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Headphone Measurements
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Headphone Measurement Database
Introduction and Methodology
All the following content is created and owned by me.
This is a culmination of a significant investment of time and money.
Please do not copy, reproduce, edit or republish any of the following work without my consent. Always remember to give credit to your sources!
head-fi profile
About me
Emoji Ratings
This is me
https://www.head-fi.org/members/greq.135670#about
www.head-fi.org
PM me on head-fi for comments, suggestions and headphone donations ;)
Headphone modder and vintage headphone enthusiast.
I have owned over 300 various headphones, headsets, IEMs and earbuds.
[no emoji] = average headphone makes some noises that the average noob will enjoy
💩 = below average, awful, ghastly, unlistenable, or I just don't like it
💎 = stuff that I like
• 3-diamond rated closed-backs cannot be compared to 3-diamond open-backs for example... because that's like comparing 🍎🍎🍎 to 🍊🍊🍊
🤪 = Silly fun stuff that I like - sometimes irrational
JVC collection
Equipment
About the E.A.R.S.
All measurements are made using a miniDSP E.A.R.S. binaural microphone jig: https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/ears-headphone-jig
Fundamentally it is a binaural microphone/headphone stand with simulated silicone ear-lobe mounts.
While the miniDSP E.A.R.S. is a flawed tool, a measurement graph on its own is practically useless. Here I am offering something different - a massive catalogue of graphs for comparison made by the same user with the same equipment and the same methodology. While there will always be imperfections, this is by far the best use-case for such a device.
It is the most simple all-in-one measuring tool available.
PROS
CONS
Cheap all-in-one solution
Not the highest quality materials and parts
Works well with free REW software
Silicone ears are too stiff resulting in poor seal of on-ear headphones. Human ears and skin are more flexible
Height adjustable headband mount
Silicone ears have 4 protruding screw-heads resulting in poor seal of some over-ear headphones
USB - plug and play microphone functionality
No angle adjustment of the ears which can lead to a poor seal with some headphones
Consistent results for large over-ear headphones
No simulated ear-canal
Inconsistent dip artefact in graphs at 4KHz. Most prominent with closed-back headphones.
Some headphones require rubber bands around to apply more pressure to create a seal
No width adjustment. It is a very narrow head-size, like a child's head, which can cause a bad seal with some headphones
Amp/DAC
Disclaimer
All headphones were plugged into the same source - audio-gd NFB11.28 TCXO
Most measurements were made in High-Gain mode.
Some vintage headphones and sensitive IEMs and earbuds were measured on Low-Gain to avoid any potential damage to the drivers.
Room EQ Wizard
Frequency Response Graphs - Disclaimers
All my graphs use the same scale.
All graphs use the 'Headphone Calibration' compensation files provided by miniDSP unique to my E.A.R.S. jig.
All IEM and earbud graphs use the 'IEM Calibration' file.
The frequency response scale goes from 10-20,000Hz. I do this for 3 reasons.
- Firstly, to make these graphs somewhat comparable to other measurements online created by other miniDSP E.A.R.S. owners/users.
- Secondly, to make these graphs somewhat comparable to Tyll's graphs on innerfidelity.
- Thirdly, there are too many online graphs that start at 20Hz. There is so much information and character of a headphone you can learn from seeing the lowest sub-bass performance of a headphone. Headphones that have a strong sub-bass down to 10Hz more often present music with grander 'scale' and dynamics. There are many headphones that start rolling-off strongly before 20Hz which is often why there is little regard given to these frequencies, but my experiences with hundreds of headphones taught me how important it really is.
While the dB scale remains the same for all graphs, the relative position or 'height' of one graph to another should not be taken as meaning anything, and as such should be completely ignored.
IEM and Earbud graphs are very inaccurate because the miniDSP E.A.R.S. jig is simply not designed to measure these properly. I have tried to measure them as accurately as possible using as consistent a method as I can, however none of them should be fully trusted.
A few favourites
Last modified 2mo ago
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