Topic: Headphone Demos in LA 05/30-31

[ironbut]

The LAX Hilton will host the 2009 Headfi International Meet on the last weekend of May this year. If you're interested in replacing those old headphones or are just curious on just how good a pair of cans can sound, you might find this an interesting way to spend a few hours.

Here's a list of the members of the trade who'll be demoing their gear;

AudioLineOut/ALO Audio
Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
Beyer Dynamics
Blackbird Audio
Crossroads Acoustics
Donald North Audio
Eastwind Imports
Eddie Current
HeadAmp Audio Electronics
Head-Direct
HeadRoom
Hearing Components (Comply)
Lavry Engineering
Locus Design/CryoParts
Manley Audio
Maximo Products
Moon Audio
Profundo Audio
Ray Samuels Audio
RudiStor Sound Systems
Sennheiser
Shure Audio
Smyth Research
Todd The Vinyl Junkie
Ultrasone
Ultimate Ears
Westone
Whiplash Audio
Woo Audio

Aside from the vendors, there's going to be hundreds of set ups from Headfi members that will welcome you to listen to what they've brought.

Headfi is a non profit, online gathering place for headphone nuts like me and once a year we get together to share in person.

Here's a link to vital info if you're interested in coming by;
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f129/can-jam-2009-date-location-announcement-396027/

And here's a review of last years event which took place in Fl..
http://www.stereomojo.com/HeadFiShow2008/HeadFiShow2008.htm

One word of advice, Saturday will be much noisier than Sunday (isn't that how it always is at shows?), so if you want to make critcal listening decisions, come on Sunday.

[Gutbucket]

Smyth Research

I highly recommend checking out the Smyth virtualization technology even if that's the only thing you do there! 

Once their calibration is run for a specific set of headphones with a specific set of ears in a specific spot in a given playback environment, there is no way to tell the difference between actually listening in that environment and listening via the headphones.  That includes the ability to turn your head and locate virtual images anywhere in the horizontal plane. 

I met the Smyth brothers a year ago at the local CanJam meet in FL and was lucky enough to have them run the full calibration on me so I could demo the system.  I have never experienced anything like it before and I am convinced it is the missing link for both monitoring and post production work of surround material (as well as accurate stereo work) away from a dedicated, acoustically treated mixing suite. I talked with them for a while, stressing this important potential application of their technology.

Please let me know anything you can find out about their progress towards availability of the SRS virtualizer or whatever they are calling it now.  Very little other information is available. 

Thanks for passing on any information you can!

[ironbut]

I'm really looking forward to listening to that demo. I think that virtual listening environments are going to be springing up in the next few years. Very interesting stuff.
I'll be sure and relay the latest from them.

[Gutbucket]

You might check to see if Beyer is demo-ing their Headzone system - another similar virtual surround headphone device with head rotation.  The Headzone Pro is an actual shipping product aimed at recording professionals, seems well developed and implemented if costly, but does not use personalized HRTF or room measurements.  I have not had a chance to hear it.

[ironbut]

There's a fellow in Switzerland that I've been demoing a new crossfeed system for that uses personalized HRTF. It's still in development but I get a sample from him form time to time. He has an online demo but it's not so great right now. He "voiced" the demos with a pair of Beyer DT880's which are pretty tipped up in freq. compared to what a lot of folks would be listening to so the sound is pretty veiled. I let him know and he's going to adjust the sound to a little more "middle of the road". The demos that are online will just give you a general idea but if you go to the HRTF page you can select the sound that seems best for each of your ears with your headphones. Then he'll send you a personalized sample with the song you select. Here's his web site;

http://www.headphonehifi.ch/Headphone-Hi-Fi/Introduction.html

Give it a try. I find the crossfeed effect very natural sounding now that I've got some personalized samples.

[fotoralf.be]

He has an online demo but it's not so great right now.

Just tried the various music and sound examples with my trusted old AKG K240 (the original 600 ohm version) and I must say I'm particularly unimpressed. Gives me the impression of listening to a pair of cheap near-field monitors with a nasty phase problem and located right above my head, maybe slightly to the front. Most irritating...

Ralf

[guysonic]

My site has posted hundreds of HRTF recordings working both for open-air headphones and stereo-surround speaker listening/testing purposes.

These recordings reside on two pages:

http://www.sonicstudios.com/mp3.htm and http://www.sonicstudios.com/mp3_2slp.htm#sessions

My favorite past/present headphones for comfort, imaging, neutral natural sound are discussed on this page:
http://www.sonicstudios.com/mdr-f1.htm

[ironbut]

Yeah, those online demos are still a work in progress. I think I was the first to try it out and it's got a while before it does more harm than good (IMHO). The hard part is to get folks to tune the system for their own hearing. Otherwise it sounds really bad. It's difficult to get folks to take the time to test their hearing, then fill out the form, get an adjusted cut, see if you like that one, then maybe repeat... He probably needs to get some dedicated beta testers lined up to find a way to get his point across.

Regarding the headphones themselves, I've found that I can read all the impressions of the way they sound but still be totally surprised when I actually listen to them myself. I don't mean to discount or disagree with anything that guysonic has taken the trouble to relate. I think that he's offered some great services to us here over and over in exchange for nothing more than a click of the mouse. But, there's nothing like putting them on and giving them a long hard listen yourself.

[Gutbucket]

There's a fellow in Switzerland.. Here's his web site;

http://www.headphonehifi.ch/Headphone-Hi-Fi/Introduction.html

I find the crossfeed effect very natural sounding now that I've got some personalized samples.

I'll check that out.  The part about choosing between several sets of measurements seems philosophically similar to the Beyer system which as i understand it, also uses a 'best fit' or averaged response approach instead of attempting to measure each user exactly.  I suppose the question then becomes, "how close is close enough?" to trick your brain into suspending disbelief.  It seems ear shapes (and presumably the personalized transfer function they impart) are as unique as fingerprints, but at some point 'good enough' works, while 'not good enough' is colored and terrible sounding.

As for headphone cross-feed implementations, HDPHX from Refined Audiometrics Labs (freeware VST plugin) is the best I've found.  Unlike most others the effect of this one is quite subtle and doesn't destroy the tonal balance to my ear.  I rarely use it though, as I sometimes find these types of cross-feed techniques valuable for multitracked and pan-potted material but don't provide much benefit for the ambient stereo recordings which we make and which Guysonic has made available on his site.

[ironbut]

Thanks for the link! I'm actually real interested in working with the hearing impaired and the ' Audiometrics Labs has some pretty pricey stuff, I think that this sort of "real world" research is important to getting high quality hearing devices available before we all need them!

[Gutbucket]

^^^
Cool stuff, huh?

I've been imagining a single unit that combines the Smyth SVS virtualization with the Audiometrics dynamic frequency/loudness based restoration and active noise cancellation in a small headphone amp with a USB input as well as the analog in.

Now that would be sweet.