AES E-Library

The Relationship between Perception and Measurement of Headphone Sound Quality

Double-blind listening tests were performed on six popular circumaural headphones to study the relationship between their perceived sound quality and their acoustical performance. In terms of overall sound quality, the most preferred headphones were perceived to have the most neutral spectral balance with the lowest coloration. When measured on an acoustic coupler, the most preferred headphones produced the smoothest and flattest amplitude response, a response that deviates from the current IEC recommended diffuse-field calibration. The results provide further evidence that the IEC 60268-7 headphone calibration is not optimal for achieving the best sound quality.

Authors: Olive, Sean; Welti, Todd
Affiliation: Harman International, Northridge, CA, USA
AES Convention:133 (October 2012) Paper Number:8744 Import into BibTeX
Subject:Transducers

Click to purchase paper or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member and would like to subscribe to the E-Library then Join the AES!

This paper costs $20 for non-members, $5 for AES members and is free for E-Library subscribers.

Learn more about the AES E-Library

E-Library Location: (CD 133Papers)   /conv/133/8744.pdf

Start a discussion about this paper!