Echofone, a super-tweeter for headphone users or the hearing impaired

[Nirmalanow]

^

 

[fraseyboy]

If it was $300 cheaper I'd buy it.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Do you have pictures of a person wearing the bone conduction pads and regular headphones at the same time?

 

[thrillmetoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are some other limitations. This is not a portable contraption by any means, and it is awkward having more wires running to your head. Also to use it with a typical headphone rig, you have to run your headphone output through the Echofone. I was loath to take the output of my $1000 Yamamoto amplifier and run it through the electronics and volume control in the Echofone (note to manufacturer: maybe make an audiophile version with better power supply, more powerful amp, better connections and a loop through output at line level?), Fortunately, I use a Trends UD10 USB converter to connect my music server computer to my external Monica DAC, and the UD10 has a headphone/line-out output that I was not using. So I was able to hook up the Echofone there, leaving my headphones jacked directly into the Yamamoto. sound therapy, accelerated learning, hearing loss and attention deficit relief.

Isn't this way of connecting creating some sort of time delay difference between the headphones signal and that of the echofone pads?

Thanks anyway for taking your time to share this technology. I also am curious to see some pictures of the real thing in use.

 

[Nirmalanow]

There is a small picture of a woman wearing the Echofone and a set of over the ear headphones at the same time on the home page of the manufacturer at: sound therapy, accelerated learning, hearing loss and attention deficit relief.
The Echofone pads are held in place by a simple elastic black headband. I just put on the Echofone first and then slip on my Audio Technica ATH1000 headphones.

As far as the time delay, it is definitely possible that something like that is happening anytime you split the signal and run through more than one set of "speakers". But for me the sound is clearer and it is easier to pick out individual instruments, voices etc. when I use the Echofone. So the effect is definitely not a smearing of the sound.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I have gone back to running the Echofone off the output of the Trends Ud10. With more use I find that I use it at a more moderate level. Enough to hear a definite difference but not overdoing it. As a result on 95 % of my music I do not need the extra gain from the Preamp. And I am also finding that I can just set and forget the Echofone at a moderate level. I think I was fiddling so much with the levels at first just because it was new and I wanted to hear the difference it was making on every cut. Now I just relax and enjoy the clarity and focus and richness.

So the preamp is up for sale on here under amplification.

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you have pictures of a person wearing the bone conduction pads and regular headphones at the same time?

X2, except I want to see you wearing it with the echofone sitting on your forehead with the ATH-w1000 on or however you normally use it. It just sounds so ridiculous. One of the threads that makes me glad this conversation is happening over the internet, it just sounds a little ludicrous when you look at these things on the site.

 

[Nirmalanow]

As I mentioned on the other thread, my digital camera is on the fritz, so the pictures on their website are the best I can do for now. In use it is not very noticeable or dramatic. It just looks like I am wearing a black headband with a couple of wires running out of the area near my forehead. I have a dedicated home setup for headphone listening and do not need portability. I don't really care what I look like when sitting in my office at home, but as I said it actually is not that weird looking.

It is a totally different concept from just about anything else out there...like I said a supertweeter for headphones. They do offer a 45 day trial period (with a 15% restocking fee on returns) so you can try it out before committing to the purchase and only risk the 15% fee.

I wont be sending mine back anytime soon!

 

[Nirmalanow]

Borrowed my sisters camera to take these pics of the Echofone:

 

[Nirmalanow]

I have simplified my echofone system by using a Pico as a DAC/preamp feeding a y-splitter to both the echofone and my main headphone amp. In this way I can preset the relative balance of echofone and regular headphone volumes, and then use the volume control on the Pico to adjust the overall volume when a particular song comes on too loud or too soft. I do not have to adjust two volume controls (actually three with the output to my aura bass cushion), but can just use the Pico as a master volume control.

I have tried different setups to see if I can get the same incredible presence and fullness of sound without the added trouble of using the echofone, but nothing equals the combined effect of the headphones, echofone and a very slight bass boost from the aura cushion. There is much less sense of listening to headphones and more of a sense of there being music happening in the room with the added inputs from the echofone and the aura cushion.

I am getting a pair of Markl Modded D5000s. With all of the hype about these phones, it will be interesting to see how they compare on their own to my combination of phones, echofone and bass cushion. Will I still find I want to use the echofone in addition?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have simplified my echofone system by using a Pico as a DAC/preamp feeding a y-splitter to both the echofone and my main headphone amp. In this way I can preset the relative balance of echofone and regular headphone volumes, and then use the volume control on the Pico to adjust the overall volume when a particular song comes on too loud or too soft. I do not have to adjust two volume controls (actually three with the output to my aura bass cushion), but can just use the Pico as a master volume control. I have tried different setups to see if I can get the same incredible presence and fullness of sound without the added trouble of using the echofone, but nothing equals the combined effect of the headphones, echofone and a very slight bass boost from the aura cushion. There is much less sense of listening to headphones and more of a sense of there being music happening in the room with the added inputs from the echofone and the aura cushion. I am getting a pair of Markl Modded D5000s. With all of the hype about these phones, it will be interesting to see how they compare on their own to my combination of phones, echofone and bass cushion. Will I still find I want to use the echofone in addition?

I would guess that once you get addicted to the sound augmentation of the echofone + headphones + aura cushion, that it will be hard to go back to just headphones, no matter how good. When echophone is under $199 I might get one to try.

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would guess that once you get addicted to the sound augmentation of the echofone + headphones + aura cushion, that it will be hard to go back to just headphones, no matter how good. When echophone is under $199 I might get one to try.

Yeah, I don't want to get my hopes too high for the modded D5000s. And if I like their sound more than the AT-w1000s I am using, then I will probably enjoy them even more combined with the echofone and bass cushion.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I have just started breaking in my modded D5000s, but as of now I am having an interesting result. When I combine the MD5000 (modded D5000) with the Echofone there is not much difference in the sound, if anything maybe a little louder. Whereas with the AT-W1000s there is a definite increase in clarity, detail and space. I am thinking that the Md5000s already have a balanced sound that extends well into the higher frequencies. As I said they are still breaking in and sound a little bright still.

Since the Echofone puts out sound from 400hz and up to 100Khz, maybe it only helps if there is a gap in the output of the main phones you are using. For example my At-w1000s have a great midrange but not a lot of high end sparkle, so adding the Echofone to them fills in the deficiency in the high end and makes them come alive. But if the high end is already there in the MD5000s then the effect of adding the Echofone is hardly noticeable. I noticed a similar result when I tried the Echofone with my Ety ER4S. Not much improvement as the Etys already have a very detailed sound.

So as always, system synergy is the key. And I am hoping the mid range fills in as it is supposed to on the MD5000s, without losing the incredible detail they already have. If it does, they will be quite amazing headphones, and may replace both my ATW-1000s and my Echofone.

 

[dreamwhisper]

Wow
crazy awesome thread

 

[Nirmalanow]

Hey, glad you like it. It has been fun playing around with this device.