[kira0]

Hello everyone! First time poster, but been following the forums for a while now.

I have had TMJ problems for quite a while now, and pressure in the area around my ears on the side of my head can cause my jaw some fairly painful and prolonged unpleasant effects.

Music is a big part of my life, and I'm always either listening or creating it, or playing games competitively on the PC. I would like to be able to find a headphone that I can wear comfortably that is at least mid-hi fi.

I have a small-ish size head with large ears.

Here are some that I have tried:

1) Koss KSC-75

My first purchase after reading the forums here. Great buy, sound was good, the FIRST headphone i can wear with complete comfort. So I wear 'em basically all the time. Till they break at least.

2) Beyer DT-770pro

First step up. The sound experience was amazing, but i was in quite a lot of pain after a few hours of use, which took about a month to recover from.

3) Senn HD-600

Well I loved the sound so much of the first REAL headphone I tried, I thought I'd give this one a shot, since it seemed to be the sound I was after, after much research.

Less clamping than the beyer, and I love the sound, even through my pc->x-fi as a source, but still too painful to use. They're sitting in a box as we speak, used for about 10 hours. And it kills me.

So what do i do next?! My reading says the AT AD-700 seems like a logical try. Is it THAT much more comfortable, or will I be in for more of the same?

I like the idea of circumaural open cans, but do you guys think its a lost cause with me? Supra-aural cans I have never found comfortable, and IEM's have been the same. Am I stuck with the koss-sportclips forever?

THANK YOU for reading this long post and any help would be greatly appreciated. Lifestyle/Living arrangements make speakers impossible at the moment so I have turned here for help. Comparisons to the 2 cans I've tried would help tremendously. Thanks again.

 

[funkadelic]

The Sennheiser HD590's are some of the most comfortable headphones ever made, very light and with velour pads.

Opinions on SQ vary. I really like them but others are less keen, but they are certainly mid-fi or better.

Sadly they are no longer made but they do come up on eBay from time to time.

Simon

Simon

 

[jonathanjong]

Try some of the looser cans. AD700 is an option, as is K601. Or you could go down the Denon path. But if comfort is the main concern, you might have to give up sound preferences.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Beyer 880 2003 model. Like wearing nothing compared to the 770s. Better sounding than the 600s imo too.

 

[ManAtWork]

If talking about Beyer DT880, then the 2005 version is the most comfortable compared with the previous. Another can be tried is the Denon D5000, also very comfortable. Don't mix up the DT800 with your DT770 experience, they are just like from two different worlds.

 

[jhanby]

Look at the AT AD700s.

Good comfort, Good sound and great price

 

[Force]

What's your budget?

 

[momomo6789]

just bend the metal band on the hd600s search on here theirs a post on how to do it, its easy to do and makes them much better.

 

[kira0]

Hey, thanks for the responses guys! I know some people here raved about the comfort on the the 770's but to me it felt like an ancient German torture device. I'll look into the 880 versions a bit more then.

I have tried bending the metal on the hd-600's a few times. While it did ease the 'clamp' effect a bit, it was still rather painful. I don't know if it was the amount of pressure onto the jaw or the direction the force was applied. I was a bit scared to bend them TOO hard, but I did get some relief.

While wearing either the hd600's or the 770pro's I am pretty much unable to speak or move my jaw at all, just curious is this the norm?

This brings up a good point though, are there any cans that apply the pressure higher up? Like on the upper part of the cups, rather than trying to clamp on the lower half, which is right along my jawline. I think this might help.

I have tried ghetto-pressure relieving methods as well, like placing foam inserts just above the cups to move the pressure higher, but only with limited success.

How does the 590's fit compare with the hd-600's? Is it a night and day difference? A good point about the weight of the headphone though, I might have to pay more attention to that. I.E. less weight = less force to secure.

Budget is not the primary concern at the moment, anything under $500 would be nice. But to listen in total comfort please feel free to recommend whatever you think would help.

 

[runswithaliens]

I have the ATH-AD700's and after some bending of the hoops they did become very comfortable. Before the bending, they were too tight in the jaw area, and too loose at top. People here swear by them for the positional audio in gaming. As for using them to make music, I can tell you from first hand experience that they are terrible for that. They show so much bright detail that the mix comes out just the opposite when played back on speakers or headphones with more reasonable tonal balance.

I also had the Denon AH-D5000's for a while, and they fit very comfortable right out of the box. Personally I sent them back for other reasons such as over-blown bass. I have also heard that the lesser priced Denons are also very comfortable if you want to look at those as well. In fact, I think I have read that the 1001's are renowned for their comfort level. I don't know how Denons are for gaming or music making.

And at work I was using the Koss KTX Pro's, which were pretty comfortable, but then I replaced them with Yamaha RH-5Ma Monitor Headphones which are more comfortable and much better sounding. They are the type that sit on the ears, but they don't have much clamping force, and the do have comfy pads, so I hardly know I'm wearing them. The price is right as well.

 

[Andrew Jones]

Small supraural 'phones such as the PX100 might be comfortable - clearly sound quality will not be up with the more expensive headphones, but it might be better to listen at lower quality, than not to listen (and the PX100 aren't too bad). The PX100s are the most comfortable supraural 'phones I've tried. The most comfortable 'phones I own are Denon AHD2000, the clamping pressure is very light, but (just tried them) it is greater at the bottom of the ear than the top. Senn HD-595 are also pretty comfortable (once I got used to pressure on top of the head), slightly more clamping force than the AHD2000, but more evenly distributed around the ear, they are also lighter. Senn hd650 have quite a strong clamp, even after bending the headband quite extensively.

 

[paaj]

Try a used pair of Stax Lambda's, they float around the ForSale forum often. Put mine on and didn't even notice it, if one headphone 'disappears' this is it.

 

[cyberidd]

The most comfortable cans I have used are the DT990 2005, and I'm assuming that the DT880 would be very similar. The difference between my DT990 and my DT770 pro are pretty shocking: the pads are thicker and softer, the clamping pressure is significantly less, they feel MUCH lighter, etc.
While I haven't used the HD600, I have used the HD650 which are also thought to be very comfortable. To me the DT990 were slightly more comfortable, but not by a large margin, and my friend was of the opposite opinion, so I don't know how much of an improvement you would find the Beyers to be (if at all).
That said, there are two things that you may want to do to try to improve your experince. First, when you say that they clamp too low on your head and make it hard to talk and listen (which is quite uncommon AFAIK), it sounds like you may have the bands poorly adjusted. If the bands are too long they will clamp too low, so try shortening the headband and see if that spreads out the pressure a bit better. Second, you may want to find a bunch of books (encyclopedia work great) and stand them up, then put the headphones on the books when you aren't using them. You can keep adding books to stretch them more or less, training them to be looser over time.

Good luck, I hope that you find a way to enjoy your equipment!

 

[Lou Erickson]

My Beyer DT990's are very comfortable too. Almost no clamping force; they rest on the headband mostly, with the fuzzy velour things on your head.

For any of these, with your TMJ concerns, you might be served well by trying to get to a meet so you can try several all at once.

If you're really serious, the K1000's don't touch the ears at all, and they sound very nice when driven well. I don't know how they'd work for gaming; they'll either be horrid or stunningly wonderful. Not anything like closed or portable though...