Can the 10kHz notch on headphones be emulated with EQ?

[PingWine]

I was thinking about this while browsing rtings review for HD800S. It got very good soundstage ratings because the deep ~24db 10kHz notch it has.

I know that the frequency response isn't the only thing affecting how we perceive where sound is coming from, but I it's still a major part of it, indicated by this study. Unfortunately I'm can't quite wrap my head around how they exactly EQ'ed the headphones. But what I can say is that EQ indeed makes a difference for the soundstage we perceive.

 

[Weeb Labs]

I was thinking about this while browsing rtings review for HD800S. It got very good soundstage ratings because the deep ~24db 10kHz notch it has.

I know that the frequency response isn't the only thing affecting how we perceive where sound is coming from, but I it's still a major part of it, indicated by this study. Unfortunately I'm can't quite wrap my head around how they exactly EQ'ed the headphones. But what I can say is that EQ indeed makes a difference for the soundstage we perceive.

Unlikely. Acoustic engineering is not my field of expertise but the 10KHz notch is a product of cancellation within the concha. The presence of this cancellation is determined by the characteristics of the headphone, which includes its interaction with the pinna. You would be attempting to emulate a consequence of a phenomenon rather than the phenomenon itself.

In much the same sense, a speaker with perfect directivity produces a characteristic listening window which can not be emulated solely via EQ using a speaker with very poor directivity.

 

[Head_Unit]

It got very good soundstage ratings because the deep ~24db 10kHz notch it has.

Wait, WHY is that?!? Jeez at first I thought this thread was related to that old CopyCode technology to stop piracy with ruining the sound as a byproduct.

 

[Presently42]

I've been wondering the same, and am trying to experiment with specific reverb between 7 kHz and 10.5 kHz: so far, I'ven't been able to find a reverb plugin, that can manage these parameters

 

[skyfly]

Will there be the same notch to every ear?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Use sine sweep to hear the 10k notch is even real or not.

 

[DanTheMan]

I wrote something about this years ago which may be usefu: http://dtmblabber.blogspot.com/2011/05/binaural-hearing-and-direction.html

unfortunately the reference link is dead.