SecondZephyr
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2012
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This is about to drive me insane…
Not too long ago, I posted here on Head-Fi asking about some issues I was having with my Koss KSC75s. I ended up deciding that they weren’t for me (see this thread as to why), and have since tried a series of new headphones, trying desperately to find something that I like.
It hasn’t worked. For months.
Ever since my pair of cheap Sony clip-ons (Sony MDR-Q23LP) broke late last year, and I decided to try something different, I’ve gone through a never-ending ordeal where each and every new headphone that I’ve tried has given me its own special form displeasure in sound and, often, physical pain.
My problems seem to be:
For the longest time, I’ve worn clip-on headphones, and have found them to be extremely comfortable and enjoyable. I can often even forget they’re on, and can wear them for hours on end.
This whole ordeal is especially sad because I like messing around with producing music on my laptop. I almost always start messing with ideas with my portables (since, again, that’s what I usually listen to all my music on, so I know what they’re supposed to sound like), then continue fine-tuning on studio monitors (speakers, not headphones). I mainly just make stuff for myself and friends, and I’m not a professional by any means, but it’s an interest of mine, and I find it enjoyable and inspiring.
That and, well, the average studio monitoring headphone isn’t going to sound like what I listen to music with at all, so all my tracks would probably get waaaaaay out of whack…
Anyway, now to actually dissecting the various headphones. I’ve tried all of these (in chronological order):
Soundmagic PL30 - Where I learned that IEMs don't fit me too well. Isolation.
Koss KSC75 – Too much bass/very punchy bass – enough to get bass headaches with. Irritating spikes in the treble. Scratchy earpads.
Sony MDR-Q23LP (reorder) – Stereo imbalance – more high treble on right speaker than left. Proven by playing the end of "The Birds" by Telefon Tel Aviv in mono (there's a bunch of glitchy sounds a the end, some of which are very high pitched). They panned right. I'm not sure about this, but I'm thinking that they also had this issue back when I first used them, except I wasn't enough of a critical listener to realize it... (That, and they were what I almost always listened to, all the time, so I didn't know too much different.) Seeing that I want to use these in messing around with audio production, this wasn’t going to work. Assuming that it was the whole model had this issue, I sent them back, and didn't order another pair.
Audio Technica ATH-M30 – Too much bass (pretty boomy), not enough treble, very uncomfortable to wear. Isolation. I apparently have huge ears along with tiny ear canals, because these circumaural pads felt like they were squeezing my ears after a short period of time (they're pretty shallow, too). That, and the aforementioned headband issue. The bass isn't as punchy as the KSC75s, but it's really "big" and deep to me, and I don't like too much... Also, this is when I realized that "flat-response" studio monitors aren't going to quite work for me, as these have often been said to sound like them...
Panasonic RP-HX50 Slimz – Not enough high treble (~12k-~16k). Aforementioned headband and transient issues make them no fun to listen to. Wearing them backwards is possibly more comfortable than forwards, because my ears stick out at an angle a little bit in the back (at least, they’re definitely not flat with my head). Isolation (a bit).
So there it is. I’m at a loss on what to do now. Do I try a bunch of clip-ons or earbuds, as they’re the only types of headphones that don’t automatically give me pain? But a whole lot of those will probably have too much bass and/or the transient issues…
Can anybody help me with this? Please? I’ve gone for months without any sort of portable audio except for my car stereo, and it’s driving me insane...
And should I go see an audiologist or doctor about some of this?
Thanks!
Not too long ago, I posted here on Head-Fi asking about some issues I was having with my Koss KSC75s. I ended up deciding that they weren’t for me (see this thread as to why), and have since tried a series of new headphones, trying desperately to find something that I like.
It hasn’t worked. For months.
Ever since my pair of cheap Sony clip-ons (Sony MDR-Q23LP) broke late last year, and I decided to try something different, I’ve gone through a never-ending ordeal where each and every new headphone that I’ve tried has given me its own special form displeasure in sound and, often, physical pain.
My problems seem to be:
- 1. The average amount of bass in headphones is enough to give me bass headaches, and many headphones don’t have enough treble for me - particularly high treble (~12k - ~16k). The Panasonic Slimz have about the amount of bass that I can handle. Yeah.
- 2. All IEMs hurt – the smallest tips give me headaches, and the bigger ones just fall out of my ears. I’ve got miniscule ear canals, apparently.
- 3. All headphones with a headband sits on top of your head give me headaches. No, seriously. I really don’t get this one. Even the Panasonic Slimz, which are ridiculously lightweight supraaurals give me this weird pressure-headache feeling after about 10 minutes of use. It didn’t happen the first time I tried them (or any other headphone), but it definitely does the next day… Regardless, the earmuffs I use for mowing the lawn, which do give me some pain after 45 minutes or so (they do clamp tight) only need a small adjustment and are good again for the next 20 minutes or so. And I don’t get a headache afterwards.
- 4. (And this is a big one) Transients (attacks) hurt my ears on almost all these new headphones. This is actually a problem I had as a kid a lot. The drums on most of these new headphones have felt like they were trying to bludgeon my ears, and have actually given me headaches and pain. Is this an issue anyone else has ever gone through? I’ve searched long and hard through the internet and have yet to find one other person that has… Does this sound like something an audiologist or a doctor should hear about?
- 5. Frequencies in the ~200-250hz range sound really punchy to me, like that’s where some of the bass drum transients come from or something. I’ve never heard them described this way before, so I’m wondering if that’s exclusive to me or not.
- 6. Isolation, in general, bothers me. It doesn’t bother me much on the earmuffs because there’s something… right about, like they cut frequencies in a way that’s much more pleasing than all of these headphones (and the one IEM).
For the longest time, I’ve worn clip-on headphones, and have found them to be extremely comfortable and enjoyable. I can often even forget they’re on, and can wear them for hours on end.
This whole ordeal is especially sad because I like messing around with producing music on my laptop. I almost always start messing with ideas with my portables (since, again, that’s what I usually listen to all my music on, so I know what they’re supposed to sound like), then continue fine-tuning on studio monitors (speakers, not headphones). I mainly just make stuff for myself and friends, and I’m not a professional by any means, but it’s an interest of mine, and I find it enjoyable and inspiring.
That and, well, the average studio monitoring headphone isn’t going to sound like what I listen to music with at all, so all my tracks would probably get waaaaaay out of whack…
Anyway, now to actually dissecting the various headphones. I’ve tried all of these (in chronological order):
Soundmagic PL30 - Where I learned that IEMs don't fit me too well. Isolation.
Koss KSC75 – Too much bass/very punchy bass – enough to get bass headaches with. Irritating spikes in the treble. Scratchy earpads.
Sony MDR-Q23LP (reorder) – Stereo imbalance – more high treble on right speaker than left. Proven by playing the end of "The Birds" by Telefon Tel Aviv in mono (there's a bunch of glitchy sounds a the end, some of which are very high pitched). They panned right. I'm not sure about this, but I'm thinking that they also had this issue back when I first used them, except I wasn't enough of a critical listener to realize it... (That, and they were what I almost always listened to, all the time, so I didn't know too much different.) Seeing that I want to use these in messing around with audio production, this wasn’t going to work. Assuming that it was the whole model had this issue, I sent them back, and didn't order another pair.
Audio Technica ATH-M30 – Too much bass (pretty boomy), not enough treble, very uncomfortable to wear. Isolation. I apparently have huge ears along with tiny ear canals, because these circumaural pads felt like they were squeezing my ears after a short period of time (they're pretty shallow, too). That, and the aforementioned headband issue. The bass isn't as punchy as the KSC75s, but it's really "big" and deep to me, and I don't like too much... Also, this is when I realized that "flat-response" studio monitors aren't going to quite work for me, as these have often been said to sound like them...
Panasonic RP-HX50 Slimz – Not enough high treble (~12k-~16k). Aforementioned headband and transient issues make them no fun to listen to. Wearing them backwards is possibly more comfortable than forwards, because my ears stick out at an angle a little bit in the back (at least, they’re definitely not flat with my head). Isolation (a bit).
So there it is. I’m at a loss on what to do now. Do I try a bunch of clip-ons or earbuds, as they’re the only types of headphones that don’t automatically give me pain? But a whole lot of those will probably have too much bass and/or the transient issues…
Can anybody help me with this? Please? I’ve gone for months without any sort of portable audio except for my car stereo, and it’s driving me insane...
And should I go see an audiologist or doctor about some of this?
Thanks!
