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Has the meta on IEMs moved away from Harman's "pinna gain"?

Has the meta on IEMs moved away from Harman IE and "pinna gain"?

  • Yes

    Votes: 17 54.8%
  • No

    Votes: 14 45.2%

  • Total voters
    31

InfiniteJester

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2024
Messages
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Lately it seems as if every IEM that is highly praised for its tuning has a frequency response that is flatter than Harman's Target and different from anything we used to seek for.

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Was the USound target (https://usound.com/how-headphones-should-sound/) directionally correct all along? Are we all craving more bass and less "pinna gain"? Every single one of these IEMs is praised for its tuning and it is said that they don't need EQ.

Is "pinna gain" a thing of the past? Or this new trend is just an effect of our addiction to IEMs and our constant search for something new and fresh?
 
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Are there any study to suggest that this is indeed the case?
Else, yeah, a trend...

When items have reached maturity or commoditization, manufacturers are confronted by this: How to be different? Or at least appears to be...

Peace.
 
Those tunings probably work very well for some musical genres, but at least for me they would sound unnaturally dull with classical music.

Precisely the last classical albums I have inspected with the Ozone plugin "Match EQ" seem to be produced in a way that already "dulls" a lot of the treble.

Are there any study to suggest that this is indeed the case?
Else, yeah, a trend...

When items have reached maturity or commoditization, manufacturers are confronted by this: How to be different? Or at least appears to be...

Peace.

Have you read the whole post? I already alluded to that, although with different words and approach.
 
I'd say moving away from V-shaped tuning to something with more mid presence and overall warm. Harman compliance was not a big segment of IEM tuning IMO, at least not strict adherence to Harman IE 2019.
 
How far away are the ones receiving praise that you mention away from Harman preference boundaries?
 
My suspicion is the pinna gain on the ones you refer to are at the lower end of the Harman boundary.

I have found this about the tuning of the Mega5est in regards to Harman.


It is an interesting read, in my opinion.

If people want to know what I think IEMs for mass-appeal should sound like, this is the best example I’ve found so far. It’s a stellar package with few glaring faults, a feat seemingly thanks at least in part to not tuning to Harman’s In-Ear target.

Welp. Task failed successfully.
 
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I think it all depends on the individual, to me this kind of tuning is no good.
I like the Harman pinna gain and lows but the highs are too much so starting with a Harman tuned IEM makes it really easy to EQ with less risk of distortion or artifacts.

Also I think that a lot have to do with hype, perception, trends and bandwagon effect, the favorite flavor of the month seems to generate a following and a lot of copycats that's it until the next new flavor comes out.
 
The tuning of the allegedly excellent Mega5est seems to be a variation of this:

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This is the closer I could get manually.

If Crinacle measures the Aful Explorer or the Subtonic Storm, maybe we can learn some more.
 
Another ear-gain-shy hyped IEM from this year.
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Is this not a fad or a trend, but the logical consequence of 5128 measurements?

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Is this not a fad or a trend, but the logical consequence of 5128 measurements?

In the course of the research leading up to the 5128, B&K found that 711 couplers deviate a bit from the average ear canal / eardrum / middle ear impedance they obtained :
Screenshot 2024-06-05 at 15.13.46.png

Earlier studies also seemed to show some inconsistencies between 711 couplers and average impedance from a set of individuals.

The geometry of the "acoustically + physically average" canal they obtained also is different from the simplified geometry of 711 couplers. The geometry they obtained is a little bit different from the "physically average" geometry obtained from that project, but mostly quite similar in the most important parameters (volume, length). Type 4.3 (5128) in green, Humanshape data in teal :
Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 14.49.08.png
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It's quite likely that in absolute terms IEMs frequency response has indeed been measured a little bit "wrong" compared to what really happens, on average, in actual ear canals. That applies to the entire spectrum, but in regards to this thread's concern in particular, for the 200-4kHz or so region it means that compared to a target derived from the same methodology, either with a 711 or 5128 fixture (ex DF HRTF + tilt and / or shelving filters), you can expect the error curve to be a bit different. Exactly how "right" type 4.3 / 5128 are I don't think we know - and the 5128 specifically seems to have some issues at lower frequencies (rocking modes + a sharp dip at around 400Hz that may not occur in actual human ears) -, but it would take quite a solid argumentation to claim that they're worse than 711 couplers in terms of acoustic impedance or physical geometry.

An IEM equalised to the aforementioned 5128 target would then, when measured in a 711 coupler, look like it has a bit less "gain" above 1kHz if you normalised at lower frequencies, but in reality it's quite likely that it's the lower mids that are over-estimated in 711 couplers.

Of the IEMs mentioned here only the Mega5est and Da Vinci seem to really follow that "meta" in the mids, the other ones would all still exhibit quite significant deviations.

We're only talking about average ear canal (and impedance) here. Your own ear canals may be a bit different from the average either in terms of volume, length, eardrum impedance, etc.

I would not necessarily call it "new" though - some companies were probably well aware of some limitations with using 711 couplers when measuring IEMs several years ago, and a handful of companies are now in a "post average ear canal" world as they're evaluating IEMs' behaviour in a set of ear canals, not just an average coupler, and designing active systems to compensate for individuals to individuals variation, or even individualise the response in the first place (Bose, Apple).
 
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FWIW the current Crinacle BK5128 target is further away from my personal preference than the previous Crinacle IEF 2020 target(plus bass). I definitely prefer the Truthear Red(with a light treble boost) over Hola. I'll have another opportunity to verify my preference when my Truthear Gate arrives, as the new Gate seems to conform more to the previous target. Either way I don't prefer as much contrast as Harman IE 2019 has between upper-bass and upper-mids, but somewhere in between. The current Crinacle target OTOH is basically too warm for me, or has too shallow of a rise in the mids.
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FWIW the current Crinacle BK5128 target is further away from my personal preference than the previous Crinacle IEF 2020 target(plus bass). I definitely prefer the Truthear Red(with a light treble boost) over Hola. I'll have another opportunity to verify my preference when my Truthear Gate arrives, as the new Gate seems to conform more to the previous target. Either way I don't prefer as much contrast as Harman IE 2019 has between upper-bass and upper-mids, but somewhere in between. The current Crinacle target OTOH is basically too warm for me, or has too shallow of a rise in the mids.
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For me, personally. Nothing on IEMs sounds yet as right as the Harman OE. There are several degrees of almost right, but nothing produces the sensation of correctness and transparency that I get with some reasonably good headphones measured by Oratory1990 and tuned to Harman OE.

I think that USound and JM-1 are on the right track by attenuating ear gain, but I keep tweaking and buying new stuff trying to recreate what you can get with headphones as cheap as HE400SE, AKG701 or HD599 when EQ'ed.

For me, Harman IE works for a song or two, but I get completely fatigued after a short while.
 
I'm personally reducing ear gain in every single IEM that I own, and even the terrible Kiwi Ears Quintet sounds good by doing this.

Another highly hyped IEM with this tuning, 1 planar, no less:

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I tied and returned (always ask first if its OK) the Aful Explorer (I got along with the Delci) which I ordered because is good example of low-pinna IEM, it didn't work for me, I guess I like Harman pinna gain, the Kefine Delci is an example of what for me is the lower limit (although I could do with less treble) and while a higher pinna gain can sound worse than a lower one both sound unnatural to me, I really think that besides frequency response it has to do with ear canal shape and fitting more than any other thing.

I use it exclusively for a few days to let my brain get used to it and it got after a while but everyday when I first put them on something sounded off to me for a little while, then comparing with others (Trio, Delci and Orca) of course at first they sounded bright and forward but it took way less for me to adjust to them than the Explorer and then side by side the Explorer sounded mid focused and distant to me. Also I tried to compare all of them to speakers but it's way more difficult than it sounds.

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On a side note I think the single DDs sounded more coherent than the multi drivers including the Trio.
 
I tied and returned (always ask first if its OK) the Aful Explorer (I got along with the Delci) which I ordered because is good example of low-pinna IEM, it didn't work for me, I guess I like Harman pinna gain, the Kefine Delci is an example of what for me is the lower limit (although I could do with less treble) and while a higher pinna gain can sound worse than a lower one both sound unnatural to me, I really think that besides frequency response it has to do with ear canal shape and fitting more than any other thing.

I use it exclusively for a few days to let my brain get used to it and it got after a while but everyday when I first put them on something sounded off to me for a little while, then comparing with others (Trio, Delci and Orca) of course at first they sounded bright and forward but it took way less for me to adjust to them than the Explorer and then side by side the Explorer sounded mid focused and distant to me. Also I tried to compare all of them to speakers but it's way more difficult than it sounds.

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On a side note I think the single DDs sounded more coherent than the multi drivers including the Trio.

I never got to try the Explorer, but I lower that region quite a bit and, for the first time, I don't get sibilances and fatigue listening to music for very long times.

Like, this is what I do to the Delci:

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I wonder what would happen if I tune my IEMs to this :D :D :

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I never got to try the Explorer, but I lower that region quite a bit and, for the first time, I don't get sibilances and fatigue listening to music for very long times.

I don't get sibilance or fatigue whit the Orca, Chu II or Trio which are the higher pinna sets I have I guess is up to ear anatomy and fit, I use wide bore tips for all of this IEMs otherwise the treble can become a bit high and unnatural (they might be closer to the upper limit for me).

I get fatigue and silibance with the Truthear Zero (blue) but it might have to do with unit to unit variation which was bad and with the 7Hz Zero and Zero:2 to a degree but with this ones I think is a design and fitting issue because it should not happen going by the measurements.

I wonder what would happen if I tune my IEMs to this :D :D :

I guess infinite bliss but you'll have to figure out what your ear canal do to the sound of a speaker stuck to the inside of your ear first ;) .
 
I don't get sibilance or fatigue whit the Orca, Chu II or Trio which are the higher pinna sets I have I guess is up to ear anatomy and fit, I use wide bore tips for all of this IEMs otherwise the treble can become a bit high and unnatural (they might be closer to the upper limit for me).

I get fatigue and silibance with the Truthear Zero (blue) but it might have to do with unit to unit variation which was bad and with the 7Hz Zero and Zero:2 to a degree but with this ones I think is a design and fitting issue because it should not happen going by the measurements.



I guess infinite bliss but you'll have to figure out what your ear canal do to the sound of a speaker stuck to the inside of your ear first ;) .

Do you listen to metal and avant-prog?

Most IEMs are painful for me with those genres in a way speakers aren't.
 
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