ruthieandjohn
Stumbling towards enlightenment
(Formerly known as kayandjohn.)
The ability to compare, accurately and reproducibly, one headphone pair to another is a fundamental element of assessing headphones.
Ideally, we would be able to perform a blind test, where we listened to one pair, immediately listened to the other pair, could repeat, mark the results, and do this all without knowing the identity of either headphone.
Less than ideally, but still good, we would have some way of capturing and recording the sound of each headphone as it entered our ear canal, and then play back that sound with certainty that the recorded sound, interrupted by capture on its way to our eardrum, would sound just the same as the original. We could then switch back and forth between headphones (or more generally entire audio chains) without unplugging, removing and donning headphones, or knowing which we were listening to at the moment.
And if the interrupted sound did not sound just the same, perhaps it would maintain relative properties to the original, i.e., if in the original Headphone A had better soundstage and poorer bass than Headphone B, these replicated versions of their waveforms into our ear would have the same.
Perhaps the use of a calibrated head-and-torso simulator (e..g, the Bruel & Kjaer 4128C), in which we record the signal within each ear, could suffice.
In a blind listening test, if the headphones are indistinguishable, we would expect to correctly identify each one 50% of the time, as a result of random selection similar to flipping a coin.
If we are really capable of distinguishing them, we would correctly identify each 100% of the time.
But practically, our ability ranges somewhere between 50% and 100%.
I find as I listen to two headphones, I follow a hierarchy of ability to distinguish or identify them:
Perhaps these levels of distinction can map onto some score in a blind test, e.g., Stage 1 ("Hear") might score me 60% correct, a bit better than random but not much, while #5 ("Recall") might predict a 100% score in a blind listening test.
I find that in the binary headphone comparisons that I do, I regularly can get through Step 3. Step 4 is harder and Step 5 is rare indeed.
After all of this comparing, remembering, and recalling, I still have not actually assessed the results (e.g., "Headphone B sounds better than Headphone A.") That may not actually be a problem, because I find, particularly with high-end headphones, the differences are in sound quality and how that matches the preference of the listener (and the nature of the source material), rather than collapsing a number of variables (sound stage, bass, mid, treble, etc.) into a single "better / worse" value judgement.
How does your comparing of two headphones match my view above? Thanks!
Ideally, we would be able to perform a blind test, where we listened to one pair, immediately listened to the other pair, could repeat, mark the results, and do this all without knowing the identity of either headphone.
Less than ideally, but still good, we would have some way of capturing and recording the sound of each headphone as it entered our ear canal, and then play back that sound with certainty that the recorded sound, interrupted by capture on its way to our eardrum, would sound just the same as the original. We could then switch back and forth between headphones (or more generally entire audio chains) without unplugging, removing and donning headphones, or knowing which we were listening to at the moment.
And if the interrupted sound did not sound just the same, perhaps it would maintain relative properties to the original, i.e., if in the original Headphone A had better soundstage and poorer bass than Headphone B, these replicated versions of their waveforms into our ear would have the same.
Perhaps the use of a calibrated head-and-torso simulator (e..g, the Bruel & Kjaer 4128C), in which we record the signal within each ear, could suffice.
In a blind listening test, if the headphones are indistinguishable, we would expect to correctly identify each one 50% of the time, as a result of random selection similar to flipping a coin.
If we are really capable of distinguishing them, we would correctly identify each 100% of the time.
But practically, our ability ranges somewhere between 50% and 100%.
I find as I listen to two headphones, I follow a hierarchy of ability to distinguish or identify them:
- Hear a difference: Listening to one immediately followed by another, I can tell that they sound different.
- Characterize the difference: Again, hearing one right after the other, I can describe the differences, e.g., "Headphone A has more bass, but less bass tone, while Headphone B has better treble detail, less bass, but more bass tonality (e..g, high frequency harmonics of the bass);"
- Recognize the difference: I can, in a blind test hearing one right after the other, correctly declare "That is Headphone A (because it has more bass, though less bass tone")
- Remember the difference: I can in a blind test with each comparison separated by time (and intermediate listening to other things) accurately make that same declaration of which headphone is which
- Recall the difference: After being away from the comparison for several hours, I can listen to just one of the headphones and say, without needing to hear the second, which headphone it is.
Perhaps these levels of distinction can map onto some score in a blind test, e.g., Stage 1 ("Hear") might score me 60% correct, a bit better than random but not much, while #5 ("Recall") might predict a 100% score in a blind listening test.
I find that in the binary headphone comparisons that I do, I regularly can get through Step 3. Step 4 is harder and Step 5 is rare indeed.
After all of this comparing, remembering, and recalling, I still have not actually assessed the results (e.g., "Headphone B sounds better than Headphone A.") That may not actually be a problem, because I find, particularly with high-end headphones, the differences are in sound quality and how that matches the preference of the listener (and the nature of the source material), rather than collapsing a number of variables (sound stage, bass, mid, treble, etc.) into a single "better / worse" value judgement.
How does your comparing of two headphones match my view above? Thanks!