[takanthaseph]

 

At the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Design, myself and my classmates have been assigned a project to pick an object and redesign it.  My group has chosen to redesign headphones, and the first step is to suss out what the current problems are, and what users really want.  So to do this, we've come up with a set of very basic questions that we'd like you to fill out.  It won't take very long at all, but it'll help us out quite a bit to come up with a really cool idea for a headphone redesign.​

 ​

How old are you?:​

What is your gender?:​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?​

What kind of music do you listen to?​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?​

Do you care about how your headphones look?​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines?​

Where do you shop for clothes?​

 ​

Finally, would you be interested in answering some more in depth questions either in person or by telephone interview, or even by email?  If so, please email samlhenshaw@gmail.com.  It would really be a big help, but I understand you may have busy schedules, so don't feel pressured.  Thanks so much!​

 

[JIGF]

How old are you?:​

Rather not say​

 ​

What is your gender?:​

Rather not say​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?​

Rather not say​

What kind of music do you listen to?​

At my profile.​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?​

Home​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?​

Yes​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?​

Yes. They sound incredible.​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?​

Audez'e LCD-2​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?​

Computer and instruments.​

Do you care about how your headphones look?​

No.​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?​

No.​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?​

Mostly only family.​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?​

No.​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines?​

Do not have one.​

Where do you shop for clothes?​

Rather not say.​

 ​

I do not see how the information you gather from this survey will help you to actually re-design headphones, but I am glad to help. Good luck with your assignement.​

 

[deadhead12]

Alright, I'll go.  I'm not sure how this helps redesign a headphone but ok.  I'm gonna number my responses. 
 
1. 25
2. male
3. urban
4. rock, classic rock, post rock, alternative, hip-hop, jam bands, folk, some world music, some classical, reggae, some blues and jazz
5. pretty much all day except for when I'm in class or when there is either a football or hockey game on tv. 
6. yes, everyone on this forum owns headphones of some sort.  
7. yeah, I'm currently happy with my portable rig but I want to start getting into full-size cans. 
8. Right now the Audeze lcd-2 is at the top of my list, but yes, there are a bunch of headphones I want to own.  
9. I use my ipod touch-->ibasso t3d right now, but I'm gonna start to build a pc based rig once I get the money saved up.  
10.  I don't want them to look ridiculous, but other than that no.  
11. no
12. I don't mind letting people listen to my phones, as long as I got some extra tips handy for my iems. 
13. I don't know what you mean here, but mostly I have my iem's in when out and about so I don't hear much ambient noise anyways. 
14. I don't read magazines really.   My roommate gets Fast Company, and I read that sometimes.   
15.  outlet stores mostly.  Clothes shopping is not my idea of a good time.  

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'll play along:

38

Male

Urban

Rock, classic rock, alternative, indie, classical (mostly baroque and 20th century), jazz (most subgenres), classic country, alt.country, world music (love Afropop), marches, and much else. No rap/hiphop or death metal.

Mostly at home.

Yes, about a dozen headphones.

Yes, very happy with my setup. I mostly use the Sennheiser HD-800, but keep the others around for variety and special purposes, like the Beyerdynamic DT48.

I wouldn't mind owning a Sennheiser HE90 or Sony R10, but probably won't spend the money on them.

I listen to headphones from a dedicated vacuum tube headphone amp, usually fed by a turntable or a standalone SACD player.

I only care about a headphone's looks as far as it is not ridiculously blinged-out. I strongly prefer minimalism, but will accept something I'm not in love with if it sounds terrific.

I do not consider headphones a fashion accessory.

Sure, I share headphones with friends and family. I also take headphones to our meets, and have shared them with hundreds of people.

I don't mind a little sound leakage from others.

Favorite magazine? I like The Economist, AudioXpress, QST, Sound Practices, and a few legal journals

Clothing: I used to shop at Martin+Osa before it went under. Also like Brooks Bros., J. Crew, REI, Hickey Freeman, t-shirts from little local establishments, and anything interesting in thrift shops

 

[lie495fc]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is very interesting. Is this a cosmatic redesign?

 ​

How old are you?:​

   not very old​

What is your gender?:​

   man​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?​

   suburban​

What kind of music do you listen to?​

   all​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?​

   at home, walking​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?​

   yes​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?​

   mess up my hair, hot during summer, not the best ear pad, hand band needs more cushioning, cable cant be detached​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?​

   sennheiser HD25-1 II​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?​

   computer​

Do you care about how your headphones look?​

   yes, i'd like my headphone to look like a headphone​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?​

   no​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?​

   no problem at all​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?​

   yes​

 

[d_headshot]

How old are you?:​

19.​

 ​

What is your gender?:​

Male.​

 ​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?​

Urban.​

 ​

What kind of music do you listen to?​

Metal(classic, heavy, power, progressive, and thrash), Rock(classic, progressive, psychedelic), Hip-Hop(instrumental, break-beat), and Electronica/techno, etc.​

 ​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?​

Home, studying.​

 ​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?​

Yes.​

 ​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?​

Somewhat happy. Haven't gotten fully used to/burned in my new set yet.​

 ​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?​

Not at the moment.​

 ​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?​

Computer, portable media device.​

 ​

Do you care about how your headphones look?​

Yes.​

 ​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?​

No. But looks and design are just as important as comfortability in my opinion.​

 ​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?​

With over-ear headphones, I'm okay. If they are sick, etc. I'm not. With IEM's, I never share them.​

 ​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?​

If it is music that I think is decent, I'm pefectly tolerable with it.​

 ​

About you:​

 ​

Favourite magazines?​

IEEE.​

 ​

Where do you shop for clothes?​

I'm not a big buyer when it comes to clothes, but if I do, it's either Winners, The Bay, Old Navy, or any other store which I can find something I like.​

 ​

 ​

Quote:

 

Finally, would you be interested in answering some more in depth questions either in person or by telephone interview, or even by email?  If so, please email samlhenshaw@gmail.com.  It would really be a big help, but I understand you may have busy schedules, so don't feel pressured.  Thanks so much!​

 ​

 I certainly would be interested in answering questions about cable length, comfortability factors, and other design considerations. How long do we have until you're closing your survey?

 

[gngf123]

How old are you?: 19​

What is your gender?: M​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural? Suburban​

What kind of music do you listen to? Rock/Metal/Classic​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.? At home​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds? Yes/Yes​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not? Headphones,yes. Good sound quality, comfortable and a detachable cable. My earbuds no, Rubbish stock things and I plan on buying a nicer pair.​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own? Yes, many. Denon AH-D2000's come to mind.​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.? Home computer set up​

Do you care about how your headphones look? Not at all.​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory? Not really.​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances? I quite like family and friends to quickly have a go to see what they are like, but any more than that I don't like.​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones? Slightly.​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines? None, hardly read any magazines anymore​

Where do you shop for clothes? In a variety of shops that can be found in the UK. Not really much online.​

 

[takanthaseph]

Quote:

/img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is very interesting. Is this a cosmatic redesign?

Thanks.  Yes it's a cosmetic redesign, mostly because we aren't engineers, but that's not to say we'll design something that it impossible to create in the real world.  We're focused on pleasure based design, which is basically the next level after functionality and ease of use are addressed in the design.  These questions here are to find out just the basic information, but we have another survey that's more in depth if people are willing.  

 
Quote:

 I certainly would be interested in answering questions about cable length, comfortability factors, and other design considerations. How long do we have until you're closing your survey?

 
Our final due date is in the beginning of November, so you have a bit of time.  I should tell you though that the questions are more personality based than technology based.  I know this sounds kind of silly, but since many of the headphones on the market already address issues of sound quality and usability, we felt that we'd focus on how people emotionally connect with them.  If you have suggestions, we'll obviously take them, but that's kind of what the second survey is about.
 
Anyway, thanks for answering the survey.  It'll really help us out, although I know some of you are sceptical.  Keep going!  It's awesome feedback.
 

 

[deadhead12]

Quote:

I know this sounds kind of silly, but since many of the headphones on the market already address issues of sound quality and usability, we felt that we'd focus on how people emotionally connect with them. 
 

I think you'll find that, on this forum at least, emotional connections are tied to how they sound more so than how they look.  I can't and ought not speak for everyone but I suspect this to be the case. 

 

[casioa5302ca]

How old are you?: 24​

What is your gender?: male​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural? suburban​

What kind of music do you listen to? I like every single genre, but most of all rock-punk​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.? in transit/at home (50/50)​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds? headphones​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not? Yes, definitely-because right now i don´t have money for something better 

​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own? right now Sennheiser HD25-CII, yeah cause my 1st wished one was the pair i have right now​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.? mp3 player/computer (60/40)​

Do you care about how your headphones look? Definitely no! I love sound, so I don´t bother at all about how they look.​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory? Naah!  Nein,  HELL NO!​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances? No..they´re MINE ​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones? Yeah, it does bother me, if they listen some crappy music...(something without any sense-filthy mindless pop..etc..)​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines? No​

Where do you shop for clothes? I don´t  do shopping mostly...and If, well than...Peek&Cloppenburg (for shirts, jeans)...skate shops for my skate shoes, hoodies, t-shirts ---- but, I do shopping like, 2-3 times per 2 years. I actually hate that.​

 

[G.Trenchev]

How old are you?:
-

What is your gender?:
male

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?
urban

What kind of music do you listen to?
trip-hop,alternative,jazz

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?
home

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?
yes

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?
yes

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?
yes

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?
pc,instruments

Do you care about how your headphones look?
no

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?
no

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family? With friends? With acquaintances?
not at all

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?
yes


About you:

Favourite magazines?
-

Where do you shop for clothes?
in the store

 

[ericj]

How old are you?:​

 ​

35​

 ​

What is your gender?:​

 ​

M​

 ​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?​

 ​

suburban​

 ​

What kind of music do you listen to?​

 ​

Everything but pop R&B and whatever they call the dreck that ClearChannel is pushing to females aged 16-32 these days.​

 ​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?​

 ​

Working, resting, meditating, waiting, shopping.​

 ​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?​

 ​

A few.​

 ​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?​

 ​

Pretty much. I have canalphones with good isolation and reaosnably good sq which are comfortable.​

 ​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?​

 ​

Confusing. I wish to own most of the sets of headphones that i have, but i also own them. Are there headphones which i would like to acquire? Sure, Stax Lambda Nova Signature.​

 ​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?​

 ​

mp3 player, computer​

 ​

Do you care about how your headphones look?​

 ​

Not really​

 ​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?​

 ​

Heck no.​

 ​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?​

 ​

We've reached a mutual fatigue with the awkwardness of my attempts to share this hobby. Unless you mean, do i share the actual headphones? I'm willing (locally, with people i see regularly) but nobody ever asks.​

 ​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?​

 ​

Yep.​

 ​

Favourite magazines?​

 ​

N/A.​

 ​

Where do you shop for clothes?​

 ​

I'm not picky.​

 

[Rossinator]

How old are you?: 18​

What is your gender?: Male​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural? Rural​

What kind of music do you listen to? Rock, Metal, Punk, Electronic, some Jazz​

Where do you usually listen to music?: In my room. Usually while doing something on the computer (internet usually).​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds? Yes, Headphones.​

Are you happy with your current set? Yes.​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own? There isn't one certain headphone I want. I'd like to at least try out headphones such as HD800, T1, etc.​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: Computer.​

Do you care about how your headphones look? No, they can look ugly. I mainly care about sound.​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory? No.​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances? I never have so far and I don't plan on doing so.​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones? Yes.​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines?​

Do not have one.​

Where do you shop for clothes?​

 

[cyberidd]

How old are you?:  21​

What is your gender?:  Male​

Where do you live; suburban, urban, rural?  Urban​

What kind of music do you listen to?  Classic rock, rock, reggae, ska and jazz primarily.  ​

Where do you usually listen to music?: in transit, doing an activity, etc.?  Everywhere.  In transit, while doing schoolwork, just for fun, while browsing the internet, while doing yardwork, etc.  ​

Do you own a set of headphones/ear-buds?  Yes, I own 2 full size headphones and 1 in ear monitor (IEM).  ​

Are you happy with your current set? Why / why not?  Yes.  My fill sized headphones are comfortable, durable, and have a sound signature that I enjoy for the applications I use them for.  My IEMs primarily used in transit, or when doing yardwork, both situations in which high sound quality is not overly important.  ​

Do you have a set of headphones you wish to own?  I would love to own a set of Beyerdynamic T1, but I can't afford them or the equipment they need to make them shine.  ​

What do you use your headphones with most often?: mp3 player, instruments, computer, etc.?  I use them with my computer most often, although I also use them with my Ipod, stereo, electric guitar, and (late at night when acoustic isn't an option) with my electronic drums.  ​

Do you care about how your headphones look?  Yes, although not greatly.  I prefer my headphones to have a subtle, elegant look, but for home use looks are not of great importance to me.  I do not like headphones with ugly styling like Skull Candy or similar headphone stylings.  ​

Do you consider headphones as a fashion accessory?  No.  ​

How comfortable are you sharing your headphones with family?  With friends?  With acquaintances?  I am quite comfortable sharing my headphones, and do it frequently.  ​

Does it bother you to hear another person’s noise through their headphones?  Yes, this bothers me greatly.  The only exception to this is in situations where this is to be expected such as at home, or at headphone meets.  ​

 ​

About you:​

Favourite magazines?  Modern Drummer, SLAM!, and Cycling.​

Where do you shop for clothes?  Mondragon, American Apparel, Mark's Work Warehouse.​