Headphones with large earcups

Questions and Comments
#1

Hi guys,

I have already asked for headphone recommendations for summer usage. (Headphone recommendation for summer)

I went to two different hearing/listening store to test some headphones, and I found out that I will need to rephrase the question about headphone recommendation. Rather, I should say, I need to re-prioritize my criteria for getting a pair of headphones.

I would like to get headphone recommendations based on the following criteria. I hope you guys can help me find a good pair of headphones. Be warned, this list is going to be quite specific.

  1. Headphones, not earphones (not in-ear headphones.) The reason why I began looking for a new pair of headphones is that I got acute otitis externa, which I believe the use of in-ear headphones might have contributed. (I have pretty much been an earphone guy) Anyway, since I got ear sickness (the first time in my life), I thought I’ll probably need to switch to non in-ear type headphones.

  2. Closed-back, not open-back. Well, I live in an environment where others can hear me. Since open-back headphones leak quite a bit of sound, I can’t use them.

  3. Large earcup size: something with at least the size of Sennheiser Momentum 3 or bigger. It turns out that a typical sized over-ear (circumaural) headphones with oval shape hurts my left upper ear. (helix and scapha part). I found that this after testing V-Moda Crossfade 2 and Bang & Oulfsen’s Beoplay H95. (Crossfade 2 worn about 30 mins, and B&O for about 1hr, but the pain started at around 30 min mark). I tested Sennheiser Momentum 3 for about 30 mins (because Momentum 3 offered slightly bigger earcups), and my right ear, instead of the left ear hurt. (Around the similar spot.) (Regardless, I found Sennheiser to be a bit better in comfort than B&O. Perhaps because of the weight, and perhaps because of the pressure from the headband.)
    After this, I got curious, and had two people measure my ear length/height. One person measured both at around 7cm (7mm) and the other at around 6.5cm (65mm). I suppose my ears’ heights/lengths are around 65~75mm.

  4. Weight: ideally 300g or less, but can probably tolerate up to 330g. I originally thought that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate 300g of headphones. However, I was wrong that I found 300g to be not too much of an issue. B&O Beoplay H95 gave a bit of weight to me (I believe that thing is at around 323 or 325 grams) but it wasn’t too bad. That’s why I think I can tolerate probably up to 325 grams or 330 grams.

  5. Budget: Max 1,000 USD or less. (If 100~200 USD over, please mention it as I might be able to get some discount from a store.) Ideally less than 4~500 USD. Please keep in mind that cost should also include PC DAC and Amp, if they are necessary. If DAC and Amp are necessary, please recommend the models of dac and amp (I know even less about them than headphones.)

  6. Music and sound type. I consider that I don’t really have a big taste of music type, and I tend to listen to different types of music. However, I am more familiar with classical music and if must choose one type of music, that’ll probably be it. Also, I will mention that I definitely preferred B&O H95 and Sennheiser Momentum 3 over V-Moda Crossfade 2. B&O and Sennheiser were basically different tastes. (I believe I would prefer one some day, the other on other days.)

  7. Ease of maintenance and repair. I read somewhere that one person was no longer able to use his old Bose headphones because he/she couldn’t get a replacement headband cushion. (The leather got old that it got too flaky that he/she could no longer wear it) Since I am making a big investment (maybe not so big given how ludicrous the hi-fi equipment can be) I’d like to use the headphones for a long time. Thus, I’d like it to be able to have easy maintenance and repair. That means, easily replaceable earcups, headband cushion (it needs to be able at least) and cables (if wired pair is recommended)

Below are the optional criteria.

  1. Suitable for summer use. My original question/asking for recommendation was for headphones to use during the summer. Given the big ear cup requirement, I wonder if it’s possible, but I thought to ask regardless.

  2. Mobile/wireless. This is a big “optional” criteria. (Big as in the “optional” part is big) Since I am getting a new pair of headphones and how everything is moving into mobile and wireless, I am thinking maybe I should get a mobile/wireless available one. (If there are options that meet above criteria). However, the wireless option should have good “wired” connections as well. (3.5mm and/or USB-C connection without the availability of being connected without power.)

I feel that the more I am trying to get the information on my own, the more I feel like I am being dragged into a swamp. There are too many headphones with different price range, but not enough information about earcup size.

I hope you guys can give good recommendations. Thank you in advance for your help.

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Path to Greatness
#2

Hi,

I recommend that you send a support ticket. Have you seen the list of recommended headphones?

I’m not an audiophile so I won’t give you any personal recommendations besides saying that in general, it’s safe to assume that any over the ear headphones that you have will work with the current tech (ZP). The only tech you would need to worry about high dollar headphones with will be the Ultima line.

I hope this helps.

3 Likes
#3

Any Headphones (whether in the ear, earcup, buds, bkuetooth) will do as long as they are decent ones (think above 10 dollars).

The headphone recommendations were important when we had the Ultima build but even then an okay quality of headphones worked with them.

Now the build is ZP which makes such headphone criteria even less important.

Use any headphone which helps you listen to music and youtube videos comfortably. Those will work with the subliminals too.

3 Likes
#4

I am using Sony WH-1000XM3 and been very satisfied with them.

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#5

Hey Sage,

Maybe I should put in a support ticket. I put it as a question/comment as I was hoping for collective intelligence to get the information.

The high price tag for the headphones (although some would consider that 1,000 USD is like the beginning point for Hi-Fi as some headphones price tags easily goes over 5 digits.) was show that I am willing to go up to that point. I wasn’t necessarily aiming for them. (Also, I heard that headphones are more comfortable on the expensive side.)

@Lion

Thank you for the information. So quality of the headphones is no longer relevant for the quality of subliminal impact. Good to know. Still, I need to find the ones that are comfortable… It was so much easer with in-ear types than the actual headphones.

@FireDragon

Sony WH series was the first one I considered. (BTW, XM5 is out although currently not available where I am at). I soon removed it from my potential list for a few reasons.

  1. Couldn’t test XM5 since it’s not yet available where I am at, and I can’t really guess what the new version going to be like as Sony is changing the structure (for instance, I heard it can’t fold) and the driver’s size got smaller. Given this, I wasn’t sure to go for XM5. Besides, I didn’t feel like picking up XM4 since it is going to become “older” model very soon.

  2. I quickly read somewhere that someone else had the exact same ear pain issue with XM3 (upper ear pain), so I became more hesitant/reluctant about Sony’s WH series.

  3. I also wanted wireless headphones to function well when wired. I heard that WH1000-XM4 has that option (3.5 mm connection), but the sound is way worse when connected that way. (I believe this was true when you turned off the headphone and connected it passively.)

  4. One of the biggest feature of WH series is LDAC connection. I don’t have devices that can offer LDAC connection, so I felt I was not going to enjoy the big (and perhaps most important feature) of the Sony headphones.

For these reasons, it went from top of the list of my potential headphones to irrelevant.

2 Likes
Headphone recommendation for summer
#7

@sw72hw

I think you should just find something you find comfortable for yourself with good sound quality. Go to Best Buy, Walmart, and other technology oriented stores and just put shit on and test the sound quality.

Every recommendation someone gives you will be entirely based on their preferences, there is no one size fits all.

#8

“I think you should just find something you find comfortable for yourself with good sound quality.”

Very true. I asked for the recommendations because I knew close to nothing about the headphones and 3 products that I tried have failed me with the ear pain issue. I spent like 4~5 hours in testing them (including commuting and lunch time).

Since there are quite tons of headphones out there, I thought to gather as much information before I go out again and test. (Need to check availability and such). It’s much easier to go out and test if I know which products to look for than just going out and randomly checking things out.

“Every recommendation someone gives you will be entirely based on their preferences, there is no one size fits all.”

I totally agree, which is why I believe in the need to test them before making the purchase. (Especially since the return policy sucks where I am at. Once you open the product, you cannot return them unless the product was default at arrival. It’s different from the standard 30 day no question asked return period in the US.)

#9

Alright,

I got a new pair of headphones. If someone else has similar problems as I do, I think I would be able to give a few recommendations.

#10

I just got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros. Great closed back over ear headphones.

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#11

I agree on this, or a pair of sony studio headphones with yaxi pads.

Also, if you find them used, a pair of sony mdr z1r will be your endgame forever.

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