Diffuse field is too bright because it does not take into account room effects. If you put an omnidirectional microphone at the listening position in a diffuse field, the microphone would show a flat response. In a typical listening room, the microphone would not show a flat response, but one...

Perhaps he is talking about the Gibbs effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbs_effect).

L_db = 10 * log10(P1/P0) 10 * log10(29mW/10mW) = 4.62dB   A bit louder, but not as much as you might think. It takes 10 times the power to be twice as loud.

Quote:   For the most part, yes. There are likely small audible differences, but they are not caused by the cable itself. Whenever a cable is swapped, the headphones or IEMs have to be taken off. Small differences in their position when they are put back on can cause significant...

Quote:   Nope. Both InnerFidelity and headphone.com use a dummy head and measure the frequency response at the eardrum. The frequency response you see is also compensated. Headphone.com uses the diffuse field curve (I think), and InnerFidelity uses the ID curve (read more here...

Why do you want a flat response at the eardrum? Sounds in a normal environment are filtered by the different parts of the ear (canal, concha, and pinna), as well as the head and chest, resulting in a frequency response that deviates very significantly from flat at the eardrum. The exact...