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do you use EQ? - Page 16

post #226 of 233
5/17/08 at 9:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by worldman View Post
Simply put, if you have quality gear and source, you do not and should not use EQ to intentionally ruin the original recording. However, to ruin or not, that totally is up to the listener to choose.

Personally, I do not ever use EQ.
Even if you have quality gears, there's no guarentee that it will sound exactly the way it was recorded. Using EQ will simply help you, to a certain extend, get better frequency response on your headphones weak area. Of course, if you use it to much it will ruin the sound as well as your listening experience but if it's used properly it can make some phones better than what they actually are. I don't use it on my high-end cans since they are super sensitive on eqs and I don't wanna bother with it but I do use it on my lower-end cans or earphones since most of them have colored sound and needs tweaks to sound acceptable.
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post #227 of 233
5/18/08 at 5:40pm
I am in agreement with you since you are repeating what I have said. If you read what I have written, I said that if any of your gears are deemed deficient then it is where using EQ kicks in, and in my explanation of chain of gears, I have mentioned "headphone" as one part which could be deficient.

To quote you, you are using EQ to "get better frequency response on your headphones weak area" and that you "don't use it on my high-end cans .....". So, you see, you are using EQ to compensate for your deficient headphones. Hence, we are talking about exactly the same thing.


Quote:
Originally Posted by analogbox View Post
Even if you have quality gears, there's no guarentee that it will sound exactly the way it was recorded. Using EQ will simply help you, to a certain extend, get better frequency response on your headphones weak area. Of course, if you use it to much it will ruin the sound as well as your listening experience but if it's used properly it can make some phones better than what they actually are. I don't use it on my high-end cans since they are super sensitive on eqs and I don't wanna bother with it but I do use it on my lower-end cans or earphones since most of them have colored sound and needs tweaks to sound acceptable.
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post #228 of 233
5/18/08 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by worldman View Post
I am in agreement with you since you are repeating what I have said. If you read what I have written, I said that if any of your gears are deemed deficient then it is where using EQ kicks in, and in my explanation of chain of gears, I have mentioned "headphone" as one part which could be deficient.

To quote you, you are using EQ to "get better frequency response on your headphones weak area" and that you "don't use it on my high-end cans .....". So, you see, you are using EQ to compensate for your deficient headphones. Hence, we are talking about exactly the same thing.
As I've commented previously, in the past, some form of EQ is also useful to compensate, as in my case, for "deficient ears." (I use a BBE VG360 Sonic Maximizer between my DAC and tube amp.
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post #229 of 233
5/18/08 at 6:45pm
This is what I was in disagreement.

Quote:
Originally Posted by worldman View Post
Simply put, if you have quality gear and source, you do not and should not use EQ to intentionally ruin the original recording.
Quote:
Originally Posted by analogbox View Post
Even if you have quality gears (and source), there's no guarentee that it will sound exactly the way it was recorded.
To further elaborate my argument, how do you know what original recordings sound like? Where is the standard of the way is should sound like? Using high-end cans and sources won't guarantee that you'll be hearing the way it was recorded. And since there is no standard, adequately using EQs to the point where you think it's optimum won't ruin the original recording but rather can enhance it.
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post #230 of 233
5/18/08 at 7:35pm
I experiment with bass booster and rock on my iPhone I think I generally like rock more with the SE420's. After you replaygain your library to 89db the iPhone or any other ipod will crank out whatever you give it on any eq setting without (added) distortion.
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post #231 of 233
5/19/08 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by analogbox View Post
To further elaborate my argument, how do you know what original recordings sound like? Where is the standard of the way is should sound like? Using high-end cans and sources won't guarantee that you'll be hearing the way it was recorded. And since there is no standard, adequately using EQs to the point where you think it's optimum won't ruin the original recording but rather can enhance it.
Well, I agree that if one feels that EQ enhances one's listening experience, by all means one is free to use EQ.

However, if we assume that hifi equipment manufacturers aim to deliver to the listener what the recording producer originally wanted in the first place as best as possible when they design their audio gears, it should also be obvious that listening through these audio gears without colouration (EQ) would deliver the closest to the intended sound. Using EQ is INTENTIONALLY colouring the sound whereas not using EQ is relying on the audio equipment itself to deliver the sound originally intended as best as they can.

I guess I prefer sound which has not been changed intentionally or maybe I'm just too lazy to experiment with this EQ thing.
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post #232 of 233
5/19/08 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ascherjim View Post
As I've commented previously, in the past, some form of EQ is also useful to compensate, as in my case, for "deficient ears." (I use a BBE VG360 Sonic Maximizer between my DAC and tube amp.
Deficient ears? Well, you've got a point there....
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post #233 of 233
5/19/08 at 10:04pm
Quote:
However, if we assume that hifi equipment manufacturers aim to deliver to the listener what the recording producer originally wanted in the first place as best as possible when they design their audio gears, it should also be obvious that listening through these audio gears without colouration (EQ) would deliver the closest to the intended sound.
This thought has been discussed (and pretty much discredited) about a dozen times in this thread so far, in a few cases by recording professionals.
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