|
Re: another headphones question...
| quote: | Originally posted by Kakoroto
Noob question, but what exactly does higher or lower frequency rate and Db mean exactly? I see that some are 15-24Khz and some are 18 flat with a Db ranging from 94 to 104. If someone could please explain this to me and how much of a difference it makes in quality of sound it would be much appreciated. Thanks. |
15-24k is, of course, frequency range. you already know that a baby human can hear frequencies from 20 to 20 khz - as you age, this 20 khz shifts to 18,17 when you are 20-30, and down do 15 or so when you are about 50 years old (don't take these figures literally, they vary from person to person). of course, it really depends on which figures are those values stated. it is more common for good manufacturers to state the frequency range as two values where the level is at -3 dB from the level at 1 kHz. some manufacturers use other values, like -8 or -10 dB which is fooling the customers. basically, on both edges of the frequency range you will have fall of 6 dB per octave, which means that if your headphones are down to -3 dB at 48 Hz, they are down to -9 dB at 24 Hz, -15 dB at 12 Hz etc. on the upper side - -3dB at 20 KHz, -9dB at 40 KHz etc.
so, i can take the -9 dB figure because it looks better on paper. it does not matter that, as a matter of fact, i lie 
dB value is sensitivity or maximum SPL.
if the value for sensitivity is 100 dB, then, if you give your headphones 1 mW, you will get 100 dB sound pressure level, or volume. if you give them 2 mW, then volume increases to 103 dB. if you give them 8 mW, volume is 100+3+3+3=109 dB. however, if headphones sensitivity is 109 dB, then you will achieve SPL of 109 dB with just 1 mW.
it is the same with passive speakers, and that is the reason most of the sound systems on the parties have horns for mid- and high-frequency speakers, because their sensitivity is more than 20 dB higher than for regular speakers and monitors. and if the sensitivity difference is 21 db (which is 7x3) then you can drive the more sensitive speaker with 128 times (2 to the power of 7) lower output power from your amplifier to achieve the same volume.
these two characteristics do not say ANYTHING about sound quality. ok, frequency range has some affect to quality, but it does not say anything about the frequency curve - you can have a boost at 100 Hz and a dip at 500 Hz to make them sound more attractive, but you will never see that pointed out. it is just like speakers - different models and manufacturers have different philosophies, and their speakers sound different. some ppl like jmlab, some like mission, some like b&w, some like jamo, some even like technics and sony, and all those speakers have very different sound, even though their tech data is very similar if not the same. the data you might use to find something about the quality of the speakers you will not find on any tech sheet.
|
