[se7enty7]

I am now the 'happy' owner of a set of HD-497's I bought at Circuit City for $70. I know I could have gotten them cheaper, but at only $5 more after shipping I couldn't wait.

My ONLY problem with these is that they are uncomfortable to wear for longer than 10 to 15 minutes. My ears turn red and hurt. I have spread them over the top of my computer, but they always return to their original tension. I am within my 30 day return period, and I am seriously thinking about returning them because they just are not comfortable. I cannot spend more than $100 on headphones. I can get the 570's for $60, and they seem very comfortable. Also, they have to be open air.

So, is there some 'secret' to making them comfortable??? I am not sure that it is tension alone either, maybe my ears are just sensitive, I don't know...


Please help, either with a way to make them more comfortable or more comfortable phones for under $100.

Also, they are of VERY crappy build quality, but sound excellent!

 

[chych]

Aye, my jaw starts to hurt since they clamp my head so tightly. What I'm doing placing them over a few books for a few days to see if they loosen up, hopefully it does.

 

[se7enty7]

I now have them spread over the top of my Lian-Li aluminum computer case... about 8 inches I would guess wide.


They are spread across the top of a Dell computer 80% of the time, which is about 6 wide, but they go right back to their original shape.

If this doesn't fix them by tommorow I'm returning them. I feel like it is a waste of $70 if I cannot listen to them for more than 15 minutes. The only problem is finding something that can be driven off of my soundcard (sb audigy) for less than $100...

 

[chych]

If you do decide to return them, the Sony MDR-V6 (not V600, $60ish from etronics.com) is a good choice. The HD570s are apparentely not so good.

 

[MacDEF]

They do tend to clamp quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't know if the "spread" thing will work very well since the entire headband is one solid piece of rigid plasic.

 

[se7enty7]

I have heard that the V6's sound good and are comfortable. However, I really would like open air phones. Thanks for all of your help...


SO....
Any recommendations on open air phones that are going to be driven off of a sound card, that are comfortable?

How about under $150? I can get the HD-590's for $160... I really do not want to go that high but if I must then I must...


Thanks,

se7

 

[chych]

Maybe the Phillips HP890? You'd have to order it from Germany though from Jan Meier (www.meier-audio.com).

 

[se7enty7]

bumpity bump

 

[se7enty7]

I just found a guy on ebay that has Sennheiser HD-590's for $150 shipped. So far those seem like the best buy. How are these comfort-wise? Is this a good price?

I don't really want to buy something in Germany... with shipping I could just get the HD-590's

 

[violeta88]

The $150 price is good for the 590, and being a Sennheiser bionetic model, they're plenty comfy, but the Philips 890 from Jan Meier will run you only $95 plus about $5 for Paypal fees if you use a credit card. That price is including shipping. It takes 1-2 weeks to get to the U.S., the average being 1 week, but sometimes it takes up to 3 weeks. It all depends on the International Mail system. Meier Audio also has the Sennheiser HD600's for $220 shipped, plus the $5 Paypal fee.

 

[delenda est Sony]

Se7----

590s are very comfy and $150 is a good price for em. They sound good but are somewhat harder to drive than the 497s. (120 Ohm impedance vs 32 Ohms). They sound OK out of a soundcard or PCDP, but get a huge boost in sound from a higher powered source, receiver jack or headphone amp. Without high power, I would estimate you're using maybe 75-80% of the capability of these phones. In the $100-150 range, the Senn 280s and Grado 125s sound good and are easier to drive, but some users have comfort problems with em. Consider the Beyer 250-80s. Good sounding closed phones, almost as good as open cans, and very comfortable for $150. Unless you really, really want open cans, get the Beyers rather than the 590s if your only source will be a PC soundcard. At 80 Ohms, the Beyers will sound better than the 590s with that source...

 

[se7enty7]

Alright, I bit the bullet and bought the HD-590's at hifi buys for $179.99.

I like them, they sound great, and are comfortable. However, that is a lot of money for me to have spent. Wish me luck!


se7

 

[delenda est Sony]

good luck SE7---

you will hopefully love the 590s!!

 

[n4rc0l3pt1c]

I have just a quick question; why do you want open-air cans? Do you like the sound of open-air as opposed to sealed headphones? To me, open-air 'phones just seem to leak out a lot more sound to nearby people. I also read something somewhere on this forum; open-air or sealed, you still can't here the phone over your music