Going to keep this short. I'm hoping others can chime in with their input. Essentially using Digital Signal Processing can compensate for loss-of-perceived loudness as well as present a more natural stereo field.
From time-to-time, I listen to headphones for an extended period (3+ hours). I am well aware of the danger of using headphones at loud volumes.
Many people want to enjoy their music, and most crank up the volume to get a 'good sound' The reason many do so is because the perception of loudness is not linear, and at low volumes, low and high frequencies can be distinctly rolled off. This is called the Fletch-Munson curve.
This effect is one of the most important considerations for headphone listeners. You want to hear the music as intended and as natural as possible, but to do so, you risk ear damage at higher SPL.
There is a tendency to shy away from EQ, and some misunderstand its purpose altogether. The trend is to have as little interference or processing in-between the recording and its reproduction. But EQ is to be used in context, and one of those is low volume listening. A loudness curvemay help approximate a more natural sound at low volume levels.
Lower volume levels will give you less ear-fatigue but you may also experience fatigue due to the psychoacoustic effect of just listening to headphones.
The majority of music (save some binaural recordings) is specifically engineered for two-channel speakers. Using headphones, we lose the intended stereo phase and 'placement' of instruments. As a result, the sound is sharply panned to our left and right ear, with none of the natural crossfeed that is inherent when listening to speakers.
I'm using a pair of Sennheiser HD25-1 II. I've experimented with a number of applications including Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural (BS2B) and SRS iWow.
MPlayer Extended for Mac OS X as well as some programs for PC make use of BS2B. the result is pretty good.
SRS iWow (and their family of products) are excellent. I tried it a couple years back, but it was too much of processor hog. The new version is resourceful and provides you with plenty of sound shaping control. The result for myself was a more natural soundstage as well as the bass extension you might hear had you been listening to speakers in room rather than having them right up to your ears.
Some links:
HeadWize - Article: Preventing Hearing Damage When Listening With Headphones (A HeadWize Headphone Guide)
http://www.srslabs.com/
From time-to-time, I listen to headphones for an extended period (3+ hours). I am well aware of the danger of using headphones at loud volumes.
Many people want to enjoy their music, and most crank up the volume to get a 'good sound' The reason many do so is because the perception of loudness is not linear, and at low volumes, low and high frequencies can be distinctly rolled off. This is called the Fletch-Munson curve.
This effect is one of the most important considerations for headphone listeners. You want to hear the music as intended and as natural as possible, but to do so, you risk ear damage at higher SPL.
There is a tendency to shy away from EQ, and some misunderstand its purpose altogether. The trend is to have as little interference or processing in-between the recording and its reproduction. But EQ is to be used in context, and one of those is low volume listening. A loudness curvemay help approximate a more natural sound at low volume levels.
Lower volume levels will give you less ear-fatigue but you may also experience fatigue due to the psychoacoustic effect of just listening to headphones.
The majority of music (save some binaural recordings) is specifically engineered for two-channel speakers. Using headphones, we lose the intended stereo phase and 'placement' of instruments. As a result, the sound is sharply panned to our left and right ear, with none of the natural crossfeed that is inherent when listening to speakers.
I'm using a pair of Sennheiser HD25-1 II. I've experimented with a number of applications including Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural (BS2B) and SRS iWow.
MPlayer Extended for Mac OS X as well as some programs for PC make use of BS2B. the result is pretty good.
SRS iWow (and their family of products) are excellent. I tried it a couple years back, but it was too much of processor hog. The new version is resourceful and provides you with plenty of sound shaping control. The result for myself was a more natural soundstage as well as the bass extension you might hear had you been listening to speakers in room rather than having them right up to your ears.
Some links:
HeadWize - Article: Preventing Hearing Damage When Listening With Headphones (A HeadWize Headphone Guide)
http://www.srslabs.com/
