Ear and head coupling confusion
Jan 28, 2013 at 10:08 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 2

BetaWolf

100+ Head-Fier
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No, this is not a debate between circumaural and supra-aural. This is about how different brands conform to the head.
 
So, I went into Best Buy yesterday to try on some cans. It was much to my surprise, and pleasure, that they had several high-performance pairs to demo: the Sennheiser HD 558, the AKG K550, and the Audio Technica ATH-A900x, among others. Since I've been on the fence between the K550 and the A900x the past few weeks, I was eager to try them.
 
Unfortunately, I was disappointed by both of them. Maybe I'm ignorant, and they're supposed to be better this way, but both the K550 and A900x didn't seem to fit correctly. The K550, being a sealed set, needed the headband adjusted in order to sound correct. On that demo station, try as I might, I could not adjust the headband to make them seal properly. I thought, amazing cans or not, no way was I going to spend the effort to adjust the band each time they came loose.
 
Now, the A900x sounded as it should without needing to adjust the headband. They sounded pretty good, to boot. The only problem is that they were loose. The self-adjusting pads barely touched my head, and the cans sagged down on my ears. I can only imagine what kind of sound leakage such a loose fit for me would cause.
 
The Sennheiser HD 558 pleasantly surprised me. Clamp-like fits are frowned upon by many. However, I tried this pair, and without any kind of adjustment, they fit absolutely perfectly (and I preferred the sound of them, to boot). The oval-shaped bowls went around my ear enough to feel supportive, and the headband had just the right amount of force to hold them in place without making it feel the least bit like a vice. I imagine I could wear them for hours and forget they were even there.
 
This strikes me as a bit odd in a few ways. Why do most headphones feel loose to me? I'm always using the shortest setting on cans that extend. I'm not a small person in the least; I'm 5'11" and do not have a small head for my size. But if this is normal, and headphones are supposed to be loose, why am I having so much trouble with a sealed set?
 
Jan 28, 2013 at 10:20 PM Post #2 of 2
Quote:
This strikes me as a bit odd in a few ways. Why do most headphones feel loose to me? I'm always using the shortest setting on cans that extend. I'm not a small person in the least; I'm 5'11" and do not have a small head for my size. But if this is normal, and headphones are supposed to be loose, why am I having so much trouble with a sealed set?

 
The overall shape of your head, width, contour from cranium to mandible.
 
Very best,
 

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