I’m curious about headphone audiophile users take on flat response vs Hi-Fi sound, so I’m hoping to get a discussion going.
I’ve been an audio professional all my life, so obviously I am a big proponent of a flat response.
I have after many years had to accept that it’s merely because I’m “tuned” for a flat response sounding good, and as such that’s what sound good to me, even to a point when I tune PA’s. I’ve learned this because that’s my reference when mixing records on various systems.
Audio is a learned subjective experience (in my humble opinion), and as such why do we not aim for headphones that have accurate replication of the intended record sound, with a realistic stereo image?
I’m curious to hear your opinions.
No fully agreed-upon definition for either of these as far as headphones go, especially not for the latter. Saying all you have to do is accurately simulate human HRTF and PRTF is easy, actually doing it is not. Trying to jam an approximation of loudspeaker acoustics into a pair of ear cups also leads to design compromises needing to be made. Manufacturers like Hifiman, Sennheiser, and DCA do try to tune to their own target curves that they believe sound neutral, and many headphones do feature angled drivers and such to attempt to replicate speaker/ear interaction.