Headphones

Although the Arya is far from being the worst offender we've encountered, it is yet another headphone reassuringly constructed mostly from metal but having, as a result, a resonant structure that 'pings' in response to fingernail taps when wearing it. It has to be acknowledged, first off, that the impact of such resonances on sound quality is not something which appears to have been meticulously investigated – although what research might have been conducted behind closed doors in some of the larger headphone manufacturers is unknown. In the worst cases headphone structural resonance – particularly headband resonance – can be severe enough to cause obvious ripples in the frequency response, in which case it's hard to suppose the resonances have no effect on sound quality when playing music. The situation with less prominent resonances is unclear but the precautionary principle suggests they should be eliminated, either by means of damping or by compliant isolation of the capsules. KH