jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Sitting here, at almost 3 in the morning, avoiding going to bed, and I decided to play a wav file I ripped off of Pink Floyd's "Wish You were Here". The beginning started with the familiar radio tuning and stuff. But then, something I'd NEVER heard before came over my left earphone...

I'd never heard Gilmour step up to the microphone, I'd never heard him move his fingers on the strings, I'd never heard him cough, inhale, then sigh before he played, I'd never heard him press down on the frets before he strums the first chord on the acoustic....

I love these headphones. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Right up there with a 13th row ticket to see Dave Brubeck in concert at Hill Auditorium :D
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
jaxvon said:
I love these headphones. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Right up there with a 13th row ticket to see Dave Brubeck in concert at Hill Auditorium :D
Dude. You're scaring me. Really.

-Chris
 
Z

zacharyt

Enthusiast
Yeah, lets see......3 in the morning......listening to Pink Floyd.....hearing things he never heard before......and professing his love for a pair of headphones.....this guy was definitely stoned.
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
I was most definitely NOT stoned. I made the mistake of taking a nap at 8:00 at night, so I just couldn't fall asleep.
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
jaxvon said:
I was most definitely NOT stoned. I made the mistake of taking a nap at 8:00 at night, so I just couldn't fall asleep.
I understand the desire to talk about a piece of audio equipment, but your post seems more appropriate for a live chat room, as compared to an internet forum. Basicly -- it just seems *off*, in this particular situation, thus resulting in accusations of drug use, etc..

LOL!

-Chris
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
I decided to do an in-depth analysis of the MDR-7506 headphone this evening, since you mentioned this headphone. I analysed the left and right channels, looking for common minor anomolies that can be easily corrected and enhance sound quality in the process.

My objective was not to change the response or signature of the headphone -- only to remove seemingly obvious minor problems.

Note that this analysis is based on one sample of the headphone. I do not have additional sets of this model, in order to draw a statistically valid conclusion of typical behaviour. Execution of the transfer fuctions I am about to specify may or may not be applicable, because of this detail.

The headphone was measured on a jig, and the area that is usually occupied by the ear was filled with a cutout of acoustic foam in order to prevent/reduce interference from reflections from within this cavity. The point here is to analyse and find corrections due to transducer non-linear response.

I recommend three filters(For (A) and (B) Refer to [1] for measured effect(s); for (C) refer to [2] for measured effect(s). ):

(A)

F= 4407 Hz
Q= 4.5
G= -3.0 dB

(B)

F= 10300 Hz
Q= 10
G= -3.5 dB

(C)

F= 205 Hz
Q= 5
G= +5.0 dB

Note: (A) and (B) may be utilized with passive line level notch filter circuits. (C) requires an active circuit to utilize. Application of all 3 filters is recommended. If you have available, a 3 or more band, fully adjustable parametric equalizer, the filters should be easy to implement. If you can not select the specific frequencies above, you should be able to choose neighboring frequencies, within 3-5%, and still have sufficient precision.

My subjective impression of the transfer functions applied vs. not applied: In stock response, the 7506 seems to be a little bit more detailed at first impression. This is an artifact of the midrange and treble resonances. With the transfer functions applied, the sound is less fatiguing and more natural by a subtle, but very noticable(after DBTing) amount.

I recommend you do your own ABX testing with the ABX comparator in Foobar or similar before actually applying the functions. I prepared two short sound clips of a jazz vocalist piece. One has been compensated(clearly labeled as such) with the filter specifications I gave above, the other has not. Play these files with all effects or tone adjustements in your hardware or software disabled. The transfer function(s) applied to the compensated file will accurately simulate the effect of a parametric equalizer.

http://www.linaeum.com/downloads/misc/dk_1.mp3

http://www.linaeum.com/downloads/misc/dk_1_compensated.mp3

-Chris

[1]


[2]
 
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jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
You were bored and you did that? And you thought I was crazy... Thanks though! Now if only I had a way to apply what you recommend...
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
jaxvon said:
You were bored and you did that? And you thought I was crazy... Thanks though! Now if only I had a way to apply what you recommend...
I edited the post right about when you posted, so you may have missed my addition. I have added a compensated vs. non compensated clip. Use Foobar or another program with ABX capability, in order to develop an unbiased opinion of the change and to insure that you can, indeed, identify the change. The difference may not be significant enough to you to be worth persuing.

NOTICE: I initially uploaded files that had an incorrect filter function applied. I corrected these on 02-12-2005, at approx. 3:30 am EST. If you downloaded before then, please discard the files and redownload from the links in the prior post. I was performing my initial comparisons in real-time using a hardware-based filtering system. I filtered the test files above in software but did not double-check the ones I prepared for you before posting. They are now corrected.

I also added this additional sample set(Fiona Apple) for comparison:

http://www.linaeum.com/downloads/misc/fa.mp3

http://www.linaeum.com/downloads/misc/fa_compensated.mp3



-Chris
 
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WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
See above post. Important information concerning the original posted files is presented.

-Chris
 
S

Steve1000

Audioholic
Jaxvon, I agree. The Sony V6s / 7506s really are *that* good. They really are something to get excited about if you place a high value on high fidelity. No wonder they are a time-tested classic and so well thought of in pro audio circles. :)

WmAx, I'll give your settings a try this weekend. They'll have a place as one more preset on my Behringer DEQ2496. I have no doubt that the settings are a refinement on the stock sound (after all, digital EQ can improve any headphone in existence, IMHO and in my experience). Thanks for the tireless pursuit of truth in audio PLUS obsessive audio perfectionism. :cool:

jaxvon said:
Sitting here, at almost 3 in the morning, avoiding going to bed, and I decided to play a wav file I ripped off of Pink Floyd's "Wish You were Here". The beginning started with the familiar radio tuning and stuff. But then, something I'd NEVER heard before came over my left earphone...

I'd never heard Gilmour step up to the microphone, I'd never heard him move his fingers on the strings, I'd never heard him cough, inhale, then sigh before he played, I'd never heard him press down on the frets before he strums the first chord on the acoustic....

I love these headphones. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Right up there with a 13th row ticket to see Dave Brubeck in concert at Hill Auditorium :D
 
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