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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6ey5pd wrote

Reply to comment by Clickbaitllama in I hate the Harman Curve by ShepherdessAnne

Headphone. The whole notion of pouring audio science into a non-representative sample of people for what is most subjectively "pleasing" is something I could rant about for way too long.

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BionicSammich t1_j6flsul wrote

I think the whole point of the Harman curve is that they tested the preferences of a bunch of people and came up with an average preference.

I don't understand why you have a problem a line on the graph thats basically arbitrary. You can still use it to find headphones that you like. If you like less bass, find sets that fall under the harman curve in the bass region on an FR graph. Like more treble? Find one thats above the curve in the treble region.

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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6fn101 wrote

The problem is its dominating the market and everything is getting tuned around it. New product? Harman curve. Boo!

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BionicSammich t1_j6fnxm5 wrote

So find headphones that aren't tuned around it. What are your preferences?

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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6fqgwn wrote

Flat.

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BionicSammich t1_j6frsjm wrote

And what is your context for flat? How do you quantify flat? Is Crinacle's IEF target "flat" to you? Do you want to look at a graph with a harman target and just see a flat line that ignores the target? Because thats technically flat if you don't consider the raw data.

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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6fsa52 wrote

Compensated, comes in flat to the majority of ears.

The problem is one of imaging. IEMs can be perfectly flat but sacrifice Soundstage. You can get your floorstanding speakers fairly flat either out of the box or via EQ or both.

But headphones? Everyone is targeting this same curve because they want that mass market appeal, despite the fact that the mass market doesn't care as much about critical listening as it does about comfort. It's frustrating. I'm big mad about it.

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BionicSammich t1_j6fvida wrote

Ok so you just want a rant and not a solution. Best of luck with that.

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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6fwdwg wrote

Yes this is why I flared it with drama.

Technically EQ is a solution. Fine. But then why even bother? It's all the same tuning.

It would be like having every car drive about the same. What would be the point of that?

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BionicSammich t1_j6fyr6l wrote

I don't get what you are searching for. Harman is basically just a bit of extra bass and a bit of extra treble. Want it flat? Just reduce the bass and treble shelfs. Use Crinacles graph tool to visually test it out.

What headphones do you have? I'll make you an EQ profile you can import into Peace.

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ShepherdessAnne OP t1_j6gindn wrote

Thank you for the offer, however unfortunately I'm in the process of dramatic customization for my daily drivers and will get back to you after the project is complete.

It's just infuriating that this is even necessary, though. I mean yes, everyone should know their way around EQ. Cool, I get that. But the thing is the goal shouldn't be so homogenous. It's been getting worse and worse as the years have gone by and it's like, dude, for higher end products can we please just leave that kind of tuning up to the listener? If you're buying an amp and balanced cables you probably know your way around an EQ.

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BionicSammich t1_j6hfdy3 wrote

Have you ever considered that headphones in general just aren't fir you? You seem to be wanting a sound that doesn't really exist. Harman isn't a million miles away from flat. I've played with EQ with the aim of making stuff "flat" before and you just end up with an ass load of mids and not much else.

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