Headphone and loudspeaker bass targets converge on the same in-room response

Evidence

Although the DF and FF targets specify a flat response below 200 Hz, the average AE headphone and Harman targets have 5–6 dB more bass, which approximates the preferred in-room response of a full-range loudspeaker calibrated in a typical listening room. The average AE headphone has more energy between 200 and 400 Hz, which tends to produce lower preference ratings due to a perceived muddiness or tubbiness in vocals. The only consensus among headphone designers is which targets are not preferred. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1829

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to the trees/room-fill and infra-structure article: the headphone bass target mirrors a loudspeaker’s calibrated in-room bass — a perceptual bridge between playback paradigms worth folding into that essay.

Related

• The preferred headphone EQ matches the loudspeaker’s predicted in-room response. (similarity 0.89)
• The listening room, not the loudspeaker, determines perceived bass quality. (similarity 0.86)
• Headphone bass boosts may compensate for missing haptic sensation from loudspeakers (similarity 0.85)
• A headphone target curve descends gradually with frequency and boosts bass. (similarity 0.85)
• Listeners are forgiving of headphone resonances but sensitive to bass-level air leaks. (similarity 0.85)
• Audience bass preferences deviate from the Harman target by up to six dB. (similarity 0.84)
• Listeners strongly prefer the Harman target over DF, Lorho, and FF headphone targets (similarity 0.84)
• Equalizing only the low-Q resonance substantially improves subjective loudspeaker ratings. (similarity 0.84)
• Listener-preferred headphone response mirrors a neutral loudspeaker’s in-room response (similarity 0.84)
• Bass rises in reflected room sound for all forward-firing loudspeakers (similarity 0.83)
• Flat frequency targets suit binaural audio while Harman suits stereo (similarity 0.83)
• Room acoustics dominate perceived bass response below roughly 250 Hz (similarity 0.83)
• Resonances are the primary problem in loudspeakers (similarity 0.83)
• A flat steady-state in-room response boosts high-frequency direct sound (similarity 0.83)
• Room reflectivity at low frequencies determines bass elevation in measured steady-state curves (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Well-designed loudspeakers converge on neutral, nearly identical sound. #corroborates (0.85) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 219