[Oluvs Buddy]

Do headphones sound better when the drivers are further away from your ear?

I'm developing the sentiment that headphones sound better when the drivers are further away from the ears.

When the clamp force is strong the pads seem to push hard against your ears and the sound feels "forced" and the various frequency ranges feel mashed together.

Is that why so called premium headphones seem to have thicker earpads and Zeos touts ridiculously thick earpads on his youtube channel?

 

[bigshot]

I would guess the seal is more important than the distance. We're talking differences of a centimeter or so.

 

[castleofargh]

They have this really nice tech where you place the drivers somewhere in the room. I like it a lot.

Seriously, this is only one variable and it can't ensure much on its own. I honestly can't imagine how to approach the question. Should we embrace the obvious FR change? Should we assume that we desire the same FR but from a greater distance? Maybe a closer driver tuned like when using deeper pads would also make you feel better? Or maybe it has nothing to do with any of it, and you just can't enjoy music while feeling a strong clamp? Maybe you just feel good with a certain type of low end, and it's mostly a seal issue?
Then there is the matter of small and big drivers. Would a tiny one close to me feel like a bigger one further away(assuming we can match the FR)?

My brain is slowly melting from all the new questions I have about this. ^_^

 

[bigshot]

I'm guessing how the distance interacts with the shape of your particular ear canal has more impact than distance with the general population. I doubt the difference of a centimeter or two would have any effect on frequency response relating to high end roll off over distance.

 

[bfreedma]

I don’t think it’s the extra distance as much as it is the thicker/additional pad material used to create the distance in regards to changes.

 

[ScareDe2]

The farther away the drivers are from your ears, the more altered is the sound. It can cause an artificial increase of the soundstage and instruments separation. If that is your listening preference and depending on the music genre you like (some people prefer a spacious sound when they listen to live or classical music), an headphone with spacious cups might be for you.

I prefer direct unaltered sound.

 

[bigshot]

It doesn’t affect soundstage and instrument separation. Those are a determined by channel separation. Distance affects the response because of the seal and the effect of the surrounding pads.

 

[ScareDe2]

The AKG K1000 has no pads/seal. The adjustable distance and angles change the soundstage along with many other sound attributes.

Channel separation is just left and right. Every headphones have perfect channel separation.

The design of the headphone cup (including the pads) does indeed affect soundstage, instrument separation and frequency response.

 

[bigshot]

Soundstage is the precise placement of sound objects between left and right. That is channel separation. Sound directionality or HRTF are completely different than soundstage.

 

[ScareDe2]

Soundstage is the three-dimensional space. The location of objects inside that soundstage is the imaging.

 

[bigshot]

There is no three dimensional space with headphones, only a straight line between left and right going straight through the middle of your head. Sound objects are located along that line from hard left to hard right with the points along the straight line between the two channels.

 

[ScareDe2]

There is a perceived three-dimensional space that you can not objectively measure. Doesn't mean it has to be something else than what people normally refer to.

 

[bigshot]

Your imagination is creating the illusion of space. It’s all secondary distance cues that are embedded in the mix of the music. You’re attributing it to the headphones, but that isn’t something the headphones are able to control.

Typical people rely on subjective impressions that are colored by bias and perceptual error. When you talk about things that make no objective sense and can’t be measured, you should consider the possibility that your subjectivity might be giving you the wrong idea.

 

[ScareDe2]

I sense that something useful is about to be said about these sound attributes that everyone perceive in a similar way for a given headphone.

 

[vergesslich2]

I'm developing the sentiment that headphones sound better when the drivers are further away from the ears.

I was lately developing the opposite view. I mean I wish some headphones looked comfier or were comfier, for the part of my ear that touches the driver. If it's a win win situation, my ears are probably too big.