Of Sonarworks Truefi is still around, use that and it will extend the bass and improve things more than an amp.
On a side note, I have an old NAD 705 and someone suggested it may have a nice dedicated headphone amplifier. Here are the schematics if anyone who know how to read them wouldn’t mind doing me the favor.
https://www.schematicsunlimited.com/n/nad/nad-705-receiver-integrated-amplifier-service-manual/download/MTkzNjQ=
Thanks, there’s an iPhone app, I’ll give it a try tonightOf Sonarworks Truefi is still around, use that and it will extend the bass and improve things more than an amp.
No it can't. Not in theory and certainly not in practice.
Thanks, there’s an iPhone app, I’ll give it a try tonight
In what way is it theoretically impossible?
You are talking about nulling... When you have ever seen an actual reproduced signal of any transducer and compared that with the original you will know.
It looks like your knowledge is based on info from the web and little to no practical experience with actual measurements of transducers.
The veil isn't really due to a lack of treble - it's mostly down to the slightly raised upper bass / lower midrange a lot of Sennheiser headphones have, which perceptually masks higher frequencies, making them harder to distinguish, leading to a slightly veiled subjective impression (simultaneously providing a 'warmer' sound signature). (The HD650 does also have rolled off treble however, which exacerbates this problem further.) And yes, both the HD600 and HD650 have poor bass extension. So both deficiencies exist, and are clearly shown in their measured frequency responses.
The 650/6XX doesn't seem to suffer too badly according to Oratory when using EQ. Not much increased mid/treble distortion shown here:With headphones having a single driver (like the HD600, many others), this can increase midrange and treble distortion too, because the driver is being forced to travel closer to its extremes, where it's less linear. This relates to @solderdude 's comment earlier about keeping volume levels down.
One of the challenges in boosting attenuated low bass up to neutral levels is that it increases driver displacement, which is a contributing factor to distortion. If the bass is significantly attenuated (say, more than 6 dB), then boosting it all the way up to neutral can make it sound loose or bloated. For example if you boost it by 6 dB you're making the driver (and amp) put out 4x more power at that frequency, relative to the rest of the spectrum. And it's not uncommon for EQ to apply even more boost than that. With headphones having a single driver (like the HD600, many others), this can increase midrange and treble distortion too, because the driver is being forced to travel closer to its extremes, where it's less linear. This relates to @solderdude 's comment earlier about keeping volume levels down.
Personally, I find what sounds best is typically a compromise. If low bass is attenuated, boost it closer to neutral, but limit the amount of boost to avoid making the cure worse than the disease.
Of course one always has to do that to prevent clipping, but it doesn't solve the problem I'm talking about.Most (decent) software EQ has a digital pre-amp gain setting. Just set that to be at least minus whatever the largest positive EQ filter gain is and you're fine. Obviously your amp needs enough headroom for this in order to turn up the volume to satisfactory levels.
If you're listening at the 85dB shown (which is plenty to overcome the ear's sensitivity) and above for significant periods of time, the distortion you'll hear will be from your loss of hearing ability. Keep the volume reasonable people if you want to appreciate good audio for a lifetime.In the above graph, bass distortion increased by about 10 dB. But that distortion didn't leak into the mids & treble, because the overall SPL at which they measured it was low enough.
The headphone out is simply the speaker out via a 330 Ohm resistor so for today's standard a VERY high output resistance.
For those days quite normal.
Works well for high efficiency planar headphones and 600 Ohm headphones.
Not really suited for a lot of low impedance headphones. The HD6xx will sound noticeably 'darker' on this amp.
So there is no nice dedicated headphone section inside
View attachment 75867
I can't even imagine how you went about proving that this was the cause of a phenomenon that isn't even well-defined.
I too am a proponent of listening at moderate volumes. And I consider the 85 dB measured to be "loud" not "moderate". Here, the above graph shows that the EQ increased bass distortion by about 10 dB. My point is that lifting attenuated bass always increases distortion, so be aware and do it with care. The increased distortion may or may not be audible, depending on how much the EQ boosts it, the headphone, the music one listens to, how loud one listens, and one's personal hearing sensitivity or acuity.If you're listening at the 85dB shown (which is plenty to overcome the ear's sensitivity) and above for significant periods of time, the distortion you'll hear will be from your loss of hearing ability. Keep the volume reasonable people if you want to appreciate good audio for a lifetime.
If you're listening at the 85dB shown (which is plenty to overcome the ear's sensitivity) and above for significant periods of time, the distortion you'll hear will be from your loss of hearing ability. Keep the volume reasonable people if you want to appreciate good audio for a lifetime.
Admittedly I put in an order for IFI Zen Can Signature and will leave impressions when it arrives...mid-November.Drop just released the ifi can headphone amp with a specific mode (including bass boost) for the 6xx https://drop.com/buy/ifi-zen-can-signature-6xx-amp-drop-exclusive
Phase, (timing) and and amplitude difference will be so huge compared to the input signal you would be lucky to get a Df of 3 to 5 and here, the same as with the Df of DAC's some differences might be 'pleasurable' others may not.
The practical difference between any measurement is so huge (many many factors) when leaving the electrical plane it is unbelievable.
Just look at impulse plots of speakers to see the timing issues alone. Plenty of those on the web.
Or look at my squarewave plots to get an idea. There is not even a Pinna and fake ear canal to mess the signal up (which in that case would only be partially corrected) for headphones.
Nah.. if that were remotely feasable I would have done this years ago already.
I have seen too much real world test signals.
The closest one can get is subjectively and 'score' preference ratings by people that are highly trained.
Just take a mic, record a speaker signal and try to match that with Paul's software and you will see.
With headphones different obstacles are present, let alone the measurement method and used compensation.
When trying to improve SQ about 99% of this is transducers and the rest is amp and DAC.
I was taken a bit by surprise.. you appear to have accumulated a lot of info and appeared to me as someone with actual measurement experience so I was a bit baffled you suggested it could be used for this. So above my more to the point reply.