[SilverEars]

   
Thanks for the info. I bolded the things I don't completely understand. I get that the phase is dependent on how resistive the driver is at a particular frequency (right?), but I don't understand how the phase affects the sound, and how the voltage/current differences change the phase. If you or any others could help me out, I'd really appreciate it. This kind of stuff is really interesting to me. 

OK.  I think if you read what I wrote about the headphone impedance and phase graphs, which goes into more detail, could be helpful in gaining a better understanding.  
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/746120/help-with-learning-how-to-read-certain-graphs#post_11136119
 
Also wiki on impedance has the same info, and maybe clearer in how it's explained.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_impedance

 

[Speedskater]

  I remember some trend where people were saying they could hear inverted polarity(on both side). and with some really weird hand picked signals it seems that you indeed can.
I always thought it was a pointless problem given that it would actually change very little to the music, and seeing how many IEMs have inverted polarity, I feel like I'm not alone no caring ^_^.

I think that some musical instruments when recorded with some mics & some mic techniques and played back on some loudspeakers will have audible polarity differences.  But the slightly better polarity at one point in an album may be the poorer choice at another point in the same album.

 

[GADGETYMAN]

Hi All,

I have an IFI DSD PRO and a new set of headphones from an Austrian Audio audio company in Vienna.
Well I found the difference with these closed headphones over all of my open headphones, Sennhieser 800s and Ananda but the most dissapointing sound came from the Austrian Audio closed set. It seemed that the singer was pushed to the back of the stage, and all the backing instruments came to the fore, almost in the back of the box, but I found the polarity switch on the IFI and suddenly all the music sounds, to me, as it should.
Why?
JC

 

[redrol]

Yeah, no, this is a 'bad' thing to do. Sure it sounds interesting, but its bad and unnatural in the extreme.