Is it true that if a device was able to theoretically have a perfectly flat frequency response that it wouldn’t sound perfectly flat to us as the human perception of it throws it off balance? If so, how would you detail the human perception?
The really reductive way of putting it, is there is research done that shows a flat measured pair of speakers in an anechoic chamber measuring ‘flat’ will sound different from a pair of headphones measuring perfectly flat. So there has been studies done to figure out what the frequency response of headphones should be in order to sound the same as a flat-measuring pair of speakers.
The TL;DR of it all is that there is no perfectly agreed upon frequency curve to make headphones sound “flat” or “neutral”… There are 2 of the most common used for compensation when taking measurements called ‘Diffuse field’ and ‘free field’… but neither is considered perfect… as they are taken as ‘averages’. Technically every person is a bit unique and would need some variation to get something perceived to be ‘perfectly flat’ just due to how ear shapes affect frequency response.
And then even after all the physics of sound do their thing… our brains fuck with it too… so it’s really just up to you to try stuff and figure out what you like. Lol
Maybe he should return his headphone and get another. could be defective
I am planning to get another cable and am wondering between getting a balanced cable with an adaptor to 3.5mm or the same cable, for the same price, but not balanced, and then I won’t need an adapter. My concerns is whether an adapter to 3.5mm will have any detriment to the sound, if I need to worry about the adapter I get actually fitting the 4 pin xlr termination, and whether getting balanced will actually be worth it when considering upgrading in the distant future. I wonder about the differences in performance between the balanced and single ended outputs of an amp. I’m guessing from what I’ve seen that between a non-true balanced output and single ended output, that the only real advantage of the balanced output is having more power with the exception of some amps having a poor performing single ended compared to balanced, but what exactly is the advantage of having a truly balanced output vs single ended and having a balanced dac + truly balanced output vs single ended?
It shouldn’t
To make something complicated easier, a good single ended amp can match the quality of a balanced one imo. I would say if you have a balanced amp, use the balanced out since it was designed to be balanced, but if not don’t worry about it
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What exactly does good dynamic range compared to bad dynamic range sound like in a headphone? Does dynamic range have anything to do with being able to pick up quieter noises than other headphones, or is it only widening the margin between the softest and loudest sound?
So poor dynamic range would make it sound compressed where quieter detail is unnaturally forward and louder sounds are closer to the quieter sounds in volume. With a very dynamic headphones music will sound less compressed and quiet sounds will sound very quiet and loud sounds will be very loud, with a wider range inbetween loud and quiet. Its kinda something you just have to hear to fully get it
One thing I’ve found out that is a bit annoying with this headphone, is different people have gotten different pads with them, depending when and where they got them, so it’s a bit confusing with reviews of them since the pad they have can change from reviewer to reviewer.
What does it mean when someone says a headphone sounds veiled?
Typically that it has a signature that masks some of the sound or that it has roll off on both bass and treble
What purposes does a preamp serve, and can you use a jds labs atom as a preamp?
If you either have powered monitors or a power amp, a preamp can control the volume of the signal if you don’t have a volume control. A traditional standalone preamp for stereo does the same thing but has more inputs and does more
Actually trying to AB test for once between the headphones and AirPods just hooked up to my phone made the sound difference a whole lot more obvious.
Any reason turning up or down the volume on your source such as Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, etc. would affect sound quality?
No. That only becomes an issue if you’re start overdriving the inputs on your dac or amp. Just maxing out volume on a software player alone is unlikely to do that.
By reducing the digital volume you are reducing the bitrate of the music, reducing dynamic range, you really want to have your digital volume maxed and control volume through your amps
Is it possible that if 2 people tried the same headphone they would hear something quite different if the pads fit one person perfectly while the other person’s ears are cramped inside?
Absolutely, seal is important to most headphones. Also people hear differently too lol
Yep. I missed the part about lowering volume. Nice save.
What is the purpose of having a right angled jack over a regular one?