Is it time for a new Harmon Curve survey?

[redrol]

Yes, I can find one but i won't bother. Its bad. It has almost no mids (actual mids), then spikes up to 10db at 2.5kish and then rides that to like 7k and drops. It sounds crispy and hollow.

Etymotic while not perfect is a LOT better.

 

[bigshot]

I thought it was for headphones. Are you sure you aren’t applying a headphone curve to IEMs? That wouldn’t work.

 

[redrol]

 

[bigshot]

Interesting. I can see how the in ear would be hard to determine consistently. Shoving the transducer in the ear would likely fit different and sound different to each person. The headphones curves are probably more accurate because the physiognomy wouldn’t be as much of a wild card.

 

[Ghoostknight]

the IE 2017 curve looks really awful above 5khz, in my mind such a "unsmooth" response cant sound right

at 9 Khz its +5db , where at 10Khz its nearly -5db

 

[bigshot]

I think I’m calibrated to the 2013 curve with a 1.5dB boost around 2 kHz. I can live without the boost.

 

[Ghoostknight]

personally i use the OE2017 with reduced bass bump and 2 PEQ's which bring everything above 1khz down (linearly, a few db's at 20khz)

i figured if i like linear descending house curves on speakers i might also like it on headphones since *i guess* most comparisons were actually done with flat measuring speakers VS headphones to some degree

and imo it actually works quite well to fit your personal preference if you think harman is too treble heavy, tho i dont think it would fix the IE2017 curve...

 

[MudEnjoyer]

Harman preference target seems to only be replicated within the conditions of the study. Meaning that the target is plagued with methodology artifacts. Exactly how it would look like if you didn’t have volume control and all you had was two knobs for adjusting bass and ear gain.

Everyone I know that didn’t get brainwashed by reading the Harman research papers thinks IEMs tuned to this target sound mid at best. See my profile picture for a visual representation of how Harman target sounds like to me.

In fact I’ve shown my IEM collection to a significant number of people and they all picked the Sony XBA-N3 as the best sounding earphone (no exceptions). Meaning that at least in my experience the most well liked frequency response in a real scenario is closer to the N3 than whatever Harman iteration we’re currently on. This is also aligned with the findings of USOUND research.

Coincidentally, the N3 is pretty close to IEF

 

[bigshot]

I’m guessing Harman works best with headphones. Less variables than with IEMs.

 

[redrol]

I'd imagine so. IMO the proximity effect of IEMs ruins that kind of tuning curve.

 

[castleofargh]

Hope the link works:
https://www.knowles.com/docs/defaul...ry/preferred-response-white-paper-v012624.pdf

 

[AudioMastermind]

You can find you own "personal Harman Target" if you have an amplitude response measurement of your headphones. You can create a program to rate music samples based on their tonality/sound quality, then using machine learning, create an optimized target curve for yourself.

 

[bigshot]

Or you can just grab an equalizer and make small adjustments, analyze the sound and then make more until you are happy.

 

[AudioMastermind]

Or you can just grab an equalizer and make small adjustments, analyze the sound and then make more until you are happy.

The Harman Target's significance is that it has blind test backing. Take out the blind element and it's just another target.

 

[bigshot]

There’s no one size fits all. Each person has their own target. Harman is only an average of most typical people. As such, it’s just a starting point, not necessarily a destination. This is the crux of the misunderstanding of what Harman is and what it is for. Calibrate to flat or Harman or whatever other target you want to choose. Save that as a calibration. Then adjust in small increments, listening carefully to a variety of recordings and you will find your personal ideal response curve. The calibration will act as an anchor so you don’t drift aimlessly. If you go too far in the wrong direction, you can reel back in and revert back to your calibrated curve.

Blind testing is for comparing two similar sounds. That isn’t the way to determine an ideal response curve. It can only compare one response curve to another to see if they are the same or different. If you want to create an ideal curve for you, you need to do it yourself by means of careful analytical listening. You can’t depend on a machine or canned response curve.