[Lazenby]

My experience with cans is very limited. For a couple of evenings I had a pair of hd600's running off a musical fidelity x-can v3 and while I generally liked what I heard, I found the sound a little fatiguing, and could not get accustomed to the pressure these cans placed on the skull and in/around the ears. The word 'congested' also came to mind....
 
It took only a few seconds with a stax 30xx system to realise that this was a headphone I could easily live with forever.
 
I have also sampled a single track on the AKG k1000's and felt moved by the music in a way I have only ever felt twice since. No pressure on the skull too.
 
Now that I am looking at purchasing a system, I figure, based on this limited experience, that only Stax or K1000s will do.
 
Have you had a similar experience of not finding 'regular' full sized dynamic headphones to your liking for the same reasons, but over time adjusted to the pressure on the skull, and the pressure in and around the ears?

 

[Nepenthe]

With my background in body modification and S&M (mostly M), clampy headphones are nothing...

 

[Digital-Pride]

Sometimes one does adjust to the clamp pressure full-size headphones provide, that's been case with me and the heaphones I've bought.  But, if you find that pressure to be too uncomfortable one way you can aleviate it is by gently stretching the headphones by using books or wide surface.- 
 

​

 

[Skarecrow77]

Depends entirely on the headphones in question.
 
My HD-650s clamp hardly at all. I know I have them on, but I never find them in the least bit distracting. My Wife's HD-580s clamp a good deal and I find it noticable.
 
My new Beyer DT880s are still breaking in, and their clamping force is somewhere between the HD-580s and the HD-650s. Their ear cups are also smaller/shaped differently than the Senns, and I notice the friction on my ears a bit more. I wore them for about 5 hours last night and noticed the pressure difference when I took them off, whereas I hardly ever noticed any difference taking my HD-650s off.
 
I used to have a set of Sennheiser HD-590s that were the epitome of comfort. They were truly the only headphones I've ever encountered that succeeded in the cliched "so comfortable I forgot I had them on" arena. I really have stood up to walk away from the computer before with those things on and gotten yanked back by the cord because I simply didn't even notice they were on my head.
 
To get back to your original question, my wife doesn't complain about the clamping force of her HD-580s one bit, although I notice it a good deal. So yeah, I'd say you probably get used to it.

 

[Lazenby]

Quote:

With my background in body modification and S&M (mostly M), clampy headphones are nothing...

I like!
 
S&M... the kinky solution to headphone discomfort.

 

[Lazenby]

And the 'not-so-kinky' solution to headphone discomfort...

 
Quote:

Sometimes one does adjust to the clamp pressure full-size headphones provide, that's been case with me and the heaphones I've bought.  But, if you find that pressure to be too uncomfortable one way you can aleviate it is by gently stretching the headphones by using books or wide surface.- 
 

​

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Yeah...I tend to not feel the pressure on my head when I listen while wearing nipple clamps.
 
Quote:

And the 'not-so-kinky' solution to headphone discomfort...

 
 

 

[ford2]

 
 
If you liked the K1000 then save up and buy one,nothing else comes close.
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Not all headphones clamp like the HD-600. It gets better once the pads break in. But the HD-800, DT880, K-501 and others are very comfortable. Don't feel limited to Stax and the K-1000. Believe it or not, a good friend doesn't like the temple pressure of the K-1000.

But if you like the K-1000, get one. It's the most unique headphone experience out there and I love that they can (and should) be run off speaker amps. Personally, I enjoy them the most with DHT amps. You could pick up a 2A3 or 300B amp to drive them.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Quote:

Believe it or not, a good friend doesn't like the temple pressure of the K-1000.
 

I think I would have a problem with that too. I am pretty sensitive to pressure in that area. I have trouble sometimes with sunglasses...if they make much contact to the temples I get bad headaches.

 

[ford2]

 
 
The K1000 when adjusted properly have very little pressure and are a joy to wear.
 
The only problem with getting used to the K1000 is that every other phone becomes uncomfortable to wear.
 
Not that this matters as you will rarely feel the need to use any other phone.

 

[Region2]

Everytime I try the K1000, I still get surprised by how little I feel them.
 
As for dealing with the pressure.  If I can stretch out the headband a bit, I do, but most of the time I just suck it up, deal with it and eventually I get used to it.  It's amazing how adaptable the human body is.  Though some things like the LCD2 are pushing it 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I was very intrigued with the K1000 when I started reading some reviews while I was doing some Stax research....then I was very excited to see that they only cost about $500ish new...until I discovered they are no longer made and now cost $1000+. Cross yet another thing off my list of stuff to get.

 

[Region2]

Quote:

I was very intrigued with the K1000 when I started reading some reviews while I was doing some Stax research....then I was very excited to see that they only cost about $500ish new...until I discovered they are no longer made and now cost $1000+. Cross yet another thing off my list of stuff to get.

I regret not picking them up when I had the chance but back then $200 seemed like a lot for headphones.  Everytime I time I get the rare chance to listen to them again, it reminds me how much I want them.
 
Hopefully AKG will see the light and rerelease them in their original glory!

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Quote:

Quote:

I was very intrigued with the K1000 when I started reading some reviews while I was doing some Stax research....then I was very excited to see that they only cost about $500ish new...until I discovered they are no longer made and now cost $1000+. Cross yet another thing off my list of stuff to get.

I regret not picking them up when I had the chance but back then $200 seemed like a lot for headphones.  Everytime I time I get the rare chance to listen to them again, it reminds me how much I want them.
 
Hopefully AKG will see the light and rerelease them in their original glory!

That's why I will try to never listen to them...lol...unless they get re-released at a reasonable (to me) price.