EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020

Sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones

Elektroakustische Geräte - Teil 7: Kopfhörer und Ohrhörer

Equipements pour systèmes électroacoustiques - Partie 7: Ecouteurs et oreillettes

Oprema zvokovnega sistema - 7. del: Naglavne in ušesne slušalke (IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 29-Oct-2020
• ICS: 33.160.50 - Accessories
• Technical Committee: CLC/TC 100X - Audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment and related sub-systems
• Drafting Committee: IEC/TC 100 - IEC_TC_100
• Current Stage: 6060 - Document made available - Publishing
• Start Date: 30-Oct-2020
• Completion Date: 30-Oct-2020
• Ref Project: SIST EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2021 - Sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones (IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)

Relations

• Amends: EN 60268-7:2011 - Sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones
• Effective Date: 26-Mar-2019

Overview

EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020 (equivalent to IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020) is the European amendment for sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones. Approved by CENELEC in October 2020, this amendment updates measurement and reporting requirements for headphones and earphones used in electroacoustics. It aligns laboratory measurement practices using head and torso simulators (HATS) and adds new measurement modes for frequency-response compensation.

Key topics and technical requirements

• New measurement modes: introduces procedures for both free-field compensated frequency response and diffuse-field compensated frequency response. Compensation can be applied during measurement by inverse filtering or by post‑process subtraction of the HATS reference response (in dB).
• HATS definition and use: adds the term HATS (head and torso simulator) and requires use of a HATS complying with IEC TS 60318-7, with the pinna specified in EN/IEC 60268-7 Annex A (or the pinna type must be stated).
• Measurement method essentials:
  • Apply a test signal at the rated source voltage in series with the rated source impedance.
  • Sweep frequency across the rated frequency range; measure sound pressure at each ear simulator.
  • Use five measurements (remove and remount headphones between runs); derive a nominal response by power averaging.
  • Ensure ear-simulator output is at least 10 dB above the measurement system noise floor at all frequencies.
  • Report compensated responses together with the HATS response or uncompensated headphone response.
• Documentation and bibliographic updates: the amendment updates normative references (e.g., replaces IEC 60065 with IEC 62368-1) and the bibliography to reflect current electroacoustic and safety standards.
• Measurement reliability: notes the need for statistical analysis when using HATS outside IEC TS 60318-7, especially above 16 kHz.

Applications and users

This standard is essential for:

• Headphone and earphone manufacturers - for product development, tuning and specifying frequency response in a standardized way.
• Acoustic test laboratories and R&D teams - for repeatable laboratory measurements using HATS and compensated responses.
• Quality assurance and compliance engineers - for consistent test methods that support marketing claims and interoperability.
• Standards and certification bodies - to harmonize measurement reporting across Europe and internationally.

Practical uses include product specification sheets, performance comparisons, design verification and acoustic research.

Related standards

Key referenced documents: IEC TS 60318-7 (HATS), IEC 60268-3/4/5 (amplifiers, microphones, loudspeakers), IEC 60318 series (ear simulators), IEC 62368-1 (safety), plus ISO and ITU-T acoustics references. These form the measurement and safety context around EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2021
Oprema zvokovnega sistema - 7. del: Naglavne in ušesne slušalke (IEC 60268-
7:2010/A1:2020)
Sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones (IEC 60268-
7:2010/A1:2020)
Elektroakustische Geräte - Teil 7: Kopfhörer und Ohrhörer (IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)
Equipements pour systèmes électroacoustiques - Partie 7: Ecouteurs et oreillettes (IEC
60268-7:2010/A1:2020)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020
ICS:
33.160.50 Pribor Accessories
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 60268-7:2011/A1

NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
October 2020
ICS 33.160.50
English Version
Sound system equipment - Part 7: Headphones and earphones
(IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)
Equipements pour systèmes électroacoustiques - Partie 7: Elektroakustische Geräte - Teil 7: Kopfhörer und Ohrhörer
Ecouteurs et oreillettes (IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)
(IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020)
This amendment A1 modifies the European Standard EN 60268-7:2011; it was approved by CENELEC on 2020-10-20. CENELEC
members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this amendment the
status of a national standard without any alteration.
Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre or to any CENELEC member.
This amendment exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the
responsibility of a CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as
the official versions.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2020 CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC Members.
Ref. No. EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020 E

European foreword
The text of document 100/3316/CDV, future IEC 60268-7/A1, prepared by IEC/TC 100 "Audio, video
and multimedia systems and equipment" was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and
approved by CENELEC as EN 60268-7:2011/A1:2020.
The following dates are fixed:
• latest date by which the document has to be implemented at national (dop) 2021-07-20
level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement
• latest date by which the national standards conflicting with the (dow) 2023-10-20
document have to be withdrawn
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Endorsement notice
The text of the International Standard IEC 60268-7:2010/A1:2020 was approved by CENELEC as a
European Standard without any modification.
In the official version, for Bibliography, the following notes have to be added for the standards
indicated:
IEC 60118-0 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60118-0
IEC 60268-3 NOTE Harmonized as EN IEC 60268-3
IEC 60268-4 NOTE Harmonized as EN IEC 60268-4
IEC 60268-5 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60268-5
IEC 60318-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60318-1
IEC 60318-3 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60318-3
IEC 60318-5 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60318-5
IEC 61938 NOTE Harmonized as EN IEC 61938
IEC 62368-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN IEC 62368-1
ISO 7029 NOTE Harmonized as EN ISO 7029
ISO 18233 NOTE Harmonized as EN ISO 18233

Annex ZA
(normative)
Normative references to international publications
with their corresponding European publications
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments)
applies.
NOTE 1  Where an International Publication has been modified by common modifications, indicated by (mod),
the relevant EN/HD applies.
NOTE 2  Up-to-date information on the latest versions of the European Standards listed in this annex is available
here: www.cenelec.eu.
Add the following reference:
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
IEC/TS 60318-7
-  Electroacoustics - Simulators of human - -
head and ear - Part 7: Head and torso
simulator for the measurement of air-
conduction hearing aids
IEC 60268-7 ®
Edition 3.0 2020-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
AMENDMENT 1
Sound system equipment –
Part 7: Headphones and earphones

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 33.160.50 ISBN 978-2-8322-8763-7

– 2 – IEC 60268-7:2010/AMD1:2020
© IEC 2020
FOREWORD
This amendment has been prepared by technical area 20: Analogue and digital audio, of IEC
technical committee 100: Audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Rapport de vote
100/3316/CDV 100/3437/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this amendment can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
The committee has decided that the contents of this amendment and the base publication will
remain unchanged until the stability date indicated on the IEC website under
"http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the
publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
_____________
INTRODUCTION to Amendment 1
This Amendment 1 contains the following significant technical changes with respect to
IEC 60268-7:2010:
• evaluation of free-field compensated frequency response has been added;
• evaluation of diffuse-field compensated frequency response has been added;
• the Bibliography has been updated;
• some normative references have been updated;
• the term "HATS" and its definition has been added.

1 Scope
In item a), replace “IEC 60065” with “IEC 62368-1”.

2 Normative references
Add the following new reference:
IEC TS 60318-7, Electroacoustics – Simulators of human head and ear – Part 7: Head and torso
simulator for the measurement of air-conduction hearing aids

IEC 60268-7:2010/AMD1:2020 – 3 –
 IEC:2020
3 Terms and definitions
Add, after the existing term 3.16, the following new term.
3.17
head and torso simulator
HATS
simulator of a median adult human head and part of the torso extending in total from the top of
the head to the waist and designed to simulate the sound pick-up characteristics and acoustic
diffraction
Note 1 to entry: The head simulator includes two pinna simulators, and at least one occluded-ear simulator.
[SOURCE: IEC TS 60318-7:2017, 3.1, modified – The preferred term "manikin" has been
omitted.]
Add, after 8.6.6, the following new Subclauses 8.6.7, 8.6.8 and Figure 4.
8.
...