What does bass roll off mean?

Hi all,

As above. I'm not really an audiophile so could someone explain all these technicalities to a layperson?

Thanks a bundle!

The term "roll off" as we use it means an attenuation of a certain part of the frequency response of a headphone. Here are some examples:



Here, the deep bass frequencies are rolled off.



Here, the roll off starts at around 1khz. Although to me, this could be more accurately be described as a "suckout"; a severe attenuation of a small part of the frequency range.

Generally this refers to the frequency response dropping off quite noticeably towards the lower frequencies in the bass region. This typically lends bass a certain softness.

Looks like I was a wee bit too slow again.
Quote:



One should, however, read IEM FR graphs with a bit of caution, as what one sees quite obviously strongly disagrees with what one hears when compared to "full-blown" cans. (From the ER-6 graph you'd be hard pressed to tell that these beasts are quite thin-sounding indeed, and people tend to term the E500 neutral though it doesn't really look like it on the graph.)

True. There are no outer ear interactions with IEMs, and they are equalized accordingly. Well, ideally, anyway.

Although I've never, ever heard anyone call the E500 neutral.

Erm..... thanks for the charts and explanations