Above: The brands and models of six popular headphones used in this study.| Audio Musings by Sean Olive
The predicted sound quality of 61 different models of in-ear headphones (blue curve) versus their retail price (green bars).| Audio Musings by Sean Olive
Most people would agree that headphone purchase decisions are heavily influenced by the brand and styling (size, weight, color, quality of materials). But what is considered stylish and fashionable by me is not shared by my 15-year old daughter (this week donning purple hair), and vice versa. In other words, the perceived visual aesthetic of the headphone is really in the the eyes and mind of the beholder, and this can vary with age, gender, culture, and other demographic catego...| Audio Musings by Sean Olive
At the recent 137th convention of the Audio Engineering Society we presented our latest research paper entitled, "The Influence of Listeners' Experience, Age and Culture on Headphone Sound Quality Preferences."| Audio Musings by Sean Olive
Last October, I was in Toronto giving a presentation to the local AES section on the perception and measurement of headphones. After the talk, I sat down with Mike Raine from Professional Sound for an interview. Some of what we discussed is summarized in this article called Sound Advice.| Audio Musings by Sean Olive
Todd Welti, Sean Olive and Elisabeth McMullin are shown above with their custom binaural mannequin, "Sidney" wearing a pair of AKG K1000's. No fit or leakage issues with these headphones.| Audio Musings by Sean Olive