[Bazooka]

Hi,
Just a simple question,what does Fq-Response mean?
Is it like the Higher the better?
Or is it like the Higher value being more higher=the better? and
the Lower value being more Lower= the better?

but what i find confusing is that i can get headphones for 10$'s that nearly match the Fq-response of some of the bigger 100$ headphones????

so does that mean they will sound the same?sorry for this question,totally newbish i guess

Lastly,what other "values" in the specifications of any headphone should be looked at before buying?

Thanks.

 

[swalker]

AFAIK, the frequency response is pretty useless unless they indicate the error range. A dollar store earphone could have a specified treble range going up to 50KHZ but they won't tell tell you the it's at -10 decibels. They do produce the sound at that frequency, but how loud? Ideally, you want headphone that can produce an even response from 20hz to 20khz disregarding the diffused field eq.(but obviously there isn't such a product)

You cannot tell what a pair of headphones sound like from its paper spec Maybe a bit by looking at a frequency response graph but even that's very dicey. The only thing I'd consider useful to most people would be the efficiency rating.

 

[NightRaven]

The frequency response is supposedly the range of frequencies that the headphone can acceptably reproduce. In practice though, they don't mean much. A wide frequency range won't tell you that it sounds good or anything about its sonic signature. Specs in general are a bad reference to base purchase decisions upon.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I agree that frequency-response specs are meaningless, especially without a tolerance fugure. In fact, I've listened to headphones with *only* a 20-20,000 Hz claim that sound far better than headphones with a 5-30,000 Hz spec.

 

[meistyle]

in a nutshell...

The frequency response indicates how a system (any system, not just audio stuff) oscillates at specific frequencies. So if your audio equipment has a flat frequency response curve it means that every frequency is displayed with the same power. This does not mean that we perceive each note with the same loudness - the ear is more sensitive to frequencies around 4kHertz meaning that music in this range appears louder when in fact it isn't.

So to add more to the confusion, dB has to do with the intensity of a signal - which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how loud we think it is. (only because we cannot perceive signals above some 20kHz it doesn't mean that this signal has zero dB... )

The frequency response also displays the range of oscillation which is not of importance as far as the audio experience is concerned... (as the above posters have stated correctly, but that is not the whole truth behind the frequency response thingy... Basically it just is a way of characterizing a system and therefore a powerful tool... at least as far as engineering is concerned )

 

[markl]

Squat. Just like in the speaker world, it should be taken for a given that *manufacturer supplied* frequency ratings for headphones are as phony as a $3 bill. Also, I'd rather have a good sounding pair of headphones that have truncated frequency response than crummy crappy sounding headphones with amazing but maybe exaggerated alleged 5Hz - 200KHz frequency response. Frequency response rating is about as useful as impedence rating in determining how any given headphone will sound to you-- that is to say, not useful AT ALL.

 

[Bazooka]

Wow,Thanks a lot guys,Really appreciate that

.

So i guess its goodbye to seeing Paperstuff and start looking for good reviews and info givin from people like u about headphones

.

Thanks a lot.
Take care.

 

[chillysalsa]

It tells you absolutely nothing unless the cut-off points are specified. This is more commonly done with speakers, eg: 35-22Khz +/- 3 db

This actually tells you how neutral the transducers are (how small the +/- db range is) and tells you the cut-off points when you actually start noticing the bass or treble roll-off.

 

[MrKokett]

Meistyle hit the nail on the head. The frequency response is how a system reacts to a certian signal being sent thorught it. A flat frequency response means that all signals between the cut offs (say 5Hz to 20kHz) will come out (in the case of a headphone, usually amplified) at the same amount. So if a 10 Hz signal enters into this system, the system will send out a singal with the same power as the system would send out if a 15kHz signal entered it. For example, some headphones have freq. resp. that drops off (curves down) at the low end which means that the bass would not be a powerful as say a mid range tone (bass uitar vs. electric, per say). This dosn't effect the quality of the sound though, thats left mostly up to the drivers and the materials used in creating them. Hope that sheds some light on it. Hooray for DSP.

 

[RobertR]

dont forget that low intermodulation and harmonic distortion are also important factors in the sound altho these are hard to measure in headphones.

 

[audiopile]

I spent 25 years in the audio buisness. At least in terms of transducers (speakers,headphones ,microphones) - a good rule of thumb is the worse the spec the better the product. Real crap will frquently have either worthless "specs" ( no db deviation listed) or stunningly un-likely specs (20-20K +/- .25db.) or a catagory I have always appreciated - specs created by some really remarkable non-standard "test" procedure which magically can not be compared with anybody else's test data.
Headphone testing is further complicated because there are at least a couple of standard "heads" - with different microphones and ear canal geometry - and not surprisingly - you get differnt results from different heads/fixtures. Jury rigging is fairly worthless in this area.
Basic Headphone specs should consist of:
Impedance of Headphone - plus a plot of impedance v. frequency.
Effeciency - X volts RMS yeild XXX db @ 1Khz.
Frquency responce listed as XX to XXXXXX hz +/- X.X db. plus a plot of frequency responce that shows drive level.
It's really hard to come up with all of these for a phone - I'm still looking for a plot of impedance v. frquency for my Sony CD-3000 . In the end this data is only marginally useful anyway - because the "best" headphone in the world is of little use to you if you can't stand to wear it for extended periods of time and one guy or gals comfortable may be someone else's excruiciating.
Bring you own music with you and listen - nothing else is really valid.