HD 580 (Lack of) comfort :(

[NuclearFusi0n]

These things are gripping my head like - well like, REALLY HARD.

there anything i can do to alleviate the discomfort, and will it affect sound quality?

edit: do the pads soften up over time? i just got the phones today...already planning my next purchase. damn you head-fi.

 

[Ebonyks]

While to be honost, i have no first-hand experence with the subject, the vise-grip effect of the 'phones is supposed to go away with time. You always could stretch it out with one of those freaky glass heads, or just even wedge a book between the cups. I'd guess that the HD-600 pads would soften a bit, but it is velour after all, i wouldn't expect it to get better with age, atleast the velour on my beyer certaintly isn't aging like a fine wine.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Yeah, the HD580 take prolonged torture to loosen up

Put them around a HUGE rack of books whenever they are not on your ears--show no mercy and go on cramming them in until the HD580 can take no more

--you'll notice an improvement in one or two days. Keep on doing it for a week and they should be done (otherwise they may bend back and grip your head again)

But try to take the pads off before doing this if possible. My pads were rather worse for wear (flatter) after the ordeal

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

meh, they are getting a bit softer as i wear them - no biggy

if they aren't comfy in a few weeks...=\

 

[ooheadsoo]

It definitely loosens up over time. Much of it has to do with the shape of your head. Now my brother has a much smaller looking head than mine, everyone says so. But when he wears my headphones, he's always complaining about how tight and uncomfortable they are. The key was that though his head was more narrow than mine, it was also a lot taller from the top of his head to his ears. While I still don't understand why this would make the headphones uncomfortable to him, it does.

In any case, my 580's have loosened up a quite a bit just from normal use. The truth is, they're still not quite as comfortable as my portapro set on light pressure

 

[Gallaine]

Unlike many other head-fier's my 580's never really had a "vise-like" grip; at least to me anyway and I've always been told that I have a big head

.

Anyway, they did loosen up over time so hang in there.

 

[dd3mon]

I had a horrible time with my 600's when I first got them (headaches).. but a combination of stretching the headband backwards (be careful, dont want to break anything, but honestly it's a pretty strong headband, you probably won't break it) and leaving them stretched across something slightly wider than my head whenever I wasn't using them.. The difference has been night and day - hang in there if ya play with them enough they will definitely get better.

-dd3mon

 

[DarkWolf]

Well, I have a fairly roundish upper medium size head, probably large by most people's reconning, and the 580s and 600s I tried at Lextek's house both fit very well, pleasnalty tight, but not at all vice like. The 590s I tried at tweeter were tighter, but I still liked it. I don't know if those have had more or less break in than the 580/600s I used, probably less. I would just try to uncourage them to losen up a little bit by putting something between them when you're not using them and they should beocme very comfortable. If not for the tight fit I don't know where anyone would get off calling them uncomfortable, unless they had HUGE ears. Have fun with them!

 

[Steve999]

I found that wearing my HD 580s frequently didn't really loosen them. The metal in the headband does bend easily with a little force. I've been bending the headband a little at a time (so as not to overdo it in one fell swoop) and they've been getting MUCH more comfortable very quickly. I'd go even faster but I want to be a cautious about not overdoing it. I'm thankful for this thread so that I can see I have company, and it helps to compare notes and see how other people handle it.

BTW, it took a LOT more effort (like a 100 times more, literally) to loosen my Sennheiser HD 497s, but I think I'm finally there.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

they are quite comfy now - i fell asleep with them on last night, woke up four hours later, but they still cause discomfort during extended sessions

 

[Trounce]

The 590s are have velvet pads - even from the beginning, they were brimming with complete comfort.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

one more thing - i'm noticing that the right driver on my 580s is a tad bit stronger than the left, when tested with a mono source - it's sorta annoying

 

[HD-5000]

For a quick improvment in comfort, angle the driver cups back a little bit, so its more in the shape of a V with the back of the neck receiving the narrower part.

God I suck at describing how to do things.

 

[HD-5000]

Uh oh Nuke, if one of your drivers is stronger than the other you may have gotten a pair with crappily (is that a word?) matched drivers! Hmm., can you get it replaced? If one side is noticably louder than the other it may seriously mess up the soundstage.

 

[PodMan]

NuclearFusion was it you that bought a pair of refurbished HD580s from newegg? maybe that was why they were returned in the first place. You should return it if possible. newegg has a 15 day return policy for refurbished items.