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Comment by lostgame | Hacker News Reader

Why do headphone reviews so rarely include a frequency response graph?

Heck - why is this information often so difficult to even get to start?

I often judge whether my headphones, or especially studio monitors, are worth buying or not partially by whether they print these on the box, or, usually, in the case of monitors, directly on the unit.

Claiming you are a doing an audiophile review and not touching on this topic whatsoever makes me wonder whether you are an audiophile or just prissy about your hardware.

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SoundOnSound have a good article covering why this doesn't happen. In short, there's no standardized methodology (i.e. standard dummy head) for measuring it, and the interactions between the headphones and the listener's head vary significantly.

You could (relatively) easily measure the free-field response of the headphones, but I suspect that would tell you very little about how they will sound when you're actually wearing them. For example it would likely underrepresent the difference between closed-back and open-back designs.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/designing-measuring-...

A lot of people don't have the hardware to make frequency response graphs and unless you are doing reviews full time it is very hard to justify buying that hardware.

Anyway, for the Airpods Max specifically I don't think the frequency response graph is useful because they change their tuning dynamically so what you measure is not going to be what gets played when you listen to them.

>> they change their tuning dynamically

Oh. So I guess that completely rules them out, of course - then, for the purpose of audio engineering.

I use Apple products mainly because of Logic Pro - which they make, and - to a lesser extent, GarageBand on iOS/iPadOS, as these can be later opened on Logic Pro on MacOS for serious editing. You would think that GarageBand or Logic Pro customers might be very interested in this product!

But, imagine - how the hell am I supposed to use the EQ in Logic - or any other DAW, for that matter - or any task any user might need to use EQing for - an having the tuning dynamically change?!

I would throw them across the room after five minutes of any serious Pro audio task.

Incredibly disappointing that there isn't an option, at the very least, to turn garbage like that off. That would drive me absolutely batshit, no joke, likely a same-day return for me. =/

$600 headphones that cant be used for Audio Engineering. Why do I go Apple again?

I don't think these headphones are meant to be used for Audio Engineering but rather for casual listening at home or on the go. Complaining that the Airpods Max aren't suitable for audio engineering is like complaining that a Porsche 911 can't haul sheets of plywood and other building materials around. You would want a truck or van for that purpose, not a sports car. It's the same with the Airpods Max, if you want to do audio engineering you want studio monitors with their flat, static, "boring" sound and not more headphones meant for casual, "fun" listening.

I can’t have “fun” listening to uneven headphones. It drives me bat shit. :)

Studio monitors are entirely different category, not meant for 'mere mortals' :) I bet that less than 0.1% of people buying headphones not specifically marked as monitors would have no idea what is the purpose of such information or how to interpret it.

https://www.rtings.com/ provide frequency response graphs for reviewed headphones + in-ear phones. For headphones they measure against a dummy head and against 5 individuals. They then show variation between these readings, and show the average freq responses.

Here, the missing frequency graphs:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-max-...

They use repeatable lab set up, retest per reader feedback, and share raw charts too.

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