The rigorously validated Harman target became the industry’s blind-listening benchmark
Evidence
The Harman headphone research has produced over 20 scientific papers since 2012 that have received wide attention and scrutiny within the scientific and headphone communities. There has been considerable coverage in headphone review organizations including Innerfidelity, Audio Science Review, SoundGuys, Head-fi.com, Crutchfield.com, Headphones.com and others. The Harman target is often included as a benchmark in headphone reviews that include measurements because it has been rigorously validated with controlled blind listening tests. Enthusiast sites like www.autoeq.app allow users to equalize their headphones to the Harman target or predict their headphone’s preference rating using the Harman model. While the enthusiasm for science is encouraging there has been a fair amount of misunderstanding and misapplication of the research: this can lead to disappointment and false expectations about what the research can and cannot do. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1822
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to how measured, validated preference curves (like the earlier in-room loudspeaker targets in this book) become industry benchmarks — same validation-through-blind-listening epistemology. — connects to: The Harman in-ear target remains top-ranked across independent validation studies — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1821; The Harman target curve was strongly preferred over all competing headphone targets; Listeners preferred the Harman-target headphone in 28 of 31 models tested (+3 more)
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: The Harman in-ear target remains top-ranked across independent validation studies — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1821; The Harman target curve was strongly preferred over all competing headphone targets; Listeners preferred the Harman-target headphone in 28 of 31 models tested (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- The Harman target curve was strongly preferred over all competing headphone targets
#corroborates(0.93) - Flat targets may beat the Harman curve for binaural headphone rendering
#complicates(0.78)