[Taz777]

I've been wondering why some headphone manufacturers make headphones with round earcups vs oval earcups. All of my over-ear and on-ears have round earcups (being Beyers), yet my previous Sennheiser HD660S over-ears had oval-shaped earcups.

Oval makes more sense to me as it more naturally fits your ears. So are there sonic advantages to round earcups?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I've been wondering why some headphone manufacturers make headphones with round earcups vs oval earcups. All of my over-ear and on-ears have round earcups (being Beyers), yet my previous Sennheiser HD660S over-ears had oval-shaped earcups.

Oval makes more sense to me as it more naturally fits your ears. So are there sonic advantages to round earcups?

People cannot agree on anything. I'll make some popcorn and wait until the round vs. oval vs. other shape proponents sharpen their swords

 

[Jmop]

Finally, a thread where I can let off some steam.. I hate circular earcups. Ears are not shaped like that, they are oval. Plus it puts unnecessary pressure on your jaw and is more likely to break seal. That is all. Now will someone please ban the design lol.

 

[megabigeye]

Your ears are an oval? Freak! My ears are the platonic ideal for an ear, closer to a triangle than an oval. Wider near the top, tapering toward the lobe. Kinda like an ice cream cone, and everybody loves ice cream. People pass me on the street and I can tell they want to lick my ears.
Your ears look like they were squeezed out of a chicken's butt.

I vote for more triangular headphones!

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'd like to see fake leather banned. If so, I would accept round earpad openings as an acceptable tradeoff.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I've been wondering why some headphone manufacturers make headphones with round earcups vs oval earcups. All of my over-ear and on-ears have round earcups (being Beyers), yet my previous Sennheiser HD660S over-ears had oval-shaped earcups.

Oval makes more sense to me as it more naturally fits your ears. So are there sonic advantages to round earcups?

Round earcups can fit around earlobes if they're large enough.

That of course is where they run into some problems as they could potentially go too far to the rear that angled earcups are needed to get a good seal, and then depending on the user, contact with earpads farther out from the ear can get more itchy.

Oval earpads aren't perfect either - out of the box some Sennheisers have them pressing against the jaw too hard.

 

[Jmop]

Idk about you guys, but the Aeon Flow’s earcups seem to be pretty optimally shaped if a bit big. Haven’t tried them myself.

 

[GREQ]

I always found the big round earpads tend to have a bigger soundstage than oval pads.

I quite like the headphones that have a 'bump' in the circular mount at the lower-back part where it touches the jawline.
This improves seal and comfort for me. I've read an equal number of people hate it
Then there's the big earpads that just have weird unique shapes to basically do the same thing, like the Abyss Diana pads.

Spoiler: Going WAAAAAAAAAAAY off topic now...

And then there's headphones like:
the Magnat LZR 980, which hardly seem to fit anyone properly.
They're the most uncomfortable and poorly fitting headphone I've ever tried... but they sound decent.

and the Corsair Void ... clearly they're both trying to either fit human ear/head better, or just make more sales by being different??
I've only got the ear pads that I use on another headphone, and they're comfy enough.

Sonus Faber Pryma is the best 'weird ear pad' headphone though, but it's probably too close to oval to be classified with the other 2 weirdos above.

Now all I need are genuine replacement ear pads for my Technics RP-F1