Personally I look at it as both rewarding those who profit off animals and the planet, and since I don't think these animals should exist in the first place, discarding their skins I don't see as in any way wasting, because again, turning rotting flesh into leather is terrible for the environment. I'm willing to buy used headphones with leather because I can rationalize that it isn't creating demand but I could see someone criticizing even that.
Fair argument. But at least the leather is not wasted instead of creating a product that may be a good alternative, by creating more waste. I made faux leather wallets just for fun and the quality is still not there in my opinion (from what I saw, I could be wrong).
We will have to agree to disagree, I just wanted to give a divergent opinion on the subject!
The real leather is thrown away, what's so hard to understand? It is a byproduct, not very profitable for the farmer. So instead of wasting it, you use it. Better for the environment and at least you honor a little more the animal that was sadly killed for the meat.
Campfire Audio has gone back to offering leather cases for their new high end IEMs. I confirmed through their website that leather-free options are available upon request.
The real leather is thrown away, what's so hard to understand? It is a byproduct, not very profitable for the farmer. So instead of wasting it, you use it. Better for the environment and at least you honor a little more the animal that was sadly killed for the meat.
I would rather not use dead animal skins... and I don't consider wearing dead animals on myself 'honoring an animal'.
I would rather use alternatives and continue to push for awareness of leather alternatives that are more eco friendly and less cruel (decreasing unnecessary suffering and killing of sentient beings with the will to live). I also advocate for abolishing raising animals for consumption as well (not just on the by product leather front).
Moreover not all leather is simply a by product of the meat industry
"Q: I’m against killing an animal for a singular purpose (eg only for a certain body part), but if the whole animal is used and reared in an ethical way or if the animal dies of natural causes (that is, old age) then shouldn’t leather be made instead of discarding it?
It’s a common misconception that all or even most leather comes from cows where the meat was also used for consumption. In some places like in the US this can be true, but in India and China, where much of the world’s leather comes from, cows are specifically grown for their skin. Because they’re not concerned with the quality of their meat, they’re usually malnourished and live in very poor conditions.
It feels important to think about what constitutes an ethical way of killing an animal. The majority of today’s meat and leather is mass produced and their lives end in abattoirs which does not feel ethical for the animals or the humans involved. Did you know there’s a form of post traumatic stress disorder that abattoir employees can develop which includes depression, panic and dissociation?"
In my opinion, companies should not use materials EVEN similar to leather. We need to move away from the exploited LIFE of animals.
Ethical breeding and killing... If the animal lives in good conditions, is happy, then the loss of life is... even more cruel. After all, it is "right" to take the life of someone who does not have a good life. Paradoxically, this is more ethical.
I think, the list of headphones could only include those made of other materials than leather: real or synthetic.
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Life is good. Each one. / Thank you for the topic /
In the meantime I drove from Europe to Stax/Japan with my bike to ask them, what they think about real leather on their headphones.
But on the way back home a young rabbit jumped into my spokes and was killed. I was so emotionally confused by this accident, that I forgot about the answer.
In my opinion, companies should not use materials EVEN similar to leather. We need to move away from the exploited LIFE of animals.
Ethical breeding and killing... If the animal lives in good conditions, is happy, then the loss of life is... even more cruel. After all, it is "right" to take the life of someone who does not have a good life. Paradoxically, this is more ethical.
I think, the list of headphones could only include those made of other materials than leather: real or synthetic.
____________________________
Life is good. Each one. / Thank you for the topic /
I'd argue mock animal products whether its leather, eggs, meat etc is good for animals because it helps people that use animal products transition away more smoothly. For example cultured meats which are actual meat just grown in a lab are a fantastic thing for animals.
Yeah, not bad. Just tinkering with DIY here and there (I bought a Bottlehead S.E.X. kit I've gotta build at some point). Bought some old Fostex X00 Mahogany second hand and finally found a headphone I like. Turns out I was looking for a bump in the sub bass. I wish Fostex still made them. The modern alternatives are not vegan friendly, sadly (Denon is 50% leather pads, E-Mu Teak is protein leather, as are all the high end Fostex).
You still into the Atticus and HD800S? I got some old HD800 and SDR modded them, but they're still a bit lean for my tastes, personally. My music probably isn't sufficiently well produced.
Yeah, not bad. Just tinkering with DIY here and there (I bought a Bottlehead S.E.X. kit I've gotta build at some point). Bought some old Fostex X00 Mahogany second hand and finally found a headphone I like. Turns out I was looking for a bump in the sub bass. I wish Fostex still made them. The modern alternatives are not vegan friendly, sadly (Denon is 50% leather pads, E-Mu Teak is protein leather, as are all the high end Fostex).
You still into the Atticus and HD800S? I got some old HD800 and SDR modded them, but they're still a bit lean for my tastes, personally. My music probably isn't sufficiently well produced.
Nice. What speakers are those? And what are you powering with?
I was able to snag some BS HD650 locally (baffle memes aren't quite so full on here) but haven't given it a fair shake yet.
Ha, I remember reading about the Ho Lee mods. Sounds wild. Did you see they discontinued the Crackatwoa? I was pretty bummed - was the next build on my list.
To get back to the topic at hand, has anyone confirmed the Meze 109 Pro? Pads are velour but headband isn't specified on the website.
Thank you so much for this thread. This is incredibly helpful for vegans as this information is not easy to find on most manufacturers websites. Thought I'd add some information about headphones that have been released recently. I did send mail to several companies about vegan options. Here is a summary of what they told me
- Audeze says that they plan to introduce leather-free versions of the CRBN and LCD-5 at some point in the future but don't have any estimate as to when that might be. As of now, these headphones are not vegan. Most of their other headphones can be configured to be leather free.
- The new Hifiman Audivina is based on the same type of synthetic leather as their other headphones - so that is vegan. Looks like they don't use real leather in any of their headphones.
- Erzetich Audio confirmed that none of their headphones use animal products - and that includes the recently introduced Charybdis headphone.
- The ZMF Caldera, like their other headphones, can be configured with a vegan suede headband and vegan suede pads. That is what I ended up ordering.
- None of the recent Dan Clark Audio releases are vegan (that includes the Stealth, Expanse and Corina).
- Nothing that Focal makes other than the Listen is vegan
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I wish Fostex still made them. The modern alternatives are not vegan friendly, sadly (Denon is 50% leather pads, E-Mu Teak is protein leather, as are all the high end Fostex).
