The Archive · Contribute

Send us your headphones.
We’ll measure them.

We’re growing the Archive with our own measurements — and the fastest way to get a headphone in is for the people who own one to mail it to us. You get your unit’sexact curve back, points toward your level, and a permanent, credited page. We insure it both ways and send it home within days.

Measured here on a miniDSP EARS Pro, labeled by rig, published honestly. No pay-for-praise.

What you get

Four reasons worth the shipping.

Your unit’s exact curve

Not “the” HD 650 — yours. Unit variation is real, and knowing how your specific pair measures is exactly what Attune turns into a personal tuning.

Points toward your level

Every published measurement earns points — more for a model we haven’t measured yet — building your level and your place on the contributor board. What they unlock down the road, we’ll shape with the community.

Your name on the page

Published measurements carry a credit line — “unit courtesy of you” — on a permanent product page built to rank. Prefer to stay anonymous? Just say so.

You grow an open Archive

First-party, honest, community-owned. Each headphone you send makes the Archive a little more complete for the next person — and a little more ours.

How it works

Five steps, most of them ours.

Your part is a minute of typing and a trip to the drop-off. We handle the label, the insurance, the measurement, and the return.

  1. 1

    Tell us what you’ve got

    Fill in the form below — make, model, and how to reach you. Takes a minute.

  2. 2

    We send a label

    You get a prepaid, insured return label, our address, and simple packing notes by email.

  3. 3

    You ship it

    Box it up and send it. It’s insured to the value you declare, door to door.

  4. 4

    We measure & publish

    It goes on the rig, gets an honest page in the Archive, and heads back to you within days.

  5. 5

    You get your curve + points

    Your unit’s exact measurement lands in your inbox, with points and credit on your profile.

The fine print, up front

Your headphone, handled with care.

Insured both ways

You declare the value; we insure to it, inbound and outbound. We photograph condition on arrival and before return.

Back within days

Measured and shipped home within about five business days of arrival. If anything will run long, you hear it first.

Honest, or not at all

We publish exactly what we measure. If we can’t trust the data or the unit arrives damaged, we tell you why and don’t publish — you still get your curve.

A word on the rig. Your headphone is measured on our own bench (a miniDSP EARS Pro) and labeled that way. The Archive’s older curves came off a Head Acoustics HMS II.3 — a different system — so we keep the two clearly separated rather than pretending a single measurement is the last word. One unit is one unit, not the whole model.How to read the graph →

Start here

Send one in.

Tell us what you’ve got and how to reach you. We’ll email a prepaid, insured label and where to send it — no charge, no card.

We only use this to arrange the measurement. No spam, no list-selling.

Brands & retailers

Have a lineup? Let’s measure it.

A loaner gets your headphone an honest measurement and a permanent page built to rank for “model frequency response” — a durable marketing asset, not a one-off review. We cover shipping both ways, insure it in transit, and send it back the day the page goes up. Pick “A brand or retailer” in the form and we’ll take it from there.

Arrange a loaner
Questions

The obvious ones.

Does it cost me anything?

No. We email you a prepaid, insured return label and cover shipping both ways. If you would rather not pay to ship it to us either, ask — we prepay inbound for local and community contributors.

Is my headphone insured in transit?

Yes, both directions. You tell us the value, we insure to it, and we photograph the unit on arrival and again before it ships back — documented, not a gotcha.

How long will you keep it?

We measure and ship it back within about five business days of arrival. If anything will take longer, we tell you before you send it.

What if the measurement is unflattering?

We publish it anyway. Honest graphs are the whole point — we show exactly how a headphone measures, good or bad. What we will not do is dress it up.

What if you can’t publish mine?

Sometimes a unit arrives damaged, won’t seal on the rig, or gives data we don’t trust. If that happens we tell you why, you still get your unit’s curve, and we simply don’t publish it.

Do I need an account?

No account is required to send one in. Points, your level, and your on-page credit ride on a free community profile, so making one is just how they attach to you — the measurement and your curve are yours either way.

What headphones can you measure?

Over-ear and on-ear headphones, and IEMs where the rig takes a proper seal. If you’re not sure yours qualifies, tell us in the form and we’ll say.

How is this different from the historical Archive?

The Archive’s older curves were measured on a Head Acoustics HMS II.3. Your headphone is measured here on our own rig (a miniDSP EARS Pro) and labeled as such. We don’t silently mix the two — they’re different measurement systems, especially up in the treble.

Sonic Temple

Get launch news

Attune is free and coming to the Mac App Store. Leave your email and we’ll tell you the moment it’s live — plus the occasional honest update.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.