /\ represents the cups) and move it around till the drivers don't touch your ears?
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 7:06 PM Post #14 of 16
Yeah, you have to bend the top part of them, I bent them a lot - until the pads rested with the same amount of pressure above your ears, as below them.
Which to be honest is hardly any pressure at all in my experience with these phones..
 
Aug 26, 2009 at 8:09 PM Post #15 of 16
Are the Air series headphones different from the Art series by that much? My A700s have even pressure throughout the pad, and even then, there's almost no pressure on the sides.
 

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