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# Portable earphones – optimal EQ settings (by means of iAudio 7)

I thought it would be a good idea to make for access to my preferred equalizer settings with my preferred portable earphones on the iAudio 7 with its semi-parametric equalizer. The goal was as flat a preceived frequency response as possible.

Here they are:

Sennheiser PX 100

80 Hz . .. 220 Hz . . 1.4 kHz . . 1.8 kHz . . 13 kHz
Wide . .., Wide . . .. Wide . . .- Wide . . .- Normal
–11 dB ,- –6 dB . . . –3 dB . . - –6 dB . . -

Sennheiser HD 238

80 Hz . .. 220 Hz . ; 650 Hz . ''' 1.8 kHz . . 13 kHz
Wide . .., Wide . . .. Wide . . .- Normal . .. Normal
–7 dB . ., –3 dB . . ,. . . . . .. . . . . . –2 dB

Sennheiser IE 8 (bass tuning +½ mark)

80 Hz . .. 220 Hz . ; 650 Hz . ''' 4.1 kHz . . 13 kHz
Wide . .., Wide . . .. Wide . . .- Normal . .. Wide
–9 dB . ., –6 dB . . , –3 dB . . - –1 dB . . - +2 dB

Etymotic ER-4P (modified)

175 Hz .- 220 Hz . ; 650 Hz . ''' 3.0 kHz . . 13 kHz
Wide . .., Wide . . .. Wide . . .- Normal . .. Normal
–2 dB . .,. . . . . .. . . . . . –3 dB . . - +3 dB
Mach3Bass +2

Phonak Audéo PFE 112 (with grey filter)

80 Hz . .. 175 Hz . ; 650 Hz . ''' 4.1 kHz , - 9 kHz*
Normal ... Wide . . - Wide . . .- Wide . . . . Narrow
–1 dB . .... . . . ... . . . . . –3 dB . . - –2 dB
Mach3Bass +4

* The ideal center frequency would probably be ~9.7 kHz

Narrow/Normal/Wide stands for the bandwidth (Q) of the EQ band
With ER-4P and Audéo additionally Mach3Bass is used, as it provides low-bass enhancement down to 20 Hz, whereas the lowest available EQ frequency band is 80 Hz.

The following modifications are to be taken into account:

PX 100: center hole in the foam pad
ER-4P(T): customized foam tip (hearing-protection foam pierced with a chisel), filter tube filled with lambswool after removal of default filter membrane
Audéo: special foam tips

Edited by JaZZ - 8/4/12 at 8:19am

Since my current portable equipment consists of the Sansa Clip Zip, here's the corresponding EQ curves with my most used earphones:

Shure SE535

0       0      0    +1/+2   +1

Sennheiser IE 8

–8    –4      0      +1   . +5

Etymotic ER-4PT

0       0  °   –4  °  –5     .0

Edited by JaZZ - 3/2/13 at 9:26am
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