The effect of these sounding better the more I use them does seem to be from brain burn-in. Switching back to conventional headphones for a time and then returning to the OAE1, they sound a bit dull and muddy. However I have had some success with EQ. @listen_r created a Headphones.com EQ preset but it doesn’t sound right. I’m going to continue to play with it but I’m not convinced this or other Harman-like targets are appropriate for these, although I can’t objectively explain why.
So instead I developed my own preset with the hope of mitigating the biggest issues with the OAE1 FR. It’s early days but this is what I have so far:
Preamp: -3.36 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 180 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 0.8
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 3800 Hz Gain -4 dB Q 2
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 5900 Hz Gain 4 dB Q 3.2
If anyone tries this, I’d appreciate any feedback.