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Specifications descriptions?

post #1 of 19
5/2/08 at 12:44pm
Thread Starter 
All on IEMs
Hi,recently ive suddenly been into earphones but i have no grasp over the specifications shown.

At first i thought that the higher the frequency range,the better sounding they will be but when i checked Shure frequencies,they were pretty low compared to Sony ones(I know Shure produces godly IEMs so i have doubts).I have no idea know how to compare how good they are through frequency range.

Is there a thread i can learn about all these terms in the Specs like Impedance,frequency dB and such?Or at least the few more important ones that can aid me in selecting my first high end IEM?

Please excuse my noobness ^_^;;
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post #2 of 19
5/2/08 at 1:04pm
A stated range of frequency response is meaningless unless it also mentions the margin of decibels they are measuring within.

They can say that it's 5hz to 35khz but if they don't say +/- whatever db, for all we know it could be within 20db.

So those numbers literally mean nothing at all.
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post #3 of 19
5/2/08 at 1:28pm
I can't use my ER-6i for any kind of reference listening because the upper frequencies are completely missing, so overtones are messed up, and instruments don't sound very real. My iM716 is much better in that regard. I haven't listened to any Shures so I can't comment about them, sadly.
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post #4 of 19
5/2/08 at 2:07pm
Beside what ericj has said, I also want to mention that, If you have very good hearing, than maybe you can hear up to 18KHz. If you have golden ears, than perhaps you can hear up to 22KHz. If you are from the planet Krypton, than maybe you can hear beyond 25KHz. For us common folks who live beyond our teen, 20Hz ~ 16KHz is enough to enjoy music. Just because a headphone can produce sound at 35Khz doesn't you can hear it.
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post #5 of 19
5/2/08 at 2:11pm
And just because you cannot hear it does not mean that it doesn't impact upon the sound.
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post #6 of 19
5/2/08 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggeh View Post
And just because you cannot hear it does not mean that it doesn't impact upon the sound.
Indeed.

Also, I just want to make it clear that the iM716 frequency response range still does not approach that of good full-sized headphones, but that is inherent in the design of a balanced armature driver.
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post #7 of 19
5/2/08 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggeh View Post
And just because you cannot hear it does not mean that it doesn't impact upon the sound.
You mean bass below 20 hertz I assume?

I'm no expert on this at all but it's my understanding that, more important than the limit of human hearing, is the range of instrument harmonics. This graph helps illustrate that, though it's obviously a generalization.



Not sure why it doesn't show a synth going down to 10 though.
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post #8 of 19
5/2/08 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggeh View Post
And just because you cannot hear it does not mean that it doesn't impact upon the sound.
True, but as the majority of music listeners are still using CD as the preferred media, buying lossy music files online (and even lossless music that are capped on CD sampling rate), or using playback device that only come with a 16bits DAC inside, I doubt that any sound over 20KHz is recorded in a meaningful way from a practical stand point. IMO, unless we all start using SACD or DVD-A and get 24bits DAC into our DAP (or switching back to LP), most of us (CD user) don't need to be concern about whether the headphone is capable of producing the sound that isn't recorded on the CD or the source.
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post #9 of 19
5/2/08 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for all the replies.means that theres no way i can tell whether a IEM is good just by looking at any of its specs?

dB is for audio volume?And does the impedance matter?And sensitivity?
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post #10 of 19
5/2/08 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyMe View Post
You mean bass below 20 hertz I assume?

I'm no expert on this at all but it's my understanding that, more important than the limit of human hearing, is the range of instrument harmonics. This graph helps illustrate that, though it's obviously a generalization.



Not sure why it doesn't show a synth going down to 10 though.
IMO that graph doesn't prove much because the upper limit of it is 20 kHz..
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post #11 of 19
5/2/08 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by intoflatlines View Post
IMO that graph doesn't prove much because the upper limit of it is 20 kHz..
And no acoustic instrument on the list hits that limit, that was my point.
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post #12 of 19
5/3/08 at 12:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyon View Post
...Is there a thread i can learn about all these terms in the Specs like Impedance,frequency dB and such?...
I suggest you search Wikipedia.com for the meanings of terms. Having said that:

Impedance is a measure of electrical resistance; generally the higher the impedance, the harder it is to power the heaphones. Hi impedance 'phones often need a separate headphone amplifier.

frequency is a measure of how high or low pitched a sound is. Lower freq's correspond to lower sounds and visa versa.

dB stands for decibels, a measure of loudness. A 3 dB change is a doubling (or halfing) of the volume.

Specifications may or may not be helpful in evaluating a set of headphones. The only way to really know how a headphone sounds, and whether you would enjoy owning a pair, is to listen to it. Verbally describing a sound is often inaccurate, and preferences are subjective.
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post #13 of 19
5/3/08 at 1:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zipdisk View Post
dB stands for decibels, a measure of loudness. A 3 dB change is a doubling (or halfing) of the volume.

Specifications may or may not be helpful in evaluating a set of headphones. The only way to really know how a headphone sounds, and whether you would enjoy owning a pair, is to listen to it. Verbally describing a sound is often inaccurate, and preferences are subjective.
I might be wrong here, but I remember reading a previous post on another thread (I think it was by ericj but I can't be sure) that 3dB change is doubling/halfing the power (or voltage?), but the total volume change is 10%, is it true or maybe I just remember it wrongly? Thanks for any explanation on this.

I do agree that, although reading a lot of review certainly help, the best way to judge a headphone's SQ is to audition it.
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post #14 of 19
5/3/08 at 4:40am
My limited understanding is that for every 3 dB change, there is approximately a doubling/halving of the intensity of a sound. Hopefully someone more knowledgable than I am will clarify this issue.
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post #15 of 19
5/3/08 at 5:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyMe View Post
And no acoustic instrument on the list hits that limit, that was my point.
A lot of the instruments on that list have harmonics far beyond 20Khz. And a synthesizer can produce sound in any range, from 0hz to the maximum sampling rate/2. It's a strange list.
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