How much does or should anyone worry about headphones and dust? Let’s put to one side e-stats, which I understand are especially susceptible. I don’t own an e-stat.
If dust settled onto an open-back dynamic or a planar, do we have a problem? Or does it not matter much, or at all? I live in a pretty dusty space – though not spectacularly dusty, as when I lived in an old loft with exposed brick walls – and I generally leave headphones in cases and not on stands. But frankly I’d rather leave them out, lying around, on the wall, on stands, what have you, if I could dispel doubts about dust.
I don’t own an estat, and so I leave my headphones on stands or shelves and have never had a dust problem. I don’t live in or near a desert though, so YMMV. If you do live near or in a desert environment, using cases sounds like the way to go, just to be safe.
Thank you both. No felines here, nor beaches. Lots of books and other things unfortunately gathering dust awaiting their proper use, but that’s just because time is more limited than daydreaming.
Our of curiosity, the hair that gets in the way of the planar – is that fixable with some compressed air, or very careful soft brushing?
I live in a cold climate and this winter has been brutal with the furnace working overtime. Not only blowing tons of dust around, but savage static - which I think is the big reason my Hipdac packed it in.
so, dry and dusty. Swiffer is a popular item in my home. I can just give everything a quick swipe every few days. I think (hope) the cloth on the headphone keeps the majority of the dust out of the inside of the earcups. Definitely not like the good old days of CRT TVs, man could those things attract dust
Ah, you’re reminding me of tube TVs – I don’t know that I’d have remembered that otherwise! But yes, they sure did attract dust.
I try to keep indoor humidity in the winter here in the NE U.S. at least at 30% RH, ideally 40-60% RH. I’ve seen it under 10% on the very cold days and that is brutal for listening to vinyl, etc.
With the very strong magnets and very light membranes of ribbons, planars, estats its not just a dust issue, its a charged particles (cooking fumes) and very small metallic particles one needs to worry about. Fabric meant to stop particles does little or nothing to prevent fouling from these sources. I had to have 1 magneplanar and 3! Martin-Logan membranes sent to factory for replacement, Never a headphone because I store them in air tight containers with anti desiccants (for sweat/moisture). Hanging headphones in the open is for company, no need to expose them to possible issues for ones ego,