yup finding a reference is the most common problem. for that sadly I don't know of any method that doesn't involve going to a store of a meet and try an bunch of devices. for DAC and amps, electrical neutral and fidelity are enough to me so I don't really need to hear them most of the times if I can find enough specs. but for headphones of course you can't know what a frequency response graph means until you have the graph of something you're hearing yourself, and then use the same source of measurements for next time.
Not that many meets over here in Europe. The problem I have with frequency response graphs is that I can find one for a headphone that I like, but then there will be a similar looking one for another headphone that I don't like. The additional graphs for step response that they make at innerfidelity are also an additional factor in how a headphone may sound.
Ifwe cant even standardize the concept of neutral, the discussion becomesa mess. Neutral is a flat frequency response. Wr need some kind of objectivity because otherwise reading amd trying to figure out the performance of audio equipment without actually listening to it is as close to impossible as itgets.
If we establish and accept that neutral is a flat frequency response from 20hz to 20khz, the discussion could start to makesense, and as long as you have heard what abump/peak ora dip in a givenarea represents FOR YOU, you van start to get a solid idea of wjat you are looking for.
As Argyris said, a flat frequency response might be considered scientifically neutral, but due to the sensitivity of our ears, it would probably sound anything but neutral. Hence the compensation curves, which again leads to some subjectivity about which compensation curve is the correct one. A flat response in the bass area, according to the harman compensation curve, sounds quite bass heavy to me, for instance.
Pinning down the concept of neutrality certainly isn't made any easier when we consider that we still don't have a consensus on which curve headphones should follow to produce a flat response at the eardrum. It may well be that, due to the unnatural arrangement of having drivers acoustically coupled to the ear, there is no one correct curve that will result in a natural sound for all recorded material, and that any selection will be to some degree a compromise.
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Ultimately we need a compensation curve that takes into account the sound most people seem to feel is natural, so that a flat line on the chart is actually the ideal result. Then, at least, we will have a graphical target to shoot for that makes sense. Determining what this target should be, though, isn't easy because it's largely subjective. This is more or less what Tyll is working on currently, in collaboration with Harman. Preliminary results aren't surprising at all: the HD 600 charts as mostly flat but with bass rolloff and a slight push in the upper midrange.
I agree completely, though averaging a line to something most people would feel to be neutral, probably means that for many people, it isn't going to sound 'neutral'. And what one seems to find natural, may also vary with the type of music one is listening. What sounds natural for EDM, wouldn't sound natural for live music, or jazz music, for instance. The HD600 does sound quite neutral to my ears, though might perhaps benefit from some more bass extension (not too much).
I've heard speakers that sounded, to me, not that great at all with my metal and electronic music, but once I heard a live performance on them, their sound suddenly made sense to me. Natural for live music, not natural for metal (to my ears, at least).
Looking forward to Tuesday which is when I'm receiving my Eddie Current Zana Deux Super. I can't count the number of posts & testimonies I've read stating that this is the one, the best amp for the HD6X0 siblings which I've always owned. This will be my last shot at finding the best amp synergy (some head-fiers don't like this term) wise for the HD600.
I'm personally not that fond of synergy, because it's very hard to find and would require a lot of 'buying & trying' (due to lack of availability of anywhere to listen around here). To me, it's frankly a hassle, so I just tend to settle for
good enough (although, if I'd been consistent, I'd have bought the HD600 instead of the HD800, because the HD600 is definitely good enough).
But my only requirement for a DAC or an amp is that they don't colour the sound, just let the headphones sound as I like.