ATH-ESW9 headphone comfort

[Jiggy]

This is a follow-up to this thread:

http://headphones.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6157

Currently, the Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9 is the front-runner for me.

I have been reading many reviews for these headphones, and they seem to meet most of my criteria. However, I am concerned about the comfort and the jury seems to be out on this.

I previously owned Sennheiser HD-280 Pro cimcumaural headphones and found them VERY uncomfortable. It had a clamping force that made the headphones unpleasant to wear for longer than about 20 minutes.

I also previously owned the Sennheiser PXC-150 active noise cancelling headphones and found them to have a decent level of comfort, although you did know they were there and they weren't super-comfortable.

Has anyone had experience with the ATH-ESW9 headphones and at least one of the above Sennheiser pairs?

Would you say that the ESW9 headphones have a "clamping force" level of discomfort (HD-280 Pro), or more of a "you know they are there" comfort (PXC-150)?

[grevillea]

You can adjust the clamping force, but at the end of the day if you dont like pressure on your ears, you wont enjoy the ESW9 - thats my 2 cents worth. I usually find myself putting the AD900 back on after about 30-45 minutes with the ESW9.

[Jiggy]

Thanks for the reply.

It seems to be very difficult to find closed headphones which are comfortable.

I don't care about sound isolation, I just want a set of closed, comfortable headphones which don't leak (oh, and which sound good obviously).

Am I looking for something which doesn't exist?

[GougMan]

Or look at a set of larger circum-aural set of headphones - like the Beyer DT250 or Shure 840s

Generally, there is a trade-off between comfort and size as the compact/portable headphones are supra-aural and sit on your ears.

[Jiggy]

Do the DT250 or Shure 840s require an amp if I'm using an iPod?

I'm also looking for something that doesn't require an amp.

[Marcus]

I agree the HD280pro are uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean all closed headphones are uncomfortable.

Keep in mind the ESW9 is a portable, so being designed with portable use in mind they're a smaller headphone and therefore won't sit around your ears like super comfortable clouds.

With that said, I have no comfort issue with them at all - flex the headband out a bit to reduce clamping force and I'm happy to wear them for as long as I've ever needed to.

[GougMan]

Do the DT250 or Shure 840s require an amp if I'm using an iPod?

I'm also looking for something that doesn't require an amp.

No these don't really require an amp to sound good. When I compared the 2 on my portable player, I found the DT250 a little harder to drive (i.e. had to turn up the volume to match the 840s sound level) and I believe they would benefit from a better setup (dac/amp/good soundcard). They had a great sound though but I ended up getting the 840s because they were cheaper (I use them daily with my portable player) and slightly easier to drive.

For a closed portable, you can't really go past the ESW9.

[cloughie]

I find them very comfortable.

[Reckerz]

I have a pair of the ATH-ESW9's. I use them with an iPod Touch and they have plenty of drive in them and they have good balance. I travel on public transport to and from work for up to an hour each way and have no discomfort for this duration. I would note that if they are not sitting over the ears at the right angle they can feel a little uncormfortable but minor adjustments resolve this. I also use them on my PC for audio editing, mainly recording of lp records to losless format and then also a conversion to mp3 format for the iPod. I can be sitting for many hours for this and again they are quite comfortable.