Has anyone heard of or tried this stereo headphone for folks with single sided hearing (deaf on one side)?
I found these online today and asked my wife to get them as a Christmas present.
I’ve been deaf in my right ear since 1990 and can only hear stereo separation if I face sideways between the speakers. Probably why I prefer surround sound, more options for seating position.
I know they won’t be anything like the high end headphones most folks can enjoy but I suspect they will be great for me.
I cannot comment on these specifically but if you’re getting the model that uses the Porta Pro drivers then you won’t be disappointment. At their price point the Porta Pros are crazy good. I don’t think anything can beat them. I don’t really recommend headphones much below $200 because I think the Porta Pros play in that realm of good.
Do let us know how they work out for you. I’m interested to know how something like this sounds different than just mixing mono to one side… I’m sure its different but looking forward to your description on how its different.
I haven’t tried any headphones since I lost the hearing in my right ear 34 years ago. With that I really know nothing about headphones. Wasn’t interested in something down mixed to mono.
On a whim yesterday I started searching online for single sided stereo head phones. Took awhile to figure out a search string to get the results I was looking for. Found 2 possibilities, Yuni and 2E1. A review of the Yuni said the bass was a little loud so I decided to try the 2E1 brand.
Here is some info provided online on their top of the line $190.00 model and it does mention the Porta Pro drivers.
The “2E1 Pro Ears Ultra Gel Folding” model uses Koss Porta Pro drivers in the most advanced version of the “Flying Echelon” spacing used in any of my 2E1 that best allows you to differentiate the left from the right stereo channels with one ear for serious gaming or audio work
I’m excited to give them a try, and more so with your comments on the drivers, thanks for that.
@Jim_F what does mac crossfeed provide for headphones?
I didn’t know either, only hoped. Most of what I found while searching was headsets with one ear cup and a mic, basically mono phone use headsets.
Continued modifying the search string until these popped up. They have 2 speakers spread apart as much as possible, one top and one bottom, and angled to provide a measure of separation.
Based on the response from @ipeverywhere it sounds like the Porta Pro drivers are good quality. At least I can have a taste of what others enjoy.
I found a long winded description of the design with an explanation that seems to provide an answer to the question of separation.
The drivers are not in parallel alignment. The bottom driver is for the right side and as mounted is closer to the ear and angled upwards. The top driver is for the left side and as mounted is higher up and further back in the cup and angled downwards. Both drivers are mechanically secured to an acoustic diaphragm that free floats inside the ear cup.
This spacing of the speaker drivers for 2E1 headphones is designed to enhance your one ear’s ability to experience the stereo panning effect without distortion of the audio signal.
The way a human identifies left and right is by the slight time delay of hearing the same thing in both ears. This ability to identify time delay is critical for hunting and so we evolved this ability over millions of years. It’s also why we’re better at left / right than up / down. Additionally, we evolved to hunt things on the ground so our two ears are better tuned identify these things below our ears than above. There is also some low frequency things we sense with our bones that sometimes still works if someone has lost high frequency hearing.
Anyway, someone who has unilateral hearing loss (either partial or complete) has to adapt this left / right timing that the rest of us have access to. Effectively, everything we know about stereo and why 2 point sources can give us access to identify left / right, up / down, near / far, goes out the window. I have never researched this so I have no idea what mechanisms someone with UHL uses. But, they do adapt as Mike even described being able to identify left / right cues by turning sideways to a 2 point source (stereo) set-up. This 2E1 set-up seems to give an adaptation path of stacking the 2 point sources and the user can adapt this to left and right. It’s really a great idea and an area of study I had never looked into. I’m really looking forward to Mike’s comments when he gets access to this set-up. However, the comments from gamers, as there are some games where it can be very critical to know if the bad guy is on your left or right, are very positive.
My wife told me to place the order for the 2E1’s instead of waiting for Christmas. They arrived on Nov 13th. Had to wait for a 3.5mm to 1/4 adapter that arrived today. Still waiting for the 15 foot extension cable I ordered with the adapter. Lost in transit. Figures.
My cousin was here last weekend and while listening to the system he suggested Eric Clapton - River of Tears. Old tune but new to me. We listened to that in Stereo and simulated multi-channel with Dolby surround. It sounded great both ways.
So River of Tears is what I picked first to audition the 2E1’s. Don’t know how to describe what I heard. Not embarrassed to say the tears were streaming about 2 minutes into the 7 plus minute song, before the vocals started.
I’ve not heard such wonderful sound since I lost hearing in the right ear 34 years ago. I heard the music moving around in the ear cup including details I hadn’t noticed with the full Stereo and MC playback. It seemed to be coming from both sides, especially the bass. Probably vibrations transmitted from one side to the other. Whatever it was I’ll take it.
My wife noticed the tears, asked me what was wrong. After the track ended I started it over with her listening through the phone(s). She has stereo hearing but she got it.
I haven’t tried headphones before, even mono versions, so I have no bases for comparison.
I can’t wait for the extension cable to get here. Currently sitting on the hearth in range of the 4 foot cable. Looking forward to laying back in the recliner and hearing everything in comfort. I don’t remember what it was like 34 years ago and this is all new to me.
I would highly recommend these headphones to anyone with hearing loss on one side. It is amazing.
This is one of the best things I’ve read, or will read, in a long time. So very excited for you. Order a second extension cable right now… those things are not as reliable as their simple construction would indicate. Please continue to share your impressions of music you find particularly interesting.
We live in a college town with most stores carrying products that students are likely to purchase. That makes it difficult at times to find some products without heading out to big surrounding cities, Houston or Austin, or online purchases. Love to hear/see the UPS/Fedex trucks chugging down our street.
Now with that worthless info out of the way, here’s some more. I tried Best Buy for the headphone extension cable and was not surprised they didn’t have anything longer than 6 foot. But they were helpful by suggesting we check at the Guitar store. Yep, that’s the name. Scored, but 25 foot was the shortest they had on hand. Lots of excess cable laying on the floor. If the cable I ordered shows up I’ll have a 25 foot cable with 1/4 connections and a 15 foot with 3.5mm connections. Luckily the single 3.5mm female to 1/4 male adapter works for both.
With my setup the options for headphone amplification are limited to the Denon AVR with the full system powered up (trigger connections) or the exaSound S88 MKII alone without external amplification. The S88 wins with high quality headphone amps and it plays PCM/DSD stereo/mc from Roon.
Anyone know how either of these units handle Multi-channel playback with headphones? Do they automatically down-mixed or only playing the main left/right channels? This is all new to me.
Using the S88, and with the stand mounted IPAD remote sitting on my side table, I sat in the recliner rocking/reclining while listening for hours. Everything sounded fabulous. Whole new musical world for me with the vocals crisp and clear, no reflections or room modes to distort the sound.
My wife is happy for me but that will wear off with her having to tap my shoulder or throw something at me to get my attention.
I don’t know anything about the exaSound but the Denon might have some binaural downmix modes that change how it downmixes. Otherwise its, yeah, just pushes the L/R surrounds into the L/R, center to equal L/R, and pretty much anything else summed into equal L/R. Roon has a little more control so you could use Roon to downmix then send only the 2-channel to your devices and try it that way. Roon probably does it with more precision. I find AVRs, at least in my experience, crush the signal for headroom to the point a lot of the dynamics are lost.
I can see why my UPS package with the headphone cable was delayed, and I can laugh about it now since I found another one.
Looking at the tracking information it traveled 2055 miles from Seatac, WA to Haslet, TX, (which is only 184 miles from here), then 1058 miles to Glendale AZ, 19 miles to Phoenix AZ, then 1716 miles to Louisville Ky. Now its only 924 miles away. Any bets on the number of miles and stops before it gets here.
Hi @Mike_LC, wanted to give you a big shout-out for sharing your views about this fantastic headphone with the community. I was diagnosed, at an early age, with nerve deafness in my right ear…long before I started getting into music.
So, I have no inclination as to what true stereo listening experience is supposed to sound like. I thought playing music with Roon’s Procedural EQ mono settings and a good pair of headphones was the best I would ever experience in my lifetime. But, the 2E1 Pro Ears have definitely enhanced my listening experience two-fold.
The instrumentation and vocals are much more enhanced and distinguishable while providing better imaging. Unless they come up with a cure for nerve deafness, this is probably the closest experience I’ll have in my lifetime to experience stereo. Would have to say the Pro Ears are definitely worth the $190 investment, for those suffering with one-sided hearing, in my opinion.
Thanks again to Mike. Hope your headphone cables finally arrived. And I gave my wife a heads-up about having to physically get my attention, when in need, since I’ll be under these new 'phones more often now.
Very happy to be of assistance, and thanks for verifying they do actually sound good and its not just me desperately wanting it to be true.
I haven’t tried headphones with mono but now I may get my wife a good pair and try them with the crossfeed mentioned by @Jim_F and mono for comparison.
I’ve discovered they make a world of difference using them with TV/Movie sound as well. I can hear voices and conversations clearly now, and can tell when they are coming from the left (Upper) or right (Lower) side. That probably depends on the sound track but I have noticed it.
Sorry to hear I’m not the only person with this hearing issue.
No, I do not think we are alone. Must admit that I was a little skeptical, before reading your review, of the headphones. Afterwards, I googled the product and read more high praising reviews on the developer’s, Biblos Geeks, ebay store here.
My experience with the Procedural EQ mono settings in Roon, while providing all the instrumentation and voice in one ear, was missing the imaging effect that I experienced ever so often when listening to music through my speakers in stereo. These Pro Ears, with separate left and right side drivers in the good ear-cup, and the Vibe component going on in the bad ear-cup, does some magic to the imaging effect.
Curious to hear some feedback on @Jim_F 's suggestion, if you decide to give it a go. Here’s the settings I used…
Not much into movies and TV, but it’s good to know that it helps make viewing more realistic. Will have to give it a try the next time I watch a good show/movie.
Looking forward to pulling out some of my favorite albums from the past (ex., Dark Side of the Moon; Tubular Bells; I Robot; etc.) to see what I may have missed out on.
My hearing loss was caused by a stupid lapse in judgement. Jumping berms on a mountain bike. The last one was too high. Woke up in the hospital after surgery with my skull wired back together and the sound of crickets screaming in my head. The crash resulted in a triple skull fracture that severed the nerve to the right ear.
Fully recovered, thanks to a highly skilled neurosurgeon, except for my hearing, and the tinnitus that never goes away.
Most of my hair grew back and I still like to ride my mountain bike, at 71 years old, but have kept the wheels on the ground since then.
Sound is very important to me as it is the only thing that suppresses the noise in my ear(s).
Now that I’ve found headphones that work for me I need to get a wireless adapter setup, maybe a transmitter plugged into the headphone port with the receiver in my pocket for the wired headphones. That would be great for music around the house but would still need the extension cable to watch tv/movies to keep the lips in sync.
If anyone has suggestions for the wireless adapter setup it would be greatly appreciated.
Sounds like you had quite an accident Mike. Sorry to hear about what all you went through, and the loss of hearing you endured as a result of it. A blessing you survived and found a remedy for listening to music / TV in a more realistic manner. Again, I appreciate you sharing your experience.
Never considered the possibility of converting wired headphones to wireless. But, with a quick Google search I discovered that it may not be out of the realm.
Although I cannot provide firsthand knowledge, the video below reviews a product that may help.
It uses a 2.4Ghz radio frequency, instead of bluetooth, provides an audio jack adapter, and sells separate transmitters and/or receivers to allow you to connect to more than one audio source.
Here’s a link to the products mentioned in the video, if you’re interested…
You may want to touch base with the Biblos Geek, the Pro Ears headphone developer, to see what he thinks. The company provided me with an email, upon purchase of the Pro Ears, to ask any questions. Should you need his addy, please let me know and I’ll PM it to you. Good luck with your search and please let us know what you come up with. Thanks!
and I still like to ride my mountain bike, at 71 years old, but have kept the wheels on the ground since then.
Again, I appreciate you sharing your experience.