Sean Olive - The perception and measurement of headphone sound quality preferences

Research Seminar presented by the McGill Audio Engineering Society and CIRMMT

ABSTRACT

 

Sales of headphones and earphones are expected to reach USD 17.88 billion worldwide in 2022 in tandem with the growing popularity of smart phones, portable audio players, tablets

and laptops. The largest headphone category growth will be in-ear (IE) headphones.  Yet, the science of what makes a headphone sound good, and how to measure it are not well understood. This talk summarizes some recent research into the perception and measurement headphone sound quality for both circumaural and in-ear types. The influence of the listeners’ age, listening experience, gender and culture on headphone sound quality preferences will be discussed.

 

ABOUT Sean Olive

SeanOlive

Sean is Acoustic Research Fellow for Harman International, where he has worked since 1993. He directs the Corporate R&D group, whose research has mainly focused on the perception and measurement of sound reproduction including loudspeakers, room acoustics, automotive audio, and currently headphones. From 1986-1993, he was a research scientist at the National Research Council of Canada where he worked with Dr. Floyd Toole.

 Sean received a Bachelor degree in Music from the University of Toronto, and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Sound Recording from McGill University in Montreal. Dr. Olive has written over 50 research papers on his research for which he was awarded the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Fellowship Award in 1996, and two Publication Awards (1990 and 1995). In 2012, Sean received the Harman Achievement Award, and in 2013 the ALMA Titanium Driver Award for scientific contributions to the loudspeaker and headphone industry. Sean is active in several AES Technical Committees, has co-chaired two AES conferences, and is Past AES President. He currently serves as an AES Governor.