Brüel & Kjær Launches New Tabletop HATS Type 5128-B Head

Brüel & Kjær Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S has released a new HATS for speech and sound testing, allowing accurate high-frequency testing at desks or in small anechoic chambers where space is limited. This is a solution that will interest all serious headphone reviewers and companies dealing with large volumes of headphones to compare, mainly requiring only the head section of the simulator, but still requiring reliable measurements and operational compliance.

Measuring very low signal levels like idle noise of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headphones requires highly accurate measurement equipment. With the new binaural artificial head measurement system HMS II.3-LN (Low Noise), German test and measurement specialists HEAD acoustics offers a new artificial head that is suitable for low noise measurements of close to the ear sound sources. The ear simulators with highly sensitive microphones assure a very low inherent noise of 16 dBSPL(A).

Christopher J. Struck (CJS Labs) discusses all options available for headphone testing and calibration. The article discusses what should be included in a complete headphone test system, considerations on electrical impedance, considerations on repeatability of the results, free and diffuse field corrected responses, left-right tracking, and the use of two-tone distortion measurements. Reference reading material. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2019.