OMG HD800S! Actually f'ing awesome and the naysayers were assholes

Nonsense. By that logic any frequency below 3k has too long of a wavelength for a headphone to reproduce.

I tend to agree that subbass from a loudspeaker system in free space sounds different (and better) but that's a separate phenomena that has to do with a lot of different factors.

I've never experienced any benefit from rolling off the deepest of subbass (for playback), but to be fair a lot of recordings don't have that information (subsonic filters on the front end of a lot of mic pres) and a lot of playback systems just don't extend down that low. I tend to agree with the study that Kunlun's pointed out, in that subbass information has a way of making vocals sound more natural. When you talk to someone in real life there's a lot of that chest and body that we normally pick up.

 

High frequencies are the first to go as they are the most sensitive hair cells in the cochlea. I don't know why. All high SPLs will damage them but the subbass waves are naturally bigger and harder to block.

You'll never get full body bone conduction with headphones. Everything is simulated. I don't like the feeling of my ears being boxed by many closed headphones and planars. That's very unnatural for many instruments such as kick drums or all of the recordings since the 80s that use subbass heavy kick samples or equalizations. This is one of the reasons why speakers in a treated room generally sound more realistic than the best headphones despite the best headphone drivers being more resolving.

The way the Harman curve was tested as "best" was flawed. What Sean Olive was actually testing was what frequency response curve do people prefer the LCD-2 and HD 518 to be equalized to in double blind testing when listening to Steely Dan, Estelle, Kanye West, and Jennifer Warnes. The curves were various diffuse field ones, free field, the Harman curves, and the stock headphones unequalized. The actual headphones with the bass frequency responses closest to the Harman curve, the Focal Spirit Pro and the Philips X2, sound boomy rather than speakers in a room warm. The +4 db bass lift (or was it +5?) is too much.

 

A microphone is pressure-field sensor that can pick up bass down to 5 or so Hz with tested IEMs. Even just above the infrasonic range using headphones/IEMs, sine waves still retain tonal character and the sensation on the head. There are consistent threshold shifts between headphone and speaker listening (minimal audible field and minimal audible field), differences in perception, but that doesn't mean that headphones are incapable of producing subbass and infrasound. I do prefer the speaker sensation, FWIW.
I feel it is worth saying that infrasound isn't strictly inaudible either, just that detection bass rises smoothly and sensitivity is dependent on the person's inner ear.

That test with the LCD-2 and HD518 was more about looking for a general direction of equalization target. Determining the target and giving the subjects tone controls to make adjustments was done with an equalized HD800. The Estelle w. Kanye track was only used with HD800.
I don't take to the bass boost of Olive-Welti, but those headphones aren't quite as representative of O-W's target as the HD600/ER-4S are to diffuse field.

 

We can call this whole sub-thread: Da Mystery of Ear Boxing: 36 Cycles


I wanted to follow up on a point Psalmanzar made, which is that loud, low-frequency sounds are not blocked by earplugs.

Interestingly, our ears' own protective mechanism, involving clenching muscles such as tensor timpani and stapedius, attenuates low-frequency sounds. This may be another factor in why higher frequency hearing damage is more common.


http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/protect.html#c2

https://books.google.com/books?id=sGhzMnst1j8C&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=tensor+tympani+frequencies+attenuated&source=bl&ots=hCATqRuvea&sig=dDsUuwmPbyhh9ucHBdoAc3fRa0M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCwQ6AEwA2oVChMIrvKM7t7hyAIVQRU-Ch0b9AHb#v=onepage&q=tensor tympani frequencies attenuated&f=false



So yeah, about that HD800S... it's gonna be good maybe, huh?

 

Unless it has 3-4dB treble attenuation, or you have a tube amp that's super rolled, I'm not sure the new HD800S is any less damaging to ears than the old HD800. Neither is truly good for pop recordings with their +12dB treble boost IMO...

 

Thanks for clearing some of my misconceptions up guys.

Really Bill? Are you going to kill my hopes and dreams of a TOTL can suitable for listening to black metal?

 

As someone who works in headphones R&D development for a living, I'm certain they were aware of the shortcomings of this headphone upon its release. No product is perfect: you only have the know-how available to you up to that point in time and there are always compromises made during development.

 

Or maybe I'm just secretly promoting my mod? Bwahahahahaha!

Okay, but honestly, though, I think a modded HD800 with tube amp, or one that's fairly warm will do it for most folks.

 

By that logic no real audible sound should come out of some IEM-s (100+kHz be lower limit). Acoustic impedance is a better physical property to describe the bass quantity or extension of a system. Smaller transducers tend to have higher acoustic impedance at lower frequencies.
I am in the club of thought that bone conduction and fat/muscle shaking aid my perception but are not necessary for pure sound reproduction. Large headphone drivers contribute to the shaking thing more.

 

I used my hd800s unmodded with the valhalla 2 and currently use them unmodded with the BW, and primarily listen to metal of nearly every extreme variety. Guess it just depends on the person haha though I am looking forward to a finalized BTAmod to install.

 

I... listen to metal with the all-in-stock-condition HD800, sadistic I know.

Are you... an industry insider or some kind of 007, driving an Alfa Romeo coupe late night on Seoul highway with a hot Korean chick on the passenger seat, currently carrying a device which is not yet released to the general population in a biometrics-secured briefcase?

 

Nah, I am afraid that this is going to be an ongoing common misunderstanding. Many people pluralize headphones: "a pair of headphones". SoupRKnowva has the HD800s, not the HD800S.

 

Indeed, except that the girl is obviously in my lap with said headphones on her head


But more to the point, the new headphones have a capitalized S, so would be written HD800S or HD800Ss for plural. Plural HD800 will still be HD800s

 

Ahaha, yeah I already know it is a plural, hence the emoticon at the end.

Pardon my broken English but isn't it supposed to be -es prefix to pluralize the object which ends with letter 's', so it should be HD800S-es or something?

 

Thank you for the welcome, I see familiar faces .

Marv, as for doing another acoustic simulation, it may be while as I can't even cope with all those I should do for work > <.

I'll like to get back to it though and measurements too...

Arnaud

 

this just in ... a must see for lolz!

 

Seriously, we need to do the Downfall Hitler scene now. Couldn't be more perfect.

 

I wish I knew how to do vids and stuff. This YouTube dubbing stuff is awesome.

 

=____=