[HeretixAevum]

^ You must be interested in Audeze's closed design, then? (No idea if you like their house sound or not)

 

[Bee inthe Attic]

...  
Well anyways the one thing that bugs me most about the headphone world is the lack of closed headphones in the higher end ranges. I rarely listen to music in one place, and I often listen in public. I really do not like the IEM sound for the most part (its just not the same for me). Its hard to find areas where I have no intruding sounds, or the opposite of bugging other people. Yet there are 30 different flavors of open high end headphones. There is probably about 3 or 4 closed ones, and 2 of them from what I hear do not even isolate that well. The other 2 are questionable if they are worth the price tag. While I cant afford a super high end headphone atm anyways. I definitely like to see my endgame ahead of time, as it gives me a goal to shoot for. As of right now the best endgame solution for me that I see is the Alpha Dogs, and I already have enough money to upgrade my MDs to those.

 
Apparently, Audeze is making a closed back headphone: http://www.head-fi.org/t/631590/audeze-closed-back-prototypes-yeah-this-is-one-of-the-headphones-at-the-top-of-my-wish-list
 
Also, from what I've read, LFF's Paradox is a better closed headphone than the Alpha Dog.

 

[gamefreak054]

Damn, I did not even read about the closed back Audezes, I will have to keep a watchful eye on those.
 
As for LFF paradox vs Alpha Dog, I think its way to early to call that one. As there will only be a couple of owners of both atm.

 

[Hellbishop]

 
As for what peeves me (and this will get me in trouble for sure), it's the idea of complementary (or "complimentary, for those who can't spell) headphones. I know it's as common as dirt around here, but I just can't see the sense. Sell your six headphones and get one good, neutral, accurate one. I know people think they should have a phone for each genre, with colourations to match, but it's an illusion. You'll just spend your life putting on and taking off and never listen to the music. A really good headphone suits all genres, all recordings. If it doesn't, it's the recording, and maybe you need an equaliser.
 
End of rant. Flack incoming....    

  

I pretty much fell into this trap and now my "complimentary" headphones are more like back up phones stored in the closet just in case the three I like to listen to the most break on me even though one of those already does what the other two do much better.

  Cables that always end up going on one side
 
Headphone plastic cracking

 
Yea I cant stand when cables especially coiled ones are pulling at me from the side because they are just a tad too short. When I use an extension cable I always have to fiddle with it to make sure am getting the full sound and nothing is cutting out.
 
I used to get plastic cracking on my headphones constantly to the point where I stopped using headphones when I was trying to get into them due to moving into a noisy environment with a lot of construction work going on outside in the street from a nearby elevated train station. I would buy one and by the end of the week it was a wreck. Since discovering Head-fi.org and buying what looked interesting from what I read here I have yet to have a pair of headphones break on me.
 
Another thing that peeves me is thin headphone wire which always seems to break on me within a year. Sennheiser is especially guilty of this. One of the reasons I wont go near any of their high priced offerings. For that kind of money them cables best to be thick as underground street cables

 

[HeretixAevum]

Speaking of coiled cables, I'm generally not a fan of them that much. I prefer an optimally sized straight cable. One thing I hate about coiled cables is when the actual coil is on the wrong end (near the actual headphone) as opposed to being near the end, at the jack. It just adds a heap of weight to one side of the headphone and pulls down on that side, totally ruining the comfort. If the coil is near the jack it's much better since your desk supports the weight of the coil.

 

[revolutionz]

  Your headphone pet peeves

 
Beats by Dre, SOL, Yurbuds, Skullcandy (Gods gift to headphones, just ask the people who buy them), etc. etc.

 

[pp312]

"One thing I hate about coiled cables is when the actual coil is on the wrong end (near the actual headphone) as opposed to being near the end, at the jack."
 
I'm not sure what you mean by that. The 880 Pro is entirely coiled but for about 8" either end, which is straight. I've never had the slightest trouble with it, whereas with straight cables I'm always getting them tangled and wound around chair legs etc. Never could understand people's objections to coiled cords, but then I don't use them at the extremity of their length. That's definitely a no-no.

 

[HeretixAevum]

I mean if the cable is like this:
 
*Headphone*---mmmmmmmmmmm-----------------------------------------------------------=>*Amp*
 
The entire weight of the coiled section of headphone is suspended from the earcup where it's connected. Coiled sections of cables are heavy (since it's about twice the amount of cable within the same length as a straight equivalent). Having all that weight hanging from one of the earcups makes that side really heavy, giving a lopsided distribution of weight and a bunch of headband pressure on the cable side. Even if the cable is "correctly" coiled I still find them fairly useless at performing the task they're designed for. When they stretch out they either try desperately to yank your headphone off or pull your amp/dac off the desk. They also just look untidy compared to a neat, straight cable.
 
As for straight cables with excess length (much preferable over a coiled for me) here's how I've fixed mine:

 
A couple of Velcro cable ties and you're in business. No need to have it laying on the floor, and you can always extend it out to it's full length for the times you need it.

 

[pp312]

The 880 coil is of course like this: ---------mmmmmmmmmmmm---------  so no problem there. As for your other complaint, you're describing using a coiled cord at its extremity, where it's not designed to be used. Is it not possible to sit closer? And the coiled straight cord you've illustrated will still yank the phones off your head if you forget and start to walk away .The coiled cord at least gives you a warning that something bad is about to happen.

 
However, whatever suits. I just wonder why so many people hate coiled cords, and if in fact they've actually tried them.

 

[audioKyle]

I'm kind of going off topic and I'm just observing not complaining. Whenever I go to the apple store, the iPods that are hooked up to the beats always have bass boost on. The past three times I went it was like that. I'm starting to think the employees put that eq on to make it more "impressive". When I first put on the new studios I was surprised by how much bass it had considering it was supposed to be better than the old. Then I found bass boost was on. Actually though all the iPods hooked up to headphones always seem to have some eq turned on. :rolleyes:

 

[HeretixAevum]

Maybe the beyerdynamic ones are more flexible and pliable, but the two ultrasone and pioneer ones I've used are much stiffer, resisting against you with any stretching whatsoever. However, coiled cables are still ugly as sin so I wouldn't want one on
principle. I think there's a good reason they're barely seen in hifi and don't exist at all in summitfi. An optimally long straight cable will always be neater, less annoying and better looking to me. Ymmv, I guess.

As for apple and beats being dishonest, I am not in the least surprised.

 

[pp312]

However, coiled cables are still ugly as sin

 
Nah. I think sin is much uglier.
 
And with many more twists.

 

[HeretixAevum]

*taps nose*

 

[BrownBear]

Coiled cables. I mean, I'm not trying to hate on them, but for me, I don't like them. One of my headphones has a coiled cable, and after all these years it's gotten stretched out a bit and little tangles in it. It just kind of looks bad to me. I'd much rather have seen them use a straight cable. But, that's just my opinion.

 

[HeretixAevum]

You know what? I'm annoyed at portable audio in general. It's just so hard for me to find something I'm happy with! I'm essentially retired with my $600 desktop headphone rig, but I can't find a portable headphone that suits me!
 
In ear monitors isolate fantastically and are uber-portable but I find the comfort of wearing tips in my ears dubious and irritating after not that much time. They're also highly inconvenient to take in and out (as opposed to slipping a headphone on or off). So IEMs aren't doing it for me.
On ear headphones are portable, and isolated well enough if they seal good. They can sound great, too. But the comfort is crap for me. I can't dig the pressure on my ear (and subsequent heat). So they're out, too. (I just bought the Onkyo ES-HF300, I love it with exception of it being uncomfortable to me)
 
Really, the only type of headphone I seem to find comfortable anymore is circumaural. Whilst I'm glad that there's been some great over ear portables released, whilst I haven't tried them each seems to have some deal breaking flaw from what I've read. The momentum has tiny ear cups. The M100 is really the LP3 and not at all a full sized M80. The 1R is not that well built and doesn't have the bass I'm after (too rolled off). The M100 annoys me the most. It has all the traits I'm after in a portable full sized headphones, especially the ability to fold! I'm so, so, so annoyed that they deviated from the M80's sound sig. I don't want a basshead headphone.
 
I really wish beats sounded good, it'd make things so simple.