[castleofargh]

That reminds me- I recently learned of the Burson 3XGT headphone amp that has a subwoofer out. My understanding is that you listen to your music with your headphones, but you have a subwoofer in the room, delivering the sub-bass. I can't quite picture if that would sound good/work well or not. But that kinesthetic effect, I'm guessing, is the goal.

That output can also be used with a "bass shaker" you place on your chair or on yourself.

 

[KinGensai]

AFAIK, IEM designers tend to work toward limiting shaking. A typical example would be to use 2 BAs side by side, but one rotated 180° on the nozzle's axis, so that while the total SPL is increased at the output(aiming for lower distortions at the same SPL), the lateral movements of the plates and membranes are out of phase and mostly cancelled.

That makes sense from an engineering perspective, vibrations kill machines so it's best to nullify them where you can. Some vibration is going to be inevitable given the very product in question is controlled kinetic energy. Is long term durability vs vibration a known issue in IEM scale? It makes sense to me that it is in larger scale given the much larger magnitudes of force.

On the one hand, I understand your hypothesis about the potential subjectif benefit of felt vibrations, and Floyd Toole did suggest that a perceived vibration even at a different frequency and on the hand or wherever, could help feel like the bass was better/louder. On the other hand, bone conduction is not new and while hyped several times, it has, so far, failed to convince the general user. I'm guessing there is a reason for that.

Right, I used a bone conducting headset for professional use at one point and it was not ideal for sound fidelity and comfort, but it did get the job done (in field comms) for short periods. I'm thinking the most feasible application of BCs is in the reinforcement of low frequencies to restore sensation lost in the transition from speakers to IEMs. The difference is tangible even in HPs to IEMs, and given the BC examples I tried, I think the bone conduction effect has some merit.

The main reason it's not hitting that well is comfort and cost IMO. Aftershokz are the BC headset I tried, and they get very painful after a short duration due to the pressure. In IEMs, the problem is engagement of the Pinna is not great in universal form, so they have to be custom fit for effect, which is cost prohibitive for what was previously a dubious effect (Unique Melody had to engineer a special demo set with a BC switch to demonstrate what that driver was actually doing because people couldn't tell). The IEM I have with a BC driver handling the bass frequency band shows promise, but the cost of getting a custom version of the 622B would be north of $4k, not exactly something I'm willing to pay for what is not conclusively an upgrade from what I already have.

 

[castleofargh]

Is long term durability vs vibration a known issue in IEM scale?

I have no idea ^_^. I'm guessing it's primarily about fidelity, as any energy from the signal that is not moving the diaphragm is a loss/distortion for that signal. But I could be wrong.

 

[Whazzzup]

no, get the best amp, it will scale any headphone

 

[Blanchot]

On the subject of headphone amps: I was told in another thread that my amp (Ferrum Oor) is not resolving enough for my headphones. I would need something far more expensive + a dac in the $10K+ range to fully understand what my headphones are capable of.

My question may come off as naive but what exactly is meant by resolution in amps? I know that amps can have more or less distortion, but apart from that, what can make amp A more resolving or more transparent than amp B?

 

[castleofargh]

On the subject of headphone amps: I was told in another thread that my amp (Ferrum Oor) is not resolving enough for my headphones. I would need something far more expensive + a dac in the $10K+ range to fully understand what my headphones are capable of.

My question may come off as naive but what exactly is meant by resolution in amps? I know that amps can have more or less distortion, but apart from that, what can make amp A more resolving or more transparent than amp B?

The power of love and friendship.
You're told to pay good money by someone who risks nothing, for a vague concept without any defined quantity and no evidence that it will be beneficial. What are you waiting for? ^_^
Reminds me of some old drawing with a small opening in the wall and a sign saying something along the line of "are you smart? pay 10$ to find out".

 

[KinGensai]

On the subject of headphone amps: I was told in another thread that my amp (Ferrum Oor) is not resolving enough for my headphones. I would need something far more expensive + a dac in the $10K+ range to fully understand what my headphones are capable of.

My question may come off as naive but what exactly is meant by resolution in amps? I know that amps can have more or less distortion, but apart from that, what can make amp A more resolving or more transparent than amp B?

Ironically their statement is not very resolving either lol.

I think there is something to what they are saying though, just not for the reasons they think. If you run the calculations in this thread and have the right parameters to feed the needed current and voltage to your HP, you are golden.

Typically, when these people say resolving, they'll mean treble response or whatever, and improperly matching amp to cable to HP can cause a change in FR due to insufficient current or voltage. Too much current/voltage will result in obvious fireworks, too little is more subtle depending on how big the discrepancy is.