[aCommunistSpy]

i've heard a lot about this so called "fatigue" and i don't know exactly what it is.
i can sorta guess that after a period of listening, you get tired and the music becomes irritating but i don't know if that's right. could somebody tell me what it exactly is?
i heard grados are fatiguing and i don't know how long you have to listen to them straight before you get "tired" of them. could somebody be more specific?

thanks,
a fellow comrad

 

[hembergler]

I've found my Grado SR80s to be very fatiguing. Usually what happens, is I just stop wanting to listen to them and take them off for a bit. At that point, I usually switch to my speakers. It's not that I don't want to keep listening to music, it's more than I don't want to listen to the headphones anymore because I get agitated from the sound.

The Stax that I own on the otherhand, I could listen to for days on end without getting tired. I never feel like I need to stop listening.

 

[smeggy]

Imagine sitting in a kindergarten full of little squeekers. For a while it'll seem cute, and a short time after that you want to run from the building screaming.

That's listener fatigue.

Bright headphones are especially prone to this effect as the upper frequencies start to grate on you after a while, a bit like a cheap radio played too loud. You just want some quiet time. If you have the right can's this effect may still occur but only after a much longer period of time.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

I use my SR-60s and after say 3-4 hours your ears get tired. It's a really weird effect taht I don't get with my E2cs and I've never feeled before.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

You pretty much got it, except "annoyance" is probably overstating things. It's more subconscious than that. Do you ever find yourself wanting to stop listening, despite the fact that you're not really done listening to music? That's fatigue.

Nazdarovya, tovarishch!

 

[Duggeh]

I get fatigue with all of my headphones except my Stax. Usually theres some other reason why i have to remove them though (make food, fetch more beer, switch to the speakers when housemates wont be disturbed, etc)

Id be interested to simply sit and continuously listen on my stax in the name of science, although id need someone to bring me my beers.

 

[Svperstar]

Well I didn't have much fatigue on my Senn 595s at all. I could listen all day. However on my SA5000s I find that after about 3 or 4 hours of use I need to take a little break.

Interestingly enough, my Sennheiser 580s also are fatiguing because of their exagerated bass, but not so much in the upper frequencys.

 

[Skylab]

I think if you have good comfortable headphones, and don't play them too loudly, then fatigue is very avoidable. My Beyers are never fatiguing to me.