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Hello, a few months ago i bought a pair of Pioneer HDJ-2000, huge upgrade from my worn out 5 year Pioneer SE-M290 in terms of sound quality but, the comfort is horrible for me.
 
I have a larger than average head, larger than average ears otherwise i don't understand how others find these comfortable(only Tyll from Innerfidelity finds them a bit small) and i wear thin framed glasses.
 
The M290 have large oval cups that completely sorrounds my ears, the clap force si near to no existent, the cans sit on the head on middle elastic band and i can wear them for 12 hours and still forget that i have them on my head. Just love them comfort wise.
I use headphones 80% of time i use my PC 4-5 hours each day(even 10h in some weekends for music, gaming, movies at the desk or in bed(sometimes i fall asleep with them still on my head and they didn't broke). I use headphones because i have a 3 year old daughter and wife that sits/sleeps in the same room and i don't want to wake them up. 
 
Problem with the HDJ-2000 is that i can't use them for longer than 20 minutes before my ears/head hurt, after 40 minutes i just put them aside and take my comfy M290 instead. I really don't want to throw them away as it took quite an investment for my salary in Romania and the SH market sucks for this class of headphones around here.
The lower ear lobes doesn't fit in(i have to squeeze them with my fingers inside the pads), they squeeze my head till i fell like an orange taken to a blender party, the head band is too tight on the top of the head and temples, and of course there is the weight of the cable(i use a cable extender so the curled original cable sit in my lap to not bend my neck around but it really affects sound/produces white noise).
 
I tried to fit different things(paper towel, fine fiber cotton towel straps, pharmacy cotton...) in the pads to make them larger(as seen on other mods on this forum) but the only result are thicker pads that are not elastic enough and my ears still don't fit inside them.
 
My questions are:
- How can i reduce the clamp force? I tried bending it to loosen the elastic head band but i'm afraid i will break it if i use too much force... The M290's have almost 0 noticeable/painful clamp force.
- How can i make the cups larger in circumference and thicker? Are there compatible pads for these cans with large oval pads similar to the M290?
 
Sorry for my english, this is my first post here also. Hope to get some help.
 
Razvan.

 

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Don't want to sound rude or anything but i expected at least one tip or trick from the community to try out these day's.
Any suggestion is welcome. My head/ears really hurt.
 
Thank you,
 
Razvan.

 

[336881]

Well the hdj-2000 is known to be the most comfortable headphone in that price range, besides the denon d2k and I have to concur with most of the reviews from my own personal experience with them. Is it the headband, earpads, clamp, or all of the above? It could be a number of things and it mite be to the point where your just better off going with a headphone that designed for big heads and ears. I have an average-large size head and ears and the denon d2k-7k is almost too much designed for large ears and large heads for me, but it sounds like it mite be up ur alley. If you really like the pio's other than the comfort I would suggest larger earpads like the denon's, maybe a krkkns8400 or sennheiser hd 650 headband pad, or just stretching the headband for a while with some books in between the earcups. Without any specific details though those are all just guesses.

 

[336881]

Oh and next time just say bump! This place gets a lil thin in the spring and summer.

 

[Armaegis]

Just try leaving the headphones stretched out across a stack of books for a few days.
 
As for the pads... if they're too small, then they're too small. You can try sticking on larger pads, but then they won't fit the cups properly and may not give support where needed. I suppose you could always try something like a Shure 840 pad then do some trickery with tape. I have gauze stuffed in mine just to make them a little thicker. 

 

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Thank you for the response.
I thought that stretching the head band with my hands was enough to make the steel from the headband to be more loose.
I did some measurements to try and find out where the problem number wise:
Distance between my ears is 19 centimeters(7.48 inches), earlobe is 7.3 centimeters(2.9 inches) by 3 cm(1.2 inches) with a elevation from the head in it's peak of 1.4 cm(0.55 inches) and the distance between the center of the ear and top of the head of 14.5 cm(5.7 inches).
On the Pioneer SE-M290 standard lenght's not stretched are: distance between cups: 12.5 cm(4.9 inches), lenght/distance inside the oval earpad of 7 cm (2.75 inches) and depth of the earpads(not compressed on anything) is 2.2 cm(0.86 inches) and distance from elastic band to middle of the pad of 14 cm(5.5 inches). In other words it fit's like a glove.
On the Pioneer HDJ-2000 standard lenght's not stretched are: distance between cups: 2.5 cm(0.98 inches), lenght/distance inside the circular earpad of 4.8 cm (1.9 inches) and depth of the earpads(not compressed on anything) is 1.2 cm(0.47 inches) standard and with paper towel stuffed behind the cufs 2 cm(0.78 inches) - but because of the soft material and high clamp force this distance shrinks to 0.5 cm(0.19 inches).
 
Now i am stretching the HDJ-2000's using the PC case, it's 18 cm wide(7.08 inches) - my head is 19 cm, in a hope to reduce the clamp force but there is a looong walk from 2.5 cm to 18 cm. I really, really hope the head band will get loose after a couple of days.
 
Main reasons for the discomfort:
- earpads are too small and circular i need them to be 2 cm wider(oval) and 1 cm deeper.
- clap force is too high 2.5 cm distance between non stretched pads to a 19 cm head.
 
I don't think this year i will be able to buy a different pair of headphones i have to stick with what i have and try to find a way around to solve the problems, maybe buy a pair of earpads but i must be sure they fit perfectly.
 
Thank you,
 
Razvan

 

[Armaegis]

I wish I had a good solution for you, but sizing/comfort is something that really needs to be taken into consideration before purchase. 

 

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Got a friend of mine to buy them from Italy last year they wore on sale.
 
Found something like this http://www.thomann.de/gb/sony_mdr7506_ohrpolster.htm but i dont know if they fit the cups well. Doesn't specify the sizes, most sites don't not even the manufactures.

 

[336881]

Lawton Audio has denon pads for $45. Best bang for buck deal for people with larger ears. Not sure how well they would fit the hdj though.

 

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Those Lawton's look great but the cost is 99$ + shipping + vats and i don't believe they will fit perfectly because of the size of the back circular elastic band, it will be too loose.
 
Something that looks just right is Beyerdynamic EDT 700 ear pad's but i don't know how well they will fit the small circular cans.
 
Tried today to change them with some random cheap cans i had laying around: 9.6 cm oval pads but the foam filter covering the speaker was too thick and it threw all the bass out the window and the circular elastic band on the back was too loose so they wore popping out.
 
Also tried to fit my old worn M290's, the elastic band was longer to help them fit the cups but they worn't long enough for a tight fit and the M290 don't have a filter integrated with the pad's so my lobe was touching the plastic of the cans(they are collapsed because of wear&tear) and there is a high chance of dust collecting that way. I also noticed a slight drop in the bass and the high's wore too sparkly, painfully sparkly almost as a crowd of teenage school girls screaming... god.
 
While wearing them for an hour or so with the M290's i started to feel the 3'rd source of pain, top of the head and temples touched by the head band. Seems that 6 hours of stretching isn't enough and i will have to find a way around cushioning the head band too especially around the temples.

 

[Armaegis]

The filter material shouldn't affect bass. If anything, it would probably make it seem a bit stronger. What does throw bass out the window however is losing seal, either around the ear or with the cup. That's why I said you might need to to try taping those larger pads down so they seal against the cup.

 

[reset]

So between Shure HPAEC840  and the Shure Velour Ear Pads SRH940, the softer ones will loose bass more? Damn it physics... why are you so mean? 

 I want maximum comfort, but for a basshead those two don't mix i guess. If i can make the cans wearable i will make the bass extension mod suggested on the forum.
 
I don't really understand what you mean by "need to try taping those larger pads down so they seal against the cup". English is not my native language, you mean i should seal the possible gaps between the cup and the pad or what?
 
I'm preparing to order a pair of Shure pads(not sure wich) as they are not too expensive and a replacement on the cable as it is too heavy(cant find a decent cheap one that is at leas 12 ft long to use it while in bed), and I'm starting to think on getting a better sound card or amp. I'm using the integrated sound card "7.1 Audio with Realtek ALC892" and a Kenwood deck station to power up my headphones and '80s speakers. While the sound is superior on the kenwood headphone output i hear a slight background noise and i heard a dedicated sound card and amp is a major improvement... have to study alot into that.
 
 
Thank  you,
 
Razvan

 

[Armaegis]

The pads need to seal around your ears AND around the cups. If the pads are too big, then you will need to tape them down to the cups. 
 
As for longer cables, any AKG cable that has the mini-xlr should be compatible with the Pioneer. 

 

[336881]

Quote:

Those Lawton's look great but the cost is 99$ + shipping + vats and i don't believe they will fit perfectly because of the size of the back circular elastic band, it will be too loose.
 
Something that looks just right is Beyerdynamic EDT 700 ear pad's but i don't know how well they will fit the small circular cans.
 
Tried today to change them with some random cheap cans i had laying around: 9.6 cm oval pads but the foam filter covering the speaker was too thick and it threw all the bass out the window and the circular elastic band on the back was too loose so they wore popping out.
 
Also tried to fit my old worn M290's, the elastic band was longer to help them fit the cups but they worn't long enough for a tight fit and the M290 don't have a filter integrated with the pad's so my lobe was touching the plastic of the cans(they are collapsed because of wear&tear) and there is a high chance of dust collecting that way. I also noticed a slight drop in the bass and the high's wore too sparkly, painfully sparkly almost as a crowd of teenage school girls screaming... god.
 
While wearing them for an hour or so with the M290's i started to feel the 3'rd source of pain, top of the head and temples touched by the head band. Seems that 6 hours of stretching isn't enough and i will have to find a way around cushioning the head band too especially around the temples.

those are the angle pads that are $99. He sells the regular denon pads in the sale items tab for $45.

 

[pogodrummer]

Have you thought about akg k701's? They're by far amongst the comfiest headphones i've ever tried D
Plus, they sound spectacular