Do Listeners Agree on What Makes a Headphone Sound Good? by Sean Olive

[wink]

http://seanolive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-perception-and-measurement-of.html?m=1

 

 

[nikongod]

I think its interesting that he only references... himself. 

[nikongod]

I think its interesting that he only references... himself. 

 

This guy clearly knows what he is talking about. 

[nikongod]

Is the JBL/Harmon "ideal" frequency response published anywhere? 

Perhaps more importantly, do they publish what EQ settings were used for their various test headphones? 

[Tyll Hertsens]

They're getting close---if you read his papers you can see where they're going in FR. Here's my post about his work.

 

IIRC remember in one of the papers they showed the compensation curves of some of the cans in the study.

 

Damned good work. 

Edited January 23, 2014 by Tyll Hertsens

[justin]

I read that and I thought it was funny that the Chinese liked the sound of Beats better than Americans and Europeans. 

[GrindingThud]

Dang, this is profound....even untrained listeners prefer the sound of HD800 to beats.... Seems they prefer the HD to the LCD as well. Give a person bass and treble knobs and they move them around. Consensus is that headphones should sound like speakers in a reference listening room. Now we have a study to back it up.

[DefQon]

Consensus is that headphones should sound like speakers in a reference listening room. Now we have a study to back it up.

 

Two entirely different things which are not going to happen.

[Tyll Hertsens]

Explain please.

[justin]

i forget what the name of the Harman or JBL thing was in the slides...the thing that was winning Best Headphone Evar for every test, over the HD800 and Audeze. Was it an actual Harman headphone or just some kind of DSP applied to a HD800?

[tin ear]

so all we have to do is eq our headphones to our personal taste - brilliant! interesting findings tho.

[Dusty Chalk]

Do Listeners Agree on What Makes a Headphone Sound Good? by Dusty Chalk

No.

[Claritas]

Even if most test subjects agree about what sounds good today, it's a sophisticated poll which isn't the same as the truth. Besides the method, I'll ask sincerely whether we want nearly all headphones to be one flavor.

[jp11801]

I like my headphones the flavor of unicorns and dead leprechauns, oh and Dusty you are correct 

[Dusty Chalk]

I like how the leprechauns are dead but the unicorns are in an unknown (unknowable?) state.

[Grahame]

I like how the leprechauns are dead but the unicorns are in an unknown (unknowable?) state.

Quantum Unicorns? Heisenberg Unicorns?

[Claritas]

I like my headphones the flavor of unicorns and dead leprechauns [...]

 

Maybe if can pay for them in Stanley nickels.

[jpelg]

Quantum Unicorns? Heisenberg Unicorns?

Schrödinger's Unicorns

[Dusty Chalk]

I was thinking more in a fantastical sense, but...okay. 

[wink]

If you have a bottom garden, check for leprechauns, otherwise it's Ireland.

 

For unicorns the problem becomes more problematical.

 

Drop bears down here in the antipodes can be a problem for the unwary and can be mistaken for leprechauns.

The larger drop bears even sometimes are taken for proof of the existence of yowies and bunyips.    Sad, but not entirely true.