Variability in the acoustical coupling of headphones to human ears depends on a number of factors. Placement, size of user’s head and ears, the headband and ear-pad material are all major contributors to the sound quality delivered by the headphone to the user. By measuring the transfer function from the driver terminals to a miniature microphone set near the driver inside the cavity produced by the headphone and the ear, the degree of acoustical coupling and the fundamental frequency of the cavity volume was acquired. An individualized equalization on these measurements was applied to every user. Listeners rated the personalized EQ significantly higher than a generic target response and slightly higher than the bypassed headphone.
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