Headphone Measurements Using Brüel & Kjær 5128 HATS

[Robbo99999]

@amirm

SO boss man, what'd you decide, I must've missed it if you posted it somewhere. You're not going for this thing are you I hope?

I think this is the next step in the project:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-using-brüel-kjær-5128-hats.15352/post-489686
So it's not over yet, potentially.

 

[Behrend]

BK has great products but they try to give the impression that they are the only one. Which is not true. There are more companies offering acoustic measurement heads with ears. I’ve been working (on a different subject) with hard- and software from
HEAD acoustics who specialised on designing these acoustic heads for automotive.

 

[LTig]

I once had such huge plug of the stuff removed, I was hearing a scratching sound. Turned out to be the fabric of my shirt moving around. Breezes and people talking was so clear from so far away. Birdsong was a revelation.

What I could never figure out: the brain processing had turned up the gain on the weak signal. To the point my hearing seemed super-natural once restored. Yet in a short time it re-calibrated. Why does it not manage this as people age and hearing declines? And why couldn't it do this all the time if something is important to hear?

I dont't think there is a gain to adjust. The brain just adapts to whatever comes from the ears as being "normal". So if the hearing loss is slow you'll not notice it.

 

[Kyle / MrHeeHo]

To be quite honest I feel there's too many variables with headphones to really justify the cost of the equipment

 

[Mad_Economist]

To be quite honest I feel there's too many variables with headphones to really justify the cost of the equipment

Amir getting a 5128 would be good for the community - it would be a unique source of data from the latest, and in many respects greatest HATS, and I would be extremely eager to see what came of the project.

Amir getting a 5128 would probably be bad for Amir, at a net, however. 41 grand is a looooot of money.

 

[Kyle / MrHeeHo]

Amir getting a 5128 would be good for the community - it would be a unique source of data from the latest, and in many respects greatest HATS, and I would be extremely eager to see what came of the project.

Amir getting a 5128 would probably be bad for Amir, at a net, however. 41 grand is a looooot of money.

I get that, it's just, the cost is so much

 

[BYRTT]

Someone asked about EARS comparison. Here is that for HD-650 in a couple of positions:

View attachment 78502

Amazing how flat it looks compared to 5128:

View attachment 78503

Deviation starts at around 500 Hz and gets much worse due to lack of simulation for ear resonances. Calibration can't fix that because one doesn't know how much energy there is in that region for each headphone to resonate.

Come to see for the EARS example graph that it dont look like being the raw data sweep as for the compared 5128 example graph, think EARS sweep there use one of the supported miniDSP calibration files else it had not been so much flatter than 5128, example below is my own EARS raw sweep of some EU year 2014 HD650 overlaid that 5128 run-6 of HD650..

BTW also think it looks Mad_economist had done a good job calculate that 2015 Harman curve plus Amir made a good job in his run-6 of personal HD650 cans because below is what happen add synthetic model of Sonaworks avarage EQ profile for HD650 to that run-6, there looks be alot of agreement for a avarage EQ profile so by that should point to 5128 is not bad here, thanks to all users, Amir and Mad_ecomist, its been a pleasure follow this new head phone thread..

 

[Mad_Economist]

Come to see for the EARS example graph that it dont look like being the raw data sweep as for the compared 5128 example graph, think EARS sweep there use one of the supported miniDSP calibration files else it had not been so much flatter than 5128, example below is my own EARS raw sweep of some EU year 2014 HD650 overlaid that 5128 run-6 of HD650..

View attachment 80181

BTW also think it looks Mad_economist had done a good job calculate that 2015 Harman curve plus Amir made a good job in his run-6 of personal HD650 cans because below is what happen add synthetic model of Sonaworks avarage EQ profile for HD650 to that run-6, there looks be alot of agreement for a avarage EQ profile so by that should point to 5128 is not bad here, thanks to all users, Amir and Mad_ecomist, its been a pleasure follow this new head phone thread..

View attachment 80182

Given that @amirm's EARS response matches up to a certain amplitude, and my own experience with the darn thing, I'd speculate that he clipped its ADCs. Happens a lot with the EARS even on its lowest gain configuration, partially due to the high Q peak of its "canal" resonance.

 

[amirm]

FYI the GRAS 45C fixture arrived today and I had a great time measuring and EQing a bunch of headphones with it. Will start a thread on Saturday or Sunday like this one and show the data there.

 

[Doodski]

FYI the GRAS 45C fixture arrived today and I had a great time measuring and EQing a bunch of headphones with it. Will start a thread on Saturday or Sunday like this one and show the data there.

Wowowow. It has a mouth simulator too.
https://www.gras.dk/products/test-fixtures/product/751-45cc

 

[restorer-john]

Wowowow. It has a mouth simulator too.

Doesn't look like the opening is big enough.

 

[amirm]

Wowowow. It has a mouth simulator too.
https://www.gras.dk/products/test-fixtures/product/751-45cc

It is not that one. It is this:

 

[Doodski]

It is not that one. It is this:

Hmmz and a 5 year warranty. That's pretty good.
https://www.gras.dk/products/test-fixtures/product/734-45ca

 

[Doodski]

Doesn't look like the opening is big enough.

I was thinking there are many gaming headsets and even Sennheiser has good gaming headsets with microphones. It's a hot topic for many peeps into pooders.

 

[Robbo99999]

FYI the GRAS 45C fixture arrived today and I had a great time measuring and EQing a bunch of headphones with it. Will start a thread on Saturday or Sunday like this one and show the data there.

Excellent! Is this one compatible with the existing Harman Target Frequency Response or does it need to be calculated like it was for the B&K 5128?

 

[restorer-john]

It's a hot topic for many peeps into pooders.

For their Mom's basement "battle stations"?

 

[Doodski]

For their Mom's basement battle stations?

lol... that too. I've seen many older peeps that have seriously impressive gaming pooders. First Person Shooter games became really big with the 20's -30's age group in the late 90's and by the early 2000's it was established to be a growing group and now those peeps are older and have money for good gear. Some buy only the best even if it's overkill. Like 240 frames per second monitors, expensive Sennheiser gaming headphones and now 1500.00 dollar+ video cards are not unreasonable for some. Me I stick with 144 frames per second and 1080P until 4K maturates and the video cards come down in price.

 

[restorer-john]

First Person Shooter games became really big with the 20's -30's age group in the late 90's and by the early 2000's it was established to be a growing group

I'll have you know I recently fired up (rebuilt) a nice little DX2-66 Compaq all-in-one from 1992ish and introduced my 12yo to Wolfenstein 3D, Commander Keen (Goodbye Galaxy) and Doom 2. He loves it! (especially since I ran the line out of the SB-16 to a little Rotel amp and some nice 3 way speakers on his room)

 

[Doodski]

I had many late nights playing Doom in the mid 90's. Too many beers and shrooms on Friday nights fragging baddies. I had DOOM on my present gaming pooder but it was unstable.

 

[LTig]

I had many late nights playing Doom in the mid 90's. Too many beers and shrooms on Friday nights fragging baddies. I had DOOM on my present gaming pooder but it was unstable.

I played Doom with my colleagues after work on our networked SGI O2 workstations - or Battlezone.