miniDSP Introduces “EARS” Calibrated Headphone Test Jig

HONG KONG, June 28, 2018 – miniDSP (www.miniDSP.com), a market leading designer and manufacturer of digital signal processing platforms and solutions for a wide range of applications, is proud to announce the launch of “EARS”, the Earphone Audio Response System. EARS is now available at the minidsp webshop with an MSRP of $199.00 USD.

“miniDSP EARS brings headphone measurement capability to the masses,” said Tony Rouget, miniDSP CEO. “It’s an extremely affordable measurement rig for headphones and IEMs that we’ve designed and built using the same technology as our popular UMIK-1 calibrated measurement microphone. Alternatively one could use EARS as a binaural microphone with USB audio streaming. It’s so diverse, in fact, some headphone manufacturers have also found the jig useful for headphone quality control in assembly lines.”

Each pair of EARS has two microphone capsules mounted in a minimal “dummy head.” Measurement output is via the driverless USB connection and EARS are powered from the USB so there is no need for an external power supply. “To measure headphones, just mount the headphones on the rig and run a measurement sweep using the headphone amp and a favorite measurement program (e.g. Room EQ Wizard),” Rouget continued. “The supplied calibration file corrects for the response of the microphone capsule and the ear.”

miniDSP’s website provides numerous applications, advice, step-by-step instructions, and methods for utilizing EARS, including headphone EQ for iPhone/Android/DAP, measuring wireless headphones with EARS, and headphone EQ with EARS and REW, depending on each user’s needs and requirements.

The EARS page on the miniDSP website now has a compensation type named "HEQ", for "Headphone EQ". Once you enter your serial number, select HEQ to download the calibration files. These calibration files help simplify the process of EQing headphones.

“Our EARS are the perfect tool for creating EQ filters for the miniDSP HA-DSP headphone amplifier or for any other headphone system with EQ capability,” Rouget added. “There are a lot of factors that affect a headphone's sound, but the frequency response is the primary one. It determines not just the overall balance of bass, midrange and treble, but also the distribution of harmonics that are part of every musical note. So, when you run headphone measurements for EQ, it’s important to treat the measurements as a guide. You always need to listen to the result of any EQ based on the measurements, and adjust it so that it sounds right to you…and EARS gets you into that perfect zone where you can then tweak your headphones to your perfect personal audio response.”

For more information on miniDSP, please visit www.miniDSP.com

About miniDSP

Started back 2009 and based in Hong Kong, miniDSP and DSP4YOU are technology companies that focus on Digital Signal Processing platforms (DSP) for a wide range of applications. We're a group of passionate engineers who love electronics, building new ventures, and working hand-in-hand with the audio community. We care about our customers and how we can help solve their problems.

Just one hour away from Shenzhen, China's biggest electronic manufacturing hub, we have the advantages of being part of the “action.” Our passion for technology and our “Agile” product development philosophy are the key drivers of the growth of our company and in-house IP.

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