CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: AudioQuest's Headphone measurements (and its own target headphone frequency)  (Read 4565 times)

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speakerphone

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The target (room curves) are 'accumulated' signals at a listening spot (very averaged so VERY different from everyone's listening/living room spaces) where direct sound + reflections are accumulated.
The speaker itself should be 'flat' (presumably at 1m on axis in non reverbant room) in order to get a similar MEASUREMENT.

That means, graph that you've attached is target curve of flat loudspeaker in room?



then, you can't evaluate the headphones with those curves you've attached

speakerphone

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Solderdude

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That means, graph that you've attached is target curve of flat loudspeaker in room?

then, you can't evaluate the headphones with those curves you've attached

yes, the graph is part of a tutorial I have up somewhere else and not a holy grail by itself, I merely touch on the subject and use it to illustrate.
It's NOT a reference I feel is a holy grail at all.
It seems to represent an 'average' MEASURED frequency response you would see on your analyser when you measure an 'officially flat' speaker (in outside or anechoic circumstances) at 1m on axis from that speaker with a certain dispersion pattern in a 'standard possibly treated' listening ? room (if there is such a thing) with 2 or more octave smooting (so not 1/3 or other).
Someones speakers in their rooms, however, will NEVER be anything like the 'target' some claim is a holy grail for perfect sound.

IF one wants to 'emulate' such a response in a headphone it needs to 'follow' that curve acc to some, others think it needs moar bass, and others feel it needs more treble.

It's just a 'target' to some and nonsense to others.
The early HD650 is pretty close to it when measured on a flat rig but lacks the subbass.


I think headphones that measure like some of the 'target curves' on a rig that measures equal SPL could potentially sound nice and warm with smooth highs which may be a holy grail.
Average recordings may sound decent and excellent recordings may sound too bassy and maybe somewhat too dark.

I prefer a brighter signature, closer to the GE target (flat from say 300Hz and some bass boost).
With such a clearer sounding headphone some recordings sound crap (bright, shrill) but good recordings sound heavenly.

pick your poison.

So for me the whole 'room correction' that acc. to some should be 'incorporated' in the headphones frequency response to emulate speaker sound (what's average speaker sound ?) is nonsense with a bit of merit to it.
From what I know from my own experiments (I don't give a crap about opinions of others) the AQ target (which is what this thread is about) is fishy at least and to me it may sound wrong in tonal balance.
That is wrong when assuming a flat line on THEIR measurement rig (so with the correct compensation) is a flat line in their plots.

So... I hope to see measurements made by others OR they show measurements made on their rig of well documented headphones (HD00 for instance) and also state which headphones they were.
not just say ... 'a flagship's perceieved response as a comparison' that is saying absolutely NOTHING at all.

If its only tonal balance where it is faulted it could well be 'corrected' for me personally with some EQ, mods or a combination.

« Last Edit: August 14, 2015, 08:54:10 AM by Solderdude »
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speakerphone

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I see. I didn't think about your measurement rig(what it called? a flatbed?). Actually, I never used that kind of rig to measure the on-ear and over-ear headphones, so I thought that I must compensate DF target on the data.

Solderdude

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I see. I didn't think about your measurement rig(what it called? a flatbed?). Actually, I never used that kind of rig to measure the on-ear and over-ear headphones, so I thought that I must compensate DF target on the data.


My plots are 'compensated' for bass response because I use a mic that is supposed to measure 'flat' in free air when pointed to a source but is mounted mounted on an infinite baflle.
The LF output of the mic differs considerably from when the mic capsule is used 'freely' in the air.
Didn't research this compensation though and might be inaccurate when viewed in an absolute sense but IMO is better than NOT compensate for this effect at all.
Also I removed the small treble peak these capsules show at higher frequencies.
These compensations are done in hardware (electronics) and not in the digital domain nor applied later on 'raw' measurements.
My RAW measurements are thus already 'compensated'.

I don't see the point in adding a Pinna + ear canal + Eustachian tube equivalents and then having to undo everything that those things changed.
All I want to know is the SPL outside of my ear.
Other than that I simply measure the SPL without a Pinna, ear canal nor do I have a 'hard' surface on the measuring 'plane' as ears the skin isn't a hard surface.

Still there will be errors in the measured response but take those for what they are.
I don't claim my measurements are accurate in an absolute sense, only that what I hear has a large correlation to what I measure.

When I see a flat line in my plots HP's tend to sound excellent to my old ears as well.
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