Vegan friendly headphone list
Jul 11, 2018 at 5:18 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 278

smodtactical

Headphoneus Supremus
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Lets make a list of Vegan friendly headphones based on price. Please post comments and I will add them. (I realise there is a thread on vegan headphones but I Want this to be a quick reference list for Vegans or anyone else wanting leather free headphones).

TOTL ($3000+)
- Meze Empyrean (they (Antonio) informed me they can make a leather free version) *Custom order*
- Raal Reqsuite (Danny said they would just have to change the head band which they are willing to do) *Custom order*
- Hifiman Susvara / HE1000SE (Synthetic pleather used - confirmed with April at hifiman)
- Final D8000 pro *SPECIAL ORDER, MUST CONTACT Final Japan directly for this custom job*
- T+A Solitaire P and Solitaire P-SE
- Audeze LCD4/LCD4z/LCD24 (Leather free option)
- Warwick Aperio, Warwick Bravura (***Must be special order but was told they are working on a website standard option for faux leather headband and ear pads***)
- Abyss diana TC (Choose vegan headband and I think you may have to email them and ask for the vegan pads)
- Erzetich Charybdis
- ZMF Caldera *custom order vegan head band and vegan suede pads*

High end ($1000-$3000)
- Sennheiser HD 800 / HD 800S
- Sennheiser HD 820 (synthetic leather)
- ZMF Verite / Verite closed *custom order vegan head band and vegan suede pads*
- ZMF Atrium *custom order vegan head band and vegan suede pads*
- Audiotechnica ATH-ADX5000
- Hifiman Edition X V2
- ZMF Auteur / Atticus / Eikon / Atrium / Verite open / Verite Closed (they can use vegan suede if asked for this) *Custom order*
- Erzetich Phobos (this is the only headphone maker that advertises their headphones as animal free.. so cool!)
- Erzetich Mania (this is the only headphone maker that advertises their headphones as animal free.. so cool!)
- Hifiman Arya (including stealth and organic) / HE6 / HE6SE / HE1000V2 / HE1000 (including stealth version)
- Rosson Rad-0
- Audeze LCDMX4/LCD3/LCD24/LCDX (Leather free option)
- HEDDphone
- Hifiman Audivina
- HEDD 2 (https://headphones.com/products/heddphone-two)
- T+A Solitaire T (Wireless)
- Modhouse Tungsten (**ask for vegan zmf suede pads... the stock pads are animal leather**)

Mid range ($500-1000)
- Beyerdynamic Tesla T1 (only gen 2, gen 1 contains real leather)
- Beyerdynamic DT 1770 pro / DT 1990 pro
- Audiotechnica ATH-AD2000X
- Hifiman HE560, HE6
- Shure SRH 1540 / 1840
- Grado GS1000e / RS1e (they informed me they can make a leather free version) *Custom order*
- Sennheiser HD 700
- JVC SZ2000
- Taction Kannon
- Monoprice monolith electrostat
- Erzetich Thalia (this is the only headphone maker that advertises their headphones as animal free.. so cool!)
- Hifiman Ananda / HE5SE
- Audeze LCD2/LCD2C/LCD2closed (Leather free option)
- ETA O2
- MEZE 109 (https://mezeaudio.com/products/109-pro)

Low end/entry level (<$500) [will try to focus on audiophile headphones]
- Sennheiser HD 6XX / HD 650 / HD 600
- Sennheiser HD 598 / HD 555
- Beyerdynamic DT 990 pro / DT 880 / DT 700 Pro X
- Hifiman HE400, Ananda, Sundara
- Audiotechnica ATH-m50X, m40x, m20x (confirmed synthetic leather on their website website)
- Audiotechnica ATH-AD500X / ATH-AD900X / ATH-AD700X / ATH-A550Z
- Superlux HD668b / HD681b
- Shure SRH440 / SRH 1440 / 1840
- I'm sure a lot more headphones at this level that are vegan given more common use of synthetic leather
*Custom order* Grado RS2e / SR225e / SR325e / SR125e (they informed me they can make a leather free version)
- Grado SR60e / SR80e / SR125 / SR225 (vinyl headband)
- Meze Classic 99, 99 Neo
- Hifiman Sundara / HE400i (base or v2) / HE500
- ETA Mini (please verify you are ordering synthetic pads or ask for no pads and buy aftermarket) / O2
- Ollo audio S4x / S5x
- Thinksound OV21
 
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Jul 11, 2018 at 11:11 PM Post #2 of 278
Lets make a list of Vegan friendly headphones based on price. Please post comments and I will add them. (I realise there is a thread on vegan headphones but I Want this to be a quick reference list for Vegans or anyone else wanting leather free headphones).

Those aren't completely vegan, even with synthetic leather. Most of them have plastic parts, which are could still be made of petroleum byproducts (hell, cheap synthetic leather is not plant-based plastic either), which means:

1. They're made of dead dinosaurs
2. Which was possible only through dinosaur suffering, especially when that meteor hit Mexico 65,000,000 years ago
3. The extraction of petroleum itself has resulted in the suffering of seals, dolphins, penguins, seagulls, lobsters, crabs, lots of fish...

If you really think about it, no headphone nor speaker is free of animal suffering, since the mining of the magnets in China has polluted rivers, which has caused suffering for fish and some river dolphins, probably even beaked whales living near the mouth of the Yangtze, on top of some deer losing trees and brush which drives them away (if not getting shot by miners looking for a meal) and also means loss of food supply for those evil, meat-eating tigers and leopards.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 2:06 AM Post #5 of 278
Those aren't completely vegan, even with synthetic leather. Most of them have plastic parts, which are could still be made of petroleum byproducts (hell, cheap synthetic leather is not plant-based plastic either), which means:

1. They're made of dead dinosaurs
2. Which was possible only through dinosaur suffering, especially when that meteor hit Mexico 65,000,000 years ago
3. The extraction of petroleum itself has resulted in the suffering of seals, dolphins, penguins, seagulls, lobsters, crabs, lots of fish...

If you really think about it, no headphone nor speaker is free of animal suffering, since the mining of the magnets in China has polluted rivers, which has caused suffering for fish and some river dolphins, probably even beaked whales living near the mouth of the Yangtze, on top of some deer losing trees and brush which drives them away (if not getting shot by miners looking for a meal) and also means loss of food supply for those evil, meat-eating tigers and leopards.

Using fossil fuels/oil would definitely lead to suffering since drilling for oil would invariably cause harm to marine life (dinosaurs dieing millions of years ago would not be a factor morally at this time because it is not our actions that lead to their death/suffering). However with such a strict philosophy we wouldn't be able to use any modern products at all (including pretty much all electronics). We can at least endeavour to minimize suffering by not using products that directly contain animal skins/whole animal parts. Its important to get sucked into the futility fallacy when choosing products that MINIMIZE suffering.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 2:16 AM Post #6 of 278
You can add the Focal Elear and the Shure SRH1440/1840 to the midrange category; as well as ZMF headphones with velour pads to the TOTL list. Also remove Audiotechnica ATH-W5000 from the TOTL list as they have leather pads.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 2:18 AM Post #7 of 278
On the T1, it is only the Gen. 2 that is vegan friendly. The Gen 1 has a real leather headband. The Amiron Home could also be added to the list.

Sent a message to beyerdynamic to confirm this.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 2:27 AM Post #8 of 278
You can add the Focal Elear and the Shure SRH1440/1840 to the midrange category; as well as ZMF headphones with velour pads to the TOTL list. Also remove Audiotechnica ATH-W5000 from the TOTL list as they have leather pads.

Focal informed me that all their headphones have animal leather in the headbands.

Sent a message to ZMF + SHURE + AT to confirm no leather in headbands.

Thx
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 2:43 AM Post #9 of 278
Using fossil fuels/oil would definitely lead to suffering since drilling for oil would invariably cause harm to marine life (dinosaurs dieing millions of years ago would not be a factor morally at this time because it is not our actions that lead to their death/suffering). However with such a strict philosophy we wouldn't be able to use any modern products at all (including pretty much all electronics). We can at least endeavour to minimize suffering by not using products that directly contain animal skins/whole animal parts. Its important to get sucked into the futility fallacy when choosing products that MINIMIZE suffering.

Unfortunately in some cases instead of ignoring the futility fallacy vegans go and try to shut down the entire meat industry, which means that at minimum they expect me to go and shoot wild duck or turkey otherwise I'd cause my cat will suffer another blocked poop chute incident which happened when I gave him some plant-based food when I didn't have time to poach some chicken and tuna.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 9:15 AM Post #10 of 278
Unfortunately in some cases instead of ignoring the futility fallacy vegans go and try to shut down the entire meat industry, which means that at minimum they expect me to go and shoot wild duck or turkey otherwise I'd cause my cat will suffer another blocked poop chute incident which happened when I gave him some plant-based food when I didn't have time to poach some chicken and tuna.

Ignore the futility fallacy? I'm confused by that statement. It is a logical fallacy... so its something to be avoided in thought and argumentation.

My friend has 2 cats and feeds them Vegan food and they are happy and healthy. I will ask her what she uses. Have you tried this one?

https://vecado.ca/pages/cats101

By the way if you would like to discuss Veganism further please shoot me a PM and I'll invite you to our discord server to discuss it.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 9:50 AM Post #12 of 278
this is awesome. thank you.

No problem!!

AT got back to me and confirmed the W5000 uses leather but that all their other headphones are vegan friendly. Updated the list.
 
Jul 12, 2018 at 6:39 PM Post #13 of 278
No problem!!

AT got back to me and confirmed the W5000 uses leather but that all their other headphones are vegan friendly. Updated the list.

Grado SR60e, SR80e, SR125e and SR225e, as well as the "i" and the original versions are Vegan-friendly (the only exceptions are some VERY old and rare "pink" driver versions from the mid to early 90s that had leather headbands, but these are hard to find, and only available via the classifieds or eBay).
 
Jul 13, 2018 at 9:35 AM Post #14 of 278
Grado SR60e, SR80e, SR125e and SR225e, as well as the "i" and the original versions are Vegan-friendly (the only exceptions are some VERY old and rare "pink" driver versions from the mid to early 90s that had leather headbands, but these are hard to find, and only available via the classifieds or eBay).

I will email Grado to confirm.

By the way Shure told me none of their headphones use real animal leather. So added some of them to the list.
 

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