DROP + GRELL OAE1

[fidgeraldo]

Although I've been in this hobby for decades it was only recently that I started to pay attention to where the sound interacts with the ear.

Here's an idea to change the sound, then.
In addition to standard changes with pads and various modifications to the headphones.
Maybe we should just have a fake ear that we can put on our ears.
An infinite number of variants follow.
Let's exchange our "ears" and experience the exact sound everyone hears.
I'll use a mold to make a silicone ear of my ear, and you do yours!
It sounds like I am joking, like I often do.
But this time, I am serious as freshly roasted onion on a George Foreman grill!

Cheers!

 

[Luckyleo]

Here's an idea to change the sound, then.
In addition to standard changes with pads and various modifications to the headphones.
Maybe we should just have a fake ear that we can put on our ears.
An infinite number of variants follow.
Let's exchange our "ears" and experience the exact sound everyone hears.
I'll use a mold to make a silicone ear of my ear, and you do yours!
It sounds like I am joking, like I often do.
But this time, I am serious as freshly roasted onion on a George Foreman grill!

Cheers!

Thanks for clarifying!!! LOL

 

[4udio7ool]

We could also start adding our own modifications for sound treatment.

 

[Trinkle]

I tried the 660S after a long time, I had been using the OAE -1 till now. Suddenly the sound seemed very wrong in terms of where it was coming from. So I believe Axel is in the right direction but at the same time when I tried the OAE-1 the sound did not impress me apart from the bass. It lacked the detail and smoothness of the HD 800S, so I think with the specific fixes done to the OAE-1 if the headphone is updated to take into account of its shortcoming, we will have a winner.

 

[C4p1t4150und]

I just bought a fiio k11 to go with it. Not sure if it is placebo, but it seems to sound better…like thicker.

 

[Jermo K]

Hi Jermo...Near the end Axel is again making reference to how the ear plays an important role in determining the frequency response but has there been any in depth study or observations on why folks with different ear shapes where the canal is located prefer one type of phone over an other.
Although I've been in this hobby for decades it was only recently that I started to pay attention to where the sound interacts with the ear.
As shown in the photos some listeners will have the sound waves enter the ear canal directly or as with mine the entry to the canal is basically off set and hidden and most likely attenuates most direct high frequency energy.




Mine

This may easily explain why I've been over the years a lot more tolerant of some phones that received unfavourable reviews by some due to an over abundance of upper frequencies, the Sennheiser HD700 and AKG K812 come to mind for example and are two headphones I really like.
Also may explain why the OAE1 work fine for me.

We could also start adding our own modifications for sound treatment.

Hi Rob, great question!
There's a lot of work going into individual differences for in-ears, partly because true wireless earphones have the majority market share, and because those products have a measurement microphone built in
While people may be aware that there is a resonance shift in the treble, which depends on ear canal length and insertion depth, the difference in volume has a major effect on the entire frequency response. Depending on your ear canal volume, the entire mids may shift by up to 5 dB. This is enough to completely change the perceived tuning of a product.
For over-ear headphones, I don't think we can look at it yet. The pinna interaction factor (0 for in-ears, maximum for loudspeakers, very high for HD 800 and other large diaphragm angled headphones) has no established standard for measurement yet, and it's necessary to be able to put a number (or multiple numbers) to it before doing a study which sound signatures may benefit different ear shapes. Because a certain frequency response may or may not work for a certain ear shape depending on how much the headphones interact with the ear.

Great idea with the acoustic treatment though, maybe we can build reverse headphones: instead of only ear interaction and no room reflections, you get room reflections but no ear interaction :^)