Evolution of the Headphone

[480sound]

Nicely done show about the history headphones. I wish I could save a copy for my library, 

would make a good teaching tool.

 

http://www.ligo.co.uk/evolution-of-headphones/#

[Eric Toline]

Sad that after almost 60 years of technical development of headphones to improve their audio quality that the best selling headphones today sound like crap. For todays HP market it's all about the sizzle & not the steak.

Eric

[soundtrane]

and Apple buys the crap... what a life... 

[Jeff Wexler]

You're not beating up on my new Beats are you? They're pink and I look marvelous! 

[studiomprd]

and remember, it isn't how they sound, but it is how they look, and they look....

[mono]

On 8/23/2014 at 11:34 AM, 480sound said:

Nicely done show about the history headphones. I wish I could save a copy for my library, 

would make a good teaching tool.

 

http://www.ligo.co.uk/evolution-of-headphones/#

 

ABOVE LINK WAS NOW 404, FOR ME. HERE IS A POSSIBLE RECOURSE ? ...    https://web.archive.org/web/20140823201114/http://www.ligo.co.uk/evolution-of-headphones/

 

 

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

Not a comment on the utube vid posted by Mono above, but the same Zoe Laughlin did a BBC programme a couple of years back on 'How to build ... Headphones' (one of a short series of different objects, her being a product designer. Most sadly it turned out to be 'how to build a pair of headphones with no attempt to make them sound good.' The actual drivers (obviously what I was looking to see engineered, built and tailored) came off the shelf ... yep, how to build your own pair of beetroots!

 

Jez

[Jim Feeley]

9 hours ago, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

Not a comment on the utube vid posted by Mono above, but the same Zoe Laughlin did a BBC programme a couple of years back on 'How to build ... Headphones' ... The actual drivers... came off the shelf

 

Sigh. That sort of thing disappoints, me too. I saw a YT video (or series) a few years ago that claimed to show a guy building a camera from scratch. I was kinda "ya right" and then yep: He harvested a tree for the wood for the body, and then melted sand and borax etc. to make glass for the lens (and I think made tintype plates). Not sure this is the same video, but this one is pretty impressive. Also 22min long.

 

 

[daniel]

On 5/29/2022 at 5:50 PM, mono said:

 

 

the drilled head bands look cool - probably a bit breaky.

[mono]

 

 

 

 

[echoMan]

What was your first professional headphone? Beyer DT48, or equivalent? 

[Philip Perkins]

DT480.  Just remembering them brings back the headaches they gave me.

[PMC]

Boy o boy. Circa 1975 Koss Phase II headphones with adjustable near/far expander/comparator. The adjustable spacial experience was neato and far more comfortable than other isolation type headphones.

 

I still have them, as pictured below. I listen with them maybe once a year to relive the experience of the mid 70's.

 

And yes, the earpads were originally filled with fluid that would leak down your cheek. With the third replacement I found air filled cushions thank goodness.

[mono]

 

 

 

 

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642057

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Headphones that sound like Zoom.

I mean, it's impressive and all, don't get me wrong.  But I can't get excited about how they sound.

[Johnny Karlsson]

6 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Headphones that sound like Zoom.

I mean, it's impressive and all, don't get me wrong.  But I can't get excited about how they sound.

Right. But they are not really for what we do. But could great for people who work in noisy environments and need to be able to hear each other talking…?

 

And also, I could be wrong, but - the sound in the video is probably not recorded through the headphones, but is rather some pretty ‘over-tweaked-in-RX’ sound from a mic just to illustrate the idea for the viewer. 

[Allen Rowand]

8 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Headphones that sound like Zoom.

I mean, it's impressive and all, don't get me wrong.  But I can't get excited about how they sound.

I’d kill to have this in a set of earbuds that I could wear in restaurants so that I could hear my wife. My hearing damage makes it extremely difficult to pick one voice out of the background and makes things very frustrating for both of us. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Yeah, I totally understand how useful it is.  Rationally, it's a really impressive achievement.  It's useful in ways that simply improving audio quality isn't.  And yet ... I hate the sound of it.  My emotional response is at odds with my intellectual response.  That's all.

[mono]

 

 

 

 

[PMC]

On 5/26/2024 at 1:03 PM, Allen Rowand said:

I’d kill to have this in a set of earbuds that I could wear in restaurants so that I could hear my wife. My hearing damage makes it extremely difficult to pick one voice out of the background and makes things very frustrating for both of us. 

 

I can't her the frequencies of my wife's voice anymore. My audiologist says some guys would pay extra for that. A SEXIST WOULD SAY.

[Allen Rowand]

On 5/26/2024 at 11:03 AM, Allen Rowand said:

I’d kill to have this in a set of earbuds that I could wear in restaurants so that I could hear my wife. My hearing damage makes it extremely difficult to pick one voice out of the background and makes things very frustrating for both of us. 

Wish and ye shall (may?) receive- just got the firmware update for my Airpod Pros which adds hearing aid mode. I took the hearing test last night and it aligned with the test I took at the audiologist. Now I just have to go out somewhere and test them…