Thesis (M.S. in mechanical engineering)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 12, 2010). "School of Engineering and Computer Science." Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-185). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Washington State University, August 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-61).

This thesis is a historical and critical consideration of headphones. From the early introduction of the stethoscope to the various roles of music within the workplace, labor and its architectural enclosures have shifted with post-industrial work. This essay uses Gilles Deleuze, the history of workplace efficiency, and Muzak to describe the aural shift from a disciplinary society to a society of control.

Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-37). Also available via the Internet from the Humboldt Digital Scholar web site.

While most of today’s music listening is being done through headphones, mixing techniques using binaural audio are still not widely implemented in modern music production. This study aims to help inform mixing engineers on the applicability of binaural processing for music production, with the specific focus on how binaurally processed audio translates to loudspeakers in terms of listener preference. In this study a listening test was performed where binaurally processed mixes where given preference ratings in relation to a reference mix. Each listener completed the test twice, once using headphones and once using loudspeakers. The test results for the two playback systems were then compared. Only one of 12 mixes showed a significant difference in preference ratings with playback system as the factor, but the reported ratings showed a large disagreement among the 13 test subjects. The results from the study are inconclusive, however they do not suggest that the binaural processing used for the stimuli suffers in terms of listener preference when played back over loudspeakers.

En av Bellman & Symfons produkter är den så kallade samtalsförstärkaren. Samtalsförstärkaren är ett hörselhjälpmedel, som genom digital signalbehandling förstärker ljudnivån samtidigt som oönskat bakgrundsljud dämpas. Via ett 3,5 mm jack på enheten kan vanliga lyssningstillbehör anslutas, såsom hörlurar och öronsnäckor. De lyssningstillbehör som Bellman & Symfon erbjuder idag är av enkel modell, och lämnar mycket att önska vad gäller ljudkvaliteten. Genom detta projektarbete har jag studerat förbättringsalternativ till dessa lyssningstillbehör, men har fokuserat främst på så kallade stetoclips. Via mjukvaran Smaart v.7 Di simulerade jag upplevd frekvensgång hos olika lyssningstillbehör. Dessa uppmätta värden kompletterade jag sedan med lyssningstester. Testresultaten ledde fram till utvecklingen av en prototypmodell. Via två olika testgrupper jämfördes prototypmodellen med de befintliga lyssningstillbehören. Testgruppernas tankar och åsikter ligger till grund för många av de slutsatser som dras i slutet av rapporten. / One of Bellman & Symfon’s products is the so–called personal amplifier. The personal amplifier is a hearing aid, which uses digital signal processing to amplify the sound level, while unwanted background noise is attenuated. Standard listening accessories, such as headphones and ear buds, can be attached to the device via a 3,5 mm jack. The accessories offered by Bellman & Symfon today are simple and doesn’t match the quality of the personal amplifier. In this project, I have examined which improvement can be made on these listening accessories, to make them better suit the needs of hearing impaired persons. My main focus has been on the so-called stetoclips, which lacks a lot of details in terms of sound quality. I have simulated perceived frequency response via the software Smaart v.7 Di, and I combined these results with the results from different listening tests. The test results lead to the development of a new prototype model. Two different test groups compared the prototype to the current models, and gave me some very useful thoughts and opinions about the project. Many of the conclusions drawn at the end of this project are based on the results from the two test groups.

Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία πραγματοποιείται ένα ψυχοακουστικό test για την μελέτη διαφορετικών τρόπων ισοστάθμισης και τοποθέτησης των ακουστικών για διαφορετικούς χώρους. Μελετάται η υποκειμενική επίδραση τριών παραμέτρων, αυτών της απόστασης, της αντήχησης και της ποιότητας για κάθε διαφορετική τοποθέτηση και δωμάτιο. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο αναλύονται τα αποτελέσματα και συγκρίνονται με βάση αυτά που έχουν ήδη πραγματοποιηθεί σε διάφορες μελέτες. / --

The video game industry is experiencing tremendous growth and developing games that stand out against the competition requires ever increasing production budgets. Graphics have been a selling point for video games for a long time, resulting in huge technical advancements in visuals. Audio has received more attention during the recent years, both in terms of sound-design and technical developments. This study compared two alternatives for spatializing audio over headphones in a game setting, while also comparing them against a more traditional stereo output. A commercial game was used to provide the game setting and participants rated the three different outputs based on three attributes and described their experience using Microsoft Product Reaction Cards. No statistically significant differences were found between the three outputs in any of the six rated attributes when doing a paired t-test or a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. Further analysis of frequency content, participants’ comments and Microsoft Product Reaction Cards were done to find out what sets the spatializing alternatives and stereo apart from each other.

This work deals with comparison of individual types of electroacoustic transducers, their properties and practical use. Furthermore, design and manufacture of a magnetoplanar transducer, its integration into headphones and the production of headphone amplifier. The first chapter summarizes all types of electroacoustic transducers, their properties, advantages, disadvantages, and their use in practice. The second chapter deals with the classes of amplifiers. The third chapter deals with the choice of design of a magnetoplanar transducer, headphones, and selected type of headphone amplifier. The last chapter describes the production process of individual parts of the headphones, transducer and amplifier, including the final measurement.