Blue Cat's Re-Head Plug-In For Headphones Released!

[eBlue]

Where can we request additional EQ profiles for headphones? I'd really like to see the Sony MDR-V6's added. I just bought Re-Head and am trying to get by with the Sy 7506 profile but I have no idea how well it translates.

-e

[ThomasHelzle]

I tried all the usual suspects before and never got much out of any of them. Some made it less stressful to listen, but overall the experience was a bit on the snake-oil side as far as I'm concerned. Morphit did absolutely nothing for me, Sonarworks was a close runner up in the nothingness department.
This one on the other hand is magic.
With my AKG 701 (using the 702 profile) it feels as if I have new headphones, sit in a very nice room and even have new strings on the (acoustic) guitar
Wow.

Thank you!

Tom

[tony10000]

Tried the demo. I can say I wasn't impressed. The high frequencies disappeared. And the position algorithm needs some serious refinement. I use TB Morphit, and aside from the lack of cross feed and spatial positioning, it is a much better tool.

[SparkySpark]

Where can we request additional EQ profiles for headphones? I'd really like to see the Sony MDR-V6's added. I just bought Re-Head and am trying to get by with the Sy 7506 profile but I have no idea how well it translates.

-e

Quoted from last page:

Is there a list of Headphone presets anywhere ? I realise I can download a demo but as I already have Sonarworks and Canopener, I'm not interested unless my headphones are already supported (Senn HD600) but I couldn't see a list.

You´ll maybe find what you need here: https://zenodo.org/record/2638644. The List is quiet long and I´m happy!

Quote: "The Audio Spatialisation for Headphones Impulse Response Dataset (ASH IR Dataset) is a set of impulse responses that can be used for binaural synthesis of spatial audio systems on headphones. It includes binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs), headphone compensation filters (HpCFs) and configuration files for Equalizer APO. The dataset can be used to create virtual surround sound on headphones by convolving an audio stream with a set of BRIRs.

The dataset contains:

A set of equalised binaural room impulse responses that can be used to simulate a variety of rooms including control rooms, listening rooms, seminar rooms, studios, and more
A set of compensation filters that can be used to equalise a wide range of headphones to the diffuse-field target frequency response
A set of configuration files for Equalizer APO that can be used to simulate common speaker configurations (Stereo, 5.1 surround, 7.1 surround) within the rooms

More information can be found at https://github.com/ShanonPearce/ASH-IR-Dataset"

[rrichard63]

There's also a second GitHub repository of EQ curves and IRs for headphones:

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

Re-Head doesn't let you make an EQ curve by typing in frequencies, gain/cut amounts and Q factors in the UI. So in order to use the EQ information in this repository, you would have to learn the structure of the XML in the preset files and make your own presets that way. But the IRs might (or might not) be more useful than the ones (linked to earlier) that are based on "diffuse-field target frequency response", whatever that means.

[GRUMP]

There's also a second GitHub repository of EQ curves and IRs for headphones:

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

Re-Head doesn't let you make an EQ curve by typing in frequencies, gain/cut amounts and Q factors in the UI. So in order to use the EQ information in this repository, you would have to learn the structure of the XML in the preset files and make your own presets that way. But the IRs might (or might not) be more useful than the ones (linked to earlier) that are based on "diffuse-field target frequency response", whatever that means.

Thank you! I have tried both and I´ve already read some Test Results of my AKG 501. The File/Curve of the Files that I have found have quiet strong Impact on the upper Spectrum, that didn´t really match with what I´ve read before ("brilliant") and damped the Sound strongly. The IRs found under your Source seem to match the Test Results better. The lift up the lower Frequencys and result in a - subjective - balanced Sound.

[mabian]

Hello,

I'm trying Re-Head, i have two questions:

1) Is it meant to be used (with EQ set to "flat" or off) together with Toneboosters Morph-It (so that Re-Head does the HRTF and cross-feed while Morph-It does the frequency compensation)?

2) Could you elaborate a bit more about the "Binaural" parameter? The docs are a bit short about that.

On the fence deciding what to do with the introductory offer...

Thanks,
Mario

[Michael L]

1) Is it meant to be used (with EQ set to "flat" or off) together with Toneboosters Morph-It (so that Re-Head does the HRTF and cross-feed while Morph-It does the frequency compensation)?

I tried that and it was pretty good, but then I used the Morphit curve to draw the EQ on Re-Head, added frequency dips in my own hearing, and used several familiar reference mixes to further refine the Re-Head eq and other parameters. It took me several days of listening and tweaking my presets to find the right balance, and it feels better than the Morphit combo.

[mabian]

1) Is it meant to be used (with EQ set to "flat" or off) together with Toneboosters Morph-It (so that Re-Head does the HRTF and cross-feed while Morph-It does the frequency compensation)?

I tried that and it was pretty good, but then I used the Morphit curve to draw the EQ on Re-Head, added frequency dips in my own hearing, and used several familiar reference mixes to further refine the Re-Head eq and other parameters. It took me several days of listening and tweaking my presets to find the right balance, and it feels better than the Morphit combo.

Interesting, it seems to me quite an impressive work (and needs ear training and skills...); how could you say it worked well and how did you make changes and decide what was better or worse?

Thanks,
Mario

[Michael L]

How could you say it worked well and how did you make changes and decide what was better or worse?

I knew the various reference mixes extremely well, so I made sure that I heard all their frequencies correctly and they felt (width/position) relaxing as from correctly-positioned monitors. I also made a new preset with every parameter change, and A/B'd them. My perception of what felt "good" included my ears and gut, and the changes surprised me as I had the same cans for a long time. It improved my listening.

[Blue Cat Audio]

Glad to help... but I am not all sure if the Compensation Curves are the right ones... they "equalise a wide range of headphones to the diffuse-field target frequency response".

I´ve quickly read a little bit about it, but the Sources I´ve found were too scientific (for skimming...).

Can anyone help?

There are multiple ways to define the target response curve of headphones (yes, there is no single definition of a good "flat"target!), and that's one of them. It is known to be a bit too bright, but it is a matter of taste...

The best way to calibrate your listening on headphones is not to rely on such curves but rely on your own hearing of well known mixes and make them sound in your headphones like you would like them to sound.

[Blue Cat Audio]

I tried all the usual suspects before and never got much out of any of them. Some made it less stressful to listen, but overall the experience was a bit on the snake-oil side as far as I'm concerned. Morphit did absolutely nothing for me, Sonarworks was a close runner up in the nothingness department.
This one on the other hand is magic.
With my AKG 701 (using the 702 profile) it feels as if I have new headphones, sit in a very nice room and even have new strings on the (acoustic) guitar
Wow.

Thank you!

Tom

Thanks! Glad that it works well for you!

[Blue Cat Audio]

Tried the demo. I can say I wasn't impressed. The high frequencies disappeared. And the position algorithm needs some serious refinement. I use TB Morphit, and aside from the lack of cross feed and spatial positioning, it is a much better tool.

Thanks for the feedback. However it's difficult to compare these tools, as they are completely different!

[Blue Cat Audio]

Hello,

I'm trying Re-Head, i have two questions:
1) Is it meant to be used (with EQ set to "flat" or off) together with Toneboosters Morph-It (so that Re-Head does the HRTF and cross-feed while Morph-It does the frequency compensation)?

2) Could you elaborate a bit more about the "Binaural" parameter? The docs are a bit short about that.

Thank you for trying the plug-in.
(1) That's indeed one way to use it. However depending on how your compensation curve has been measured and what your personal preferences are, you may want to EQ the tone anyway, to get the response that works best for you.
(2) When "binaural" is on, the transformation for the left and right ears are not the same, just like in the real world: heads are not symmetric. So it sounds a bit more natural in general. However it affects the spectral balance between the left and right channels. There are situations where you want to make sure that both the left and right channels are affected the same way. In these situations (mixing, stereo checking...), you can just disable binaural processing.

I hope this clarifies!

[GRUMP]

Glad to help... but I am not all sure if the Compensation Curves are the right ones... they "equalise a wide range of headphones to the diffuse-field target frequency response".

I´ve quickly read a little bit about it, but the Sources I´ve found were too scientific (for skimming...).

Can anyone help?

There are multiple ways to define the target response curve of headphones (yes, there is no single definition of a good "flat"target!), and that's one of them. It is known to be a bit too bright, but it is a matter of taste...

The best way to calibrate your listening on headphones is not to rely on such curves but rely on your own hearing of well known mixes and make them sound in your headphones like you would like them to sound.

After the first Week of Usage: I have set Up Presets for Re-Head and an optional VST with the Headphone IRs and frequently compare my Results with different Combinations. To make it short: it helps a lot and is a Pleasure for my Ears, too. Positive Side Effect: I read a little, learned something and developed my Senses. A kind of Awareness, also for Room/Reverb and Spectral Issues in general.

Regards!