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Why do my Sennheiser HD-477 headphones sound bad with equalization? What am I doing wrong?

post #1 of 6
1/12/12 at 10:09pm
Thread Starter 

Sennheiser HD-477 Equalization.JPGI used a sine wave generator and a radio shack analog SPL meter set @ 80db "C weighting" and slow response and got these readings. The - sign represents how much I had to lower the level to reach 0 db so a -5.00 means that it was +5 db in reality.

 

29.52 0.00 0.00 0.0
34.28 -3.00 -3.00 0.0
38.2 -5.00 -5.00 0.0
40.37 -6.00 -6.00 0.0
42.57 -6.50 -6.50 0.0
44.99 -7.50 -7.50 0.0
50.13 -9.50 -9.50 0.0
53.59 -10.50 -10.50 0.0
58.09 -12.00 -12.00 0.0
63.11 -13.50 -13.50 0.0
67.47 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
71.3 -15.50 -15.50 0.0
76.23 -16.50 -16.50 0.0
82.62 -17.50 -17.50 0.0
87.32 -18.50 -18.50 0.0
95.96 -19.00 -19.00 0.0
120.8 -18.50 -18.50 0.0
129.4 -18.00 -18.00 0.0
138.4 -17.50 -17.50 0.0
146.3 -17.00 -17.00 0.0
154.2 -16.50 -16.50 0.0
169.5 -16.00 -16.00 0.0
184.1 -15.50 -15.50 0.0
202.3 -15.00 -15.00 0.0
222.4 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
241 -14.00 -14.00 0.0
295.9 -13.50 -13.50 0.0
342.8 -14.00 -14.00 0.0
352.5 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
403.7 -16.00 -16.00 0.0
431.6 -15.50 -15.50 0.0
456.1 -15.00 -15.00 0.0
639.9 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
684.1 -15.00 -15.00 0.0
743.2 -14.00 -14.00 0.0
839.7 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
959.6 -15.00 -15.00 0.0
1146 -15.50 -15.50 0.0
1242 -16.00 -16.00 0.0
1313 -16.50 -16.50 0.0
1442 -17.00 -17.00 0.0
1791 -17.50 -17.50 0.0
1919 -18.50 -18.50 0.0
2080 -19.00 -19.00 0.0
2444 -20.50 -20.50 0.0
3343 -21.50 -21.50 0.0
3829 -22.00 -22.00 0.0
4437 -20.00 -20.00 0.0
4755 -22.00 -22.00 0.0
5225 -17.00 -17.00 0.0
5586 -14.50 -14.50 0.0
6311 -13.50 -13.50 0.0
7432 -10.00 -10.00 0.0
8056 -4.50 -4.50 0.0
8752 -3.00 -3.00 0.0
9753 -2.50 -2.50 0.0
10870 0.00 0.00 0.0

 

I used this type of equalization to try and get a flat as possible sound without clipping(still failed at the clipping)


 

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post #2 of 6
1/13/12 at 2:57pm

If you are using a digital equalizer the signal processing is typically poor at best.  Anything +/- 3dB really begins to distort.  This is particularly true in the bass section of the spectrum.  I never use digital equalization especially on my PC because of this issue.

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post #3 of 6
1/13/12 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NA Blur View Post

If you are using a digital equalizer the signal processing is typically poor at best.  Anything +/- 3dB really begins to distort.  This is particularly true in the bass section of the spectrum.  I never use digital equalization especially on my PC because of this issue.


This is easily fixed by pre-attenuating the signal (for which the equalizer the OP uses probably has a setting - indeed it seems to have "Vol" on the right). Once that is set correctly so no clipping can occur, with floating point processing and a good 24-bit sound card/DAC, there should be no distortion or major degradation in quality. Obviously, the SNR/dynamic range will be decreased, but that is why I recommended a good 24-bit DAC.

 


Edited by stv014 - 1/13/12 at 3:28pm
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post #4 of 6
1/13/12 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal29 View Post

I used a sine wave generator and a radio shack analog SPL meter set @ 80db "C weighting" and slow response I used this type of equalization to try and get a flat as possible sound without clipping(still failed at the clipping)


Note that attenuating by the amount of the highest level of boost does not guarantee no clipping with complex signals, so if the highest point in the EQ curve is at 13 dB, you may need to set the volume slider even lower than -13 dB.

Also, you may want to give up some of the intended frequency range extension, with such extreme boosts you may still get distortion either because your sound card/amplifier does not have enough power, or the headphone itself will not be able to handle it. With your EQ curve, 20 Hz would be played at 100 times as much power as 1 kHz if the original levels are equal.

 

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post #5 of 6
1/13/12 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal29 View Post

Sennheiser HD-477 Equalization.JPG


 

Good god.

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post #6 of 6
1/13/12 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMRaven View Post


 

Good god.



Good God x 2 - what's one to infer.

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