I wanted to write something that I can pin to the top of my audio review section about my review process, how I handle my testing, and other information like my test tracks. You can find all that here, if you have any questions about my processes or equipment feel free to contact me!
The Stages of my Audio Review Process (Headphones)
For reviews, my current strategy is to go through stages of “walking in someones shoes”. In each stage, I try to mimic how people at different stages of this hobby may use headphones and how they would perceive them.
Listening Stage 1: Casual Listening
During this stage, I plug the headphones into my iPhone with the apple lightning to 3.5mm adapter, I usually listen to pop music, often newer releases and things are may be relatively compress. Usually I try not to think too terribly hard about what I listen to in this stage, I just want to get a gut reaction of someone plugging in headphones and then someone asking “Hey, how does that sound?”
Listening Stage 2: Bluetooth With Equalization
For this stage, I plug whatever headphones I am reviewing into the 3.5mm port on my Qudelix 5k. I play around with EQ, how much power I need to drive headphones, and poke around to see what my subjective opinion on the sound shape is. This stage is where I spend many of my days at work, so this gets more than likely the most extensive testing out of any headphone, just out of natural allocation of time.
Listening Stage 3: “All out”
When I start writing a review, I first spend time experiencing the headphones in common use cases. Then, I sit down at my desk, plug the headphones into a Topping A90D amp paired with a Topping E50 DAC. For the most part I listen without EQ here. This approach helps me distinguish the headphones’ true qualities from any limitations in my setup. It also allows me to better understand who might be interested in the headphones. During this stage, I go through my playlist, which is detailed below.
Reference Tracks
- Tank! – SEATBELTS
- u – Kendrick Lamar
- After Last Night – Silk Sonic
- Exit Music (For a Film) – Radiohead
- Lover, You Should Have Come Over – Jeff Buckley
- Me and Your Mama – Childish Gambino
- Blue in Green – Miles Davis
- Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
- Hotel California (From 1994 Hell Freezes Over Live)- Eagles
- Giorgio by Moroder – Daft Punk
- Paranoid Android – Radiohead
- Smooth Operator – Sade
*In addition to these 12 core songs, I also include 3 “seasonal” tracks based off what my current listening preferences are.
**Songs are played from Spotify with quality set to “Very High”, (Equivalent to approximately 320kbit/s)
Objective Data
When it comes to objective data for my review process, there are a few things to keep in mind about my testing methodology and its notable shortcoming. In addition, I have a few disclaimers.
1: I am recording all measurements on an IEC-711 clone coupler, which notably is only accurate between the approximate frequencies of 100hz-10,000hz.
2: I am human, and do not have the ability to ensure that all tests are done 100% accurate and with 100% data confidence. I am a part time reviewer, and really only use this data as a backing to my other claims. Frequency response shows you the shape of sound, but not the quality of that sound. But sometimes, we see problems with the mechanical components that are shown in data taken from measurements.
3: Eartips make a difference in frequency response, so it is technically possible to have an IEM that comes with bad stock eartips that measures poorly due to strange isolation. I have considered using the same pair of tips for every measurement, but I am focused on reviewing the product as it comes, and think that flaws like this are important to be measured as “part of the product”
Final Notes & a Special Thanks
I would like to give a special thanks to Amir from Audio Science Review for helping answer some of my technical questions about the review process, and for generally being available to be as I’ve had questions
The world of sound is a fascinating and ever-evolving field. I am happy to be along for the ride. For me, getting to enjoy headphones and review them is amazing, and I just want to spread that joy with as many people as possible.
Thanks for reading,
-Rum Raccoon