[odigg]

Quote:

it should be possible to eq any reasonable LTI response with today's DSP horsepower - but not necessarily with a simple "graphic equalizer"
 
right up to the limits of the Linear and Time Invarient assumptions
 
Smyth SVS Realizer does it with in ear microphones
 
of course even the same headphone can be audibly different depending positioning on your head

There is also a problem of perception or interpretation.  Let's say that you EQed a headphone X to exactly (within practical/audible limits) the same measurements of headphone Y.  The simple knowledge that headphone X is EQed may lead to a psychological effect that the headphones do not sound the same.
 
It's something akin to the placebo effect.  Arguably it's one of the reasons why people seem to hate dedicated software/hardware EQs, but will chase after a multitude of products to get an different sound (read: EQ) from hardware like transducers.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

it should be possible to eq any reasonable LTI response with today's DSP horsepower - but not necessarily with a simple "graphic equalizer"
 
right up to the limits of the Linear and Time Invarient assumptions
 
Smyth SVS Realizer does it with in ear microphones
 
of course even the same headphone can be audibly different depending positioning on your head

As you say, EQ can only go so far.  You cannot EQ slowness away.  You cannot EQ resonant/ringing modes away completely.  You cannot easily EQ phase coherence when it's not there to begin with.  (You can to a degree with good DSP, but if you know enough to do that you also know you need better headphones.)  You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.  Pigskin is still pigskin no matter what color you paint it. 
 
Headphones do NOT sound the same and cannot be made to sound the same when they're in a different grade of performance.

 

[xnor]

Quote:

Headphones do NOT sound the same and cannot be made to sound the same when they're in a different grade of performance.

How can you be so sure, have you tried it? Guess not, because IR convolution works fairly well... but you're right that "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

How can you be so sure, have you tried it? Guess not, because IR convolution works fairly well... but you're right that "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

I am absolutely certain, and yes I have played with the concept, and furthermore, it's a simple matter of physics that you cannot make any headphone sound like any other headphone, you can only make some headphones sound like some other headphones.  If, however doing so satisfies your ears, then you've saved yourself some money.
Cheers,
k

 

[xnor]

Quote:

I am absolutely certain, and yes I have played with the concept, and furthermore, it's a simple matter of physics that you cannot make any headphone sound like any other headphone, you can only make some headphones sound like some other headphones.  If, however doing so satisfies your ears, then you've saved yourself some money.

I didn't say that you cannot make any headphone sound like any other, actually I agreed with you on the opposite.
And that last sentence was unnecessary.

 

[udauda]

Quote:

Headphones do NOT sound the same and cannot be made to sound the same when they're in a different grade of performance...If, however doing so satisfies your ears, then you've saved yourself some money.

 
FYI:
http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~briolle/11thAESpart1.pdf
http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~briolle/11thAESpart2.pdf
 
Indeed, we can certainly save some money. 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I didn't say that you cannot make any headphone sound like any other, actually I agreed with you on the opposite.
And that last sentence was unnecessary.

I could have saved myself a lot of money over the years if I wasn't so darned picky!  I don't begrudge others the opportunity to do likewise.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

 
FYI:
http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~briolle/11thAESpart1.pdf
http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~briolle/11thAESpart2.pdf
 
Indeed, we can certainly save some money. 

In this study, they were making sow's ears from a silk purse, which is plausible.  Fun study, but seems flawed in that respect.  I only skimmed the paper for a couple minutes so I may have missed something.
 

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Hi all!!! Thanks for your patience.  The pdf of all the data is here.

 

[Shahrose]

Nice, thanks Tyll!
 
Wow the HD800 and LCD-2 measurements are impressive...

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

The LCD2 measurements are BEYOND impressive.
 
I'd go with stunning.

 

[Roger Strummer]

Great to see the results Tyll, thanks! Color me impressed by the Qualia measurements, didn't expect to see them like that. 

 

[khaos974]

Very impressive indeed, what is the -30 something dB that is present in the frequency response curve of of all the headphones, LCD2 and HD800 included?
Is is something due to your set up?
 
A good idea would be to included the difference between left and right ear, it could be indicative of the accuracy of the sound stage, however because of possible issues with correctly positioning the headphones, I don't know how accurate this result will be (even with averaging).

 

[jcx]

a quick way to skim a paper is to jump to the end (of part 2):
 
 


 
 
 
From the graphs the HD800 doesn't look too shabby either - may not need much eq

 

[xnor]

Haha nice, the Douggeh Orthodome is funny