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Looking for a beginner audiophile guide

Joined
Mar 27, 2022
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Hello I like quality sound My problem is that I relatively start with all the concepts related to sound in headphones so I would be happy if you could refer me to a website or guide that explains in detail all the important concepts in sound for example:
1. What is meant by warm / neutral / bass / bright sound and the like ...
2. What is meant by low / middle / high channels ...
3. What is the difference between the different types of parameters by which you choose headphones such as driver type / material / etc ...
I would love a guide that includes audio files that I can listen to the differences between the sounds ...
Thank you.
 

somebodyelse

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Dec 5, 2018
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@solderdude has this graphic that tries to put frequency response ranges to most of the usual subjective terms, but it's tricky as they are usually used in sighted, uncontrolled listening where any number of other things can affect perceived sound. Change the colour of an LED, or the case, and people may report a change in sound even if they're otherwise identical when they can see them. Repeat the test with a blindfold and the difference disappears. The brain is tricky like that, which is why you'll often find people on this site asking what controls people used in listening tests when they report subjective changes.
descriptors2.png

There's also https://alexiy.nl/eq_chart/ which gives more info as you move the mouse over different section. I haven't seen one that plays samples though.

Forget the driver type, material and such things - it's what you do with them that matters. That's one of the reasons we look at the measurements. More from solderdude again:
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/tutorials/how-to-interpret-graphs/

Another issue to keep in mind is that headphone performance is affected by shape of the person wearing them. Some of the disagreements about headphone quality are down to how well they do or don't fit the individual making measurable changes to frequency response, not just personal preference.
 
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