Essay

miniDSP EARS Coming: Measurements For The Masses

Dear IEC711 fan, who has long been suspicious of our tube couplers: Please forgive me that I didn’t go through the pain of ordering some Bruel & Kjaer 4195-Q clone through an illustrious agent from an illustrious Chinese online seller. After talking to some colleagues, I decided on the miniDSP EARs, a calibrated headphone test rig.

miniDSP EARS

Product page: HERE
Tech Sheet (pdf): HERE

miniDSP EARS

Yes, I ordered it from a real Canadian business, solen.ca. As you know, I am not quite known for groundless advertising but these guys at Solen Electronique Inc. had bailed me out twice before when there were complications with the Dayton mic, I had purchased from them. The fact that they are the sole Canadian seller of this unit contributed to my buying decision. Good service pays off in the long run.

miniDSP EARS

So why miniDSP EARs (other than avoiding ordering complications from China)?

  • Intuitively easy interpretation of “diffuse field” compensated graphs
  • Plug and play
  • Does the job for correlation between earphones and for correlation with hearing
  • I can finally also measure headphones and earbuds
  • Measures both sides simultaneously
  • Works well with my REW software without an further calibration
  • Comparability: lots of people use this system
miniDSP EARS

On the downside…

  • May produce some funny midrange peaks
  • Diffuse field is not considered neutral by all
  • Difficult to achieve seal with some silicone tips (use lithium grease…works for scuba divers)
  • The microphones on either side may not be exactly equally calibrated and show some variance
miniDSP EARS

I talked and talked to people and the tenor was that these IEC711 couplers are somewhat cost prohibitive for the hobbyist. I may also add that IEC711 is not the only norm, there are others around. And, “forcing” 8 kHz peaks by varying insertion depth into an IEC711 coupler cannot be the truth either, as not every earphone has one in this position.

But for now, while waiting for the shipment, I’d like to enjoy the last hot days of summer. And I hope you will, too (provided you are located in the northern hemisphere).

Cheers,

Jürgen Kraus
Jürgen Kraus
miniDSP EARS

Author

  • Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada)

    Head-Fier since 2016. He has been known as “Otto Motor” to Head-Fiers, as “Dr. Schweinsgruber” to audiobudget.com users and Youtubers, and as “Brause” to Super Best Audio Friends and the Headphone Community. - For the purpose of confusion, he decided to pose under his real name Jürgen Kraus (“JK”) from now on. - This is a hobby. In “real” life, Jürgen is a professional geologist operating his own petroleum-exploration consulting company Franconia Geoscience Ltd. based in Calgary, Canada. He holds German and Canadian passports. Jürgen had a classical music education from childhood through high school in Germany and he has been following popular music developments since the late 1970s. His understanding of arts and crafts was influenced by Bauhaus pragmatism: “less is more” and “form follows function”.

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada)

Head-Fier since 2016. He has been known as “Otto Motor” to Head-Fiers, as “Dr. Schweinsgruber” to audiobudget.com users and Youtubers, and as “Brause” to Super Best Audio Friends and the Headphone Community. - For the purpose of confusion, he decided to pose under his real name Jürgen Kraus (“JK”) from now on. - This is a hobby. In “real” life, Jürgen is a professional geologist operating his own petroleum-exploration consulting company Franconia Geoscience Ltd. based in Calgary, Canada. He holds German and Canadian passports. Jürgen had a classical music education from childhood through high school in Germany and he has been following popular music developments since the late 1970s. His understanding of arts and crafts was influenced by Bauhaus pragmatism: “less is more” and “form follows function”.

One thought on “miniDSP EARS Coming: Measurements For The Masses

  • KopiOkaya

    Nice Doc… Next time I can ask “Lend me your E.A.R.S”.

    Reply

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