That config setting is crucial. My work laptop had the center channel panned quite a bit to the left until I checked that option. No idea what they thought they were achieving with this feature but it's garbage.

As a relatively fresh owner I say the overlap of sound quality, looks and comfort is great.

As of yesterday, Meze 99 Classics. I can finally hear stuff properly and I can wear them for hours. They replaced the Koss PortaPro as my default headphones.

Other than that, Sennheiser HD 4.40BT which have served me well for the last four years and Sennheiser HD 599 which have no redeeming qualities to them whatsoever.

For completeness I should mention Sony WI-C200. Great for conference calls, not suitable for music IMO.

Correct on both accounts.

In the studio you want to capture just the voice so you isolate the singer from the rest of the band, whether live or prerecorded.

Hearing the band while on stage is notoriously problematic. You either just hear the instruments/amplifiers, in which case you only really hear the closest ones to you, or you have stage monitors ("wedges") that add to the already high volume, or you have the sound engineer feed your preferred mix into your in-ear monitors where you can have reasonable volume and prevent damaging your hearing.

Do you think that 5-year period of progress will include training models on audiovisual material (movies, documentaries, etc.), or are we too far technologically from the capacity required for that, or is that not even a direction to pursue?

They are more on-ears than over-ears. The headband is very thin and doesn't offer much padding, so it needs some getting used to if you don't have much hair.

On the upside, the sound signature seems fairly balanced, especially for the price. Comfort-wise I'd wear them over my Sennheiser HD 599 on any day. Actually, sound-wise, too.

I saw the title and I just LOL'd. I mean, it doesn't get more hilarious that this.

Work (programming), read books, browse Reddit, play air bass or air synths, etc.

Sometimes I try to just focus on the music and avoid distractions. The internet has ruined my attention span and this is my attempt at regaining some calm and patience.

Let me hijack this discussion, if that's ok with you, and ask a couple questions about the HD599:

1. What benefits can I hope to achieve from amping them? I normally plug them either into my phone or my laptop and they are okayish but I'd say they lack body -- way too much treble, not enough of the rest. I tried EQ-ing them based on AutoEq profiles (with some experimentation) but somehow I liked the sound even less.
2. I see a lot of praise for their comfort but for me they are a torture device. I can use them for maybe an hour, two is a stretch. The pads feel hard and itchy. What am I doing wrong? What are some other headphones you are comparing them to?

Ouch, I sound way more negative than I actually feel about them, just don't know how to explain myself better. :/

Faithful recreation of any of the following books and graphic novels:

• The Witcher saga
• Valérian and Laureline
• Honor Harrington novels
• The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell
• Thorgal

Because humans apparently are unable or unwilling to do these right.

Protecting their own infrastructure through disabling Russian air force will probably take precedence but I won't be surprised if that happens.

Koss entered the chat.