I don't think anyone from Harman is claiming that the IE Target Curve matches the response of an anechoically flat loudspeaker in a room. In fact, the bass response exceeds what the
was tested against 30 IE headphones including the ER4P. The listeners included
There are many false assumptions in this video:
1. "That Studio Monitors are not flat and rolled off" This is only true if are talking about the sound power response which gently rolls off on most direct radiator speakers because of increased directivity with frequecy
Most studio monitors are flat on-axis and within the listening window, and this 100% determines the direct sound of the loudspeaker for someone sitting in that window. Speakers that have flat sound power do not generally rate well in controlled listening tests with trained/untrained listeners because to achieve this the direct sound has to be boosted at high frequencies to compensate for the rolled off. The Consumer Reports loudspeaker "accuracy score" from which the Etymotic accuracy scores were derived is completely bunk to the point where they have discontinued using it ( see
https://seanolive.blogspot.com/search?q=Consumer+Reports). It may be more valid for headphones but certainly not for loudspeakers.
2. The notion that all recordings are bright because the studio monitor speakers do not have flat power is pure speculation with no published scientific proof to back it up. Yes, most studio speakers do not have flat sound power but that does't not prove that studio engineers are cranking the treble on their microphones and mixes to compensate for it.. And if they do, it could be they are compensating for their hearing loss.
In fact most well-made recordings are neutral when listened to through loudspeakers similar in FR to studio monitors (ie flat on-axis/listening window).
3. Amir has already pointed out that the Academy X-curve has been shown to be seriously flawed in recent publications by Floyd Toole and Dr. Linda Gedemer whose PhD research focused on that topic. To even mention it here as support for accurate sound, indicates the person has not carefully read the literature.
4. We included the Etymotic ER4P as one of the 30 headphones tested against the Target and the 70+ listeners (have of whom are trained on average did not rate it as high as the Harman Target (the results are below). The 2nd graph results of trained vs untrained listeners shows the ranking of the headphones did not change much due to training.
A common complaint was that they sounded thin and a bit bright. I've owned many pairs of Etymotic headphones over the years, and had many discussions with Mead Killion (a great guy for whom I have a lot of respect) about the target. While these headphones are otherwise great,IMO they generally sound thin and I have to equalize the bass for stereo recordings. Floyd and I even participated in experiments he ran in which different versions of their target were rated. We were never told the results, and they were not published as far as I know.The company line became, our headphones sound accurate but most recordings are too bright to compensate for dull speakers (because they don't have flat sound power).. Consumer Reports acknowledged the fallacy of flat sound power speakers but apparently Etymotic stands firm.
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