Headphones - Best And Worst - Need Some Help!!

[Hambo713]

Hey everyone!

 

Im a student at Massey uni up in Auckland, and have chosen to design a set of headphones for one of my projects, and i was hoping to get some opinions from some people in the know Im trying to conduct as much research as i can, and i was hoping that some of you might have some time to answer some quick questions (which ive listed below), if you could answer all or any of the questions, that would be brilliant, or whether you've got any opinions on anything to do with my brief, i really don't mind, i'm just looking to collect opinions, tips, current product faults, anything really!!!

 

Brief: Design a high end set of headphones to be targeted at the top end of the market. The design must stand out, jump off the shelf, and make the customer want to buy it. Use and manipulate out of the ordinary materials and processes to give the product an edge in the market place.

 

 

Questions are as below:

 

Name:

 

Date:

 

Occupation:

 

Interest In Audio:

 

What set of headphones do you spend the most amount of time using?

 

How many hours (estimate) , per week, do you spend using headphones?

 

Rate these headphones out of 10 (1- Bad, 10-Excellent, circle your choice)?

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 

 

What problems, if any, do you encounter with these headphones?

 

What do you consider to be the best features of these headphones?

 

Do your prefer to use (circle): Over Ear On Ear In Ear

 

When buying a set of headphones, what do you look for?

 

Are you brand conscious when buying headphones? (Will you only buy certain brands based on based experience, rumour, ect?)

 

If so, what brands do you prefer and why?

 

Are there certain brands of headphones you will avoid at all cost? Why?

 

What are the best set of headphones you have ever used? Why?

 

If you were to design a set of headphones, what features would set you headphones apart?

 

What do you consider the worst thing about having to wear headphones for extended periods of time?

 

 

 

 

And again, any comments, answers, 'point-in-the-right-direction' tips () would be hugely helpful!

 

Cheers

Hamish

[Shane Hanify]

Gidday Hamish,

 

I hate to burst your bubble, but you will not be able to make a high end pair of headphones from ordinary bits. Would you not be better off making a low - mid range pair that shine? Also what demographic are you aiming for? The people I know that are heavily into phones sit in 1 of 3 camps mainly - AKG / Sennheiser or Grado with little variance.

 

Aesthetic Design has little to do with it as most people that buy at the upper level do it for the sound and the comfort. You can't for example put flames on them and expect them to sell.

 

Just to give you some feedback though, my phones are the AKG k171s. I bought them for these reasons ;

 

Closed back (cuts out extraneous noise), Replaceable cord (I'm forever breaking them), Rugged design (again with the breaking), reasonably easy to drive.

 

That should get you on your way.

 

Cheers, Shane.

[gooki]

Name:

David.

 

Date:

08 March 2010

 

Occupation:

Designer

 

Interest In Audio:

DIY home audio, DIY car audio

 

What set of headphones do you spend the most amount of time using?

Pioneer DIR2000

 

How many hours (estimate) , per week, do you spend using headphones?

20

 

Rate these headphones out of 10

8

 

What problems, if any, do you encounter with these headphones?

Music fidelity isn't perfect, on headphone volume control is very sensitive.

 

What do you consider to be the best features of these headphones?

Wireless Dolby Headphone

 

Do your prefer to use:

Over Ear

 

When buying a set of headphones, what do you look for?

Quality construction, quality sound

 

Are you brand conscious when buying headphones?

No

 

If so, what brands do you prefer and why?

N/A

 

Are there certain brands of headphones you will avoid at all cost? Why?

Bose (over priced, under performing), factory bundled headphones that come with portable electronic devices.

 

What are the best set of headphones you have ever used? Why?

AKG K702, very good sound, very good construction, very good fit

 

If you were to design a set of headphones, what features would set you headphones apart?

Perfect frequency response tailored to my hearing and not an industry average HRTF.

 

What do you consider the worst thing about having to wear headphones for extended periods of time?

Nothing, my headphones are comfortable.

 

Additional comments.

Do your headphones have to sound good or just look good? If they have to sound good, spend a lot of time understanding HRTF. A headphone with flat response is not ideal unless it's combined with a DSP. User replaceable headphone cables are fucken great, look at AKG for inspiration here. Wireless is even better but has to be implemented very well to be worth it over wired.

 

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

[Ernie1553552694]

Welcome, you don't seem to do things by halves, aiming to produce a set of reference phones?

 

You could do worse than to look at Grado headphones, but to design the Magnum Opus at the beginning of your design career is no mean feat. The best way to learn about what headphone audiophilia, is to head over to www.headfi.com. There's a few veterans here who share a wealth of knowledge, but you'll find the number of willing contributors to your brief will be exponentially bigger there. The caveat will be that you have to filter out a lot more noise.

 

BTW, the display qualities of a reference headphone aren't usually the key drivers of sales. Sound, reputation and comfort probably rank higher, although when you are paying top dollar for a set of cans, fit and finish are very important.

 

Good luck.

[Ernie1553552694]

 

Low Orbit;118102 wrote:

... The people I know that are heavily into phones sit in 1 of 3 camps mainly - AKG / Sennheiser or Grado with little variance.

 

Shane isn't kidding. Head-fi has spawned brand subcultures. Probably more vociferously and in an extraordinarily shorter period of time than many other consumer subcultures...

[Hambo713]

Wow, awesome, thanks for your response.

 

@Low Orbit

Sorry, but i forgot to mention the rather critical detail of not having to produce a full prototype of my design, obviously i will be producing mock ups, test rigs, ect, and eventually a final model, so i wont be contending with a huge amount of technological hinderances in the sense of having to create a working pair. As for you comment on the aesthetic design, dont worry, i wont be putting flames on it Thanks for the tips though, at this early stage, by design will be very much focused around the use of materials and processes to create a sleek and smart design, rather than a loud one, which i agree wont be leaving the shelf any time soon.

 

 

@Gooki

Thanks for the info, i shall definitely be looking into HTRF and thanks for the tip on AKG, that is most definitely worth investigating to the full.

 

 

@Ernie

Haha, i expect it is going to be no small feat to create what i hoping to and i shall jump over to headfi and 'poke my nose around'

 

 

Thanks again guys! and i shall keep you all updated

[Cooksferry]

 

Ernie;118106 wrote:

 

BTW, the display qualities of a reference headphone aren't usually the key drivers of sales.

 

Unless you have a fetish for Mahogany,Japanese Cheery wood or Conolly leather. drool:o I'm so weak.

[gooki]

 

Hambo713;118109 wrote:

Wow, awesome, thanks for your response.

 

@Gooki

 

Thanks for the info, i shall definitely be looking into HTRF and thanks for the tip on AKG, that is most definitely worth investigating to the full.

 

If your not creating a functional pair of headphones then research into HRTF (head related transfer function) may well be a waste of time, and you'd be better off investigating comfort issues such as shape, weight, construction, material choice etc.

 

From a comfort stand point, consider:

 

The lighter the headphones the less fatigue the listener becomes over the long term.

 

Same with the horizontal pressure (less pressure more comfort), however to little pressure and the cans move around. With the various head sizes this is a big issue, each manufacturer seems to have their own way of addressing it.

 

Then there's heat build up, hot ears = uncomfortable for many people, hence breathable materials or headphone design is worth considering.

[Ernie1553552694]

I knew I could count on ya to chime in. Yep, them Audio Technica's are mighty fine. I reckon, even coming up with a new production process that would allow a user to individually adjust the damping inside the cup a la Markl mod of the Denon D5000 or D2000, would be a worthy project. Or then again, a nice cup out of one of our very fine hardwoods would get good marks...

 

My point is, damping and material density of the cup are very important qualities, that is, if a closed design is what you're after. Which I think are qualities that are conveniently dealt to with Mahogany or Cherry Wood.

[Ernie1553552694]

Personally, if materials and processes were a big consideration, I'd look at ultra compressed wood pulp laminated with resin or polymers... with paper drivers.

 

Just thinking out aloud, what about a recycled materials headphone as a marketing pitch?

[chiba]

I like my Stax, but Jecklin Floats are cooler. :cool:

[Ernie1553552694]

Yep, I'd just base my term paper on the Floats. Nice one Chiba.

[Hambo713]

Haha wow! those Jenkin Floats are pretty out there! And that Japanese cherry wood looks amazing. @ Ernie; i was thinking of using recycled materials of sort, not sure as of yet, thinking aloud again, what about using reclaimed wood? Whats a good way of finding out the sounds qualities of different woods? Im supposing that different woods would handle acoustics in very different ways.

 

As for the 'Markl Mod', id never heard of this before? was this in response to the Denon's not having enough padding on them, or what it a pressure issue. As far a i can tell, pressure is one of those issues that everyone has a different opinion on? some people like more, to get that 'fully' enclosed' feel, or some people go for more of the loose feeling, would that be fair to say?

[Ernie1553552694]

The Markl mod was a response to 2 headphones produced by Denon, which by all accounts was an acceptable closed headphone with an ample but flabby bottom end. Mark L's response was to disassemble the headphone and dampen the cups with blutack-like product. This mod tightens up the bass response to make the phones all but perfect (apparently).

 

I think you need to do some further research and find out the difference between open and closed-back headphones. There is a big difference between both and you'd be well advised to know the issues associated with each design. If your budget extends to owning a pair or two, it would be a well worthwhile investment in your education.

[Ernie1553552694]

As a footnote to post 14, Grado RS1 or 2s are open-backed headphones turned using Mahogany, and Audio-Technica produce the AD5000 in Cherrywood. Cooksferry is a forum member with both phones, maybe you'd like to ask him a few pertinent questions. (I hope you don't mind Cooks).

[Hambo713]

Thanks Ernie, i shall do some research into the differences between the two types, and when i win the lotto, ill definitely be investing in a pair of each

 

Thinking aloud here, what does everyone thing of what adjustments are needed to be made from the headphones, through my research, it has become apparent that most sets offer:

Over the head strap adjustment - Obviously

Vertical angle adjustment of the cup

And they also seem to be built to adjust the angle horizontally as well?

 

The thing i find most curious, is every set of headphones ive been able to examine in person (HD600, HD555, a few Bose, a pair of Grado's) seem to be made with a material that offers this amount of flex in itself? Meaning that with proper material selection, the cup angle adjustment, certainly in the horizontal plane, in unnecessary? Or do the shape of heads differ in that extreme amount that this is an essential requirement?

 

Just a thought

[Ernie1553552694]

If you were Hitler's eugenicist then one size would fit all. However you'd be surprised how different everyone's heads are, and the size and shape of individual ears.

 

Flexibility matters a great deal, unless they are made to measure.

[Hambo713]

Haha point noted, thanks

[gooki]

FWIW the Pioneer DIR2000 I use have no horizontal adjustment and work well for me.

[Ernie1553552694]

 

gooki;118243 wrote:

FWIW the Pioneer DIR2000 I use have no horizontal adjustment and work well for me.

 

You must be one of the annointed!

[gooki]

No horizontal adjustment isn't quite true the frame is flexible enough that you can shift it side to side if you wish, but definitely no horizontal angle adjustment,