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Calibration tool for Headphone + Hearing capability

Thalis

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Hi Thalis,

Did you start with the "Headphones and Hearing Test" configuration? The frequencies you have in your photos do not match those in the config I mentioned. Not that there's anything wrong with the frequencies in your test, but there are a few more useful frequencies in that config. Also, in case you didn't read it already, perhaps it is worth looking at how I do the test: https://www.beautifulaudio.biz/how-to-best-use-it. I used a lot of times, on quite a few headphones, and that's the process that works best for me. And yes, ideally it would be quiet enough to actually hear the frequencies, that's a problem I have, lots of traffic very close to my window and sometimes I have problems picking up especially the low frequencies.
If I was to aim for a validation that the tests, for both your headphones, were successful, I would expect, as I said in my write up, that both your headphones to sound a lot more similar than you were previously aware of.
Let us know.

Cheers

No I have not started with that but will try as soon as its quieter tonight. Like you my apartment is next to traffic and there is a severe thunderstorm raging right now :(
 

Thalis

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Hi Thalis,

Did you start with the "Headphones and Hearing Test" configuration?

Cheers


For the life of me I can't find "Headphones and Hearing Test" in the configuration list :(
 

Peter Verbeek

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For the life of me I can't find "Headphones and Hearing Test" in the configuration list
You'll find in this zip file along with all other configurations. Copy it to c:\program files\equalizerapo\config and restart Peace. The configurations in zip file are also available on the Peace website in this folder on the Files tab.
 

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  • Configurations.zip
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Peter Verbeek

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there must be something wrong with your processing.
I understand what you're saying. We'll review the processing. Probably end up taking a contour of 40, 60 or 80 Phon. At least with the corrected contour a decent equalization is possible. The headphones and hearing test interface is a work in progress. Thanks for your great feedback :)

At first I got emails on the new posts but suddenly I didn't. Therefore I wasn't reacting. I didn't change any setting. Why did the emails stop coming?
 

Thalis

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Ok... tried the test again and the result is... different on the high frequencies... mid and bass about the same. Have to admit its a lot brighter now but more detail on the highs? Also the soundstage seem to have opened up a tad more. Not sure if it was necessary to do the frequencies above 13kHz but I have tried both with and without and its sounding the same.
 

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  • Headphones and Hearing Test - Koss KPH30i.jpg
    Headphones and Hearing Test - Koss KPH30i.jpg
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Peter Verbeek

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Not sure if it was necessary to do the frequencies above 13kHz
After testing up till 13 kHz you're basically done. The resulting equalization can always be finetuned, for instance adding more high treble. One could even say that testing the bass isn't that important, below 200 Hz or so. Bass can be added to in the resulting equalization like treble. Usually bass is a matter of taste, perhaps even more than treble is. In short, the middle part is the main testing area.
 

Thalis

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After testing up till 13 kHz you're basically done. The resulting equalization can always be finetuned, for instance adding more high treble. One could even say that testing the bass isn't that important, below 200 Hz or so. Bass can be added to in the resulting equalization like treble. Usually bass is a matter of taste, perhaps even more than treble is. In short, the middle part is the main testing area.


I have done the test again for the Koss KPH30i and I think I have got it perfect for my ears now. But I have a question... is there any way for Wavelet in my android phone to import the saved config from EQ APO?
 

Thalis

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Not that I know of. Peace is able to export an Audacity equalizer file but not to Wavelet. So it's a matter of precisely setting this equalizer according to graph on the Peace graph window.

Hi Peter... I found this bit about importing from AutoEQ and it would seem I might get around by creating my own CSV file. I am not sure but I assume I created a text file and use a CSV extension (eg Koss_KPH30i.csv)?

https://pittvandewitt.github.io/Wavelet/Import

It says not to change or remove the frequencies so I guess i have to punch in the approx values. Please advise if I am making sense. Thank you.
 

Peter Verbeek

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it would seem I might get around by creating my own CSV file.
Okay. I see it's much easier than that. The export file is a simple GraphicEQ command of Equalizer APO. It isn't a command or file structure of AutoEQ. Exporting to Wavelet is simply importing the, by Peace created, peace.txt file after you have selected your Peace configuration and, importantly, set the Peace equalizer to GraphicEQ (the button to the left of the Import button). But when you have used the test interface to create an equalization then GraphicEQ is used by default (instead of the default peak filters for equalization). Check out the peace.txt to see what's going on there.
 

Dreyfus

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Hi guys, I was recently made aware of the following article:
https://www.meterplugs.com/blog/2016/12/11/equal-loudness-curves-purely-misleading.html

The Fletcher-Munson curves are based on listening tests that involve pure-tones (think sine waves). Consequently, the curves don’t necessarily capture how we perceive real-world sounds. They are a simplification, based on our perception of pure-tones.

For example, studies conducted using noise-bands (rather than pure-tones) resulted in significantly different curves, especially above 1 kHz. This is shown in the following chart, which has three frequency weightings. Notice that the black curve, which is used for measuring noise, is quite different from the other curves, which are based on pure-tones.

Any thoughts on this subject?

Will you keep sine tones as your key element for the loudness equalization?
Any update on the noise feature, yet?

Regards,
Dreyfus
 

pkane

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Hi guys, I was recently made aware of the following article:
https://www.meterplugs.com/blog/2016/12/11/equal-loudness-curves-purely-misleading.html



Any thoughts on this subject?

Will you keep sine tones as your key element for the loudness equalization?
Any update on the noise feature, yet?

Regards,
Dreyfus

In my testing it didn’t make a huge difference. You can try Earful app to measure and compare the lower hearing threshold using single tone, warble tone, or bandwidth-limited white noise.
 

Peter Verbeek

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Hi guys, I was recently made aware of the following article:
https://www.meterplugs.com/blog/2016/12/11/equal-loudness-curves-purely-misleading.html

Any thoughts on this subject?

Silvian has found the same article. He brought it to my attention. Mainly the article gives a right concern about using the equal-loudness contour(s). The equal-loudness contour is a measurement done with pure tones (I guess sine waves). Basically a tone of 1 kHz is played together with a tone of a target frequency. Then the result is the familiar equal-loudness contour. If done with a narrow band noise it will result into a different curve. In contrast our tool about measuring someone's weak and strong frequencies. For this we need the difference between a fixed curve and the measured curve (test profile). This difference can be used as a base for an equalization. This means that taking sines or narrow band noise could lead to the same difference curve. But this has to be established. And there's also one other thing. Music is not a sine nor noise. Music has a lot of harmonics. It could be that using noise (or sine for that matter) doesn't give an optimum equalisation. But that's not the goal of the test tool. Primarily it's about finding out what's wrong with someone's hearing and/or headphones. As a "bonus" the test tool can make equalizations which can be a base for one's own.

We're in the process of creating a dropdown box with the equal-loudness contours of the different Phon's. It seems to me that after doing the test, the resulting test curve should be matched to one equal-loudness contour at a certain Phon. This results then into a nice equalisation which leaves the bass untouched so a user can add this to taste.

There's no progress on using a narrow band noise as I'm not able to create this in the current tool version. I hope to do this in a new version, a version made with a faster programming language, probably c#.
 

pkane

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That's what I'm expecting. Thanks for mentioning this.
Have you used your Earful app? It seems to use the same principle as our test tool.

Of course I used it, and mostly for the same reason :) I wrote it originally for myself, trying to measure my hearing for correcting headphone response a couple of years ago. Since then, I found that doing EQ using in-ear mics worked better for me.
 

Peter Verbeek

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Your Earful app looks like a very nice and useful app. We weren't aware of its existence. Btw. It's a good thing you've written such a detail procedure how to use it. Such audio test apps need thorough explanation of the testing procedure.
trying to measure my hearing for correcting headphone response a couple of years ago.
The curve of your post follows almost exactly the equal-loudness contour.
I found that doing EQ using in-ear mics worked better for me
And your measured curve also matches the equal-loudness contour except for the bass part (below 200 Hz). I don't know what that tells us. I have to say that I'm not an expert on these matters.
 

pkane

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Your Earful app looks like a very nice and useful app. We weren't aware of its existence. Btw. It's a good thing you've written such a detail procedure how to use it. Such audio test apps need thorough explanation of the testing procedure.

Great minds think alike :)

The curve of your post follows almost exactly the equal-loudness contour.

And your measured curve also matches the equal-loudness contour except for the bass part (below 200 Hz). I don't know what that tells us. I have to say that I'm not an expert on these matters.

Here's a thread dedicated to the Earful app itself, including comparisons to F-M curve and ISO 226-2003:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...t-earful-a-hearing-test-app.14863/post-463526

I'm guessing that phon 0 line is probably not the right place to correct for ear response, as that's the extreme edge of our hearing ability and not where most of us will be listening to music. At least that was my explanation for when I used it to EQ headphones.
 
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