AES Show 2024 NY

Extensive studies have been made into achieving generally enjoyable sound colour in headphone listening, but few publications have been written focusing on the demanding requirements of a single audio professional, and what they actually hear. The present paper describes a structured and practical method, based on in-room monitoring, for getting to know yourself as a headphone listener, and the particular model and pair you are using. Headphones provide fundamentally different listening results compared to in-room monitoring adhering to professional standards; considering imaging, auditory envelopment, localization, haptic cues etc. Moreover, in headphone listening there may be no direct connection between the frequency response measured with a generic manikin and what a given user hears. Finding out just how a pair of headphones deviates from neutral sound colour must therefore be achieved personally. An evaluation scheme based on an ultra-nearfield reference system is described, augmented by a defined test setup and procedure.