Sennheiser HD660S Speculation

OMG, don't give "reviewers" any ideas.

 

Transients are still linear though. The transients depend on the initial conditions. In digital filters, it depends on the initial contents of the delay lines. On a network, it depends on the initial charge and magnetic fields stored in the caps and the inductors respectively at "time zero".

Then you also have non-linear behavior which is usually noise and high order behavior (quadratic or higher order polynomial like) due to operating actives and passives outside their linear range.

In Head-Fi it seems transients are speed, power, PRaT, presence, resolution, and so on, all in one. Or so it seems folks are going to learn.

 

I definitively agree with this. Specially when compared to the HD600 paint job: Blue puke.

 

An impulse response is a very specific construct which has mathematical implications. In the case of measurements used here, the impulse response is actually derived from recorded pseudo-random noise constructed to have certain characteristics or a sine sweep of specific length.

Transient response or speed (along with qualifiers fast or slow), as I refer to them here, are subjective terms describing sound phenomena.

There is actually no such thing as a fast or slow impulse response, at least an idealized impulse.

 

Here you go. This should make it more clear. Minor details were left out, but this is the gist of it.

 

It is NOT my definition. The definition is formal and it is incompatible with your definition as far as I know.

I actually googled and read the "Transient response" definition in wikipedia. That article is marred with issues and it's flat out wrong as far as I'm concerned. Read this for that definition instead:

https://www.dsprelated.com/freebooks/filters/Transient_Response_Steady_State.html

Believe me, this is not graduate level EE stuff. It's pretty basic. This shit actually goes back to differential equations.

EDIT: I don't know if you are an EE, but as an EE I cannot express to you how wrong "the impulse response is the transient response of a system to an impulse" is. The impulse response includes information of BOTH transients and steady-state.

EDIT 2: Again, we can go down the "subjective" lane and relax formalisms. But it's pretty damn confusing, for me at least, to see two very different terms being used to describe the same thing, in a very ambiguous way. Specially if we are talking impulse response in a signals and systems context.

 

None of this discussion is necessary. The point is that HF randos should just stick to convention and use commonly used terms such as fast or slow to describe subjective sound phenomena rather than hijack technical terms with specific meanings and math implications such as impulse response to describe subjective phenomena.

No audio guy says wow, that REL sub has such good impulse response or good energy time curve that it keeps up with the Maggies. They say, wow that's a fast sub or that sub can keep up (in terms of speed) with the panels.

 

Exactly. A lot less confusion.

There are many ways to convey information. But mixing up terms is not helpful.

 

Yes. Non-linear distortion is out of what is covered by transient analysis.

You should experience the third harmonic distortion of the Focusrite 2i2 internal DAC. It pairs perfectly with the transient response of the Koss Portapros, giving a unique sense of space and dimension that is unmatched by even the most expensive linear time invariant systems in the market. The impulse response runs very fast and effortlessly. So fast in fact that only the most trained ears can catch the detailed nuance of the shot noise with it's unique Poisson distribution that only this combination can provide. It's all in the time domain characteristics of the full integrated system. Frequency response is obviosuly irrelevant since it is completely overtaken by the CSD smoothness and warm presentation.

I cannot stop listening to this combination. The internal amplifier's initial conditions make the Laplace transform extend it's influence of the system's phasor analysis very deep. Even deeper and harder as one experiences the softness of the Koss headphones wavelet resolution. The cable connecting these two systems grants unfathomable levels of blackness hitting Boltzmann constant levels.

(Read as reviewer just jizzed all over the keyboard.)

 

Nobody makes black cables as satisfying as Monoprice. The sweet softness of their plastic shell and robustness of their internal metal wire should more than invigorate the delicate lips of any well defined personal computer's USB snatch. This should bring the clickness of your keyboard to exhilarating levels. Happy PC, happy keyboard.