[DarthFader]

Love ps500e's and 80e's!

+1 on the PS500s. They're a departure from the Grado sound but I love them to death. Especially if you swap the stock pads for "G-Cush" pads.

 

[Okkultus]

The red rings are made of plastic, instead of wood or metal. Not cool, and most certainly a deal breaker for me...

 

[money4me247]

  The red rings are made of plastic, instead of wood or metal. Not cool, and most certainly a deal breaker for me...

lol plastic is lighter than wood and metal. improves comfort. certainly not a deal breaker for me personally and I personally find the fascination with wood styling to a bit random and silly myself. feel free to disagree & ymmv of course just personal opinions

 

[joeexp]

  The red rings are made of plastic, instead of wood or metal. Not cool, and most certainly a deal breaker for me...

Do you want to listen to them  - or -  just look at them??
 

 
 
There is really good quality plastic out there. You would be surprised on how much better certain plastics perform compared to metal. And I am not even talking about weight. ...

 

[Byronb]

  The red rings are made of plastic, instead of wood or metal. Not cool, and most certainly a deal breaker for me...

We all have our own criteria for what is acceptable, but I am curious why you would rule them out, out of hand like. You would be doing your ears a huge disservice if you don't at least listen to them. You won't find a more comfortable headphone, nor IMHO a more beautiful sounding one, regardless of the materials used. 

 

[Okkultus]

I prefer natural instead of synthetic materials, that's all. Especially when it's about an expensive product like this one.
Otherwise the headphones look great, and probably also sound great.

 

[henkie196]

No argueing about taste. I would probably accept an ugly headphone if it sounded great. From the descriptions, the Ethers would be close to my prefer sound signature, but I would say that the red plastic ring looks pretty tacky. It's not ugly like those rectangular Stax, but it's definitely not pretty either. In my opinion, of course. I would prefer a HE-560 or something similar, and I think the HD800 are quite pretty.

 

[money4me247]

  No argueing about taste. I would probably accept an ugly headphone if it sounded great. From the descriptions, the Ethers would be close to my prefer sound signature, but I would say that the red plastic ring looks pretty tacky. It's not ugly like those rectangular Stax, but it's definitely not pretty either. In my opinion, of course. I would prefer a HE-560 or something similar, and I think the HD800 are quite pretty.

heh... I think the only suspension style headphones that look nice are the ones that have circular suspension designs that mimic the curvature of the top of a human head. In that regard, the Ether (and AKG) is succeeding where Hifiman and Stax have failed (from an mathematical-orientated aesthetics design philosophy.)
 
In terms of materials used, I primarily care about durability and their effect on sound quality. I personally think wood looks tacky, but that has never affected a purchasing decision. Neither has the inclusion of plastic unless there are concerns about the long-term durability. In general I try to minimize the impact of looks on my buying habits, but everyone's priorities and preferred aesthetics vary greatly.
 
I do think providing honest feedback in an open forum can be quite helpful to manufacturers at the very least

 

[Okkultus]

My problem with plastic in a product is more than simply aesthetics. It's the material itself: synthetic, cheap looking, will contribute to the already impossibly huge amount of global plastic waste, mainly made from oil, etc.
Anyway, each to their own...

 

[akhyar]

Time for me to put my HD800 and Sony Z7 in the classified
Fell in love with the Ether from HA-1 balanced

 

[potkettleblack]

  lol plastic is lighter than wood and metal. improves comfort. certainly not a deal breaker for me personally and I personally find the fascination with wood styling to a bit random and silly myself. feel free to disagree & ymmv of course just personal opinions

If the lcd 3's were male - they wood turn me - that zebrano is the bomb-diggady

 

[Serenitty]

  I prefer natural instead of synthetic materials, that's all. Especially when it's about an expensive product like this one.
Otherwise the headphones look great, and probably also sound great.

 
Hmm...  If you had said wood only since you prefer natural materials, I could buy it..  Now you've got me wondering which takes more processing, steel or aluminum processed from ore taken from the ground, or PE or PP polymers made from oil taken from the ground.
 
Not that I know which polymer is being used to make the rings.  It may not be oil based.  But unless you using headphones with bauxite or iron ore, I'm not sure I'd call the metal a "natural" material.

 

[aamefford]

Time for me to put my HD800 and Sony Z7 in the classified
Fell in love with the Ether from HA-1 balanced

Not a bad combo. I have the HA-1 also, and had the pleasure at the recent SF Bay mini- meet. I also tried stock and Anax modded HD800's from the HA-1. I couldn't get them off my head fast enough. I kind of struggle with the HD800 though. I understand it, I just don't really like it.

 

[preproman]

Not a bad combo. I have the HA-1 also, and had the pleasure at the recent SF Bay mini- meet. I also tried stock and Anax modded HD800's from the HA-1. I couldn't get them off my head fast enough. I kind of struggle with the HD800 though. I understand it, I just don't really like it.

 

[Currawong]

Sorry guys, no more plastic discussion please. People come here wanting to read peoples' impressions of the sound. 
 
I've been comparing the Ethers with the HE1000s and trying to figure out what my brain is experiencing. While I wouldn't mind the slightly stronger bass of the HE1000s, I feel the Ethers are distinctly superior when it comes to vocals. The best headphones I've experienced with vocals have been the Sony R10s, HD800s, Stax 4070s and Stax SR009s and I feel the Ethers are right up there with them in that regard. My experience listening to various singers with them has simply been amazing, much more so than I can remember experiencing with any other headphones recently. I have to listen to them exclusively for their magic to work though. Switching between headphones bursts the proverbial bubble.