CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements  (Read 22585 times)

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Rabbit

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #50 on: January 14, 2013, 03:58:14 PM »

The headphone itself also rings like a bell if you bash your teeth together. (Don't ask)  Makes me wonder what resonances build up via the frame and the band over your head.

You can almost detect a pitch if you continually bash your teeth together!!!
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Tari

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #51 on: January 14, 2013, 04:11:28 PM »

I've found that after bashing my teeth together for a few minutes, I slowly start hearing a high pitched keening like the sound of a thousand teapots as heard through a hundred layers of cheesecloth.  At this point I start getting ideas- grand ideas, but bad ideas.  They make me feel guilty but powerful at the same time.  I wrench my neck in short, violent movements as if trying to dislodge a crab from my brain.  Gradually I lose the ability to be self aware and a fog steals over my vision until I forget that I am. 


I wake up the next day and go about life as normal.
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Rabbit

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #52 on: January 14, 2013, 04:35:53 PM »


I wake up the next day and go about life as normal.

I have the urge to start tapping again. Once you have the habit, you just can't stop. In fact, if I can chatter my molars 440 times a second, perhaps I can get harmony going. I nice drone on the note A with the headband ringing like a bell. I think I'm onto something here.  headbang

I've been trying to work out what note it is. It definitely has a pitch.
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Deep Funk

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #53 on: January 14, 2013, 11:47:26 PM »

Welcome Ian...
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Rabbit

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #54 on: January 15, 2013, 06:26:57 PM »

Thanks Deep Funk. Thought I'd test a new pond.  walk the plank  :D

With the K550 though, many headphone users measure for resonances etc but I do find the teeth test tells you a lot about what is actually ringing!

I know it sounds really odd, but snap your teeth together and listen for the headband/cups ringing. The K550 rings quite nicely.

I've just got a Creative Aurvana and to a lesser extent, that also has its own little 'ring' too. (Or try tapping the top of your forehead with your fingers) Some headphones react!! Or even tapping the headband on the crown of your head.

It's a bit random, but you do find that different headphones reverberate more than others and this must contribute to the sound that they produce in some way.

Maybe a subjective test for ringing alongside the objective measurements that I see here. The 'tap' method may account for some of the measurements seen on the 3d 'waterfall' spreads which are really excellent guides.

Good 'ere innit?  :)p1
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Deep Funk

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #55 on: January 15, 2013, 07:07:09 PM »

I think you'll like this pond.

My K181 doesn't ring and won't ring at all due to its build. Once in the K550-thread in HF I placed the picture of a Philips SHP8000 (look it up!). I thought the two looked so similar I didn't understand the high price of the K550 although brand reputation does affect pricing.

The K550 does look pretty, there's no denying that...
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Rabbit

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #56 on: January 15, 2013, 07:23:24 PM »

I like what I've read. A friend introduced me to this place so I had a read and decided to have a go.

The K550 build is superb except for this tendency for the headband to ring. Mind you, the ringing might be contributing to its sound, which is what I'm getting at, I suppose.

I quite like it, but I do feel that there are problems up top. To me, it can be a bit steely but I get on with it pretty well most of the time. Other times, I quite like the comparative softness of the AT A900 but do miss the lower basement on that one.

Finding a really good closed headphone is difficult imo. I haven't really found one that I could absolutely relax with. At work, I use a DT150, but then that's loud and eq'd so it doesn't really sound the same on home stuff.

Closed headphones always seem like a compromise to me. I'd love to find a cracker so I can cut the world out properly and have excellent sound!!
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Solderdude

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #57 on: January 16, 2013, 04:14:53 PM »

The K550 build is superb except for this tendency for the headband to ring. Mind you, the ringing might be contributing to its sound, which is what I'm getting at, I suppose.

I quite like it, but I do feel that there are problems up top. To me, it can be a bit steely but I get on with it pretty well most of the time. Other times, I quite like the comparative softness of the AT A900 but do miss the lower basement on that one.

To determine if the sound of the driver reaches the headband and it can influence the sonic signature try:
A. Damp the headband with materials that damp the vibrations.
B. Put the handle end of a screwdriver against/in your ear and press the metal part, that normally would drive the screw, against the headband/cups (don't scratch it !) and play the HP at loud levels. If you can hear the music coming through as 'pitched' sounds in the headband it could very well contribute.

Finding a really good closed headphone is difficult imo. I haven't really found one that I could absolutely relax with. At work, I use a DT150, but then that's loud and eq'd so it doesn't really sound the same on home stuff.

Closed headphones always seem like a compromise to me. I'd love to find a cracker so I can cut the world out properly and have excellent sound!!
LFF Paradox ? (add the filter ?)
or perhaps Mad Dogs ? (add the filter ?)
BMF ? (add the filter ?)

In other words modified (closed) T50RP
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Rabbit

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #58 on: January 16, 2013, 04:52:14 PM »

Yes, the T50RP looks interesting. It could double up at home and work being capable of taking 3000 mW as well.

It looks like a dustbin but if it works, it works!!

They kind of remind me of those old bucket headphones that used to be put into keyboard labs in colleges. (Maybe they still do!!)

The 'teeth chatter ring' on the K550 is quite extended in comparison to other headphones. It's pretty strong, so my feelings were that it would probably contribute to its sound, but sometimes, these things are actually taken into consideration in the construction of the headphone.

I was curious when reading here about the peakiness up top as to whether that ring might contribute.

I am beginning to think that the flatter you can get the response on a headphone, the more versatile it's going to be with all styles of music tbh. I have tended to use headphones for each 'type' of thing I'm listening to, but none of them are really 'correct' in reality. They just empahsise what I'm wanting to hear in the music that I'm listening to.

One good flat 'un would probably replace the lot of them!!  :)p2 Then I could concentrate more on good music rather than worry about the gear. walk the plank
« Last Edit: January 16, 2013, 04:58:00 PM by Rabbit »
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Solderdude

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Re: K550 Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
« Reply #59 on: January 16, 2013, 05:32:49 PM »

Yes, the T50RP looks interesting. It could double up at home and work being capable of taking 3000 mW as well.


I am beginning to think that the flatter you can get the response on a headphone, the more versatile it's going to be with all styles of music tbh. I have tended to use headphones for each 'type' of thing I'm listening to, but none of them are really 'correct' in reality. They just empahsise what I'm wanting to hear in the music that I'm listening to.

One good flat 'un would probably replace the lot of them!!  :)p2 Then I could concentrate more on good music rather than worry about the gear. walk the plank

To me it is only something special when modded to pieces and I might add needs the filter to add the 'sparkle' that otherwise isn't there.
You will need to go a lot more expensive to come near the same SQ (IMHO)

A modded T50RP does get picky about the source, and with source I mean recording quality.
It will ONLY shine when that part is O.K.
Mediocre and poor quality will just sound mediocre and poor.

The DT990/D2000 are less 'picky' and mediocre recordings can sound good, but that's because they aren't flat.

Hmmm  shouldn't derail the thread... K550 is rated below modded T50RP (there, I mentioned the K550... that should do it  :)p17)
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