MiniDSP EARs measurement rig

Discussion in 'Measurement Techniques Discussion' started by dBel84, Nov 9, 2017.

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  1. Eudis Fernandes

    Eudis Fernandes Aurorus Audio - MoT

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    But why.

    You can diy a stand for much much less by buying sheet metal and bending it and drilling a hole for the mics and using em173 mics which are really good.

    The point of ears is for the ear simulators and forgo flatplate.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2018
  2. samvafaei

    samvafaei New

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    That's what I was going to say, I don't think measuring on a flat gives a correct idea about the headphones' frequency response. Even the ones with ears don't do it that well.
     
  3. mdr30

    mdr30 Acquaintance

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    No more experiments or improvements with this device? We did some measurements in Gothenburg with dynamics, stats and orthos and were equally baffled and enlightened by the results. Those peaks up there are messing things up.
     
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's ongoing.
    1. New headphone measurements - I am already providing the the EARS results with my preliminary compensation curve in addition to the standard V2 flat coupler results. The only reason there haven't been that many is because there haven't been many new headphones of interest.
    2. The peaks inherent to the EARS, the high Q resonances, appear to be correctable with compensation, at least for FR. This appears to be the case with whatever little data we have. All ear simulators, even the GRAS, have resonances.
    3. I've demonstrated some capability of the EARS to produce results similar to Jude's GRAS. Can't say anything for sure yet as we do not have enough data points from Jude. (Again, not many new headphones recently released.) The more data points the better to average out "errors". Humans are more likely the cause of inconsistencies than gear.
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2018
  5. mdr30

    mdr30 Acquaintance

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    Thanks for the update, appreciate it.

    If you clever guys can find ways to make it provide more "correct" measurements, then great.

    It's really interesting to compare listening impressions with measured responses, especially for different mods and general tonal preferences.
     
  6. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    Just wanted to let you guys know, if you didn't already, that the EARS rigs now have a new compensation curve available! They made a compensation curve that assumes that flat = the Harman curve! So if you measure a pair of headphones that comply perfectly with that curve, you will get a flat line. The idea is to EQ your headphones until the measurement looks flat, which will give you the Harman curve.

    I can't wait to try it, but I also think this is extra cool if you consider the idea that you can use this when modding headphones to get a reality check vs a neutral objective target.
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Harmon curve sucks. Olive and Welti can shove it up their ass.
     
  8. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I don't really trust MiniDSP to put out a good compensation curve.
     
  9. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    IIRC there have been some new FR measurements posted up on r/headphones using EARS's Harman compensation curves (I think it was Harman anyway). The output's been really jagged, with odd dips in the FR that look scary as f**k. If the headphones measured actually sounded that way then I'd probably be even deafer than I already am, haha.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I don't want headphones sounding like the Beats audio package on FCA cars. (I opted for Alpine).
     
  11. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    They asked a bunch of randos what they liked the best, so you'd kinda expect it to not be audiophile friendly :p

    I go for a clinical approach without a set target personally.
     
  12. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    TIL that FCA cats came with a Beats Audio package. To be fair, the modern Solo is pretty decent for the price (not that that's in any way indicative of how the car thing is).
     
  13. Josh83

    Josh83 Friend

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    I'm considering ordering EARs just to try some measurements myself for fun. Can anyone who has EARs share what software they use and what (if any) issues they've had integrating it with EARs?
     
  14. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    Room EW Wizard (REW). Flawless integration.
     
  15. dropadred

    dropadred New

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    Soo, would you recommend someone to get EARS? I am personally interested in FR and CSD measurements of headphones plus sound recordings (to have more than just FR).
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
  16. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Definitely. It's fun to play with and good for getting relative differences between headphones. The included compensations do a good job of taking care of the peaks inherent in the EARs, so that hard part is already done for you. The compensations I use are custom - where a target of perceptual neutral is a straight horizontal across. They were kind of a pain in the ass to develop. I'll post a bit later comparing the EARS included compensation with my custom one, and the raw data.
     
  18. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Got mine today. Lots of fun!

    Very impressive channel matching - better than I initially expected. Look at my elex result:

    upload_2018-10-12_2-51-42.png

    I tried to combine HEQ and HPN compensations provided by Minidsp. To my ears, HEQ makes sense for trebles while HPN sounds more reasonable for bass and mid. Working on this for several hours, below is my early result.

    upload_2018-10-12_2-56-29.png

    This compensation reflects 80-85% of what I actually hear from each headphone. Will think about how to improve.

    Anyway, pretty happy that I finally obtained my own measurement fixture at very reasonable cost!
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
  19. Josh83

    Josh83 Friend

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    I just got mine in a few days ago. So far they're a lot of fun. Thanks to @purr1n for his SBAF calibration files. My L and R EARS channels weren't as well-matched as some others. So I had to do some modifications to Marvey's spreadsheet based off of the channel that seemed to comport best with existing measurements of some cans that Marvey's already measured. I'm still tweaking, but I think it's turning out okay.

    Here's a comparison of HD800S and HD820 with my EARS:

    [​IMG]

    Any feedback will be accepted with love and appreciation.
     
  20. Napier Lopez

    Napier Lopez New

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    Hey all, long time lurker, first time poster.

    One point of advice to consider: Remove the screws.

    The small protrusion they create is enough to significantly affect bass measurements on closed back headphones. Every closed back heaphone I've tried, even ones with plushy pads, seem to measure closer to what I hear after removing them.

    I'm using the HEQ calibration because it's actually pretty close to how I percieve things. In each case, the one with more bass is the one with the screws removed.

    Sony Z7M2:

    [​IMG]

    Denon D9200. Noticed a major difference in all the frequencies with a little bit of pressure, which is what inspired me to remove the screws. Goes from a somewhat bright headphone into a much more neutral one (if you consider harman-esque to be neutral).
    [​IMG]

    Focal Elegia
    [​IMG]

    Alternatively, you could use Tyll's rubber band trick or applying a bit of pressure, but I found removing the screws was all I needed for a consistently good seal with the headphones I have on me.

    So far, it doesn't seem to affect open headphones very much, as one would expect:

    Focal Clear (Blue is after screws removal):
    [​IMG]

    It tried simply tightening the screws more so they're deeper into the silicone, but then it just causes an indentation with similar measurement problems. Might see if I can replace the included screws with some flat-head ones that won't affect things so much.

    I think the MiniDSP is great, but it could be so much better with just a few small tweaks. Can't wait for a V2 - or hopefully someone will be inspired to make an equally-affordable competitor.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2018
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