New Planar Magnetic open headphone design

[sleepysurf]

For those of us who prefer the planar sound, Head-Direct is selling a NEW planar-magnetic headphone with a claimed freq response of 10Hz to 60kHz (but you'd need a decent headphone amp since sensitivity is only 87dB/1mW). 6moons.com quotes the retail price as being $700, but the introductory price is only $600 on their website...
http://www.head-direct.com/product_detail.php?p=78

Steve Guttenberg (of the Audiophiliac blog) has a review here...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10402480-47.html

 

[kach22i]

They are handsome devils.

 

[C.A.P]

Indeed so !

 

[sleepysurf]

The only problem with an open-back design is that everybody else in the room hears the music, and they don't block extraneous sounds. So they are NOT practical for private listening (e.g. when my wife is watching TV, and I want to listen to music).

 

[Bernard]

Call me a scaredy cat, but I have a fear of headphones - a fear that something will go wrong and I will get a blast in my ears.

 

[kach22i]

Call me a scaredy cat, but I have a fear of headphones - a fear that something will go wrong and I will get a blast in my ears.

You had a mean older sister too?

 

[JonFo]

For those of us who prefer the planar sound, Head-Direct is selling a NEW planar-magnetic headphone ...

good price for a planar, but that wood sure makes it heavy, about 100g more than a Stax 007.

Personally, I'd love to see a carbon-fiber shell circumaural headset. An SR-007 made that way would be my definition of the F1 of headphones :music:

 

[jtwrace]

Personally, I'd love to see a carbon-fiber shell circumaural headset.

You get some people together, and I'll make a batch of carbon shells. No big deal at all...

 

[Bernard]

You had a mean older sister too?

No, but I hear that guys get the older sisters they deserve !

 

[kach22i]

No, but I hear that guys get the older sisters they deserve !

No way man the old saying goes; parents get the children they deserve.

 

[Brad225]

That was my wife's feeling. She said "Do you think I want a daughter to do to me what I did to my mom".
For years all of her siblings ask us why we decided not to have kids. When theirs became teens they would ask "How were you that smart to not have children".
There clearly things we have missed out on but getting to spoil many nieces and nephews and send them home is almost like having grandchildren.

 

[Victor]

Sleepy...very nice looking headset.....should please the most ardent "head-fi-er"

This planar technology reminds me of my old Wharfedale Isodynamic planar magnetic phones. Quite space-age looking in white, the phones were big enough to cover the largest ears without the padding touching the ears. Extraordinarily comfortable to wear for long periods, and the sound quality was often preferred to "Main" Speakers. :music:

 

[sleepysurf]

My bias AGAINST regular use of headphones is that the music ends up being inside your head, rather than watching a live performance in front of you. I find it disconcerting (pun intended) vs. listening to my Summits.