At innerfidelity the multiple grey lines in the lower half of the FR graphs are all the raw measurements used to derive the red and blue averaged and compensated ones above.
EDIT: Sorry, did you mean with the driver out of it’s housing?
@BenjaminBore Yep, I meant standalone driver measurements as what @Serious did in that one thread with the HD600. Think it might prove a useful resource for modding these cans :)
@BenjaminBore I am so damn close to just building my own rig, though I fear my sole source of information will be here; great as the info is, there's a reason having a personal trainer is superior to watching TV calisthenics (i.e. a live trainer'll be able to catch any minor mistakes that could risk injury in the long term). Might save up and ask Marvey to calibrate one of those EARs rigs!
@Lyer25 I’ve flirted with the idea a few times. But in the end I found it better to use EQ for FR, and leave mods purely for improving presentation and character. Of course any changes one makes will also effect the FR, but I’ve been able to EQ those alterations by ear.
I’ve had the cups off my TH900s, and wedged in some foam behind the ear to mimic the pads from other Fostexs.
Cups off: Image size doubled, speed and air increased.
Foam wedge: Brought vocals more forward and shrunk the stage width. EQ couldn’t help the mid range because it wasn’t an FR issue.
Then I EQ’d the rest. There’s an article at IF about all the Fostex varients if you haven’t seen it.
@BenjaminBore I'm not against EQing out problems, and frankly, my only real issue with my X00EBs is the 11kHz spike which is easy to fix with mech mods anyway. Still, it'd be nice to be able to plug them in to something and not have to worry about EQ. Also, it's largely an academic interest since I'd love to compare drivers on their own merits!
Besides that, I'm somewhat interested in the sonic properties wooden chambers, and getting free-air driver measurements seems like a good baseline to establish.
Oh, and if the FR of the 9-series and 6/X-series drivers are similar I'mma buy matched TH-900 drivers and swap them into the EB cups snappish. The bass on Fostex's flagship is awesome, I just hate the tonal balance. X00's more my cuppa tea.
Absolutely, I’m having to run everything through hardware EQ, with a DDC for USB. To keep things simple, but it is 100% stationary.
Love that velvet biocellulose sound, but yeah the tonality is a disaster. The bass is to die for, doesn’t quite hold up with the cups off though, forgot to mention that. Utopia does well for an open dynamic, but I miss that sub bass slam.
Based on Tyll’s measurements all the fostex driver FRs appear very similar, the primary difference being the larger pad opening, internal cup damping, and stronger magnet of the TH900.
Their biggest weakness after FR is the mediocre micro-dynamics, though. There’s no way around it.
@BenjaminBore Haha! I'd say I'm not a high enough audiophile level to properly appreciate microdynamics, though I'm more than happy to learn. Frankly I'm just enamoured with biodyna sound save for the unevenness in upper regions, and even after getting nicer cans (HD800, Auteur, or Clear— still saving up and deliberating) I plan to keep these around for "fun" listening. Also, the ebony wood just looks great.
Don't think I've ever heard a proper open back dynamic manage bass like the Fostex semi-closed kids, that'd be a treat. Think my ideal euphonic headphone would basically be an X00 with HD650 treble and improved low-level detail. Stock X00 soundstage is perfect for me as is, though imaging could be tighter.
Get an ampty wine glass, and tap it with a metal utensil. Listen to it gently ringing out in ever decreasing volumes all the way to silence. That’s micro-dynamics, put simply. The HD600/650 are pretty damn good at it, with the right amp, for a headphone of that price.
But it’s more evident in some genres than others. Anything with real instruments and voices, live music in particular.
The Focals get the closest, but you’d need to get into planars to feel that sub bass slam in an open back. But they have an ethereal character which you may not find appealing, and have a reputation for lagging in micro-dynamics.
So either try and be happy with what you have and avoid learning, comparing, and experimenting. Or be prepared to go down the rabbit hole and have some fun, trying to avoid the negative behaviours others often fall into.
I’ve gone far further than I ever expected to just get a sound that’s not horribly deficient in some way.
@BenjaminBore thanks, that's a beautiful analogy! Easier than some of the others I've seen elsewhere, haha. Having said that, I do enjoy learning about audio reproduction (though the nitty gritty stuff about amp and DAC architecture still fly over my head), so while I realise there's risk in the descent I plan on getting there eventually, when I have the resources to.
Of course, I do have friends I can actually meet who're further along than I am; I plan to make use of their equipment from time to time. Going to more audio meets sounds good too, but I'm always a bit nervous broaching a new social circle.
I've only ever demoed the Focal kids in store conditions, which are hardly ideal. Those might be worth investigating when the wallet is more willing. For the most part though, I love reading up on others' impressions on here as that's as good as it'll get short of buying shit myself. Also, educational as heck (LaCenric's IEM resonances thread is my current fave).
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