Wow, not too bad at all. , especially the 710.
I don't think distortion would be a problem, it wasn't in any of the cheap closed-back headphones in Amirs tests if I remember right.
The crumpled pads were fixed in later batches. But yeah the headband design is a fail. We will find out eventually if Harman learned their lesson.The problem would be : will they measure as well on your own head ? The K371 is a typical example of a pair of headphones that can vary quite wildly depending on sample variation, package conditioning (crumpled pads), or listeners’ anatomical variations vs. design.
Heck even with the decent sample I own the sole act of leaning forward or backward noticeably changes the FR…
The peak at 6khz may be partly down to my FPC. It's there on Dr. Olive's measurement, but doesn't look as big. Removing it requires a very narrow band peaking filter, which I suspect doesn't match up to how peaks in that region will actually exhibit with the headphones on your head, and removes some sense of 'clarity', for example by dulling cymbals.
- NC creates a noticeable squirmy, humming sound, though I've never listened to ANC headphones before so don't know how unusual this is.
It doesn't help that I'm always making small modifications to my FPC as well! Interesting to see measurements on a real human ear, thanks for sharing. There is a lot going on but I can make out that the 710BT basically seems to measure well and not deviate much from other well regarded headphones.The FP rig is likely to introduce errors in terms of the relative difference between headphones indeed (not just, obviously, the absolute values). That said I also measure a peak near 6kHz for my sample, on my own head, with in ear mics (blocked ear canal entrance mics), with a 710BT. Whether that will necessarily applies to everyone else, or to all samples of the 710BT/760NC, IDK.
Here it is compared to two samples of the HD650, including one tested both with broken in, but not completely worn out pads, and brand new revised pads (dotted trace).
The three grey traces are vague guesstimates of how the Harman target is meant to measure like with these mics, one an average of seven passive, open over-ears (two HD58X, one HD650, Sundara, Clear MG, HE400SE, and HD560S), the other one an average of six passive HPs from Harman, unEQed, which score well against the target on ear simulators. Don't read too much into it but it can provide some form of reference.
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All ANC headphones that I've tried produce one way or another some form of background noise, but some are a lot more discreet and pleasant than others, and I haven't tried the 760NC.
Yes, I measured a 10dB difference between active and passive. In active mode they required the same amplification as my HD6XX to reach the same SPL! This was through my Scarlett Focusrite however (you can still switch on the active circuit even when receiving input through the 3.5mm cable), so I don't know how powerful the amplifier inside the headphones is.My 710s are still going well.
Over Bluetooth, they don’t go loud. I suspect that’s a limitation of the internal amplification, deliberately geld back to avoid distortion.
No matter, they’re fine as they are, and it’s a good excuse to not damage my hearing.