How did you figure this out about your ear canals? I’ve been wondering about something like this with my own hearing, because I prefer a more “British” laid-back sound. Speakers that are too flat above like 8k seem like they are piercing my brain. The sibilance-ranges in particular can drive me nuts if too elevated.
Wish I could tell you something brilliant involving my CIEM impressions and measurements etc... but honestly, I knew before that because with universal IEMs I always use the smallest or second smallest tips (Etymotic is a weird exception... I can wear all their sizes). I can’t even wear Audeze iSine at all.
Then, about a year and a half ago, I was talking to an audio engineer (now the director of Consumer Product Development at Etymotic! Shout out to Tal Kocen!), and he taught me that tubes and rooms in general have a resonant frequency. It’s very similar to how you can hum a low pitched note in an enclosed shower, and eventually find the pitch that makes the whole space reverberate, though the smaller the space the smaller the wavelength and higher pitch of the resonance.
Of course, our inner ear shape is not the only influence on how we hear, so we shouldn’t focus on one tree and miss the forest, but it’s always interesting to learn possible explanations for our experiences and experiments. I’m no engineer myself, but I’m fascinated by science and I’m constantly learning more!
P.S. I’ve mentioned this before, but here’s another interesting experiment you can try with the HD 820 specifically. Obviously the shape of our outer ears will make a significant difference, but I enjoyed trying different spots for the HD 820 to rest around my ear. For example, if I shift the earcups forward and down, so my ear is in the top-back corner of the earcup, the HD 820 gains a lot more sub bass (and maybe some pleasing distortion?)! I admit I didn’t keep trying a bunch of other positions, because I was quite addicted to that placement, haha!
Does anyone else here have a similar experience? Post a comment!
