The actual speaker is only millimeters from the "padding", however the padding ring is larger than most peoples ears. Therefore, your ear ends up becoming pressed against the hard plastic ring of the actual speaker!!!

The speakers in the headphones should have been moved back quite a bit.

However, the sound *is* clear, crisp, and the bass is quite flat. I actually write music with these and am pleased with the quality of the sound. But one of the(well my) main reasons for headphones is to be able to wear them for *at least* 30-40 minutes at a time-I cannot with this set.

Id have gone for a better version than the dj1005 if i could do it all over again (and will do so eventually). I guess you really do get what you pay for.

Its sound quality was clear and crisp, and the headphones speaker system was able to play loud music without any weird sound distortions or with any backgroud noise such as hissing sounds. I am very satisfied with the sound quality of this unit.

The DJ1005 came with a sufficient long wire, but compared with the higher end models (e.g. DJ1003, which had a coiled wire), the straight wire of the DJ1005 took up too much space and got entangled easily.

Although the sound quality of the system was above average, I felt the ear-cups of the headphones were poorly designed. The adjustable headrest and ear-cups allowed it to fit virtually any head-sizes and ear positions. The soft leather ear-cup cushions also enabled the cups to cover the ears very effectively. The bad thing about this type of design (adjustable headrest) is that it can be rather tight, and under prolonged use, it could lead to slight aches. This uncomfort was further increased because of the poor positioning of the speakers in the ear-cups. The speakers were too close to the ear when the headphones were used, and they were constanly pressing against the ear.

This I believe defeats the purpose of getting headphones in the first place, since the comfort expected in headphones is totally lost because of these ear-pressing speakers. This discomfort was so severe that during prolong use of the headphones, slight headaches are developed frequently.

Because of this discomfort, I have upgraded to the professional model DJ1003, which had a much better designed ear-cup/speaker design. The DJ1003 did not give me the discomfort experienced in the DJ1005. It also had a coiled headphones wire system, and this certainly kept my table less cluttered with wires.