[dazzerfong]

If you think the MDR-1A is comfy, wait til you try the HD700 and HD800. Your ears float in them. I kid you not.

​My main problem with the MDR-1A was with my left ear, where it usually came into contact with the driver mesh protector. I worked around it by stuffing the rear of the pads with cotton balls.

 

[obobskivich]

That's one thing that I just do not understand at all. Like, love them or hate them, Beats headphones are stupid comfy. I almost want to buy a pair just to have some earmuffs that also play some music. Meanwhile, my K712s that I just adore to pieces constantly need readjusting and feel awkward. 

For one thing, that whole "hammock" headband needs to go away. That might work for putting the headphones on a completely static object, but if I'm starting to groove or get into anything, movements cause the band to stretch and retract and goes all over the place. Let ME decide the fit, don't try and come up with some goofy system to do it for me. 

For another, the material in earpads is just awful in so many headphones. Grado is the worst offender. Again, consumer grade headphones understand this, even if the speakers inside them are less than stellar. Grab a set of Beats, Samsung Level, Bose, whatever. Those are made with more than just the raw sound quality in mind, they remember that the things are going to spend a lot of time on someone's head. 

And then you get the ones with no rotational system on the earcups, they're just stuck at flat parallel as though anyone on earth has a head shaped that way. BAH.

Beats? Really? Every pair of Beats I've tried are grippy, non-articulated, and very uncomfortable. Bose aren't bad, but aren't the best imho - they tend to get warm/stuffy over time. I don't get the hatred for self-adjusting headbands at all - I like my ATs and liked my AKGs and Koss that have/had it, and IME it makes a very nice fitting, very comfortable, and very straight-forward pair of cans. Just my 2c, of course ymmv.

 

[TMRaven]

I tried a buddy's Beats Studio.  The clamp was a little hard, and the size within the earpads was very cramped.  It was that uncomfortable median between on-ear and over-ear.  The Beats Pro is even worse.  It clamps like a torture device, and is heavy to boot. The earpads were larger, but our ears are not circles.
 
HD800 and HE-560 are very comfortable.  Those have been my recent high-end headphone comfort kings.

 

[obobskivich]

 The Beats Pro is even worse.  It clamps like a torture device, and is heavy to boot. The earpads were larger, but our ears are not circles.

And it isn't just that its heavy, its that it FEELS heavy. By the numbers it actually weighs less than the Fostex TH-900 and only Koss PRO4/AA, but it feels like wearing both of those at once. I'm guessing the size and clamp force has something to do with that.

 

[TommiK]

And it isn't just that its heavy, its that it FEELS heavy. By the numbers it actually weighs less than the Fostex TH-900 and only Koss PRO4/AA, but it feels like wearing both of those at once. I'm guessing the size and clamp force has something to do with that.

Not to mention those extra hunks of steel to make Beats feel more "substantial" and less like plastic and glue

 

[obobskivich]

Not to mention those extra hunks of steel to make Beats feel more "substantial" and less like plastic and glue

I've read that at least some of that extra metal actually contributes to durability (e.g. metal hinges), but I've also seen tear-downs that show what ultimately looks like the addition of weights to certain points in the headphone and that seems kind of silly to me.

 

[branislav]

I agree...had Audeze and couldn't bear it after a while. Now if they are heavy because of the technology, I can accept that but bad design is even worse....Tried to put on Ultrasone's one time and I wasn't sure how Im supposed to fit my ears in these cans...

 

[obobskivich]

I agree...had Audeze and couldn't bear it after a while. Now if they are heavy because of the technology, I can accept that but bad design is even worse....Tried to put on Ultrasone's one time and I wasn't sure how Im supposed to fit my ears in these cans...

Which Ultrasone? (I'm just curious)

 

[goodyfresh]

  I tried a buddy's Beats Studio.  The clamp was a little hard, and the size within the earpads was very cramped.  It was that uncomfortable median between on-ear and over-ear.  The Beats Pro is even worse.  It clamps like a torture device, and is heavy to boot. The earpads were larger, but our ears are not circles.
 
HD800 and HE-560 are very comfortable.  Those have been my recent high-end headphone comfort kings.

I've never understood why so many over-ears are made with circular ear-pad holes.  Lmao.

  Not to mention those extra hunks of steel to make Beats feel more "substantial" and less like plastic and glue

Yeahhhhhhhh, that is some real bullsh*t right there.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Beats? Really? Every pair of Beats I've tried are grippy, non-articulated, and very uncomfortable. Bose aren't bad, but aren't the best imho - they tend to get warm/stuffy over time. I don't get the hatred for self-adjusting headbands at all - I like my ATs and liked my AKGs and Koss that have/had it, and IME it makes a very nice fitting, very comfortable, and very straight-forward pair of cans. Just my 2c, of course ymmv.

 
The Beats Studio are INSANELY comfy. Not talking about those dumb Pros or the Mixr, but the Studio and Solo2 are just like pillows with a headband. And I've got a bigass head and my ears aren't too flat to the sides.
 
The problem with self-adjusting is that the nature of it is that it only works if you're holding still. Because it goes by gravity and the perceived weight of the cans rather than a definite ratchet if you do something crazy like "move your head" then the adjustment band will move and shift. They're apparently made for people who just sit back in a recliner and hold perfectly still while listening. It's definitely comfortable... until it moves. Grippy isn't BAD, it means they're not going anywhere.
 
That's the thing, I like headphones where I can put them on and just continue to do whatever I was doing without having to take the headphones into account. I'm a gamer and good lord the amount of times I've had to stop and readjust the AKG's mid game? It's once every five minutes at least. I'm not jumping up and down or anything either, it's just how they shift over time. The M100s are a LOT better in that regard, but then for some reason they have these ridiculously thin ear pads so your ears press right up against the speaker grill. Not as bad as the Final Audio Pandora 6, though... X_x
 
I forgot about Beyerdynamic in all of this! Those are comfortable. Just dumb comfy headphones.

 

[obobskivich]

I've never understood why so many over-ears are made with circular ear-pad holes. 

If the earpad is big enough it isn't really a problem - for example the Fostex TH-900 are circular and very comfortable. However they're a lot bigger around than the Beats and many other "fashion" headphones, and not really designed for portable use. Same goes for Beyerdynamic full-size headphones. I think "they" go with circular pads because the cups on the headphone are circular.

The Beats Studio are INSANELY comfy. Not talking about those dumb Pros or the Mixr, but the Studio and Solo2 are just like pillows with a headband. And I've got a bigass head and my ears aren't too flat to the sides.

I've tried the original Studio - I found them very uncomfortable. They're stuffy, clampy, very noisy (lots of squeaks and squawks), and despite all that, don't isolate well at all. I would not regard them as "pillows with a headband."

The problem with self-adjusting is that the nature of it is that it only works if you're holding still. Because it goes by gravity and the perceived weight of the cans rather than a definite ratchet if you do something crazy like "move your head" then the adjustment band will move and shift. They're apparently made for people who just sit back in a recliner and hold perfectly still while listening. It's definitely comfortable... until it moves. Grippy isn't BAD, it means they're not going anywhere.

Honestly I've never had that problem with self-adjusting headbands. Grippy/clampy, by contrast, tends to get uncomfortable over time.

That's the thing, I like headphones where I can put them on and just continue to do whatever I was doing without having to take the headphones into account. I'm a gamer and good lord the amount of times I've had to stop and readjust the AKG's mid game? It's once every five minutes at least. I'm not jumping up and down or anything either, it's just how they shift over time. The M100s are a LOT better in that regard, but then for some reason they have these ridiculously thin ear pads so your ears press right up against the speaker grill. Not as bad as the Final Audio Pandora 6, though... X_x

Never had that problem with my K701 either, and I had those for over five years, and did some competitive gaming during that time. Very much "set and forget" for me.

Guess "ymmv" is applicable here.

 

[goodyfresh]

   
The Beats Studio are INSANELY comfy. Not talking about those dumb Pros or the Mixr, but the Studio and Solo2 are just like pillows with a headband. And I've got a bigass head and my ears aren't too flat to the sides.
 
The problem with self-adjusting is that the nature of it is that it only works if you're holding still. Because it goes by gravity and the perceived weight of the cans rather than a definite ratchet if you do something crazy like "move your head" then the adjustment band will move and shift. They're apparently made for people who just sit back in a recliner and hold perfectly still while listening. It's definitely comfortable... until it moves. Grippy isn't BAD, it means they're not going anywhere.
 
That's the thing, I like headphones where I can put them on and just continue to do whatever I was doing without having to take the headphones into account. I'm a gamer and good lord the amount of times I've had to stop and readjust the AKG's mid game? It's once every five minutes at least. I'm not jumping up and down or anything either, it's just how they shift over time. The M100s are a LOT better in that regard, but then for some reason they have these ridiculously thin ear pads so your ears press right up against the speaker grill. Not as bad as the Final Audio Pandora 6, though... X_x
 
I forgot about Beyerdynamic in all of this! Those are comfortable. Just dumb comfy headphones.

Yeah I haven't tried the Studio but I've tried the Solo 2 and man are they comfortable for on-ears.  The build quality seemed flimsier than I'd like though.  But I have to say, Beats finally did something right with the Solo 2, they amaze me.  They are still basshead cans, for sure, but damn, they sound amazing and feel so comfortable.  They have no bass distortion to speak of even at high volumes.  I guess Beats finally got their crap together when it comes to engineering, haha.
 
Yeah, Beyerdynamic are stupidly comfortable, I tried out the DT 770 Pro before and was like WOAH.  It's too bad though that I couldn't STAND their treble-spike, holy crap, haha.

 

[SuburbanMe]

Would be bad to give a shout out to Lohb here?
 
I used to not be able to wear the LCD 2's for more than an hour or so, but with the suspension strap and vegan pads they suddenly became one of the more comfortable pairs of cans I have. As far as non-modded headphones go, I have yet to run into a pair of Sennheisers that weren't comfortable. Beyer is up there as well with headphones that seem to focus on comfort level as well as sound.

 

[branislav]

Don't know the model of the Ultrasone.

 

[amigomatt]

People's experiences vary SO greatly with regards to the comfort of headphones.  I felt I had to reply to this post just purely because of the fact that I can't understand all the complaints with comfort issues.  I really can't think of ANY real issues I've had with comfort of cans.  I'm not trying to rub it in, there's an interesting observation here.  It's become somewhat apparent to me that it's maybe those with bigger heads and/or ears that tend to have these issues.  I know this because I've realised over the years that I have a particualrly small head.  This is reflected by the fact that almost all of my fuill size cans look ridiculously big on my head!  I'll post pictures if you want!  Also, the NAD HP50 I find to be very snug and comfortable but I have it on nearly the largest setting, which for me is very unusual.
 
People regularly complain about Grados being uncomfortable and even painful?!  I have no idea what they mean at all!  Grados just sit so snugly and invisibly on the side of my head, light as a feather.  Same with the HD598, AKG K240 DF, DT990 PRO, HD540 etc etc.  In fact, I feel that if I move around too suddenly, my MA900s would literally fly off my head, so light is the clamping force!  So, is it a big head issue?  I've never had pain or discomfort to a degree to mention from ANY headphone and I have and have tried many.