• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Review

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 33 26.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 64 50.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 27 21.4%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 2 1.6%

  • Total voters
    126

flipflop

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
927
Likes
1,240
We don't know that for sure, do we. Would IMD really show as crackling, I don't know? I agree that the distortion graphs of this headphone are very good, and you wouldn't expect Amir to have experienced crackling during heavy bass playback. I don't know what the explanation for his experience would be, but we can't be sure it's IMD, can we?
The Focal crackling problem does show up in IMD measurements.
I'm sure enough that GL2000's crackling will also show up as IMD that I'm willing to bet my money on it. Can we be sure with metaphysical certainty that the crackling has any connection to IMD? Obviously not, but I've yet to hear a good argument as for why it wouldn't be the case.
 

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
The crackling in Focals is 'hard clipping'. The membrane physically hitting a barrier to prevent large excursions due to the dome being 'hung' with a very compliant roll edge.
The GL2000 has a tensioned membrane. Either the tension is too low and the membrane is hitting the magnets at max excursion or something entirely else is happening during the listening test (seal issue or well beyond 114dB SPL in the sub lows)
Could also be the tensioning is too high and the membrane can not stretch too much limiting excursion.
That, however, is not likely given the low distortion in the subbass at 114dB SPL.
There is very low THD to there won't be IMD in the GL2000. These usually go hand in hand.

Without any investigation (such as logging the input voltage during listening tests for peak levels) and or some seal tests I would not draw any conclusions as to what might be and what levels Amir is listening at.
I haven't looked into other reviews of this headphone and what complaints might be other than tonality.
 
Last edited:

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
Sure, but no matter how you look at it, there's nothing abnormal about the Clear's THD profile.
Both the Focal Clear and Clear professional show a clear take-off in THD at bass frequencies. The green 114 SPL curve goes off-scale with a fair degree of fluctuations. If you see that in the measurement, that will indeed likely translate to be crackle and other issues in practice. I would say for adequate EQ headroom you want to make sure those stay within the scale of the measurement or you have little idea of what he distortion profile will be at lower frequencies, and this does not extend below 20 Hz, or include seal effects which can unload the drivers. The measurement does have its limits, but this is the first review where there is no THD but issues but the limits of the drivers being exceeded in use, but there are other variables as well. Fortunately this came out in the listening test, which shows why they are still needed as a final sanity check.

Edit: Amir even notes it in the THD plots in the review that the drivers are crackling.
1673129277998.png


And that ”114 dB” curve comes up a lot faster than you think with EQ since that is referenced to the stock response. Pile 10 dB on top of that and it’s clear the headphone may not play much louder than the equivalent 75-80 dBA listening levels with speakers.
 
Last edited:

flipflop

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
927
Likes
1,240
Both the Focal Clear and Clear professional show a clear take-off in THD at bass frequencies.
Not abnormal.
The green 114 SPL curve goes off-scale with a fair degree of fluctuations.
Not abnormal.
If you see that in the measurement, that will indeed likely translate to be crackle and other issues in practice.
No.
The measurement does have its limits, but this is the first review where there is no THD but issues but the limits of the drivers being exceeded in use
There is always THD.
Fortunately this came out in the listening test, which shows why they are still needed as a final sanity check.
They wouldn't be needed if the measurement suite was sufficiently extensive.
Amir even notes it in the THD plots in the review that the drivers are crackling.
Clearly the wrong place to note it.

Apologies for the brief answers. Brandolini's law and all that.
I'm going to step out of the discussion now.
 

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
Not abnormal.

Not abnormal.

No.

There is always THD.

They wouldn't be needed if the measurement suite was sufficiently extensive.

Clearly the wrong place to note it.

Apologies for the brief answers. Brandolini's law and all that.
I'm going to step out of the discussion now.
It is indeed not abnormal for headphones that fall apart at high SPLs. It’s actually quite normal, and looks just like one would expect it to with the distortion being quite jagged and extending up into the lower treble range. It doesn’t measure like an earthquake at 114 SPL for no particular reason. If you have ever heard the sound that goes with a measurement like that, it’s obvious why it looks the way it does. Don’t want crackling headphones? Don’t buy ones that measure that way! It’s just that simple.

And yes, IMD test will also show it, but where the drivers are still relatively linear it will, more or less, echo what a sweep will tell you, but with the associated IMD products. Above that it can tell you more, but by that point the THD will be out of control on a sweep, anyway. Also people don’t take into consideration that audio transducers have to move to make sound, and this scales inversely with frequency. Once it runs out of compliance or it plows into the magnets or some other structure it’s going to make lots of bad noises, and below that it can measure near perfectly, esp. if it’s a physical mechanical limit on excursion. As long as it doesn’t smack into something, it’s fine. I suspect its a mechanical limit that the driver is encountering with the headphones in this review, but insufficient compliance could do it as well, along with I’m sure other things.

Edit: Putting aside the rather low effort "diss" at the end, this is actually an interesting topic. The Focal, being a dynamic, does indeed have a measurement that shows said crackle in the THD, at least to the extent such a measurement can. However, planars being of a much different topology will also necessarily exhibit different behavior with respect to low frequency distortion. For example:

index.php


But that headphone, at least in the scope of Amir's review, did not have any issues with bass. On the contrary, it seemed to perform quite well even with substantial EQ. One would wonder if the headphone could be run like that over long periods of time without issues to the drivers?

But, in regards to including IMD in these measurements? I would definitely say no given the difficulties there can be with interpreting what is there. That and questions of the nature of the IMD signal itself such as what spectrum to use and what would be considered safe levels to test at given these are often someone else's headphones sent in for review. It could potentially be quite a bit more demanding power-wise than a simple sine-sweep due to the presence of multiple tones. This, and there will be the usual surgical scalpels being used as hammers to say a product fails in one way or another by various people if it was included. In that regard I would say Amir's measurements are actually well thought out since they give, in a fairly concise format, pretty much all the information an end-user will need to make purchasing decisions or have some reasonable starting point for equalization.
 
Last edited:

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
The Focal crackling problem does show up in IMD measurements.
I'm sure enough that GL2000's crackling will also show up as IMD that I'm willing to bet my money on it. Can we be sure with metaphysical certainty that the crackling has any connection to IMD? Obviously not, but I've yet to hear a good argument as for why it wouldn't be the case.
The crackling in Focals is 'hard clipping'. The membrane physically hitting a barrier to prevent large excursions due to the dome being 'hung' with a very compliant roll edge.
The GL2000 has a tensioned membrane. Either the tension is too low and the membrane is hitting the magnets at max excursion or something entirely else is happening during the listening test (seal issue or well beyond 114dB SPL in the sub lows)
Could also be the tensioning is too high and the membrane can not stretch too much limiting excursion.
That, however, is not likely given the low distortion in the subbass at 114dB SPL.
There is very low THD to there won't be IMD in the GL2000. These usually go hand in hand.

Without any investigation (such as logging the input voltage during listening tests for peak levels) and or some seal tests I would not draw any conclusions as to what might be and what levels Amir is listening at.
I haven't looked into other reviews of this headphone and what complaints might be other than tonality.
Yeah, exactly, as Solderdude is saying I remember that to be the issue with the Focal Clear - has nothing to do with IMD. Based on the other stuff solderdude is saying, I think we can likely rule out IMD as the cause for the GL2000.
 

GaryH

Major Contributor
Joined
May 12, 2021
Messages
1,348
Likes
1,804
Of course measured IMD (and THD) are symptoms, not underlying causes of nonlinear behaviour though, so it's possible physical hard clipping could cause IMD.
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Of course measured IMD (and THD) are symptoms, not underlying causes of nonlinear behaviour though, so it's possible physical hard clipping could cause IMD.
I mean, that makes sense, but what we're saying to flipflop is that because the THD was clean at 114dB, then it's unlikely that the headphone has independent IMD issues. In other words, when Amir was noticing the crackling, it's unlikely that THD was ok at that time, but that IMD was happening in large amounts......it seems unlikely that this was the scenario. To me it seems the most likely option was that Amir was above 114dB, or that the headphone wasn't sealed properly........although I'm not certain what effects would happen if the headphone is not sealed properly - could it create more driver excursion due to decreased pressure within the earcup (thereby decreasing the movement resistance of the driver) and therefore make it more likely to hard clip?

EDIT: actually, if this is the case then I probably shouldn't be too hard on this headphone re the mysterious crackling Amir experienced.
 
Last edited:

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
I mean, that makes sense, but what we're saying to flipflop is that because the THD was clean at 114dB, then it's unlikely that the headphone has independent IMD issues. In other words, when Amir was noticing the crackling, it's unlikely that THD was ok at that time, but that IMD was happening in large amounts......it seems unlikely that this was the scenario. To me it seems the most likely option was that Amir was above 114dB, or that the headphone wasn't sealed properly........although I'm not certain what effects would happen if the headphone is not sealed properly - could it create more driver excursion due to decreased pressure within the earcup and therefore make it more likely to hard clip?
Yeah I don't think IMD would necessarily prove it out, either. Since the THD is already quite good it indicates that the drivers are fairly linear. With linear systems, the summed response will be the same as that of each individual component. Since there are no real nonlinearities, they cannot interact with each other. Conceptually having IMD show up implies that there are nonlinearities that allow one portion of the spectral content to modulate another part. A fairly crude example would be a hard excursion limit and compression. If the driver was at one of its limits trying to play a 60 Hz tone, and you tried playing a 1 kHz tone as well, it would, in principal, only be displaced in one direction when trying to play the higher tone since it cannot travel any farther in the same direction. All of the travel was used up by the 60 Hz tone, and only motion in the opposing direction is possible. The 60 Hz tone would be acting as the equivalent of a rectifier for the 1 kHz tone for that instant, which would produce clear IMD components. However, if it has no trouble swinging through the full extent of excursion needed then the 60 Hz tone will be distortion free. If it can also play the 1 kHz tone with no distortion as well, then simply summing them together will result in the two tones with no IMD since any other components being produced require nonlinearities in the system.

If its able to provide clean output down to 20 Hz at 114 dB then its likely the IMD test tone the results would be the same, namely very low IMD as well. Potentially if the crest factor was different enough then it could, but that would be no different really than simply running the THD measurement at a higher SPL level. Interestingly its almost like its near or at the measurement floor for much of the sweep, with the various THD at differing SPL levels crossing over one-another. Its not until it gets above 800 Hz that it starts to have something tangible in the measurement. I would guess probably resonances and such given the group delay starts to get messy after that.
 

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
In case its not already fairly obvious, the place where it needs the HP filtering is conspicuously where the measurements end, namely below 20 Hz:

1673172622770.png


Given that the excursion is inversely proportional to the frequency, its not too surprising it would have issues down there. I would hazard to say there's just not enough room between the two arrays of magnets. Be interesting to see what the inside looks like given the very good linearity it demonstrates. I would say the magnetic field is similarly uniform, which sort of implies that they are in close proximity to the membrane as one would expect. And on that note:

Oh my gawd these are some big-ass headphones!

Gold-Planar-GL2000-Worn.jpg


Looks like a set of Magnepans with a headband lol. Or maybe he's got a real small head! Either way, looks like the kickdrum they use for the membrane probably comes with a catch. Could be wrong, but doesn't look like there is much room for excursion in there, which sort of explains the low distortion to begin with. Audio transducers are often GREAT at providing clean audio so long as they don't have to move very much. And yeah, the seal could be an issue if the earpad just about extends down to your shoulders...

Gold-Planar-GL2000-Driver.jpg


Source: https://www.mmorpg.com/hardware/golden-ears-gold-planar-gl2000-planar-magnetic-headphones-2000121504
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Yeah I don't think IMD would necessarily prove it out, either. Since the THD is already quite good it indicates that the drivers are fairly linear. With linear systems, the summed response will be the same as that of each individual component. Since there are no real nonlinearities, they cannot interact with each other. Conceptually having IMD show up implies that there are nonlinearities that allow one portion of the spectral content to modulate another part. A fairly crude example would be a hard excursion limit and compression. If the driver was at one of its limits trying to play a 60 Hz tone, and you tried playing a 1 kHz tone as well, it would, in principal, only be displaced in one direction when trying to play the higher tone since it cannot travel any farther in the same direction. All of the travel was used up by the 60 Hz tone, and only motion in the opposing direction is possible. The 60 Hz tone would be acting as the equivalent of a rectifier for the 1 kHz tone for that instant, which would produce clear IMD components. However, if it has no trouble swinging through the full extent of excursion needed then the 60 Hz tone will be distortion free. If it can also play the 1 kHz tone with no distortion as well, then simply summing them together will result in the two tones with no IMD since any other components being produced require nonlinearities in the system.

If its able to provide clean output down to 20 Hz at 114 dB then its likely the IMD test tone the results would be the same, namely very low IMD as well. Potentially if the crest factor was different enough then it could, but that would be no different really than simply running the THD measurement at a higher SPL level. Interestingly its almost like its near or at the measurement floor for much of the sweep, with the various THD at differing SPL levels crossing over one-another. Its not until it gets above 800 Hz that it starts to have something tangible in the measurement. I would guess probably resonances and such given the group delay starts to get messy after that.
I don't have enough knowledge around distortion to verify what you're saying, but it sounds logical reasoning re how you describe the relationship between THD & IMD.
In case its not already fairly obvious, the place where it needs the HP filtering is conspicuously where the measurements end, namely below 20 Hz:

View attachment 255786

Given that the excursion is inversely proportional to the frequency, its not too surprising it would have issues down there. I would hazard to say there's just not enough room between the two arrays of magnets. Be interesting to see what the inside looks like given the very good linearity it demonstrates. I would say the magnetic field is similarly uniform, which sort of implies that they are in close proximity to the membrane as one would expect. And on that note:

Oh my gawd these are some big-ass headphones!

Gold-Planar-GL2000-Worn.jpg


Looks like a set of Magnepans with a headband lol. Or maybe he's got a real small head! Either way, looks like the kickdrum they use for the membrane probably comes with a catch. Could be wrong, but doesn't look like there is much room for excursion in there, which sort of explains the low distortion to begin with. Audio transducers are often GREAT at providing clean audio so long as they don't have to move very much. And yeah, the seal could be an issue if the earpad just about extends down to your shoulders...

Gold-Planar-GL2000-Driver.jpg


Source: https://www.mmorpg.com/hardware/golden-ears-gold-planar-gl2000-planar-magnetic-headphones-2000121504
That's a good idea re your observation that the High Pass Filter Amir used only really starts to seriously kick in at around 25Hz (by the looks of the scale), so maybe it was THD/clipping that he was experiencing below 20Hz depending on what he was listening to & it's musical content below the 20Hz limit which is as low as he measures THD. Although I have to say, I'm not as concerned as I was about the clipping he heard since we've been discussing it and combined with the clean 114dB THD measurements he posted - so that improves my opinion of this headphone, but I'm not gonna change my vote (looks like I voted with the majority), it's a pretty expensive headphone and for me there's too many negatives associated with it.

EDIT: Although Amir's EQ is pretty tame in the bass in terms of what's happening below 20Hz, I modelled the bass filter he used in REW and it's really having zero practical effect below 20Hz, so if he's experiencing distortion below 20Hz, it's certainly not created by his EQ, which I think makes the theory a bit less likely that he's experiencing clipping based on content below 20Hz, (as I really don't think he's turning up 1kHz to 114dB as a max RMS peak):
GL2000 EQ.jpg


EDIT #2: I'm leaning more towards an imperfect seal leading to increased excursion of the drivers - if that's a thing!
 
Last edited:

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
Although I have to say, I'm not as concerned as I was about the clipping he heard since we've been discussing it and combined with the clean 114dB THD measurements he posted - so that improves my opinion of this headphone, but I'm not gonna change my vote (looks like I voted with the majority), it's a pretty expensive headphone and for me there's too many negatives associated with it.
Its disappointing that the FR is so crummy as otherwise it has some nice characteristics. But on the other hand many of those nice characteristics could easily evaporate away if they had undertaken a serious effort to get it to comply with an objective target since those will have to be traded against to optimize the FR. Its a bit like the low efficiency of hi-fi speakers. Horn-type PA speakers can be surprisingly efficient at converting electrical energy into acoustical energy, but that comes at the expense of it just covering the bare minimum range of frequencies to allow spoken announcements to be intelligible in large spaces. On the other hand, if we want a speaker that has a flat FR from 35Hz - 20 kHz with a uniform dispersion pattern throughout, the efficiency will be much lower due to the need to cover a broad range of frequencies and having to optimize for that, instead.
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Its disappointing that the FR is so crummy as otherwise it has some nice characteristics. But on the other hand many of those nice characteristics could easily evaporate away if they had undertaken a serious effort to get it to comply with an objective target since those will have to be traded against to optimize the FR. Its a bit like the low efficiency of hi-fi speakers. Horn-type PA speakers can be surprisingly efficient at converting electrical energy into acoustical energy, but that comes at the expense of it just covering the bare minimum range of frequencies to allow spoken announcements to be intelligible in large spaces. On the other hand, if we want a speaker that has a flat FR from 35Hz - 20 kHz with a uniform dispersion pattern throughout, the efficiency will be much lower due to the need to cover a broad range of frequencies and having to optimize for that, instead.
For enthusiasts that they know use EQ (ok quite a small market potentially), then designing a headphone that actually requires EQ would be no bad thing, especially if using EQ to get the desired target was the best way to minimise negative things such as distortion or other negative acoustic effects within the earcup. Unfortunately, I don't really see the frequency response of this headphone as the perfect basis on which to apply EQ. I don't like the micro jaggedness above 2kHz, and the larger jaggedness above 5kHz, along with the major shortfall inbetween 6-9kHz which makes it difficult to EQ. It looks easy to EQ up to 5kHz though as the main plus point re EQ combined with the low distortion. For me it's not the perfect platform for EQ, it's not the ideal headphone platform for EQ.
 

Rick Sykora

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
3,511
Likes
7,011
Location
Stow, Ohio USA
Good news! Amir will have have more time to review other products.;)

Danny Richie is now reviewing headphones. Should be easier for him than speakers as he does not have any capability to measure headphones at all!
 

GaryH

Major Contributor
Joined
May 12, 2021
Messages
1,348
Likes
1,804
I mean, that makes sense, but what we're saying to flipflop is that because the THD was clean at 114dB, then it's unlikely that the headphone has independent IMD issues. In other words, when Amir was noticing the crackling, it's unlikely that THD was ok at that time, but that IMD was happening in large amounts......it seems unlikely that this was the scenario. To me it seems the most likely option was that Amir was above 114dB
And at those ridiculously high levels mechanical excursion limits could be reached and so sudden hard clipping, which could result in audibly high IMD (and THD), but we'll never know for sure because the distortion measurements didn't go up to such levels.
 
Last edited:

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
And at those ridiculously high levels mechanical excursion limits could be reached and so sudden hard clipping, which could result in audibly high IMD (and THD), but we'll never know for sure because the distortion measurements didn't go up to such levels.
Well, that too as a possibility, although you did cut my post off before it finished......so I'm more inclined that it's related to improper seal rather than above 114dB RMS......but I'm not totally sure if seal issues will cause greater driver excursion, that's the one point that someone can correct me on or elucidate the matter.
 
Last edited:

GaryH

Major Contributor
Joined
May 12, 2021
Messages
1,348
Likes
1,804
Well, that too as a possibility, although you did cut my post off before it finished......so I'm more inclined that it's related to improper seal rather than above 114dB RMS......but I'm not totally sure if seal issues will cause greater driver excursion, that's the one point that someone can correct me on or elucidate the matter.
My point was no matter the cause of the driver hard clipping (level > 114 dB, hypothesized seal issues etc.), this nonlinear behaviour will be accompanied by distortion, which could be measured if the conditions (level > 114 dB / broken seal) are recreated on the test rig.
 

Maiky76

Senior Member
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
440
Likes
3,702
Location
French, living in China
This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Gold Planar GL2000 headphone. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs about US $600.
View attachment 255526
The GL2000 feels rather luxurious and sturdy in hand and attractive to look at. The sample I received has solid leather pads. I understand there is also a perforated one. The pads are very soft and make wearing the 550 gram headphone comfortable to wear. That softness though gave fair bit of variations between the cups in the measurements at higher frequencies.

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:

View attachment 255527

As noted, very little of the response matches our target. I expect the tonality to lack bass, air and spatial qualities. The latter two due to short fall between 1.5 and 5 kHz. Development of equalization filter by eye can be challenging due to odd shape and number of variations:

View attachment 255528

I was impressed by how low the distortion was all the way up to 114 dBSPL:
View attachment 255529

View attachment 255530

In theory then we should be able to boost what we want without fear of distortion. Practice though was different as you will read in the listening section.

Group delay is messy likely due to resonances and internal reflections:
View attachment 255531

As expected from a Planar Magnetic design, impedance is flat:
View attachment 255532

I was pleasantly surprised by high sensitivity which should make it easier to drive with many sources/headphone amplifiers:

View attachment 255533

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Listening Tests and Equalization
Compared to my reference headphone, the sound was dull and unexciting. There was little bass. Female vocals were pushed way in the back. Essentially everything that I associate with "hi fi" sound was missing. So out came filters:
View attachment 255534

I initially did not have the high pass filter. Sadly with sub-bass heavy tracks, the headphone started to crackle forcing me to roll off the extreme low frequencies. What was there was now substantially better than stock tuning though with satisfying bass and dynamics. There was plenty of "air" now and spatial qualities were nice (B+). I could happily listen to the GL2000s with EQ. Turning off the EQ was dramatic, making the sound like the difference between CD and AM radio!

Conclusions
The GL2000 headphone lands in the story of "we will build it and EQ will come!" Cleary no target existed as far as tonality with so much deficiency in the response of the headphone, holding it back from producing enjoyable music. Fortunately most of that could be fixed with Equalization, sans very low bass. I have no explanation for why this aspect was not revealed in measurements. Perhaps I have bass at even higher level than 114 dBSPL! :D

I can't recommend the Gold Planar GL2000 as is. With EQ however, it becomes a good headphone with nice comfort and look/feel.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Here are some thoughts about the EQ.
Notes about the EQ design:
  • The average L/R is used to calculate the score.
  • The resolution is 12 points per octave interpolated from the raw data (provided by @amirm)
  • A Genetic Algorithm is used to optimize the EQ.
  • The EQ Score is designed to MAXIMIZE the Score WHILE fitting the Harman target curve (and other constrains) with a fixed complexity.
    This will avoid weird results if one only optimizes for the Score.
    It will probably flatten the Error regression doing so, the tonal balance should be therefore more neutral.
  • The EQs are starting point and may require tuning (certainly at LF and maybe at HF).
  • The range around and above 10kHz is usually not EQed unless smooth enough to do so.
  • I am using PEQ (PK) as from my experience the definition is more consistent across different DSP/platform implementations than shelves.
  • With some HP/amp combo, the boosts and preamp gain (loss of Dynamic range) need to be carefully considered to avoid issues with, amongst other things, too low a Max SPL or damaging your device. You have beed warned.
  • Not all units of the same product are made equal. The EQ is based on the measurements of a single unit. YMMV with regards to the very unit you are trying this EQ on.
  • I sometimes use variations of the Harman curve for some reasons. See rational here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pro-review-headphone.28244/page-5#post-989169
  • https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pro-review-headphone.28244/page-6#post-992119
  • NOTE: the score then calculated is not comparable to the scores derived from the default Harman target curve if not otherwise noted.
Average L/R match.

I have generated one EQ, the APO config file is attached.
Note: HighPass filters may be needed but only based on listening tests at high SPL as the Preamp Gain makes the overall voltage sensitivity lower at LF (-1dB) compared to the bare HP.

Score no EQ: 49.9
Score Amirm: 57.8
Score with EQ: 73.0

Code:
Gold Planar GL2000 APO Score Full EQ Flat@HF 96000Hz
January092023-112136

Preamp: -10 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 26.88 Hz Gain 9.11 dB Q 0.34
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 474.45 Hz Gain 1.96 dB Q 3.45
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1031.83 Hz Gain -1.62 dB Q 2.31
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2077.02 Hz Gain 6.34 dB Q 1.49
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3580.91 Hz Gain 8.00 dB Q 1.81
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 5249.50 Hz Gain -3.09 dB Q 6.68
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6852.18 Hz Gain 8.91 dB Q 3.57

Gold Planar GL2000 Dashboard.png
 

Attachments

  • Gold Planar GL2000 APO Score Full EQ Flat@HF 96000Hz.txt
    440 bytes · Views: 45

RenSong

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
31
Location
Lake Stevens, WA
Maybe off topic but IME the Clear MG only crack when they are pushed loud, like damage over time loud, and I consider myself a loud listener already.
 

Cars-N-Cans

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
819
Likes
1,009
Location
Dirty Jerzey
Maybe off topic but IME the Clear MG only crack when they are pushed loud, like damage over time loud, and I consider myself a loud listener already.
Id imagine this is also with Amir’s test tracks as well, so it is indeed being pushed to see what it’s limits are. Even then if the headphone doesn’t distort there can be issues. I have a set of Hifimans that suffered a loss in membrane tension from being on the Harman target. Now with sub bass they go intermittently silent from exiting the magnetic gap and have resonances. Probably won’t be buying any more headphones until I get one that doesn’t really need EQ in the bass region. There’s always that possibility that it could damage something if a lot of extra energy is needed in one area, and can’t fault Amir since he only has a short period of time to do the review. In my case it’s cumulative damage over time from stressing the drivers.

Makes you wonder about those reviewers that do things like “300 hour break-ins“ with pink noise and hear a difference. That is basically an entire lifetime‘s worth of use if it’s at high SPLs, and probably does “break” them in, but in a very permanent and detrimental way.
 
Top Bottom