Ear-level microphone measurements capture artifacts inaudible to human listeners

Evidence

Measurements with microphones at ear level should be discouraged because they introduce acoustical interference irregularities that are tempting to equalize, but that are not audible problems to human listeners. Microphones should be elevated well above the seat backs, preferably at varied heights to average out regular patterns of interference. However, all such measurements are reliable at low frequencies. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1355

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the earlier chapter themes about measuring sound accurately versus what is perceptually relevant to listeners. — connects to: Earphone frequency response must be measured on real ears, not couplers; Impulse response measurements can misrepresent what listeners actually hear; Headphone test-fixture measurements often fail to predict what individual listeners hear (+9 more)

Related

• Earphone frequency response must be measured on real ears, not couplers (similarity 0.94)
• Impulse response measurements can misrepresent what listeners actually hear (similarity 0.91)
• Headphone test-fixture measurements often fail to predict what individual listeners hear (similarity 0.90)
• Measured interference at ear level often needs no correction (similarity 0.89)
• Audio watermarking embeds inaudible, copy-surviving data into signals (similarity 0.87)
• Headphone measurement variability is greatest below 500 Hz and above 3 kHz (similarity 0.85)
• The ‘we can’t measure what we hear’ myth stems from inadequate measurements (similarity 0.85)
• The hearing system is not outmeasurable; inadequate measurements explain apparent gaps (similarity 0.84)
• Headphone measurements vary most between individuals at high frequencies. (similarity 0.83)
• In-ear drum reference point measurements are rarely performed due to invasiveness and unreliability. (similarity 0.83)
• Elevated microphones above 400 Hz congregate, reducing seat-related measurement anomalies (similarity 0.83)
• Head and ear variation makes fixture measurements unreliable predictors of listening (similarity 0.82)
• Headphone positioning causes large measurement variation below 500 Hz and above 3 kHz. (similarity 0.82)
• The ear emits measurable echoes requiring active neural involvement (similarity 0.82)
• Mixing engineers hear recorded sounds normal listeners will not perceive (similarity 0.82)