linuxaudio.org

On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 10:38:03PM +0200, Arnold Krille wrote:
> > Never EVER trust that indication. It's _always_ useless. Everybody just

quoted text
> > twists and bends the definition so much that they can essentially put

> > any numbers there. It's worse than useless, it's misleading.

>

> Apart from the fact that probably only small children (to young to wear

> phones) are able to hear that full range. For everyone else / everyone older

> the higher frequencies (above 16kHz or 19kHz) are only psychoacoustics. And

> if these are important to you on a headphone, you need to get one that has a

> (preferable flat:) frequency response up to 96kHz...

Very true. The one spec that is probably even more useless

is the power rating of amplifiers.
Some manufacturers are (were) honest about FR specs.

The M15 tape recorder from Telefunken was probably one

of the best ever made as regards sound quality, yet the

official FR spec was 50 Hz to 15 kHz...
Returning to headphones, I have a Sennheiser HD600 which

is great, but outside the price range considered by the OP.

I use it often to play the piano (Linuxsampler) at night,

and indeed sometimes you just forget you are using headphones,

in particular if you add some room response to the otherwise

dry sound of most electronic / software instruments.
I'd say the most importand qualities for a headphone used

for intrument playing are
- A decent frequency response, which means no obvious

  colorations. All the rest can be corrected by EQ, and

  part of it you will get used to.
- NO trace of distortion at the listening level you want

  to use. This is really essential. Once you notice any

  distortion it takes only a short time before it will be

  a permanent irration. ALso means you need the right amp

  to drive your headphone.
I also have a Beyer DT100 wich must be around 30 years old

by now. It has survived all abuse that comes with doing

audio work 'in the field', and still sounds very good.
Ciao,
--

FA
Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica

Parma, Italia
O tu, che porte, correndo si ?

E guerra e morte !
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