[iim7V7IM7]

Hi,

I will be auditioning 4 different high-end over ear headphones over the next 4-8 weeks. They are loaners and will be used on my home system which is great opportunity. I may get them two at a time, so I won't have the luxury of direct A/B comparisons. This will mean that I must rely on contemporaneous notes. Here is my plan:

1) select a consistent repertoire of source songs that exercise a diverse set of audible attributes (e.g. bass, midrange, treble, resolution, dynamics, sound stage and image placement. I am thinking about 60-90 minutes of content.

2) audition my current headphones as a control

3) vary the order of listening to the content to minimize listening fatigue/bias

4) prepare listening notes per song contemporaneously

5) in addition to the auditioned listening, spend a few hours with each seeing how you enjoy wearing them (e.g. wearing comfort and listening enjoyment)

Are there any other suggestions or alternative methodologies suggested?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[iim7V7IM7]

I either have put this in the incorrect forum or my question was too esoteric? I simply wondered how folks make audio comparisons between equipment when you don't have the gear at the same time?

 

[m2man]

I'm sure we all just make it up as we go, but using some sort of "reference" is key. In your case yes, it would be your current headphone.

1.) Is a great idea. This would be great for meets actually.
2.) I don't know how you can skip this.

A couple notes can't hurt.

I would just keep track of how much time you listen when you aren't directly comparing. Vote with your ears (after the newness wears off). Listening carefully is actually pretty tiring for me.

 

[RoboKrikit]

5) in addition to the auditioned listening, spend a few hours with each seeing how you enjoy wearing them (e.g. wearing comfort and listening enjoyment)

I'd definitely do this, but not just for comfort assessment. I find that when I A/B headphones rapidly, it is too easy to focus in what is "missing" from a headphone rather than how nice it sounds as a whole. As an example, moving from something like the HD650 vs many other cans, attributes like its warm tone and mid bass hump can make the next headphone seem cold and tinny, when they would sound fine listened to on their own.

Going back and forth between cans can be useful for isolating a particular sound difference you're interested in, but I find that I appreciate each headphone more for what it is with longer listening sessions.

 

[iim7V7IM7]

I'm sure we all just make it up as we go, but using some sort of "reference" is key. In your case yes, it would be your current headphone.
1.) Is a great idea. This would be great for meets actually.
2.) I don't know how you can skip this.
A couple notes can't hurt.
I would just keep track of how much time you listen when you aren't directly comparing. Vote with your ears (after the newness wears off). Listening carefully is actually pretty tiring for me.

Thanks for the thought regarding time. I was going to spend the exact same 60-90 minutes auditioning each listening to the same pieces. I agree listening carefully is an artificial exercise in itself. That is why that I was thinking that I would also do some normal pleasure listening where I just try to relax and enjoy the music.

 

[iim7V7IM7]

I'd definitely do this, but not just for comfort assessment. I find that when I A/B headphones rapidly, it is too easy to focus in what is "missing" from a headphone rather than how nice it sounds as a whole. As an example, moving from something like the HD650 vs many other cans, attributes like its warm tone and mid bass hump can make the next headphone seem cold and tinny, when they would sound fine listened to on their own.
Going back and forth between cans can be useful for isolating a particular sound difference you're interested in, but I find that I appreciate each headphone more for what it is with longer listening sessions.

Thanks for your perspective. The cans that I will be auditioning will have a fairly diverse array of sonic signatures albeit some are from the same "camp".

Control: AKG K 702
Auditions: Audez'e LCD-2, Beyerdynamic Tesla T1, HiFiMAN HE-500 and Sennheiser HD800

My audition pieces will be reflective of my preference in genre: 50% jazz, 20% blues, 20% rock and 10% classical. I also have some fairly decent near field monitors that I may compare on a few pieces (limited bass below 50 Hz).

 

[jcx]

a Sound Science View
 
unfortunately "fair" listening comparison requires level matching, to much better than you can do "by ear", below ~1 dB difference we can't recognize it as loudness and instead hear "other" differences - subtly louder usually gets rated as "better sounding"
 
 
differing loudness can sound like differing frequency balance - "V" shaped curves let you listen at lower than live performance average SPL so some headphones are built to do this, other have a hump to emulate "diffuse field" sound from room reverberation...
 
 
all different model headphones frequency responses vary by much more than the audible detection threshold - it is not at all clear how to get a "average" "equal loudness" setting for different headphones without EQing to "the same" frequency response too
 
a cheap SPL meter and adapter to seal off the ear cup, let you repeatably position mic relative to headphone at least gets you in the ballpark
 
you can try http://www.linkwitzlab.com/reference_earphones.htm procedure to map out your subjective EQ for each headphone
 
perhaps working the training examples, tests with each headphone http://harmanhowtolisten.blogspot.com/
 
amp ouput impedance can also give unexpected "EQ", modified frequency response - a low impedance output SS amp removes this as a variable - but some might argue you then miss the "synergy" of the higher Zout amp's with particular headphones - the Linkwitz EQ network just adds to the amp output Z
 
Orthodynamics have a flat impedance vs frequency curve and should be virtually immune to changing frequency response in reaction with amp output Z (usually flat, R over audio frequencies)
 
 
 
and why no Electrostats - Koss ESP-950 system is cheaper than the "flagship" headphones on your list

 

[iim7V7IM7]

a Sound Science View

unfortunately "fair" listening comparison requires level matching, to much better than you can do "by ear", below ~1 dB difference we can't recognize it as loudness and instead hear "other" differences - subtly louder usually gets rated as "better sounding"


differing loudness can sound like differing frequency balance - "V" shaped curves let you listen at lower than live performance average SPL so some headphones are built to do this, other have a hump to emulate "diffuse field" sound from room reverberation...


all different model headphones frequency responses vary by much more than the audible detection threshold - it is not at all clear how to get a "average" "equal loudness" setting for different headphones without EQing to "the same" frequency response too

a cheap SPL meter and adapter to seal off the ear cup, let you repeatably position mic relative to headphone at least gets you in the ballpark

you can try http://www.linkwitzlab.com/reference_earphones.htm procedure to map out your subjective EQ for each headphone

perhaps working the training examples, tests with each headphone http://harmanhowtolisten.blogspot.com/

amp ouput impedance can also give unexpected "EQ", modified frequency response - a low impredance output SS amp removes this as a variable - but some might argue you then miss the "synergy" of the higher Zout amp's with particular headphones - the Linkwitz EQ network just adds to the amp output Z

Orthodynamics have a flat impedance vs frequency curve and should be virtually immune to changing frequency response in reaction with amp output Z (usually flat, R over audio frequencies)



and why no Electrostats - Koss ESP-950 system is cheaper than the "flagship" headphones on your list

Mostly because the dealer who is sending me these library sets doesn't carry Koss. I used to have some Stax Mk3s 30 years ago. They were great headphones! I really don't want to add another piece of gear like an amp to my desk. The Grace Design m903 should work with all the HF that I am auditioning. electro stats will...