Sorry about the wait team - took much longer than I thought - especially when I lost my settings twice and had to restart.
First up - the equipment used:
Ausdom M05 - wired connection
Veritas measurement system with ARTA software, and a "unique" set-up to measure freq response which:
- is purely raw data
- is uncalibrated
- has no hrtf
- and for the the purposes of this exercise is just there to give me comparative data
Startech USB soundcard and audio interface (cheap and does the job)
E11K amplifier - mainly for the low impedance
Equaliser APO system wide equaliser - so I could change and measure "on the fly"
Comparative data
So you get a rough idea of what other measurements look like on the same set-up - here is my HD600, AKG K553 and Brainwavz HM2. Don't worry about the 4 kHz peak on the HD600 and AKG K553. It seems to be a resonant peak in the measuring system - and I can't remove it unless I want to spend a lot of money on a proper dummy head.
One thing to note here is how smooth the response on the HD600 is compared to the other headphones. Oh and click for larger images.
So that is on exactly the same equipment and will give you a reference point for the following measurement of the M05. And here it is:
Note the huge bass hump. That is why I suggested to Nick it needs to be cut.
So here are the settings I used:
In the end I used something pretty close to Nick's. Personally, I'd use more reduction - but for Ausdom's probable target audience it would likely be too much.
Here's the new curve after EQ
It doesn't take a whole lot off - but the mid-range bleed is much reduced, and the whole signature is both cleaner and more defined.
For the final graph - I created a much bigger cut:
The aim here was to get closer to the HD600 - and at one stage before I lost the settings and started running out of time, I almost had it nailed. They were pretty bass light though - or so I thought, until I noticed that the HD600 were too. And herein lies the issue with spending 4 hours trying to EQ these. it is too easy to get used to the bass - even if it is miles above neutral (or natural). And once your brain is accustomed to the sound, it is really hard to "cleanse your palate" before restarting.
Anyway - the M05 is still a heck of a headphone. My recommendation to Ausdom would be to start with the small cut to the mid-bass. It really cleans up the sound.
And I haven't posted the CSDs because in the end there was little point. They're not accurate enough to give meaningful data (too many reflections).
If you guys want a giggle over the holidays, I'll hopefully get around to showing you my crude full sized measuring system
And sorry Grace - I know my review should be up by now. It's well over haf complete - but tonight's exercise stopped me finishing it. Before Xmas - I promise.
