Headphone loving glasses wearers - how to solve that discomfort problem....
Aug 1, 2017 at 11:03 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 26

nanaholic

Headphoneus Supremus
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Every glasses wear knows the problem - headphones and glasses just don't play well with each other. While some people can go for contacts, and if you want to go all the way could get laser surgery to correct the vision, there are also some funky glasses frames like pince nez style or some designer "forehead grabbers" that's not available yet, but most of us we just lives with the issue. I'm the "just deal with it" person but once in a while the discomfort will get to me and I would think about how to deal with the issue but never really found one that I was comfortable on trying out.

So several weeks ago while surfing the net and stumbling on a non-headphone related but very relevant topic being discussed on reddit - how do glasses wearers deals with comfort issues wearing a VR headgear with glasses. In the thread I found a link to the company VR Lens Lab which makes lens inserts for VR headgears - and upon browsing saw that they offer a product call VR Frame - the idea is simple enough, it's really just a glasses frame that is compact enough to fit inside most VR headgears but is as wide as possible so the frame don't get into the FOV and is held in place with elastic band instead of the usual metal/plastic arm, and they sell the frame for 49 euro with shipping. Seeing how this should equally solve the comfort issue with headphones and that I'm also interested in getting a VR headgear eventually, plus I also ski (this looks like it should fit into skiing goggles too!), I thought that I can perhaps kill three birds with one stone, so I placed an order for one set of the frame immediately.

The frame arrived in about 10 days, and I took it to my optometrist to have the suitable prescription lens fitted into them, and today I just got them back.

IMG_1887_small.jpg


The frame itself is made of plastic and light weight - probably not the best quality but is solid enough. The nose piece is made from some silicon-like material and adjustable by applying the right amount of pressure on them. The "arm" is an elastic band that has two claps at the back and is easily adjustable while it is being worn. It's overall pretty simple.

IMG_1889.JPG


Wearing it with the Denon AH-D7200.

IMG_1891.JPG


Wearing it with the Sony MDR-Z1R.

FB71A071-262C-452D-B3D2-4EA0694BC3A3.jpg


Took a bit of effort but managed to take a picture of the back of my head with the D7200.

Observant glasses wearers upon seeing the pictures will instantly see that with the lack of a hard solid metal/plastic arms the headphone earpads and the side of the face are no longer being dug into by the arms, and with the lack of the arm hook at the back one of the most pain causing issue is completely gone. Best of all this helps with sealing issues so sound quality is improved too. Bonus! The frame is very light weight and sits pretty well and don't slip or move even with some head movements.

Overall I'm pretty happy with these, finally I can use my computer while wearing headphones for a long period while not suffering from comfort issues. If you are a glasses wearer that gets annoyed with comfort issues like I am I'd say it's worth paying the money to have a pair made. Also if anyone else have other solutions to this age old problem please share, I think a lot of glasses wearers would be happy to see what other simple and affordable solutions there are out there such that we don't have to suffer from the pain.
 
Aug 2, 2017 at 11:33 PM Post #2 of 26
Very cool.

What I usually did in the past was simply take my glasses off, as they interfered with comfort and sound quality too much.

Some Koss headphones can be worn without glasses touching them. (Incidentally, I mostly use speakers nowadays and the only headphones I kept are a few Kosses.)

One thing I discovered (and this is a little zany) was that I could tape a prescription clip-in optical insert (which I got with Adidas sunglasses many years ago) to my face. Looks like this. This is not exactly practical...which brings me to something pretty nifty:

http://www.matrixeyewear.com/buy_morpheus_sunglasses.html

Those are the style of frameless sunglasses Morpheus wore in The Matrix that attach to your nose. Without too much trouble, you could have a prescription glasses version made.
 
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Aug 2, 2017 at 11:43 PM Post #3 of 26
This is not exactly practical...which brings me to something pretty nifty:

http://www.matrixeyewear.com/buy_morpheus_sunglasses.html

Those are the style of frameless sunglasses Morpheus wore in The Matrix that attach to your nose. Without too much trouble, you could have a prescription glasses version made.

Yeah these are the pince niz style glasses that were popular way back (like 19th century way back), but I heard that comfort is not the greatest as it relies only on pinching your nose to hold the glasses in place, so I gave up on the idea.

One of the other unique frames I was looking for and interested in trying out were these:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremiah_owyang/858877808

These temple glasses looks more like traditional spectacles and they look to be both secure (three points of support - both sides of the temple plus nose arch) and more comfortable, but I had a very hard time trying sourcing them online.
 
Aug 2, 2017 at 11:46 PM Post #4 of 26
Yeah these are the pince niz style glasses that were popular way back (like 19th century way back), but I heard that comfort is not the greatest as it relies only on pinching your nose to hold the glasses in place, so I gave up on the idea.

One of the other unique frames I was looking for and interested in trying out were these:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremiah_owyang/858877808

These temple glasses looks more like traditional spectacles and they look to be both secure (three points of support - both sides of the temple plus nose arch) and more comfortable, but I had a very hard time trying sourcing them online.

I did not know that! Interesting. I'd have to try them to see how comfortable they'd be for me.

It's too bad those don't have a more specific name, since searching for them just brings up generic results. I wonder how much pressure they exert on your temples.
 
Aug 3, 2017 at 9:01 AM Post #6 of 26
Every glasses wear knows the problem - headphones and glasses just don't play well with each other.

Not everyone - I never had a problem with my glasses and any headphone or even IEM cables around my ears. Just got home from having my ASG-1.3 in my ears and now putting on my HD600. All the glasses I've owned for the last twenty years are shaped to bow outwards at the temples though so that might be something people can look into.
 
Aug 3, 2017 at 2:06 PM Post #7 of 26
I usually don't find comfort issues with wearing my eyeglasses with my headphones, unless I'm wearing both for a few hours. I'll then switch to contact lenses, and problem solved...
 
Aug 4, 2017 at 11:01 AM Post #8 of 26
Not everyone - I never had a problem with my glasses and any headphone or even IEM cables around my ears. Just got home from having my ASG-1.3 in my ears and now putting on my HD600. All the glasses I've owned for the last twenty years are shaped to bow outwards at the temples though so that might be something people can look into.

Earphones are never a problem with glasses, in fact the arm makes for a good hook and cable management for the cables of Shure style over ear design IEMs.

Headphones, especially the around ear types, is a different issue. I have glasses that has arms that curves out, but then the issue is more than comfort as the arm then causes an even bigger gap in the earpads which then affects sealing and thus affect the sound (especially true for closed headphones).
 
Aug 4, 2017 at 11:43 PM Post #9 of 26
Earphones are never a problem with glasses, in fact the arm makes for a good hook and cable management for the cables of Shure style over ear design IEMs.

I've seen some people post before about how the Shure/Westone/etc cables were having problems with their eyeglass earhooks.


Headphones, especially the around ear types, is a different issue. I have glasses that has arms that curves out, but then the issue is more than comfort as the arm then causes an even bigger gap in the earpads which then affects sealing and thus affect the sound (especially true for closed headphones).

My earpads compress around my eyeglass arm and I can't hear any difference without my glasses on.
 
Oct 1, 2022 at 12:21 PM Post #13 of 26
Every glasses wear knows the problem - headphones and glasses just don't play well with each other. While some people can go for contacts, and if you want to go all the way could get laser surgery to correct the vision, there are also some funky glasses frames like pince nez style or some designer "forehead grabbers" that's not available yet, but most of us we just lives with the issue. I'm the "just deal with it" person but once in a while the discomfort will get to me and I would think about how to deal with the issue but never really found one that I was comfortable on trying out.

So several weeks ago while surfing the net and stumbling on a non-headphone related but very relevant topic being discussed on reddit - how do glasses wearers deals with comfort issues wearing a VR headgear with glasses. In the thread I found a link to the company VR Lens Lab which makes lens inserts for VR headgears - and upon browsing saw that they offer a product call VR Frame - the idea is simple enough, it's really just a glasses frame that is compact enough to fit inside most VR headgears but is as wide as possible so the frame don't get into the FOV and is held in place with elastic band instead of the usual metal/plastic arm, and they sell the frame for 49 euro with shipping. Seeing how this should equally solve the comfort issue with headphones and that I'm also interested in getting a VR headgear eventually, plus I also ski (this looks like it should fit into skiing goggles too!), I thought that I can perhaps kill three birds with one stone, so I placed an order for one set of the frame immediately.

The frame arrived in about 10 days, and I took it to my optometrist to have the suitable prescription lens fitted into them, and today I just got them back.

IMG_1887_small.jpg

The frame itself is made of plastic and light weight - probably not the best quality but is solid enough. The nose piece is made from some silicon-like material and adjustable by applying the right amount of pressure on them. The "arm" is an elastic band that has two claps at the back and is easily adjustable while it is being worn. It's overall pretty simple.

IMG_1889.JPG

Wearing it with the Denon AH-D7200.

IMG_1891.JPG

Wearing it with the Sony MDR-Z1R.

FB71A071-262C-452D-B3D2-4EA0694BC3A3.jpg

Took a bit of effort but managed to take a picture of the back of my head with the D7200.

Observant glasses wearers upon seeing the pictures will instantly see that with the lack of a hard solid metal/plastic arms the headphone earpads and the side of the face are no longer being dug into by the arms, and with the lack of the arm hook at the back one of the most pain causing issue is completely gone. Best of all this helps with sealing issues so sound quality is improved too. Bonus! The frame is very light weight and sits pretty well and don't slip or move even with some head movements.

Overall I'm pretty happy with these, finally I can use my computer while wearing headphones for a long period while not suffering from comfort issues. If you are a glasses wearer that gets annoyed with comfort issues like I am I'd say it's worth paying the money to have a pair made. Also if anyone else have other solutions to this age old problem please share, I think a lot of glasses wearers would be happy to see what other simple and affordable solutions there are out there such that we don't have to suffer from the pain.

Great solution ! Are you still using them ?
 
Oct 1, 2022 at 2:34 PM Post #14 of 26
Contact lenses and done.

You will see better than you can with glasses
They don't fog in the rain
They don't fall off when you run
You don't lose them
They don't break
You don't sit on them
No inteference with headphones, cables, etc.
 
Oct 1, 2022 at 3:11 PM Post #15 of 26
I don't particularly have any issues with any of my headphones and my frames. My Grado's were a bit pinchy on my lobes since they are on-ear but a slight bend in the headband metal fixed that. My other headphones have some flavor of ZMF or lamb material. My frames are thin carbon fiber, so very light and close to my temples so no issue with pads. I can definitely see some of the cheap plastic or larger metal frames being an issue though. I still stick to frames over contacts for convenience, just personal lazy preference really.
 
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