[Melvins]

Ok so I understand impedance fairly well, what other technical data and other jargon do I need to understand to grasp the crispness, clarity, bass, depth, and the loudness and distinctness of each instrument of each pair of headphones.
 
I will be spending between 100-200 bucks on some find headphones soon, and would love to move up from my 238's. Doesn't necessarily have to be that portable since I will be using the 238's for mobility. Yet mobility is a plus.
 
Any suggestions or responses will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[pterodactilo]

You can't know how a headphone will sound at all given the manufacturer specs. At most you can deduce as you said if that headphone is easy to drive or not, give impedance and also sensitivity (i hope I've spelt this word right ). The only objective measure that can give you some hints about how headphones sound is frequency response graph. Some people say it is useless, but at least in my case it correlates pretty well to what I actually hear.

 

[Ypoknons]

There used to be a stickied glossary of sound terms, look at that. 
 
Unfortunately, I don't think there are easy measurements for clarity, soundstage and distinctness of instruments, at least not without an advanced understanding of how HRTF works, and that would be like learning financial accounting from a webforum - don't do it. Learn how to read a frequency graph, maybe read some books about sound reproduction if so inclined, learn about how electronics work to understand amplifiers and DACs, but the best teacher is actual experience, testing and buying headphones and gear, going to live concerts, learning to play instruments ...
 
I mean, go ahead and learn the technical stuff, but don't ignore language entirely. People talk about music with words all the time, you don't drag out sheet music every single time we talk about Diana Krall even if musicians find it useful at times... 

 

[Sophonax]

Quote:

You can't know how a headphone will sound at all given the manufacturer specs. At most you can deduce as you said if that headphone is easy to drive or not, give impedance and also sensitivity (i hope I've spelt this word right ). The only objective measure that can give you some hints about how headphones sound is frequency response graph. Some people say it is useless, but at least in my case it correlates pretty well to what I actually hear.

Agreed...although you have to be careful about the frequency response graph as well, as they can be misleading too, especially in the comparative sense.  Take a look at the following:
 

 
According to this plot, it looks as though the Sennheiser HD800s have more bass than the Denon D7000s.  I don't think there is anyone on Head-Fi who would support this conclusion.
 

 

[Melvins]

Nice, thanks guys. I've been looking at Sennheiser 448's have a 32 impedance, the same as my 238's, BTW how do you test headphones and put up the information on graphs like that?

 

[Ypoknons]

We don't. 

 There are websites with the measurements, most of them made with dummy heads. Tyll, formerly of headroom, is working hard on it. 
 
(edited - dummy heads, not dummy headphones. Tired, sorry)

 

[Melvins]

Ah. I see. have been looking at Grado 325i's, and some Audio Technica's. If I were to spend between a hundred and 200 hundred bucks, whats the loudest, clearest, dealiest* ha, pair of headphones I could get? BTW I just got an E5 amp and will be getting a LOD soon so power these suckers off of my 120 GB Ipod classic. Anyway...suggestions?
 
BTW: I listen to most hardcore/doom/sludge metal and lots of punk, folk, indie, and lots of other music in between. Primarily I listen to heavy ass music tho

 

[Dudesicle]

Frequency response graphs and most measurements can be extremely misleading. Also, a flat good Fr that you would expect to see on a good speaker is not necessarily what a good Fr for headphones will look like at all. Best thing to do is start compiling a bunch of tracks that you have your ear around really well, and start listening to lots of different headphones.

 

[swspiers]

Quote:

Frequency response graphs and most measurements can be extremely misleading. Also, a flat good Fr that you would expect to see on a good speaker is not necessarily what a good Fr for headphones will look like at all. Best thing to do is start compiling a bunch of tracks that you have your ear around really well, and start listening to lots of different headphones.

Yeap.
 
For me, the statement above is what makes this hobby so intriguing.  Headphones play by a different set of rules than most of audio, and I believe that is due to individual frequency response in each person's ear and audio cortex. Also, as soon as you put a set of cans on, the Fr is altered.  Subjectivity and individual response and preference seem to be the only rules that really count.  Until they don't...

 

[Dudesicle]

Even pushing the cans closer to your ears is going to affect the way they sound. Depending on the headphone, it may have different effects.

FR is measurable on headphones, but from my understanding, it's particularly hard to gauge what an objective graph really means. I have also heard from some people that a lot has to do with things like wavelength and how the length and volume of the inner ear affects perception in tandem. This, to me, is evidenced by how the measurement of bass response compares to the subjective listening experience differently with headphones than with speakers. Getting down into those low frequencies, the wavelengths get quite large, and the driver is moving quite a lot of air (from my understanding). But I'm just kind of guessing here and going on what I've heard.

I wish I knew more about this stuff, too. I do hear a lot of people argue about how their headphones are the best because their FR is thus and so crazy low number to such and such insane high number hz. I'm sure companies are aware of this, as well. I wonder how much affect those sub 15hz tones really have on the sound.

Wish I knew more about it, hahaha c: