DIY Headphone Response Plots
Jun 18, 2003 at 6:22 AM Post #152 of 191
I find the information contained herein to be quite accurate.

The DT250s have a really rich detailed neutral midrange for closed cans and thus match the HD580 "reference point" since there is no universal standard for headphone measuerments.

The brightness I heard from CD3000s is evident in these tests; and the HD600s having a slightly different, perhaps brighter high end means that the test has exactly that amount of margin for error or the 600s really do sound a bit more emphasized in the highs.

Cool graphs. Good job, J-Curve.

Cheers,
Geek
 
Jun 18, 2003 at 7:15 AM Post #153 of 191
i usually look at what point the curve crosses the -40dB point and then look down and see at what frequency it correlates to. i then look at the curve shape between 2500Hz and 4000 Hz and try to correlate it to what i presume will be either bright, flat or dark. lastly i look at the over shape of the curve from 100 to 2.5khz.

some headphones defy correlation, though. take the cd3000 for example. one would think that it doesn't have enough bass, but it does.

i take it that the red line is the right channel. this could explain differences if there is a cross over cable. the relative volume levels could explain phase shifting.

why are there no grados?
 
Jun 18, 2003 at 10:19 AM Post #154 of 191
Quote:

Originally posted by mitaic
someone should make this thread sticky... very important info!


i second that (or fifth?).

although a pair of phones are so relative to the person's source, amp, music, ears, etc. and graphs are dependent on the reference pair used. oftentimes no graph can tell us more than our own ears. still it would be very good for this thread to be sticky. this is a good one to be coming back and check time and again. i hate for this thread to go under, lost along with all the other long forgotten threads.

and j-curve can update it when he gets his grados
biggrin.gif
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Aug 26, 2003 at 6:35 PM Post #159 of 191
Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn
and you just know that I'd like to see the DT531 response graph.
wink.gif


i'm still amazed by the DT831 graph. to me the midrange sounds recessed.


Must be your source or amp toning it out... the midrange and highs are why I loved the 831s. For detailed classical they were my favorite until I got 3ks.
 
Aug 26, 2003 at 11:06 PM Post #161 of 191
TWIFOSP,

why "Wow"?

what do you see that I do not? I look at that -10dB dip at 2700Hz and am not impressed. Those who have heard them, though, have a bettter impression as to their true capabilities.

Me, I've always wondered if there was a certain power level in which a headphone became flat regardless of their tested performance. I find that some headphones perform better at certain power levels. Unfortunately it may be too high a level for sustainable listening. In the case of the HP910 I could detect different levels of bass at different volume levels; just as Grados, and many others, become piercing at certain volume levels and one dials down the volume level to a more comfortable level.

Response graphs are not the end-all, but they are re-affirming. For me, make mine HD580/HD600/AK401/AK501/DT831/DT880.

It would be interesting to diagram a new headphone, then compare it to one that has been burnt in, and lastly compare it to one that has been burnt in and has been playing for an hour.
 
Aug 27, 2003 at 3:24 AM Post #163 of 191
Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn
TWIFOSP,

why "Wow"?

what do you see that I do not? I look at that -10dB dip at 2700Hz and am not impressed. Those who have heard them, though, have a bettter impression as to their true capabilities.

Me, I've always wondered if there was a certain power level in which a headphone became flat regardless of their tested performance. I find that some headphones perform better at certain power levels. Unfortunately it may be too high a level for sustainable listening. In the case of the HP910 I could detect different levels of bass at different volume levels; just as Grados, and many others, become piercing at certain volume levels and one dials down the volume level to a more comfortable level.

Response graphs are not the end-all, but they are re-affirming. For me, make mine HD580/HD600/AK401/AK501/DT831/DT880.

It would be interesting to diagram a new headphone, then compare it to one that has been burnt in, and lastly compare it to one that has been burnt in and has been playing for an hour.


Specifically the left part of the graph, how high it is. To me this means that the low end is just as good as the high end.

A dip doesn't mean much. I don't think I'd want headphones that were perfectly flat. Most of the headphones I like on that list aren't even flat. Most of the headphones that I find less than appealing are closer to flat. Could just be my personal taste, but it also could be how the headphones were fine tuned to replicate real sounds.

Remember that the human ear is only capable of processing a certain amount of sounds at once. Different frequency sounds also can cancel out other sounds. I'm taking a wild stab here, but perhaps these headphones a lot of us consider "better" are tuned to compensate for this. Who says a perfectly neatral reproduction is best?

Shrug, I have yet to hear the r10s, but my favorite headphones are the dt831s, dt880s and my overall fav: sony3ks. I completey lost my lust for sennheisers a while back.

Just my honest opinion
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Aug 27, 2003 at 3:36 AM Post #164 of 191
I completely agree with you.

But just as steepness can be irritating, a dip where nothing is heard (like watching a film with low volume and not being able to make out the words) can be just as annoying; and can contribute to that all important "wow, I was hearing things on these headphones that I never heard on my old headphones" syndrom.
biggrin.gif


The proof is always in the taste of the pudding. While graphs can serve as general indicators, they can not dictate exactly how they will sound to you.

For all one knows, that bass hump can translate into resonance or bass bloat, with a distinct possibility of musical corruption; it does not say what the bass transient is likely to sound like, either. My contention is that the difference between the red and white graphs may point to the crossover cables, just as the additional soldering may point to the high end unevenness. At the least, it could be unmatched drivers, or drivers that did not come from the same batch, or that had different batches of paper, belliocouse, etc. It is just a postulation.
 
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