Distortion measurements on headphones

Hi to Everyone !

I see a lot of frequency response graphs in the web on HPs

But no distortion measurements

I am currently looking for a HP set up with a very low distortion expecially in the midrange

My feeling is that a very low distortion in the midrange gives the best intellegibility of words in a speech, my very first need

Actually I have to listen for prolonged times ... a sort of full immersion in english plays with a lot of dialogues (about 2 hours each)

Not only, If the sound gets distorted I think it could become very fatiguing in the long term

In conclusion, which are HPs particularly noted for their very low distortion ?

Of course if anyone knows of distortion measurements I would be very interested

Thank you a lot and kind regards,

gino

Thank you so much indeed !

It is realy what I was looking for

By the way, do you agree on the fact the intellegibility of speech is related to a low distortion in the voice frequency range ?

Just to know what to look at

Thanks again and kind regards,

gino

Quote:

Originally Posted by stv014 

Yes, these do include distortion graphs (vs. frequency), measured at both 90 and 100 dB SPL. Note however that the graphs show THD+N, rather than just THD, so in the mid to higher frequency range (where the distortion is usually the lowest) the measurements are often dominated by the noise of the test equipment.

 

Excuse me, you say

in the mid to higher frequency range (where the distortion is usually the lowest) the measurements are often dominated by the noise of the test equipment.

So do you mean that the actual distortion of most of the HPs in the mid to high range is lower than in the graph ?

Anyway impressive are the figures for the HE-60 ... even better, if I am not wrong, of the mighty HD800 !

Thanks again and kind regards,

gino

Thank you very much again !

I understand that most of the evaluations on sound quality of HPs are usually carried out by listening, if not all

My feeling is that distortion measurements of this kind could be more objective/reliable

I do not understand why they are not very popular

Are they so difficult to perform ?

A driver that distorts actually adds frequencies not present in the test signal

From what I see I think that the Sennhheiser HE-60 must be a really exceptional headphone, and not only in terms of distortion but also sound quality

Kind regards,

gino

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

Honestly, any higher-end monitoring headphones should suffice.  It really depends on how much you're looking at spending.  

Reproducing spoken voice isn't terribly difficult for most competent headphones.

Excuse me, do you deem for instance a AKG K242HD a higher-end monitoring HP ?   because it is the one I am using now

Buy the way I have also a JVC 900, an old Sennheiser 565 Ovation, an old AKG K280 Parabolic

I have also a Grado sr200 but unfortunately a driver got damaged

The 242 seems to me the better one overall

Thank you very much

Kind regards,

gino

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeaj 

Also see here:

http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/review.html

 

It's in Japanese but the graphs are graphs.  Also I don't know how good the test setup is, as some results are a bit wonky.

 

 

 

The graph at the bottom is the second harmonic (blue) and third harmonic (green) distortion over frequency...at least at some output level.  Note that the values are plotted +40 dB referenced to the values on the left axis.

Thank you very much indeed !  this is what I was lloking for really !

At least I am not the only one obsessed with distortion figures

I will go through all the graph.  It is too much interesting.

I see that the HD650 is splendid, as it is the HD595

Actually I am thinking to get a HD555.  It should have the same driver of the 595 and, hopefully, similar distortion figures at a lower price

Thank you so much again

Kind regards,

gino

P.S.  my reasoning being:

1)  low distortion is a must for good sound quality

2)  the HD595 has a very low distortion

3)  the HD555 has the same driver of the HD595

4)  the HD555 should have similar distortion figures compared to the HD595, expecially in the range of the voice (i.e. 200-4000Hz)