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.

Product page: HERE
Tech Sheet (pdf): HERE

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.

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

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

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,