Harman International - Guest Lecturer

Date: Wed (16th) / March / 2016Location: GOS (08)-A300 from 4:00-5:30.Speaker: Dr. Sean Olive (Past President, AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY (AES) &Acoustic Research Fellow, HARMAN INTERNATIONAL)_The Influence of Listeners_ Experience, Gender, Culture and Age on Headphone Sound Quality Preferences_A recent study was conducted to determine the extent to which listening experience, age, gender and culture influence listeners_ headphone sound quality preferences. In one test, listeners from four different countries gave preference ratings for four different headphones that were presented double-blind using a virtualized headphone method. In a second test, the listeners adjusted the bass and treble levels of an otherwise neutral headphone according to taste. On average, listeners preferred the reference headphone that was based on the in-room frequency response of an accurate loudspeaker in a reference listening room. This was generally true regardless of the listeners_ experience, age, gender, and culture. However, when listeners could adjust the bass and treble levels of the reference headphone, the preferred levels depended on the age, gender and prior experience of the listener.