iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A birthday present I received last evening. The first open-back gaming headphone by HyperX. All the benefits of an open-back headphone but this one has bass

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Our CanJam SoCal listening tests led me to write this article on LinkedIn where I explore how to select a good listener for listening panels. Self-reported expertise is useful but actually measuring it is even better, www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-m...

linkedin.com

What Makes a Good Listening Panelist?

An article about how to train and select listeners for listening panels based on eGauge that measures reliability, discrimination in rating sound quality.

020

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Our listening test app automatically calculates the discrimination and reliability of listeners in rating stimuli according to e-gauge (ITU spec). It tells us that 6 of our listeners (shown red) fall below acceptable thresholds. tech.ebu.ch/docs/techrep...

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

We ran 14 listeners through our listening test at CanJam and expect 10 more today. This subject I grabbed at the Starbucks shop downstairs at 7:30 am.

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

We just ran our first subject for the Hear3D spatial rendering test at CanJam SocCal. There are still 3 opening left today if you want to participate. signup.com/go/LUDsfFQ

Completed the listening test app to conduct our blind listening tests at the @canjamsky.bsky.social next weekend. You can participate in these tests by signing up here: signup.com/go/LUDsfFQ

000

If you want to be part of our next research study join us at CanJam Socal by signing up here: signup.com/go/LUDsfFQ

110

We just launched the website today for our new startup venture in spatial audio called Hear3D. 6 of 7 the Founders are former Harman audio research scientists and engineers with decades of experience in scientific research and audio product development. You can learn more @ www.hear3D.com

131

The @JBL Endurance Run has always been a decent wired in-ear headphone for $19. I just ordered 3 pairs Endurance Run 3 and measured one sample and compared to Run 2. Both measured on the GRAS45-CA10 with the IE target curve plotted for comparison.

020

Listening Test On Spatial Rendering

Todd Welti and I will be at CanJam Socal next weekend and are looking for volunteers who can provide valuable feedback on different spatial renderings for headphones. If you can help there is a signup sheet below.Thank you. Hope to see you there. signup.com/go/LUDsfFQ

signup.com

011

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Five reseats of a TWS in a GRAS-45-CA10 measured with an AP x517. I don't think I've seen such poor repeatability in a TWS in some time. Something isn't quite right.

110

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

There was an audio reviewer in the 1980s from TAS named Enid Lumley who advocated evaluating audio equipment naked as she believed clothing caused electrostatic forces and absorption that colored the sound. We can be thankful that this was before YouTube was invented.

331

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

This Youtube video argues that differences in opinion in headphones SQ can be traced in part to how the headphone interacts with their ears and changes the sound. Here is a trace of the HD 600 measured on three reviewers's ears youtu.be/xtyri3F5Yis?...

220

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This headphone had the widest distribution of preference ratings among the 32 headphones tested. It had significantly less bass and a big peak at 2 kHz and only pleases a small segment who like little bass and apparently coloration. It’s a polarizing headphone in terms of sound quality

220

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

In the last 2 days I have re-analyzed 6 papers we published from 2013-2025. This shows the distribution of preferred headphone curves in the 3 preference segments discussed in the 2019 paper based on the deviations from the Harman AE Target Curve (2018) -- the so-called error curve.

330

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Congratulations to Dan Clark for winning best Mid-Price Headphone at the CanJam Landon show. This headphone keeps coming up in my Google Feed because it mentions I helped with the research behind it. www.ecoustics.com/articles/bes...

100

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Below is the title and abstract of a talk I will be giving at the upcoming SoCal CanJam show. canjamglobal.com/shows/socal2...?

000

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

That’s not a modern Ford Lincoln tuned by Beats but a JBL premium sound system 40 years ago. Bass has suffered from inflation like everything and that may be a good thing

140

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

This is funny. Apparently our research uncovered the culprit behind the Circle of Confusion and why mixes don’t sound right www.instagram.com/reel/Da3njt0...

instagram.com

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I revisiting some data from this 2015 study to analysis and plot the mean preferred bass and treble settings for 256 listeners. Olive, Sean; Welti, Todd; 2015; Factors That Influence Listeners’ Preferred Bass and Treble Levels in Headphones Paper 9382; Available from: aes.org/publications...

230

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The graph is the average of left+ right channels based on the average of 5 reseats. I don't know what the consensus is for these but to me -- they sound very muffled in vocals with muddy bass.

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Been looking for a cheap open back headphone for psychoacoustic experiments that is consistent across samples and can be easily equalized to a target. Harder to find. Here are 6 samples of a $150 Sennheiser HD560 S that I think meet that criteria. Measured on a GRAS 45CA-10 with an AP517x

200

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I just received the Final Tonalite TWS that has technology to personalize the timbre to match your DF HRTF and taste. Several AES papers have been presented on the research behind these including one at 160th Copenhagen

320

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Some positive feedback about the new Dan Clark Aeon Core headphone the tuning influenced by some research we did together. It's funny how science can positively influence products and some reviewers -- but not others. headphones.com/blogs/announ...

headphones.com

Dan Clark Audio announces ÆON CORE—an $899 closed-back planar magnetic

DCA's new planar magnetic headphone launches at $899, tuned to an updated reference curve and built around DCA's most efficient driver to date.

110

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

x4gwm.mjt.lu/nl3/gj8EUjOI...?

030

Sean Olive @seanolive.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Neither one of these goalies is as good as Dobes.

000

Dobes couldn’t see that puck. Completely screened.

000

Oh boy. Montreal’s 4th line on for overtime

000

They’ve missed 2 calls on Carolina so the too many men is a makeup

000