catscratch
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2004
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Quote:
This.
A lot of headphones are pre-tuned with a natural bass and treble boost to sound more natural at lower volumes. As you crank up the volume, the perceived frequency response flattens out, and that bass and treble boost becomes harsh and distracting.
Use something that's tuned to sound flat at high volume. That's about all I can suggest. Usually if a headphone is described as being warm and not too bassy, or forward in the mids, then it will sound good at high volumes. If people comment on massive bass and sparkly highs, chances are it's been EQ'd for low-level listening.
Gross generalization, of course, but surprisingly true.
The W3 has a somewhat recessed midrange to my ears, and sounds best at lower volumes. When you crank it the bass becomes overwhelming and the highs become sibilant with some tips. The ES2 on the other hand has a forward midrange, and at low volumes it sounds rolled-off at either end and somewhat closed-in. When you crank it, it opens up, flattens out, and separation improves dramatically.
Of course, if your headphones are harsh because of peaks in the treble or loose boomy bass, then it's a different story.
Originally Posted by bakhtiar /img/forum/go_quote.gif From this scientific report, we can understand how our ears response to sound . http://www.nedo.go.jp/itd/grant-e/re...pdf/is-01e.pdf Since our ears are mechanical, there are some limitation in audio preception. So if you can differentiate from 20 kHz and 21 kHz, than you must be a superb audio analyzer device. So nothing is perfect because we are NOT perfect. We are just humans with many weaknesses. References : Ear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fletcher–Munson curves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
This.
A lot of headphones are pre-tuned with a natural bass and treble boost to sound more natural at lower volumes. As you crank up the volume, the perceived frequency response flattens out, and that bass and treble boost becomes harsh and distracting.
Use something that's tuned to sound flat at high volume. That's about all I can suggest. Usually if a headphone is described as being warm and not too bassy, or forward in the mids, then it will sound good at high volumes. If people comment on massive bass and sparkly highs, chances are it's been EQ'd for low-level listening.
Gross generalization, of course, but surprisingly true.
The W3 has a somewhat recessed midrange to my ears, and sounds best at lower volumes. When you crank it the bass becomes overwhelming and the highs become sibilant with some tips. The ES2 on the other hand has a forward midrange, and at low volumes it sounds rolled-off at either end and somewhat closed-in. When you crank it, it opens up, flattens out, and separation improves dramatically.
Of course, if your headphones are harsh because of peaks in the treble or loose boomy bass, then it's a different story.