[Musiqlovr]

Thanks all, keep the feedback coming.

Wooden hard case (presentation box) with gloss finish or portable style nylon case?

I'm going to work on something special for HeadFi'ers....thinking we create a beta test group, as well as a launch promo where the first initial release goes to this community. If you have ideas, please send them to me or add to this thread. Once we get something official created, I'll create a new thread for the launch.

My team and I are headed to Japan next month and can also start dropping pics and info if you guys are interested...

Steve

 

[Hunki Chunki]

If we can distill the Klipsch DNA into a premium headphone, I am on board just toss in a strong focus on listening/ wearing comfort, optional earpads and great cables and we can call it a day.
 
Optional earpads to tweak the sound would be great. Leather, alcantara and hybrid pads lets us mess with the sound depending on what we are listening to, so if that is taken into consideration, it would be awesome
 
 
And yes, thank you for not pricing your flagship headphone products into the stratosphere....
 
 
 
My gang and I will be following this product with much interest.

 

[wnmnkh]

You are selling headphones that cost 400~1100 dollars.
 
For many people, it's expensive investment, and they expect headphones to be last long enough. But of course, since headphones interact with human bodies, they do wear off and damaged.
 
What a lot of companies keep forgetting is that we need replacement parts to keep maintain these expensive headphones after the warranty period is expired.
 
1. Earpads.
2. Cable.
3. Headband.
4. inter-connection cable (in case for a headphone with just single-connected to a one cup)
 
 
This is the usual order of the parts being damaged. Maybe asking no.4 to be replaceable is too much for asking, but earpads, a cable AND a headband (unfortunately a lot of companies making the headband nearly impossible to be replaced, including super expensive ones) are must be user-replaceable. It is unthinkable to buy thousand dollar headphones that inevitably go bad in a few years and have to buy another pair.
 
My recommendation for you guys is that buy a HD600 and try disassemble it. You will find virtually everything is completely user-replaceable. In fact, you can completely build a new HD600 by ordering individual parts from Sennheiser, without any outside help. I must remind you that HD600 came out more than 20 years ago.
 
This goes down to even super cheap HD 4xx series. Yes, 40 bucks headphones that headband, cable and earpads are all replaceable. There is a reason that why so many people have a strong faith in Sennheiser headphones, because they all know the company care about the product's longevity and they are certain their investment is safe for a long time.
 
But I don't ask such complete user-friendly. All I ask is that earpads, cable and headband should be user-replaceable. Thank you for listening to us.

 

[Armaegis]

Wooden hard case (presentation box) with gloss finish or portable style nylon case?
 

 
 
 
Perhaps not a full pelican style case like Audeze, but a more durable portable case would be very appealing. Soft bags for expensive headphones are pretty much a waste; soft clam-style cases are a maybe depending just how strong they are.
 
I think a wooden case is a bit much, but perhaps that could be part of a nice "premium" package with extra pads, stand, and cables and other goodies? Look at the Oppo PM-1 and all the extra gear it comes with over the PM-2. People initially complained about the price difference there (ok maybe some still do), but if you break it down it's actually not unreasonable for everything that you get.

 

[vrln]

Wooden hard case (presentation box) with gloss finish or portable style nylon case?

 
I would say go for the portable style nylon case. Spend the extra bill of materials cost elsewhere instead: for example add value by including additional pads and/or maybe a balanced 4-pin XLR cable.

 

[Nick727]

Thanks all, keep the feedback coming.

Wooden hard case (presentation box) with gloss finish or portable style nylon case?

I'm going to work on something special for HeadFi'ers....thinking we create a beta test group, as well as a launch promo where the first initial release goes to this community. If you have ideas, please send them to me or add to this thread. Once we get something official created, I'll create a new thread for the launch.

My team and I are headed to Japan next month and can also start dropping pics and info if you guys are interested...

Steve

I think that a wooden hard case would be great for the open back models as they would look good on a shelf and people are unlikely to take them out of their house much. A nylon case may be nice for the closed back variant as customers will probably be using those on the go more often.

I think the beta test group is a great idea if you want some feedback from experienced customers. I'm willing to volunteer whenever you decide to pick some people. Also looking forward to pics and more info!

Edit: Also CanJam NYC is coming up next month. That might be a good place to get some feedback from experienced head-fiers if you guys can participate. I'll personally be attending with I'm sure some other users in this thread.

 

[canthearyou]

The tonality of the Fostex TH-X00 with a little less bass. And the soundstage of an open back headphone.

Of course comfort and weight need to be on point.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

I'd like to talk about comfort for a minute. I can't stress how important this is, I really do think it is as important as the tuning. I had a Focal Elear that I ultimately returned because I would get a really uncomfortable hot spot on my head after about an hour of listening. It had some tuning issues as well (just my opinion, no offense to anyone who has them). But the main reason was the comfort.
 
I have found that headphones with a very wide band or a suspension strap set up to be the most comfortable. The king of comfort is the Audioquest Nighthawk with its suspension strap and elastic band gimbal. I'm sure the Klipsch team is too far along to totally change the headband but the main thing I would change on the design as it stands is making the headband wider in the middle so it distributes the weight over a greater area. It could taper down to its current thickness at the edges. Please give the band some plush padding. Take a look at ZMF's Pilot Pad for reference. 
 
The Sony Z1R is a good example of what I'm talking about:
 

 
The current design looks too thin and I worry that it will start to get uncomfortable for long listening sessions. I could be wrong but definitely test it for listening sessions that are two hours plus. I use my headphones for video editing sometimes so they can be on my head for 5 or 6 consecutive hours. 
 
Also, I would personally prefer a nylon travel case over a fancy presentation case. Maybe you can cook up an optional headphone stand. A balanced cable would be nice but I completely understand if its an optional accessory since very few people have balanced amps. For $1K though, I do think it should come with an extra set of velour pads which give the headphone a different tuning, a la the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro. 

 

[Musiqlovr]

Ok so let me say that not everything we discuss will be done in final production, but our goal is multiple ear pads in the box included and optional materials for sale also so you can change. We also plan to add some additional padding to the headband. I'm not sure about the width.

So I want our team to be able to discuss this project and want you all to be involved, just want to ensure from this point forward everyone understands we may talk about a few things that don't happen and we don't want anyone upset when we get to production and someone sees a forum thread where we were "considering" a feature that didn't make the final cut.

Now that we got that out of the way. All of my team go to Asia at least once a year. We want these HP to be comfortable for as much of that flight as possible...the best headphones in the world are the ones you use!

This means on top of acoustics we are focused on weight, comfort, heat, surface material, tactile interaction, material composition and useability.

I spoke with Vlad (my Director of Product Dev for HP), he'll probably start to chime in here as well. Next week we will be together and will create an official beta tester program for HeadFi. We are super excited by your response so far and will be attending some can jam events. We are both dorks for audio as is our HP engineer Andrew (shh don't tell him I said that).

Keep the feedback coming...

Do you like all three proposed finish choices? Ebony, Walnut and Oak

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Stave,
 
I'm glad that community is really excited about these headphones post CES and I'm happy to see that Focal has some competition at the $1K price bracket. Its really refreshing to see a company seeking forum feedback during the development process. Most of the headphone companies keep everything internal until they are 95% finished, drop them on the market and say "Hope you like them, if you have any suggestions, we can try to make that happen with version 2 that will drop in three years." 
 
Obviously, not every suggestion is feasible and plans are never set in stone until they go into production. We get that but we really do appreciate the development transparency shown so far. Good luck with the continued development and I'd obviously love to be a part of the testing. 
 
I like all the woods so far but the ebony is by far my favorite, the only thing I would change for the ebony version would be to make the metal part of the headband black instead of silver. Other than that, they really do look pretty, some of the best looking headphones I've seen to be honest. The walnut would look amazing next to this new amp from EMA. 
 

 

[Silent Xaxal]

Maybe have a Padauk option? 

Finding ways to keep the Flagship at or below 1000 USD without sacrificing quality would be nice.
 
Replaceable cables would be nice (But knowing what kind of connectors they will be using would be nice). 
 
Maybe have a cable option that has pause/play functionality.

 

[Beagle]

Our clamping force target is around 450-500.

I will try to bring my HP engineer into the thread (not sure if he is on HeadFi). He will be able answer a lot of tech questions and he can give you some thoughts on his tuning profile.

I can tell you that when we started this project, we contacted every HP driver manufacturer we could find and my engineer (Andrew) went through over 50 drivers before he narrowed it down to our top 10 choices. I can also tell you that from an audio benchmarking standpoint, we have nearly every major HP on the market in the $300-$3000 price range in our lab and we frequently do listening tests as well as measurement tests. We also have all different types of amps to listen through...

 
I am very excited about the prospect of a hi-end Klipsch headphone. I still maintain that there are headphones in the $300 to $700 price range that produce hi-end sound.
 
I liked the original Klipsch Image One sonic signature except for the overbearing bass. Perhaps a good yardstick or starting point for sound signature would be the Audioquest Nighthawk. IMO musicality and balanced frequency response should be the main focus.
 
Good luck to you! I'm sure we will see a fine new headphone from Klipsch.

 

[Armaegis]

Do you like all three proposed finish choices? Ebony, Walnut and Oak

 
Does that add appreciably to cost? I'd rather there be just a single choice if that simplifies things and streamlines your BOM. You don't want to go chasing down tuning differences on your first go at the merry-go-round either.

 

[gikigill]

Just keep one choice of wood as it'll reduce cost for you and the customer.

There is a very good reason why all Schiit amps are the same colour, same with Apple which has always tightly controlled its palette.

Thr closed headphones should be properly closed and not just Fostex TH600 or TH900 closed. I own both and would love to use them on the go but can't because they leak too much sound.

Also 2 sets of cables, a short 3.5mm cable for portable and one SE or balanced longer version for desktop usage. Removable obviously.

The Open headphone can have a single cable as it'll be used indoors.

Bit of a stretch but maybe a trade up scheme where Klipsch also sells used headphones certified by Klipsch to be in good condition.

 

[int_architect]

Wooden hard case (presentation box) with gloss finish or portable style nylon case?

My team and I are headed to Japan next month and can also start dropping pics and info if you guys are interested...

Yes, yes, yes. More pics, please. I'm very interested in the design elements of the headphones such as grain of leather; stitching and color of the thread; the headband stopper's material and how it connects to the headband; topcoat for the wood/grainfiller; exposed fasteners and their texture.

One critique I have is the copper finish of the exposed fasteners. I think the clarity of the major components of the design is lessened by the prominence of the fasteners. User-serviceable fasteners should be given hierarchy over those that are not as this creates legibility for the functional elements. Perfect example is the knurled fastener to lock cup rotation(?). However, the fasteners on the grille halo don't appear to be user-serviceable so perhaps they draw less attention to themselves by having the same finish as the halo, or use concealed fasteners to maintain a clean, uninterrupted surface.

I'm now torn between the ebony and the oak now. These cans look amazing! Kudos to your design/engineering team.

As for the case...tough call, but I'd prefer a practical storage solution for home since my sights are set squarely on the HP-3. I think the sheen should match the headphones.

e:final thoughts