[IMPERIUS]

Hi!
 
I'm a new to this "headphone game" and I need some explanation. I've been comparing some headphones recently and I have a question- is the difference of the bass between these headphones big or not? Look at the left graph corner, the difference between the dt770 and the k601 is 10dBr (?).
 
Is this difference big? I know that the 770 is closed back and the k601 open but still.
 
Thanks
 
graph- http://imgur.com/Ob5Vi23

 

[GREQ]

There are other factors to include like the audio source, the actual audio being played, and your own ears...
I would say the difference is audible. Some might say its big.

 

[IMPERIUS]

  There are other factors to include like the audio source, the actual audio being played, and your own ears...
I would say the difference is audible. Some might say its big.

 
Also, the frequency graph tells us which frequencies are recessed/empasised, right? So if the graph was perfectly straight at 0 dBr that would be the perfect neutral headphone? And so if a headphone has say 10dbr at 10hHz and -10dbr at say 30Hz that means that the 10hz freqencies would overpower (not sure if used correct term here, I meant that they would be more audible) those at 30hz?

 

[Me x3]

 So if the graph was perfectly straight at 0 dBr that would be the perfect neutral headphone?

 
No. It's more complex than that.
The perfect flat response in those graphs means the headphones are flat according to the compensation used. The compensation curve comes from a theory of how headphones should sound. That particular theory is being questioned by recent studies that suggest a different bass response is needed to achieve what we perceive as neutral response.
 
More so, we all hear differently, you have your head, your shoulders and your ears, I have mine, our body tweaks and decodes the sound before reaching our brain, and that leads to important differences in perception between different people.
 
More so, we lose some ability to hear very high frequencies with age, then what's flat for me (24) might not be flat for someone in his 60s.
 
Last but not least, there's not much information about how hard the bass kicks in those graphs and comparing graphs from open headphones and closed headphones can be really tricky.
 
In this particuar case, DT770 is probably clearly bassier than K601, but the graph might not be the main reason for that.
 
In some cases graphs can be very useful for comparative purposes, specially when the headphones have a similar design.
 
Best Luck!

 

[GREQ]

 
No. It's more complex than that.
The perfect flat response in those graphs means the headphones are flat according to the compensation used. The compensation curve comes from a theory of how headphones should sound. That particular theory is being questioned by recent studies that suggest a different bass response is needed to achieve what we perceive as neutral response.

Just to add to this, sometimes even my own ears perceive one set of headphones to be somewhat neutral most of the time, but sometimes depending on the time of day, if I have a cold or not and other factors, the same headphone can sound piercing in the treble, or fatiguing in the bass.
Too many factors.

 

[kramer5150]

IMHO a difference of 10db on the headroom graphs is very easily heard.  I would go so far as to call it a night and day difference... in this case between the DT770 and more neutral K612.
 
[EDIT]... assuming there is actual musical content at the targeted frequency(ies)

 

[billybob_jcv]

As my esteemed colleagues have pointed out, the FR chart is simply one tool, and even combining different charts, such as FR, impulse response, square wave response, THD, etc will really only give even the most experienced reviewer part of the picture. Listening is still always required.

I do think bass response is one of the easier attributes to get from the FR chart. It's much easier to measure than the higher frequencies. The bigger unknown is where the music you listen to is really putting it's bass energy. A lot of music is not as low in frequency as you think. A really hard kick drum might have the fundamental frequency ~50 Hz.