So, I am 95% in the objective camp and 5% in the subjective camp as far as Measurements are concerned but I have 2 thoughts / concerns and apologies if they have been discussed previously.
My main concern is around what I might call " measurements loopback" (i.e. measuring and comparing the EQ/DSP changes that we might apply multiple times to make on bit of audio gear sound like another) and this question is sort of inspired by the Truthear Review, basically early on ( probably 10+ years ago now) , I was a heavy adopter of Android mainly because of the Viper4Android and the promise I could turn my relativity cheap IEM's into something sounding like an expensive pair using low level (system wide at the time) DSP which would first normalise my IEM (assuming I had a reasonable consistent model - i.e. little manufacturer variance) into a much more expensive sounding device - so I could turn them into whatever I fancied that day (e.g. want a bass boost - let them sound "exactly" like a Beats headphone today). This was Nerdy fun and useful at the time. But we all grow up and it is only in recent months have got the time to get back to this "hobby", so my interest in the true capabilities of EQ/ DSP and measurements have re-emerged, so....
Anyway the real "concern" from my technical brain is now that we can properly measure the audio output of headphones and we all happy that a relatively cheap pair (I am still waiting for my Thruthear's to arrive) can "measure" sound wise like a crazy expensive pair of IEM's. Now with IEM's (especially as there is no 'room' reflections etc) the DSP itself can be scientifically verified cheaply (we don't need room's like Amir or Erin)? I.e. measure a $1000 IEM and compare it with the Thruthear with the EQ set to match the $1000 pair - or alternatively normalise both pairs to the Harman standard and compare?? Mostly, I am guessing that people will still prefer the expensive pair as some things will still be subjective ("the quality of the material of the cables") but I am still thinking that for the extra money it provides, something from the $1000 IEM will cause it to be "better" than the $50 can provide? So what is that? Can that be measured?? With Speakers, I always felt there were too many variances (around the room and the analog / noise introduced into the flow) but headphones and DSP can now verified easily I believe.
The other thought / concern is similar - but based on the excellent video by @Amir
it sort of concerns me about smoothing - so at lower frequencies we can distinguish between different frequencies easier - but then using the same smoothing options like 1/3 maybe 1/6 seems a bit too broad at these frequencies, like we smoothing over these variations at these lower / mid frequencies that might make a difference - this would in my opinion sort of be similar to imagine using a photo "smoothing" algorithm like the "beauty filters" that can be applied to say instagram photos -( they remove details to provide perceived perfection) - so we might be smoothing out the "detail" to make the sound match the generally perceived average "beauty" for that frequency - I am not necessarily saying its wrong just we might be de-emphasising detail in a very specific frequency for a particular speaker that to make that speaker sound more "average" - I know (as I have also watched) the various videos about the Harmon Curve and the methodology of blind testing speakers - but my worry is that is mostly "over" averaging to end up with most people's example of bland beauty can be destructive in detail.
Anyway, being Irish - I would invite anyone willing to a few pints in a nice pub in Dublin to discuss these concerns over some of the "black stuff".
My main concern is around what I might call " measurements loopback" (i.e. measuring and comparing the EQ/DSP changes that we might apply multiple times to make on bit of audio gear sound like another) and this question is sort of inspired by the Truthear Review, basically early on ( probably 10+ years ago now) , I was a heavy adopter of Android mainly because of the Viper4Android and the promise I could turn my relativity cheap IEM's into something sounding like an expensive pair using low level (system wide at the time) DSP which would first normalise my IEM (assuming I had a reasonable consistent model - i.e. little manufacturer variance) into a much more expensive sounding device - so I could turn them into whatever I fancied that day (e.g. want a bass boost - let them sound "exactly" like a Beats headphone today). This was Nerdy fun and useful at the time. But we all grow up and it is only in recent months have got the time to get back to this "hobby", so my interest in the true capabilities of EQ/ DSP and measurements have re-emerged, so....
Anyway the real "concern" from my technical brain is now that we can properly measure the audio output of headphones and we all happy that a relatively cheap pair (I am still waiting for my Thruthear's to arrive) can "measure" sound wise like a crazy expensive pair of IEM's. Now with IEM's (especially as there is no 'room' reflections etc) the DSP itself can be scientifically verified cheaply (we don't need room's like Amir or Erin)? I.e. measure a $1000 IEM and compare it with the Thruthear with the EQ set to match the $1000 pair - or alternatively normalise both pairs to the Harman standard and compare?? Mostly, I am guessing that people will still prefer the expensive pair as some things will still be subjective ("the quality of the material of the cables") but I am still thinking that for the extra money it provides, something from the $1000 IEM will cause it to be "better" than the $50 can provide? So what is that? Can that be measured?? With Speakers, I always felt there were too many variances (around the room and the analog / noise introduced into the flow) but headphones and DSP can now verified easily I believe.
The other thought / concern is similar - but based on the excellent video by @Amir
Anyway, being Irish - I would invite anyone willing to a few pints in a nice pub in Dublin to discuss these concerns over some of the "black stuff".
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