At one point toward the end of this discussion, the question of whether the Harman target (and headphone response curves similar to it) should go more
up or
down in the 1.5 to 2 kHz range of the upper mids came up.
The answer to this may seem fairly obvious for anyone who's spent a fair amount of time comparing the measurements of different headphones in that range. I think there are several factors which could potentially influence this though. And that it might tend to vary a bit depending on the listener's age and hearing, and the recording, and also the graphs that one is looking at. Because some people have more hearing loss in the upper midrange frequencies. And some gear used for mastering music content can also have more or less of a dip in that 2k range (due to differences in their cross-over design and directivity in that range). And because the response and resonances in the equipment used for measuring the headphones might also vary a bit in that range, from measurement rig to measurement rig.
For me personally though, it would definitely be
down, rather than up on Oratory's graphs... at least for
listening purposes anyway. And perhaps a little more along the lines of some of the HPs shown here...
For sound
mastering and
production though, I might possibly prefer to use a slightly different response there.
The preferences in this range will probably depend to an extent on some of the other variables already mentioned though, such as a listener's age, midrange hearing loss, the type of content they listen to and so forth. Some longtime audiophiles seem to prefer a response that's a little more forward, and perhaps somewhat closer to the Harman response curve in that range. And feel that it gives their music a bit more presence or liveliness, for example. And they may have a legitimate point on that.
The content I listen to is probably not mastered as well though. So it often seems to get rather harsh-sounding to my ears when the level in that range is more forward.
Something like this might be a bit too much of a dip though in that area, imho...
I think this is (or maybe was?) one of Z's favorite HPs though. So your mileage could possibly vary on this. And maybe somethin like the response on the NDH-20 could also be worth a try. (?)