I admit I didn't, but you don't have to listen in order to know of severe deficiencies which were measured using a credible system.
Just like I don't have to see a picture from a monitor if I saw a measurement of white balance showing it was completely off and had too much green, for example. The physics behind it is the very same. I heard many headphones and know how the measurements correlate.
Sorry for being a little cranky. While I’m not an objectivist, I fall somewhere in the middle. The beating the Abyss took on ASR was just completely ridiculous in my opinion - so I get somewhat defensive of Abyss, specifically because of their uniqueness - when someone criticizes them without listening to them.
Are the Abyss Phi TC tonally perfect? No. That said, it’s not like other headphones. The adjustment that can be made to the headphones fit are very similar to tweaking speaker placement in a room. For that reason, while you can get a general idea of frequency response, the frequency response changes so much with those tweaks that it could be somewhat (though not entirely) misleading.
What I don’t believe can be measured is their presentation, given the unique way they are intended to be worn without a seal, and their imaging which is truly unique and makes instruments more tangible - though the latter is likely effect of frequency response an their mids.
The bass quantity and quality is just significantly better than any other headphone, and I don’t think appropriately reflected on a graph. While not the most resolving TOTL headphone, they are more resolving than the Ether C Flow in my opinion. And, they are pretty damn resolving. I’m just thinking Stax 009, Susvara, etc edge them out.
I think one of the major arguments between objectivists and others is that frequency response can tell you everything, and this is the best example of it not being the case. While I take issue with ASR’s measurements - I can believe that it has distortion at higher levels - just not levels anyone would listen at. So in essence, it’s irrelevant to sound. I know how much objectivists like the HPA4, but the signal to noise ration is far beyond human hearing. My personal opinion is that while this is good engineering, it’s more important to focus on other elements of gear rather than SINAD if it can’t be heard while listening to music.
But I digress. I highly recommend trying the Abyss TC on a relatively powerful rig (works well with the HPA4 if you like that), to have a better idea of what I’m describing. Yes our ears are fallible and there is snake oil out there - but headphones aren’t snake oil. The vast majority of headphones fit essentially the same way. The abyss do not, and as a result, I think more measurements are needed to capture what they are doing.
if you listen to them and completely disagree, that’s completely reasonable. They are just not like regular headphones. I’m not speaking of some magical secret sauce - just that the fit they use, which essentially uses your head as a “room”, and the resulting presentation and changes in frequency response, make them hard to compare with other headphones that fit in a more traditional way.
The Harmon curve, while useful - isn’t gospel. It’s based on preference. And, there are a lot of people that prefer the abyss to anything else (me included). I sold my Stax 009 rig when I got them because I found them so much more engaging to listen to. Given their polarizing look and fit, and the fact that there are much more comfortable headphones (though I find them comfortable - I also don’t mind the LCD series), they have to be doing something that’s appealing. Sure it’s impossible to blind test them, but we’re not having a cable debate or talking about EMI’s effect on a DAC. These are transducers.