[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakerface /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's about all it says...Probably not going to help you much. Sonically, I think they are good - probably not great, but very accurate (flat response) and revealing. Not very forgiving if something is recorded/mixed poorly.

By definition their frequency response is diffuse-field equalized, thus not "flat".

They are however a very good mix between the neutral and the musical.

 

[speakerface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif By definition their frequency response is diffuse-field equalized, thus not "flat". They are however a very good mix between the neutral and the musical.

I guess I struggle with how to translate diffuse field to a headphone. If a room (field) is "perfectly" diffuse for all audible sounds, then all those frequencies are scattered equally (and thus not absorbed or reflected unequally). So in that sense I would think that diffuse-field would imply flat frequency response. The other part of that interpretation is that a diffuse field implies a nice amount of (flat) reverb: ie, the flat response is not achieve solely by absorption. I struggle with that conceptually for a headphone. Therefore, in description, I ignore the reverb part and boil DF down to -> flat. Feel free to toss spears, poke holes, etc.

Regardless of what DF means in this situation, they are nice cans.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakerface /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess I struggle with how to translate diffuse field to a headphone. If a room (field) is "perfectly" diffuse for all audible sounds, then all those frequencies are scattered equally (and thus not absorbed or reflected unequally). So in that sense I would think that diffuse-field would imply flat frequency response. The other part of that interpretation is that a diffuse field implies a nice amount of (flat) reverb: ie, the flat response is not achieve solely by absorption. I struggle with that conceptually for a headphone. Therefore, in description, I ignore the reverb part and boil DF down to -> flat. Feel free to toss spears, poke holes, etc. Regardless of what DF means in this situation, they are nice cans.

Don't feel bad, it's more confusing than you think!

In order for headphones to have a frequency response that is perceived as flat, they must have a frequency response that, measured directly, has some distinct curves to it.

Usually that means peaks at about 30hz, 2.5khz, and 20hz - with a distinct dip at about 7.5khz to avoid ear canal resonance.

If that's not bad enough, you've got fletcher-munson curves to worry about -- your ear hears differently depending on the SPL. This is why ultrasones are so great for listening at low levels - they've got peaks that conform to the fletcher-munson loudness curves that make them great for low levels.

MOST head-fi approved headphones are tuned for some spin on DF equalization or other. The K240-DF is just the only one i can think of that advertises it right on the can. The DT990 was released as Eugen Beyer's flagship DF-equalized cans in 1985.

 

[martinq]

Am I right if I suppose the combination of iPod+240DFs without an amp is not very wise rig?

 

[ericj]

you are correct

 

[speakerface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Usually that means peaks at about 30hz, 2.5khz, and 20hz - with a distinct dip at about 7.5khz to avoid ear canal resonance.

Are those peaks to compensate for some physical acoustic issues (like the outer ear) or something else?

I can't think of anything else (besides the ear interaction and difference in incidence angle) that would make the required headphone response any different then that of a near-field monitor (assuming a flat room).

I may be in over my head now, but it's fun.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckiedeity /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah the unfortunate thing is that the sound cuts out in one of the channels sometimes and i have to mess with the little large-to-small headphone jack converter to get it to work again what's worse is that for some reason tonight while i was listening to music with them, the sound cut out in the channel that doesn't usually cut out, and no matter what i did, i couldn't get it to come back on i'm hoping it's just having an identity crisis and after leaving them unused for a day or so they'll decide to come back to me miraculously

An intermittent connection isn't going to get any better on its own. You should try to isolate where the bad contact is: find a stereo component where you can try it without the adapter to see if it's just that, then twist and play with the cord both at the plug and where it reaches the headphone to see whether the channel cuts out in one definite location.

New adapters are quite cheap. Fixing the plug or adding an aftermarket replacement plug instead is also cheap and should take anyone who can solder about five minutes to do. A bad contact above this point will be more expensive to fix and will possibly justify having them recabled, but the headphones are good enough that this should be worth it. If you do have to buy an adapter, you might want to take the chance to grab a spare set of earpads, which you'll need eventually anyway.

 

[Fitz]

Also, if you cannot fix the problem on your own or have someone locally do it, I'll repair the cable for you at no charge.

 

[duckiedeity]

oh wow. I hadn't realized there were any posts after one of my earlier ones. I was just searching my old posts and.. bam.

I'm probably just going to have them recabled, as both channels ceased to work (soon after I made this thread) regardless of the amount of twisting the large-to-small headphone jack converter or moving the cable around in certain ways I do. I don't really know where to start looking for a local source for a recabling job. Anyone got any ideas? If not, I'll see if my dad would be okay sending them off to you, Fitz, to do it free of charge (assuming you have a decent rep around here and wouldn't be known to nab them. lol. I don't know people on here very well yet).

 

[duckiedeity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega /img/forum/go_quote.gif An intermittent connection isn't going to get any better on its own. You should try to isolate where the bad contact is: find a stereo component where you can try it without the adapter to see if it's just that, then twist and play with the cord both at the plug and where it reaches the headphone to see whether the channel cuts out in one definite location. New adapters are quite cheap. Fixing the plug or adding an aftermarket replacement plug instead is also cheap and should take anyone who can solder about five minutes to do. A bad contact above this point will be more expensive to fix and will possibly justify having them recabled, but the headphones are good enough that this should be worth it. If you do have to buy an adapter, you might want to take the chance to grab a spare set of earpads, which you'll need eventually anyway.

Thanks for all that info, facelvega! I'll run a few tests when I can next get to a stereo component which does not require the adapter. Honestly I should take them over to the music school... they have amplifiers hooked to every computer (with Grado SR60s or Senn HD 414's...

)

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckiedeity /img/forum/go_quote.gif oh wow. I hadn't realized there were any posts after one of my earlier ones. I was just searching my old posts and.. bam. I'm probably just going to have them recabled, as both channels ceased to work (soon after I made this thread) regardless of the amount of twisting the large-to-small headphone jack converter or moving the cable around in certain ways I do. I don't really know where to start looking for a local source for a recabling job. Anyone got any ideas? If not, I'll see if my dad would be okay sending them off to you, Fitz, to do it free of charge (assuming you have a decent rep around here and wouldn't be known to nab them. lol. I don't know people on here very well yet).

Feel free to look at my feedback thread if either of you have any doubts.