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TemporaryProperty108 t1_jdka4d4 wrote

I never know if people are just lying about these things, I have god-tier ears, or I am doing something incredibly wrong when eqing headphones to match each other. To me the differences are night and day. If I EQ my HD 600 and AKG k612 to the same FR, I can clearly tell the superier soundstage and imaging of the AKG and the resoultion and timbre of the Sennheiser apart. Even when I EQed my DT990 and 880 to match each other I could clearly tell them apart in a blind test. With Amps it gets very difficult to tell them apart while switching between them, but I am imagining differences in longer sessions. I might be hallucinating on that one, or it's true that everything sounds similir when switching quickly between things.

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Hydrosplash t1_jdkig55 wrote

Yes, you're doing things wrong when matching headphones. To properly equalize 612 and hd600 for example you have to take into account that these have a completely different upper treble presentation with different placement of upper treble peaks and it can drastically impact this "resolution" and "soundstage" etc etc. You really have to do this the way OP did, using microphones and measurements to precisely match every single part of the FR or at least bring them as close as possible and even then there's no guarantee that you're gonna have a same FR for both at the eardrum.

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ICoeuss OP t1_jdkso8n wrote

This. The only two notable imperfections about this method are these two initial assumptions:
1- If two identical sounds enter the ear canals, they will sound identical to the ear drums.
2- When more than one particular frequency is played, how the headphones react to the input will not deviate from their FR.

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ICoeuss OP t1_jdkfmpe wrote

Are you using in-ear mics to measure as well?

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TemporaryProperty108 t1_jdlthzn wrote

I am not using any mics. I am using measurements and my ears. But the differences are so big that I can't imagine they can be up to 1db more or less here or there. Just as an obvious example the bass of an HD 600 sounds completely different than that of a Sundara when both are equed to flat. The HD 600 sounds like it is struggling and a large part of the resolution in the mids/treble is lost. Or I'm sure you'd agree as well, that an open and closed headphone sound different, even when they have the same FR. Or even more extreme, an IEM and an open headphone are going to sound completely different, even if you manage to match FR.

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ICoeuss OP t1_jdlxyqp wrote

Well, if you're not using any mics you're not really matching their FR. Your HRTF interacts with different headphones differently and there's unit variation. Measurement graphs online don't tell you how your ears hear a headphone.

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TemporaryProperty108 t1_jdm1udc wrote

I don't feel like you engaged any of my arguments. Do you think an open headphone and an IEM are going to sound the same if you managed to match FR?

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ICoeuss OP t1_jdm3lzr wrote

If the EQ profile to match them didn't introduce any audible distortion then they should sound almost identical. I would even argue you could make a headphone sound almost exactly like a speaker. I heard SMYTH Realiser A16 does just that very well.

Having said that, your perception of the sound might change when using an open-back headphone since you can hear ambient sounds in the room. However if you were in a completely silent room which is pretty much impossible to achieve, you should percieve them identically as well.

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TemporaryProperty108 t1_jdmynvg wrote

I feel like your understanding of how we perceive sound is wrong, but I have neither the knowledge nor time necessary to argue with you. All I can tell you is that a speaker and IEM with matched frequency response sound completely different. I'm sure you'd agree that I'd be able to accurately tell you for any item I have never heard if it is a speaker, headphone or IEM, no matter how you EQ it as well. I see sound in shapes and colours and it is just completely different things.

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