Contribution
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Listening Tests for Balanced Armature Headphone Drivers
* Presenting author
Abstract:
In-ear headphones have become indispensable for performing musicians, sound engineers, and audiophiles; therefore, the precise assessment of their sound quality is crucial for the development and optimization of new models. In particular, the proliferation of Balanced Armature (BA) drivers in high-end headphones brings about new challenges, as the established Virtual Listening Tests (VLT) designed for headphones with electrodynamic drivers may not sufficiently capture the complex acoustic characteristics of in-ear devices with BA drivers. The aim of this study was thus to clarify which requirements a reference in-ear headphone must meet to enable valid results in VLTs including BA driver headphones. To this end, listening tests were conducted with an electrodynamic driver in-ear headphone and two BA driver in-ear headphones, a one-way system, and a two-way system. Following the VLT paradigm, the headphones were reciprocally equalized to match each others frequency response. Participants rated the equalization with regard to localizability, transient fidelity, and impulse fidelity. Preliminary results indicate audible differences across headphone drivers regarding localizability and low frequency reproduction. Conclusively, certain rules should be considered when conducting VLTs with headphones containing BA drivers.