[Danosaurus]

Apologies if this has been covered before, lately I have been auditioning and comparing a couple of different sets of phones and I seem to notice a strange phenomenon and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. It seems like, after I have been listening to one set of phones for a while, my ears become "tuned" to the phones, so when I abruptly switch to another pair they sound totally wrong. For example, going from a brighter sound to a more balanced one, the balanced phones sound awful...dull and dark. But if I start with the darker phones first they sound great, then switch to the brighter phones they sound terribly harsh, thin and hollow.
 
As a specific example...I listened to a pair of Crossfade LPs for a while today and felt they sounded pretty decent, with full vocals and deep bass but a bit lacking in the highs. I know they're not great. The weird thing is, going from those to my D2000s actually made to Denons sound horrible...thin vocals, no midrange, almost painful treble. Deep on the low end but virtually no mid-bass.
 
Now I'm not saying the Crossfades are better than the Denons...I KNOW the Denons are superior. But why do they sound so much worse after listening to the Crossfades? On their own they're great!
 
So I guess what I'm wondering is...do our ears actually "tune" themselves to different headphone signatures? How can you possibly A/B headphones if that's the case?
 
Has anyone else experienced this or am I just nuts?

 

[binson]

Hi, 
 
I've been there many times... As long as the sound is somewhat decent, you get used to different sound "signatures" quite fast, and then any change will sound just plain bad, until you get used to it. That's pretty much how our brain (hearing) works.
 
I need to evaluate different headphones and loudspeakers at my work quite a lot and there are some things that I use, and you can try as well.  Naturally, the best way to evaluate headphones is just to use them for long enough to get a feeling of them. Another important point is to use them in surroundings where you're planning to use them. Especially, if you're planning to use them outdoors, then test them outdoors, and if you're buying it for home usage, then test them at a quite place.
 
Sometimes there is no time or possibility to test the headphones for longer time, and that's why I always have certain recordings, that I know well, in my phone. I also have some test signals that I can play to get a rough feeling on frequency response and distortion performance. 
 
If I need to do A/B testing, then I often concentrate on specific details in music and evaluate them. For example, comparing how cymbals are balanced to the rest of the drum, and compare that between the A and B. Then choose another detail, and compare that. 
 
Hope this helped. 
 
 

 

[metalgear]

the ears don't conform, the brain does.
 
when the wife nags at me, its sounds different at the start compared to the end!

 

[liamstrain]

The ears are as susceptible to contrast as the eyes are. A panel of blue, on its own is easy enough on the eyes - but throw a saturated orange stripe in the middle of it, and it will be jarring. Moving from one signature to another will briefly allow those contrasting points to "glare" until your brain adjusts. 
 
I actually find that useful in an A/B situation - it clearly points out where there are major signature differences between the two sets (sort of a waypoint marker), make a quick note of it - then I can give them more time and evaluate fairly after my brain has made that adjustment. 

 

[ostewart]

i have this and always find it really weird, the brain is a amazing thing, how it adjusts. For reviewing i always give myself time to adjust to the soundsig of the product.

 

[Tilpo]

I noticed this as well, but not only with different headphones; with DSP's as well.
The first time I tried to add a crossfeed DSP (one with interaural volume and time difference adjustments) it sounded horrible, but I gave it a try and after less than a week I thought the music sounded horrible without crossfeed.
The same is true for equalizers and many other DSP's. What I usually do to assess whether a DSP is good is to listen with the DSP on for a while, and then compare it to without the DSP. So far only EQ and Crossfeed have made it through.

Just goes to show that our brain does funny stuff to the perception of our surroundings.

 

[Danosaurus]

Good so I'm not crazy! The human brain is quite amazing. I read once about how it is constantly filling in missing bits in our vision to give us a complete picture, I think this is kinda like that. This might also explain all those people that think their iBuds sound great...lack of comparison?

 

[Tilpo]

Good so I'm not crazy! The human brain is quite amazing. I read once about how it is constantly filling in missing bits in our vision to give us a complete picture, I think this is kinda like that. This might also explain all those people that think their iBuds sound great...lack of comparison?

I think it's a lack of comparison indeed.

Back in the days when all I had were iBuds and some very cheap Trust headphones, I actually thought that the iBuds sounded quite good. I realized they were a little bit non-linear as they had trouble with the far reaches of the spectrum, but I simply never realized sub-consciously that it could be better.
Then when I bought my first IEMs, the Sennheiser CX300 II's, I thought they sounded a lot better. However after a short while I became accustomed to them and when I consequently took my iBuds to a listen I thought it sounded horrible. That's when I realized that hi-fi is mostly relative rather than absolute; you can find something great, but once you know how good it can sound then you realize how bad your system really is.

For further anecdotal evidence: This also happened when I upgraded my speakers from EUR 10 Logitechs to ~EUR 75 Sonies. I thought the Sonies sounded just like real life, although if I would take them for a listen now I'd say they were horrible.



So in a way are the plebeians with their puny little iBuds and hyper compressed 128kbps mp3's not the lucky ones for not knowing any better?

 

[castleofargh]

each new piece i get, i spend like a month trying to EQ it to sound ... well obviously close to my last one. after a month i get bored and/or used to it and tend to learn loving them for what they are without any settings. my brains need that time to "burn in" . 

 
 
@metalgear. priceless moment of science there, thx.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

I am the same. Indeed my ears have now tuned to some Logitech PC speakers as the decorators are in and I have had to dismantle my hifi.

 

[kingpage]

Quote:

the ears don't conform, the brain does.
 
when the wife nags at me, its sounds different at the start compared to the end!

 
Unfortunately, burn-in doesn't work with wives. Good wives will still be good when time passes by, whereas bad ones won't "seem" better even if you tried to put up with them for decades. The fatigue will still be there.

 

[Tilpo]

 
Unfortunately, burn-in doesn't work with wives. Good wives will still be good when time passes by, whereas bad ones won't "seem" better even if you tried to put up with them for decades. The fatigue will still be there.

Maybe it's a fundamental flaw in their design that causes the problems.

 

[Argo Duck]

LOL, good stuff!
 
Good OP and some interesting and useful responses too. Absolutely I notice this. I have thought for years our brain has its own EQ panel it applies automatically to whatever we hear.
 
Liamstrain is right - that brief transition before the 'brain EQ' kicks in is highly revealing. Very good point.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

This internal EQ will also affect how we hear audiophile phenomina such as 'burn in'. It also suggests that blind testing should be done with quick chnages so that our internal EQ does not have a chance to kick in.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ great points!