[addicted2music]

I was listening to a song that had a bad popping sound with my iems. After the pop, I think the midrange got slightly harsh. The volume was medium to loud. Did the pop alter the sound?

 

[taffy2207]

It sounds like you have a corrupt file to me.

 

[addicted2music]

Yes, I removed that file. But is it possible for it to change the sound?

 

[castleofargh]

unless the song was recorded at a super low level, the difference between your listening level and the "pop" shouldn't be too big. based on that assumption, I doubt there's a risk of damaging the IEM. for example, on some MP3 tracks I sometimes get the peak level at the end of the song. and as I'm listening with replaygain, that peak noise can on occasion be maybe twice as loud as the song that was playing. it's not fun, for sure, but unless I'm already listening to the music so loud it's unsafe for my ears and the limit for the IEM's own tolerance, there is no reason to fear anything form a sound a little louder(even less so if it doesn't last long).

now if your playback system had very attenuated digital level(and I mean very), there could be some weird noises that still come out at full level by mistake. I'm thinking of situations like when a cellphone signal is picked up and massively amplified by the amp section that was set to compensate for the super low digital gain. so it's really loud despite how our music wasn't. but it's a rather specific problem and I don't know if your file could create such a problem. IMO, all is probably fine and you're just freaked out right now(as we've all been for one reason or another, like dropping gears on the ground or switching headphones and playing super loud music for a few secs in the very sensitive IEMs, etc). usually all is good beside our mental state ^_^. but I can't 100% claim that nothing could have happened to your IEM, I don't know enough to say that.

 

[addicted2music]

Thank you for your reply. Well, the volume wasn't too loud. Medium loud I would say. The song wasn't recorded at a super low level either. The pop definitely sounded louder than the song and was very unpleasant to listen to, but the difference between the pop and the song wasn't huge. It didn't make me jump out of my seat, but definitely grabbed my attention while I was working. I can confirm the pop was in the recording. Turns out the file was corrupted. I removed it.
What fears me the most is the pop might have slightly distorted the upper midrange. Also, I am not talking about full blown damage. It's hardly noticeable. At this point, I could be very well imagining it. But I still want to confirm.
IEM was the Moondrop Kanas Pro. It has the impedance 32 Ω @ 1k Hz. Source was my good old FiiO X1 1st gen.

 

[bigshot]

They’re designed to reproduce sound. If they can’t do that without becoming damaged, it isn’t the sound that’s to blame, the iem’s are defective.

 

[taffy2207]

Edited

At this point, I could be very well imagining it. But I still want to confirm.

I think so. I think you're thinking it's been damaged and you're looking for things to validate your expectations. Chances are when you listen again tomorrow, it'll sound the same as it always has done.

We persuade ourselves of things sometimes (or are persuaded), particularly in Audio.

 

[castleofargh]

Thank you for your reply. Well, the volume wasn't too loud. Medium loud I would say. The song wasn't recorded at a super low level either. The pop definitely sounded louder than the song and was very unpleasant to listen to, but the difference between the pop and the song wasn't huge. It didn't make me jump out of my seat, but definitely grabbed my attention while I was working. I can confirm the pop was in the recording. Turns out the file was corrupted. I removed it.
What fears me the most is the pop might have slightly distorted the upper midrange. Also, I am not talking about full blown damage. It's hardly noticeable. At this point, I could be very well imagining it. But I still want to confirm.
IEM was the Moondrop Kanas Pro. It has the impedance 32 Ω @ 1k Hz. Source was my good old FiiO X1 1st gen.

I haven't heard of the Fiio X1 playing tricks on people with volume levels or other dangerous weirdness, mine never did(not like the DX50...). so I feel even more confident that your IEMs are fine. still not 100% but coming closer.

 

[PointyFox]

If you did actually notice a change in sound, it could be from your tensor tympani muscle tightening your eardrum in response to the loud noise.

 

[bigshot]

Generally when transducers blow, it isn’t particularly subtle

 

[addicted2music]

Generally when transducers blow, it isn’t particularly subtle

I have read that there can be damage without the transducers being fully blown. Like some part of the sound is messed up. For instance, the treble becomes hot.

 

[bigshot]

I've never come across damage that changed the response. In my experience, damaged transducers distort badly or just don't produce sound at all.

 

[addicted2music]

@castleofargh - what's your opinion on this?

 

[castleofargh]

I can offer a solid; I don't know.
obviously there can exist more situations than those described by bigshot, but how often do they occur and what specific conditions are necessary for them to occur? I don't have a clue. my personal experience on IEMs makes me believe that they don't change much beside the amount of earwax+dust we joyfully put in them(which can affect the sound). but different drivers have different specs, composition, limits, etc. so what can or cannot happen is a case by case problem.
personally I find dropping my IEMs on the ground, scarier than most other scenarios. somehow that didn't stop me from doing it again just this afternoon.

 

[bigshot]

unlikely