Ringing is not much audible. Plus, it is due to the driver, which is not very well addressed by a mod.

  I am a speaker DIY'er and measure linear/nonlinear distortions on a regular basis. The audibility depends. In my case, I know how different things with -30 dB versus -50 dB distortion products sound WHen listening to music. And in general we do not know if a driver's nonlinear behavior...

  That is not the main point. It is just a measurement condition in which we want to distinguish different headphones. It can be measured at lower SPLs. The InnerFidelity measurements include THD at 90 dB as well.

  Believe it or not, I have nearly photographic memory of all InnerFidelity and other sites' headphone distortion measurements. Yes, I was aware of the HE400's measurements, which was the reason why I added the qualifier, "several hundred dollars."    Assuming that they were measured...

  Sure, when I talk about measurements, I usually add carefully chosen qualifiers so that they may not be misinterpreted. But as a human, I sometimes forget. There is background when I said the pair might be defective. I have seen no planar-magnetic headphones (which cost several hundred...

  Currawong, I think a reasonable person should have no problem understanding what you are trying to convey. Your take on this is not loosely ground. I think it is merely a perspective difference, not a fundamental difference.   No one who has measurement experiences states that any kind of...

    This is a VERY good point, with which I can't agree more.

  I meant the THD. Sorry about the confusion due to my word choice. What I meant was not actually "ringing" or resonance, which is a linear phenomenon, although it can induce nonlinear distortion. Of course, CSD obtained from an impulse measurement with gating is not reliable in lower ranges.

  The HD800 does not have the best measurements.   Its linear distortion is higher than that of the HD600 or the HD650 by the standard of any target responses. Anyway, I got your point.

  The About.com measurements are not as well-established as InnerFidelity's, but it is incorrect that the PM-1 measurements are without a known base. Brent measured quite a bit of headphones using the same methodology and condition, many of which have also been measured at InnerFidelity. It IS...

  I will follow your advice as you are an Admin. But I do not think what you just said in the above is well-grounded judgment. Objective measurements are huge information and their interpretation can be very helpful for people to make judgment. Sometimes, proper interpretation of measurements...

  Thanks for the comments. I personally like HD sweeps referenced at 90 dB at 1 kHz that show all harmonic products up to 5th order over all frequencies. This format contains most information, IMO, and is how I measure speaker drivers.   One thing to add: Do not generalize too much about...

  Let's not make this yet another instance of subjective vs objective arguments. The point is, IMO, that a pair of $1000 headphones should excel both in measurements AND in subjective impressions. Of course, no headphones can satisfy ALL people's subjective preference, but it is possible to do...