This is the best video I've ever watched on headphones. Everyone has their subjective opinions on brightness, warmth, etc. But there's so little info on objective measurements and what they mean - yes, they're not as exciting as reviews but they're just as (or more) important in terms of purchasing decisions. Thanks DMS, you're an awesome youtuber!
Mids sound like the music is coming from a small radio in a large room, sometimes you hear this in games where there's a small radio blasting in a large room, like an auto repair. Love the video, perfect examples and explanation.
MajorKoala I have the DT990 600 ohm. They really aren’t V shaped. More like a slightly withdrawn midrange. But the mids are still VERY detailed. If it is V shaped.....it’s done well and better than 90% of the V shaped cans out there. It’s really only noticeable if you’re comparing to other headphones that have forward midrange like the DT 880.......which can be a. It too forward when listening to guitars that are forward in the mix. People love to shit on the DT 990 and it’s become as commonplace as any internet meme. For the right music they are still a magical set of cans.
Alina Satis Listen to certain Metal tracks on the DT 880 which have very forward and aggressively mixed guitars and you’ll want to switch to the 990 and everything’s a bit more relaxed. The engineers ay Beyer know what they’re doing.
It's the crack of music. Everything people find tingling about music gets exaggerated. But then you're not really listing to the music, you just injecting yourself tingling sounds without really caring what song you hear. And just generally you don't care much for the song.
Thanks! 😄 If you liked that one be sure to checkout this one! I updated my measurements rig in 2020 so information is displayed differently: th-cam.com/video/v6by0NDAe5g/w-d-xo.html
Clark White no, not really. Words like those are used by musicians and music producers too. They’re just words to quickly describe a sound without needing to get specific about what each area of the frequency spectrum is doing.
@@squidwardstesticles5914 I definitely disagree, but I respect you. Also, they tend to have different definitions, depending on what sector of the audio world a person is oriented towards. Ex: To a person who records vocals with a tube preamplifier, 'warmth' likely refers to wanted harmonic distortion in the low-mid to mid-bass area. To a headphone enthusiast, it may instead mean slightly or very exaggerated mid-bass. An audio engineer may call a hump in mid-bass 'mud'. In the headphone world, these buzzwords seem to be used as marketing terms to blanket and sell imperfections.
@@yepyep3897 when used in marketing I can definitely understand you saying they're buzzwords, but I still think they're useful for discussing how a headphone or guitar tone or whatever sounds. For example, If you need headphone recommendations and you know you're treble sensitive, you can ask for dark or relaxed headphones. Obviously the word alone isn't gonna be enough to describe the overall sound of a headphone, but it's nice to be able to put headphones in different groups based on their general sound signature.
Awesome video DMS. Super informative. Can you suggest a program that can do that but maybe less expensive....... maybe windows and free? I may have went to far at the end there
You can download a Chrome EQ plugin/plugin, there should be plenty that are free on the chrome store. It doesn't take up large memory as these music production or editing softwares that DMS uses.
The first part of the The LCD-2 graph seems like it was measured with pinna and concha, but no ear-canal transformation. (Perhaps measured with a system with blocked ear-canal). Where is this graph from and how was it measured ? Was any transformations applied to it ? It is a bit misleading to use a graph with partial HRTF to a linear FR from a DAW.
It's definitely a more rough measurement but its calibrated for "free-field" neutral just as a reference point. I am however planning on doing a follow-up to talk about the different commonly accepted target curves and how there are several perceived "flat" responses from different sources. I would be very interested in hearing Audeze's take on this also to throw in the mix.
@@DMS3TV Can you send us the raw measurement and the FR adjustment ? Was this measured with a pinna ? It still does not look correct. We will be glad to share what we do.
good guide video. some people say FR graph is just only graph.. actually FR graph is good baseline for finding character of headphones of course it's not all of headphone, but also more detailed measurement data also explain more of headphone.
I think this is the only video on the whole TH-cam actually explaining graphs with examples. Hope you make another video where you deliberately put peaks to show what sibilance sounds like and how it's like when kids are shouty.
Woooo I can finally go to measurements websites and have an idea of what I'm buying without having to wait for someone who reads graphs for me! Thank you kind sir, subscribed and eager to learn more!
Excellent video - thank you for posting this. Great to see your videos - concise and thorough ( and engaging ) content. Keep up the great work. For what it's worth I am going to recommend your channel to my friends on various platforms...
Did you watch my video on Frequency curve analysis? What a coincidence that you release this a week later lol. Anyways great job at explaining, people really need to learn about frequency response, such an important indicator of how good a headphone/earphones sound.
Hey DMS, what mic would you recommend for someone looking to start on youtube? I've looked at some reviews but it seems like everyone reccomends blue microphones which I want to avoid. Sorry for the off-topic question, but I trust your judgment. (great video btw)
Truly amazing video! Audio is becoming a passion but without the cash or wife acceptance factor to buy 50 pairs of headphones picking a set is really a gamble without understanding of information like this. Any tips on free eq software to see graphs of what your hearing like you did here? Just being able to completely cut out and isolate ranges would do so much to help translate frequency ranges with visual graphs.
Great video on something I really never looked into or learned about. This would have helped me in the beginning of getting into more higher end headphones, but better late than never.
This is great. I've been of the mindset that I'd really love a pair of planars, because everyone says how warm and punchy they can be, although I have heard the LCD-Xs are still neutral. But..... I had bad experiences with siblant headphones in the past, but the more I learn about this, maybe I do actually enjoy a brighter sound, as long as it isn't piercing or siblant. I know this is just a crude example, but when the high-end disappeared to make things warmer / darker, I didn't find that more pleasant. Is that what something like the LCD-2C's sound like? I have no way to demo them.
finally, explaining FRG using SOUND. There is no fucking way a noobie like me will understand low, mids, etc with a bunch of technical term. great bideo
Thanks for putting this together. Sorry for the noob question, but what does roll off mean? What does a freq graph actually tell you about the headphones?
As one who is fairly new I can try. When there is a rolloff in bass, the quieter the bass is the lower you get. If there is a treble rolloff, the treble gets quieter as it gets higher. Frequency charts can describe the headphones sound. If there is bass rolloff, don't get them if you're a basshead. If you prefer mid-range, compare that to the bass and treble, make sure it isn't the lowest point.
Thanks so much for this video! Overall your videos have been so lucid and helpful - too many audiophile reviewers lean on a kind of niche vocabulary that is simultaneously really inaccessible and also weirdly subjective (or at least they're used highly subjectively). Also usually like >20" at least. So thanks!
I think this just shows what I like depending on musical genre. I like my mids and highs for my metal/rock listening with short bass roll off. Pretty much opposite for hip hop electronic. 🤷🏾♂️
Thanks a lot bud! Could me help me in choosing the IEM? KZ ZSN vs KZ ZSN Pro vs Tin HiFi T3? This will my first IEM for casual listening. I want the bass as it was originally created(not extra) and also the clarity in treble(same as it was originally created)
I am really new to this scene, and I don't think I can afford to buy any of the more expensive headphones/amps/dacs that can essentially make the music sound as if I was present of the performance. This will sound a very dumb question, but I just recently bought an HD 599. Anyway, I have read some post on reddit (though many have disputed their claim) That you can essentially make a headphones sound like a more premium headphones by adjusting the equalizer. Is this true? Or there is more to it than the reddit post. I just don't like the HD 599, too much bass for my taste. I just edited it to lower the bass for 1 db (anything below 200Hz), which is not (I believe to be that intrusive). Are there any amp/dac that you can recommend as well that wouldn't add more bass in my experience. I am more of a I guess, mid highs kind of guy. (still new to the terminology)
wow! i heard it with hd599 and literaly havent noticed a change in the mid-renge at 5:45, maybe i dont all that audiophile stuff?? or is it just becuse my headphones?
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/48PxwspDvrE/mqdefault.jpg)
This is a fantastic video to describe frequency response. This will be my go to video when people have questions.
This is the best video I've ever watched on headphones. Everyone has their subjective opinions on brightness, warmth, etc. But there's so little info on objective measurements and what they mean - yes, they're not as exciting as reviews but they're just as (or more) important in terms of purchasing decisions. Thanks DMS, you're an awesome youtuber!
Mids sound like the music is coming from a small radio in a large room, sometimes you hear this in games where there's a small radio blasting in a large room, like an auto repair. Love the video, perfect examples and explanation.
So when people say V shaped graphs are "fun". That now makes less sense to me since the mids seem to carry the song's soul.
V shape is overrated , L shape is where it's at for me because I like kids too
@Alina Satis Funny you say that because my dailies are DT 990. I don't think they have a V shape at all. They seem pretty flat then peak at highs.
MajorKoala I have the DT990 600 ohm. They really aren’t V shaped. More like a slightly withdrawn midrange. But the mids are still VERY detailed. If it is V shaped.....it’s done well and better than 90% of the V shaped cans out there. It’s really only noticeable if you’re comparing to other headphones that have forward midrange like the DT 880.......which can be a. It too forward when listening to guitars that are forward in the mix. People love to shit on the DT 990 and it’s become as commonplace as any internet meme. For the right music they are still a magical set of cans.
Alina Satis Listen to certain Metal tracks on the DT 880 which have very forward and aggressively mixed guitars and you’ll want to switch to the 990 and everything’s a bit more relaxed. The engineers ay Beyer know what they’re doing.
It's the crack of music. Everything people find tingling about music gets exaggerated. But then you're not really listing to the music, you just injecting yourself tingling sounds without really caring what song you hear. And just generally you don't care much for the song.
Found you on Linus's channel and after this video, I'm a fan sir.
Thanks! 😄
If you liked that one be sure to checkout this one! I updated my measurements rig in 2020 so information is displayed differently: th-cam.com/video/v6by0NDAe5g/w-d-xo.html
Going out of your way to show us visualizations was a huge help in understanding this. Thanks a ton
Welcome back brother!
Great topic!
That was unbelievably helpful.
Only video where I fully understand/understood what was going on. Idk what teacher witchcraft you have going on, but it works
One of you all time bests DMS! Amazing!
Great video. For those of us still learning the basics, this type of video is very helpful.
Brilliant. Would love a further expansion to terms like warm and dark and bright etc.
They're just 'audiophile' buzzwords/cliches.
Clark White no, not really. Words like those are used by musicians and music producers too. They’re just words to quickly describe a sound without needing to get specific about what each area of the frequency spectrum is doing.
@@squidwardstesticles5914 I definitely disagree, but I respect you. Also, they tend to have different definitions, depending on what sector of the audio world a person is oriented towards.
Ex: To a person who records vocals with a tube preamplifier, 'warmth' likely refers to wanted harmonic distortion in the low-mid to mid-bass area. To a headphone enthusiast, it may instead mean slightly or very exaggerated mid-bass.
An audio engineer may call a hump in mid-bass 'mud'.
In the headphone world, these buzzwords seem to be used as marketing terms to blanket and sell imperfections.
@@yepyep3897 when used in marketing I can definitely understand you saying they're buzzwords, but I still think they're useful for discussing how a headphone or guitar tone or whatever sounds. For example, If you need headphone recommendations and you know you're treble sensitive, you can ask for dark or relaxed headphones. Obviously the word alone isn't gonna be enough to describe the overall sound of a headphone, but it's nice to be able to put headphones in different groups based on their general sound signature.
Warm and Dark = more lows
Bright = more highs
Awesome video DMS. Super informative. Can you suggest a program that can do that but maybe less expensive....... maybe windows and free? I may have went to far at the end there
Audacity would likely work and it's free
You can download a Chrome EQ plugin/plugin, there should be plenty that are free on the chrome store. It doesn't take up large memory as these music production or editing softwares that DMS uses.
Equalizer APO with Peace GUI
Glad to see you still making videos. This was a good one.
I have been waiting for video like this for a long time
Nice work
Just.... wow! this video deserved my sub! the demonstration adds so much more than just saying it!
thanks for all your help . i kept wondering about ear graghs
Excellent teaching, DMS!
nice video! loved the graphic equalizer showcase!
The first part of the The LCD-2 graph seems like it was measured with pinna and concha, but no ear-canal transformation. (Perhaps measured with a system with blocked ear-canal). Where is this graph from and how was it measured ? Was any transformations applied to it ? It is a bit misleading to use a graph with partial HRTF to a linear FR from a DAW.
It's definitely a more rough measurement but its calibrated for "free-field" neutral just as a reference point. I am however planning on doing a follow-up to talk about the different commonly accepted target curves and how there are several perceived "flat" responses from different sources. I would be very interested in hearing Audeze's take on this also to throw in the mix.
@@DMS3TV Can you send us the raw measurement and the FR adjustment ? Was this measured with a pinna ? It still does not look correct. We will be glad to share what we do.
Oh snap! Audeze fact checking!
Really nice video and finally someone explaining this with a real audio/visual example.Well done DMS.
good guide video.
some people say FR graph is just only graph..
actually FR graph is good baseline for finding character of headphones
of course it's not all of headphone, but also more detailed measurement data also explain more of headphone.
Finally someone who actually "explained" things, numbers and how to read them. MORE .PLEASE (ya I'm Canadian).
Excellent demonstration to explain frequency response. Well done, would like to see more of this contend in future !!!
Awesome video, this will help a lot of folks. Thanks DMS.
I think this is the only video on the whole TH-cam actually explaining graphs with examples. Hope you make another video where you deliberately put peaks to show what sibilance sounds like and how it's like when kids are shouty.
Lovely tour of the frequency.
Woooo I can finally go to measurements websites and have an idea of what I'm buying without having to wait for someone who reads graphs for me! Thank you kind sir, subscribed and eager to learn more!
Great video! Very informative, thank you! Glad to see you back
Top notch... should def do more of these. Will help support your reviews big time. 👍🏻
Thanks for another fantastic video bro!
Very well explained, both verbally and visually.
Amazing video DMS! Keep doin stuff like this!
This is the best frequency response video! Thank you! Subscribed
This is a very clear and concise explanation, that makes great use of visualisation and examples. Thank you!
Great video. This is one of your best videos you've made.
This is incredibly underrated. Super helpful to get my friend into audiophile hobby.
Excellent video - thank you for posting this. Great to see your videos - concise and thorough ( and engaging ) content. Keep up the great work. For what it's worth I am going to recommend your channel to my friends on various platforms...
Brilliant video. Perfectly described and demonstrated. Thank you.
Welcome back bro!! Great video!!
Great video. Very informative. Keep up the good work 🖒
Really good demo. Good to see you again.
Did you watch my video on Frequency curve analysis? What a coincidence that you release this a week later lol.
Anyways great job at explaining, people really need to learn about frequency response, such an important indicator of how good a headphone/earphones sound.
WOW!!! the most educational video by an audio youtuber not-owner-of-a-stereo-brand; thank you! hope you do more like that.
Thanks for the video m8, now I understand how lows mids and highs sound
Would like to see u do something about what EQ does to a headphones frequency response.
Glad your back
Also are those 880s or 990s
600ohm DT880
DMS thank you, I was guessing because it was what your were featuring in the video, out of curiosity is do you like it compared to the hd600
This was very helpful. Thanks 🙏
Good to have you back.....
Briliant presentation.
Hey DMS, what mic would you recommend for someone looking to start on youtube?
I've looked at some reviews but it seems like everyone reccomends blue microphones which I want to avoid.
Sorry for the off-topic question, but I trust your judgment.
(great video btw)
if you want a cardioid condenser I would say definitely the AT2020 USB or an AT2020 XLR with the behringer UM2.
@@DMS3TV Thanks, I'll look into it
Thanks for a simple and easy guide.
Truly amazing video! Audio is becoming a passion but without the cash or wife acceptance factor to buy 50 pairs of headphones picking a set is really a gamble without understanding of information like this.
Any tips on free eq software to see graphs of what your hearing like you did here? Just being able to completely cut out and isolate ranges would do so much to help translate frequency ranges with visual graphs.
Would also be interesting to layer in and discuss an ear sensitivity graph.
Yup. I'm ultra sensitive to treble, would love if someone did that.
Great video on something I really never looked into or learned about. This would have helped me in the beginning of getting into more higher end headphones, but better late than never.
I feel you should have mentioned normalized vs raw curve. Probably should be a video all on its own. Informative video either way, great work
This is great. I've been of the mindset that I'd really love a pair of planars, because everyone says how warm and punchy they can be, although I have heard the LCD-Xs are still neutral. But..... I had bad experiences with siblant headphones in the past, but the more I learn about this, maybe I do actually enjoy a brighter sound, as long as it isn't piercing or siblant. I know this is just a crude example, but when the high-end disappeared to make things warmer / darker, I didn't find that more pleasant. Is that what something like the LCD-2C's sound like? I have no way to demo them.
Very informative video! Where could we find the response graph per each headphone? Are they published somewhere?
Awesome video! Very informative and educational.
finally, explaining FRG using SOUND. There is no fucking way a noobie like me will understand low, mids, etc with a bunch of technical term. great bideo
Great explanation, thank you!!
Brilliant! Thank you!
Excellent video.. Great job explaining
Yes , very informative , thank you .
Super helpful. Thank you!
damn it, this is very helpful!
Super helpful, thanks
Great explanation 🤟
Great video, thanks a lot!
thanks dude, fantastic video
Thanks for putting this together. Sorry for the noob question, but what does roll off mean? What does a freq graph actually tell you about the headphones?
As one who is fairly new I can try. When there is a rolloff in bass, the quieter the bass is the lower you get. If there is a treble rolloff, the treble gets quieter as it gets higher. Frequency charts can describe the headphones sound. If there is bass rolloff, don't get them if you're a basshead. If you prefer mid-range, compare that to the bass and treble, make sure it isn't the lowest point.
Thanks for the info.
SUPER helpful!
5:11 Very pleasant while using bright IEMs. Guess I'm a treblehead after all.
Thanks so much for this video! Overall your videos have been so lucid and helpful - too many audiophile reviewers lean on a kind of niche vocabulary that is simultaneously really inaccessible and also weirdly subjective (or at least they're used highly subjectively). Also usually like >20" at least. So thanks!
wow this video is amazing senpai we need prt 2 or and upgrade version
YAY HE'S BACK!
Needed this
Great video! Very informative!
Can you do this for evry headphone you review? pluscan you do this for bose vs sony vs senheiser etc
Great video man
I think this just shows what I like depending on musical genre.
I like my mids and highs for my metal/rock listening with short bass roll off. Pretty much opposite for hip hop electronic. 🤷🏾♂️
Awesome! That's super helpful.
Well done !
Very informative video, thanks!
Nice job. Very interesting an informative!
Very good video. Subscribed!
Thanks a lot bud!
Could me help me in choosing the IEM? KZ ZSN vs KZ ZSN Pro vs Tin HiFi T3?
This will my first IEM for casual listening.
I want the bass as it was originally created(not extra) and also the clarity in treble(same as it was originally created)
Great videp.
I am really new to this scene, and I don't think I can afford to buy any of the more expensive headphones/amps/dacs that can essentially make the music sound as if I was present of the performance.
This will sound a very dumb question, but I just recently bought an HD 599. Anyway, I have read some post on reddit (though many have disputed their claim) That you can essentially make a headphones sound like a more premium headphones by adjusting the equalizer. Is this true? Or there is more to it than the reddit post.
I just don't like the HD 599, too much bass for my taste. I just edited it to lower the bass for 1 db (anything below 200Hz), which is not (I believe to be that intrusive). Are there any amp/dac that you can recommend as well that wouldn't add more bass in my experience. I am more of a I guess, mid highs kind of guy. (still new to the terminology)
darklyger64 look up the measurements for the hd 599, eq to reduce bass, while trying to stay as close as the frequency response curve
big thanks for this video .
This is a great video for noobs like me, thanks a lot man.
Great video bro'
So, does that mean, the flatter the graph (the less amount of dips and peaks) the better the headphone?
Not always, here’s more info th-cam.com/video/v3vGSA13wFk/w-d-xo.html
Can you also do a vid explaining square wave, THD, impulse response, impedance and phase? Thanks for the great content.
Great video thankyou
Great Video!
Great stuff!
wow! i heard it with hd599 and literaly havent noticed a change in the mid-renge at 5:45, maybe i dont all that audiophile stuff?? or is it just becuse my headphones?
Thanks!