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Author Topic: Driver Size  (Read 1232 times)

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maverickronin

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2015, 12:08:36 AM »
Quote from: elan_vital on June 25, 2015, 11:00:14 PM
So why do you think the manufacturers list it in specs?

Mostly it's because big numbers just look impressive...

Quote from: Anaxilus on June 25, 2015, 11:10:45 PM
Is there any reason you wouldn't want to list it? Will it take away from some other metric?

...but Anax is right about this.  It probably won't hurt to include it anyway since it's normally specified.  Planars though a bit of a wrench into the works though.  Dynamics are pretty much all round (AFIK there are only a few car audio subwoofers excepted but there's probably a few oddballs I'm unaware of.) and specified by diameter.

Planars can be square, circular, rectangular, oval, or oblong.  The closest thing they have to a standard is surface area.  That's not specified most of the time though, and even if it was it doesn't compare directly to a dynamic's diameter specification unless you  convert both to area and just confuse everyone.  There will be a few other oddballs that won't fit in perfectly either such as the AKG 340 and ENIGMAcoustics Dharma which are dual driver dynamic/electrets or the couple of AMT headphone whose names I can't remember right now.

Over all, if you're fine having a few "N/A"s in you database it sure doesn't hurt anything to add in driver size.
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Solderdude

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2015, 04:41:58 AM »
Quote from: maverickronin on June 26, 2015, 12:08:36 AM
Quote from: elan_vital on Today at 04:00:14 PM

    So why do you think the manufacturers list it in specs?


Mostly it's because big numbers just look impressive...

A bit like the 'damping factor' in speaker amps .... all numbers above 10 are pointless but impressive numbers that used to be given a reason to buy the damn thing.

Perhaps a larger surface area may also mean a larger sweetspot so the headphone can move around on your head without altering tonal balance that much.
Otherwise it seems to be a mine is bigger than yours thing ... just like magnetic flux strength, cable thickness...etc.

« Last Edit: June 26, 2015, 05:53:41 AM by Solderdude »
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takato14

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2015, 05:08:17 AM »
Quote from: Anaxilus on June 25, 2015, 11:20:35 PM
I used to look at it for modding candidates.
+1
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elan_vital

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2015, 05:41:04 AM »
Quote from: Anaxilus on June 25, 2015, 11:10:45 PM
Is there any reason you wouldn't want to list it? Will it take away from some other metric?

I'm hoping to steer people away from searching for products based on hyped up empty specs, and concentrate on reviewable and more consequential attributes.  That said, i think i'm convinced to include it just so it's there and if someone wants, for some reason, to look for only headphones with large drivers they will be able to do so.  Thanks everyone for the your input on this. I'm sure i'll be posting more questions soon. cheers
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takato14

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2015, 05:51:38 PM »
Quote from: elan_vital on June 26, 2015, 05:41:04 AM
I'm hoping to steer people away from searching for products based on hyped up empty specs, and concentrate on reviewable and more consequential attributes.
Well then you should be building a measurement database. All standard specifications are pretty much useless in discerning any aspect of sound performance, especially considering that they all use different equipment/methods/standards to measure these specifications, and how many companies "fudge" some (or all) of their specifications.

Impedance and sensitivity can help with amp pairing, weight can help determine if you'll have neck pain from wearing the headphones... and that's about it.
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Griffon

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2015, 09:23:20 PM »
I'd way even brand name is more important than driver size to me.
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elan_vital

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #16 on: June 27, 2015, 02:37:46 AM »
Quote from: takato14 on June 26, 2015, 05:51:38 PM
Impedance and sensitivity can help with amp pairing, weight can help determine if you'll have neck pain from wearing the headphones... and that's about it.

agreed - impedance and sensitivity is important for pairing with amps and such.  Weight is usually taken into consideration when comfort is reviewed (but yes, i presume, one can assume that the heavier the cans the more neck strain one will sustain). The bottom line is whether the cans deliver the goods - critical mass of reviews can take care of that part, but if someone wants 80mm driver or 5 of them for that matter, they can still have a choice to search by that criteria.
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takato14

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #17 on: June 27, 2015, 04:03:11 AM »
Quote from: elan_vital on June 27, 2015, 02:37:46 AM
agreed - impedance and sensitivity is important for pairing with amps and such.  Weight is usually taken into consideration when comfort is reviewed (but yes, i presume, one can assume that the heavier the cans the more neck strain one will sustain). The bottom line is whether the cans deliver the goods - critical mass of reviews can take care of that part, but if someone wants 80mm driver or 5 of them for that matter, they can still have a choice to search by that criteria.
If someone had 5 80mm drivers in one headphone each earcup would literally be the size of your head.
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elan_vital

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2015, 04:54:54 AM »
Quote from: takato14 on June 27, 2015, 04:03:11 AM
If someone had 5 80mm drivers in one headphone each earcup would literally be the size of your head.
That would be some huge headphone
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chetlanin

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Re: Driver Size
« Reply #19 on: June 27, 2015, 05:17:09 AM »
Perhaps one should also consider the ratio of the driver size to the volume of the enclosed air?

(sometimes I think that if one found the volume of the enclosed air somewhat significant, one could have made tailored "inserts", reducing it considerably for the commone type headphone, by filling in free space, so to speak: for example the unused space behind the outer ear, and so on..)
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