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Sound Quality |
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• Subpar frequency response: good bass, but falls off gradually as pitch increases.
• More distortion than average, but still not enough to dramatically reduce overall quality.
• Good, even tracking.
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Tour & Design |
Page 3 of 12 |
Isolation |
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About our testing:
For more information on our tests, read this article.
Frequency Response (4.63)
What we found:
UPDATE: We originally wrote this section using incorrect numbers, which were lower than the PS200's actual results. The responsible parties were made to sit in the corner and wear a large, conical hat. This error not only applies to this section, but also the comparison sections.
The PS200's frequency response was ever-so-slightly better than average. The bass got a good level of emphasis without being boomy. The response trends downward as it approaches the middle frequencies, falling slightly below our limits. This means vocals or other mid-range sounds might not get the emphasis they deserve. The sudden boost at around 7kHz is likely to make drums sound a bit more crisp (7kHz is around where the attack of a snare drum is, where "attack" is probably more easily recognized as "that initial sound of impact between the drum stick and the drum).
The main problem area is that dip in the middle of the graph. The reason it's a problem isn't necessarily because it goes below the bottom limit – it falls about 3dB below the limit, which isn't a large margin – but rather due to the fairly sudden shift in emphasis. An instrument that uses those frequencies might sound a bit strange. Otherwise, however, the PS200s response wasn't bad.
How the Phiaton PS200 compares:
What is frequency response?
Frequency response refers the various emphases and deemphases a set of headphones puts on any given frequency. For our purposes, the ideal set of headphones won't do anything to playback; if the original artist wanted loud bass, they would have put it in themselves. Many people like a dynamic sound, which means certain frequency bands are emphasized over others. For those who like a dynamic response, check out the graph above and try to judge if it meshes with your aural proclivities.
How the test works:
To test frequency response, we run a known frequency sweep through the headphones. Since we know what we're putting through the headphones and HATS knows what's coming out of them, we can tell exactly how the headphones are changing the initial sound file. If this topic interests you, fear not! You can find out more at your local library and also at this link.
Distortion (4.10)
What we found:
The Phiaton PS200s had slightly less than average audio quality. There is distortion at virtually every level until the very, very high end, but at no point does the graph stray far above 1%. The level at which distortion gets "bad" is 3%. This is the point at which most people would think distortion is obvious. We routinely see headphones that straddle the zero line, which have, for human earing, no distortion. While the PS200s have very little distortion, is does not have a negligible amount. We'd say these heapdhones are perfectly fine for the average consumer, but people who are particularly picky tay well below that line, which means most people won't be able to notice the distortion levels.
How the Phiaton PS200 compares:
What is distortion?
The frequency response test above measure the ways in which the headphones might alter the levels of an incoming sound, but distortion measures what the headphones are doing to the sound itself. Distortion is bad, because it fundamentally changes your playback, but it's not always the most noticeable quality. If you're a fan of death metal, chances are you won't be able to pick out the music's distortion from the headphones' distortion. If you like classical or acoustic music, however, you'll be far more likely to pick up on distortion.
How the test works:
Much like the frequency response test, our distortion test relies on comparing two sound files: a source sound and the sound that comes out of the headphones. Once we have these two files, we can see what the headphones are doing to the overall shape of the sound wave. Ideally, the headphones won't do anything to the shape of the incoming sound wave. This test measures the percentage of distortion at any given frequency. The number to look out for is 3%, which is noticeably bad. To read a bit more on the subject, click on this upcoming link.
Tracking (8.26)
What we found:
The PS200s' tracking wasn't atrociously off. They seem to be slightly louder in the right channel than in the left. This could be fixed with positioning, potentially; the difference is a not-terribly-noticeable 4dB louder in one channel. This is at its worst in the low end, and then gradually increases back to a nominal level, at which point it scribbles out. Take this scribble with a grain of salt: it isn't 100% accurate since our testing equipment can't measure these decibel levels with 100% accuracy. The reason we didn't just chop it off the graph is because you can judge the trend using them. It looks like, in the high end, the decibel level goes towards the left channel even more, overall.
The differences between the channels is never significantly more than 4dB, which isn't so bad it'd annoy you. If you were to look at this graph to the right, you should know that the headphones are not perfect, but, unless you're particularly finnicky, they're good enough.
How the Phiaton PS200 compares:
What is tracking?
Tracking basically refers to balance. When a set of headphones has perfect tracking, when we play a 10dB sound through both channels, each channel will output exactly 10dB. If the headphones have poor tracking, one of the channels will be outputting a louder decibel level than the other. Of course, this is not desireable. If you have ever listened to headphones where the right was consistently playing louder than the left, you know how unusuable it makes the headphones.
How the test works:
Tracking uses the same test procedure as our frequency response test; we just focus on different information. The tracking graph specifically looks for relative decibel differences. When the left channel is playing more loudly than the right, then the graph will jump above the zero line. If the right channel is louder, the line will dip below zero. If you want a link to more information, look no further than this very sentence.
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