Tyll Hertsens Blog
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Calling All SoCal Headphone Geeks ... Great Stuff This Weekend!!
Tyll Hertsens Blog, Events
Tyll Hertsens • Aug 01, 2011 • 2 comments

Every August for the past 5 years, HeadRoom has made the treck to Southern California to co-host a headphone event with the Los Angeles/Orange County Audio Society. Five years ago it was a curiosity ... these days it's a happening.

Check it out.

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Why has the Percieved Value of Headphones Risen in the Past Decade?
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jul 28, 2011 • 8 comments
A decade or more ago, I thought the Sennheiser HD 25-1 was very expensive at $249. These days, with rapper cans and four figure high-end headphones, $249 for a really good pair of headphones looks quite reasonable.

People seem far more willing to spend money on headphones these days. The general public finds more value in headphones these days. Why?

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

Which of the following contributes most greatly to the increase in the perceived value of headphones?

Why has the Percieved Value of Headphones Risen in the Past Decade?
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InnerFidelity Call for Contributions
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jul 25, 2011 • 9 comments

In a recent contest asking for ideas, this comment was made by yuriv:

    "Have readers write articles, and then submit them to you, Tyll, the editor. They can be anything--product reviews, technical explanations, how-to guides, etc. There can even be videos. Of course, if they're headphone reviews, it would be nice if they were sent over for measurements."

    "Since Wes Phillips isn't available, how about readers as contributors? You pick the finalists every round, then publish their articles here. Hopefully, a few of them will meet your standards."

Thanks yuriv, (not a contest winner, but worth a consolation prize, email on the way) I think I'm going to do something very much like that ...
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The Question Question Contest
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jul 19, 2011 • 17 comments

It was quality over quantity in the last contest. We sure got some good answers. Check it out!

This week we're going to do something a little different.

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July InnerFidelity Update
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jul 01, 2011 • 10 comments

Man! It's July already ... June went by in a flash.

Went to THE Show; did some burn-in; reviewed quite a few sealed headphones; Ryan's Eddie current review was awesome; airline headphones weren't; did TWiT TV; saw Todd's new amp; gave away headphones.com money; and sampled some killer DIY cans from dBel84.

I wonder what I'll do next?

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A Thoughtful Contest
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 29, 2011 • 17 comments

Brian Gluck at Headphones.com shot me an email last week suggesting we make the contest more open ended by asking a question and selecting a winner from the various answers. D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?

So I thunk and thunk, and thunk some more ... and I think I've thunk of a question. It's actually one I've thought about for a long time.

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Weekly Headphones.com Contest!
Now with harder questions!
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 22, 2011 • 10 comments

It's time again to offer up Brian's very generous offer of a $50 gift certificate at Headphones.com to some lucky winner.

Only this time I'm hoping it's less luck, and more brain cells.

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Headphones from United Airlines Flight 962
Ear-Pad Sealed Headphone Reviews, Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 21, 2011 • 20 comments

When the stewardess asks me if I'd like to buy a pair of headphones for two dollars, I usually say no thanks and smile. She has no idea how good a pair of custom in-ear monitors sound.

And then I thought, "Well, I really have no idea how good her headphones sound either." So, I bought a pair, and brought them home to test.

Oh my!

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TODAY! Tyll on TWiT.tv's "Home Theater Geeks" Podcast.
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 19, 2011 • 6 comments
Scott Wilkinson has kindly asked me to join him on his "Home Theater Geeks" podcast over on TWiT.tv. It's really more than just a podcast however, Scott will be interviewing me via Skype, and both the audio and video will be available.

The show will be broadcast on TWiT.tv live TODAY! Monday, June 20 at 2:15pm Pacific Time (2115UTC). Both audio and video will be available afterward on the Home Theater Geek page on TWiT; for real Podcast is available through iTunes here.

I reckon we'll be talking about headphones and headphone geeks, but you never know.

See you then!

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Contest Time!!!
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 15, 2011 • 13 comments

Brian Gluck over at www.headphones.com has been very helpful to me as I've worked to start up InnerFidelity. He's a sponsor here; he's sent me gear to audition; but he said he'd like to do more.

And he's putting money where his mouth is ...

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Break-In, Part Deux
Tyll Hertsens Blog, Audio Science Guide
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 09, 2011 • 35 comments

Many of you will remember my previous attempt at analyzing break-in from this post. A lot of good comments and suggestions were made after the post, and I'd encourage those not familiar with this previous attempt to check it out.

Deciding that my time away at T.H.E. Show Newport would be the perfect opportunity to run some more break-in tests, I programmed my headphone measurement system to take frequency response, square wave, impulse response, and Total Harmonic Distortion data every hour for 100 hours.

Man! That's a lot of numbers ... I'm glad I have a computer.

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T.H.E. Show Newport 2011
Tyll Hertsens Blog, Events
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 07, 2011 • 1 comments

About a month and a half ago, Jorge Cervera from HeadRoom gave me a call, "Hey dude, you wanna be on a panel with me in L.A.?"

Jorge proceeded to tell me that Bob Levy from the Los Angeles/Orange County Audio Society got together with Richard Beers of T.H.E. Show Las Vegas fame and are putting on a show in Southern California. Bob Levy wanted us to do a headphone seminar. Lemme tell ya', when Bob Levy thinks you ought to be somewhere you might as well pack your bags. Bob is a force of nature; the tide that raises all boats in the L.A. audiophile world. If he thinks you ought to do something ... well ... he's probably right.

"Sure Jorge, I'm in."

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InnerFidelity June Update
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • Jun 01, 2011 • 7 comments

Hi all! I'll be heading off to T.H.E. Show Newport on Friday, and I though it would be a good idea to let you guys know what's up with InnerFidelity for this month.

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June Measurements Update
Tyll Hertsens Blog
Tyll Hertsens • May 31, 2011 • 11 comments
I've just completed the June measurements update. All the new cans are on the Headphone Datasheet Downloads page, and in the All Graphs PDF.

New headphones this month include:

  • Many of the Ultrasone line.
  • The new Shure SRH950.
  • The New Beyerdynamic DJX-1 (it's pretty good).
  • Numerous Denon IEMs.
  • Grado GR8.
  • Spider Cables realvoice IEM
  • Second measurements of Beyer's Tesla cans.
  • And ... measurements of the latest LCD2 ... now with more highs!
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DIY Orthodynamic Headphone Measurements and Contest
Tyll Hertsens Blog, Tips and Tweaks, Do-It-Yourself Guide
Tyll Hertsens • May 19, 2011 • 28 comments

In preparing my article “How Planar Magnetic Headphones Work” I became enamored of the work being done by DIYers building their own Orthodynamic cans over in the "Orthodynamic Roundup thread on Head-Fi. The blood, sweat, and tears invested in building and modifying vintage Yamaha Orthodynamics, and cans like the Fostex T50RP is simply stunning, but more striking is the sense of fun and camaraderie so clearly evident in their headphone play that I simply can’t resist trying to find a way to enter into the party in some way.

I think I’ve figured out what I can do.

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