EQ = sound quality? - Page 5

Bleh it's dying with my version of Foo Bar I'll stick with stock EQ it's still good! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 

You should always EQ subtractively. Instead of turning the bass up, pull all the other frequencies down. If you boost, you'll push the bass into clipping and it will distort.

 

If you notice, everything on that graph is under the zero line.

Yeah I've heard that, but at any rate when bumping it up causes massive distortion it shows that it's not the best quality of equalizer. Using my STX's EQ doesn't cause distortion like that if I bump it up to the same levels.

The add on eq for foobar works pretty good. If you set it up right, the eq automatically bumps down the whole range if you push a band over midpoint.

Never eq by song or rock/classical/etc.  Research the headphones, and from the data make the adjustments. All those graphs are useful in setting up

the EQ to fix problems based on what the cans problems really are. It will never make a $50 set sound like a $500 set, but it will give you a sound you

can live with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

 

Yeah I've heard that, but at any rate when bumping it up causes massive distortion it shows that it's not the best quality of equalizer. Using my STX's EQ doesn't cause distortion like that if I bump it up to the same levels.

Clipping is clipping. Even a good EQ can clip if you set it wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

No I think you had the trial version installed instead of the freeware version I linked above. For a clean signal use digital mode and don't enable eco. Enjoy.

Hey xnor, I thought digital non eco was the best setting too, but then I ran Electri-Q (freeware) through Audacity and I found that eco mode preserved a sharp impulse spike while non-eco mode smeared it out.  And I could get two equal and opposite EQ settings to cancel out into a clean impulse spike again using eco mode but not when using non eco mode.  Can you tell me what's going on?

yes i know i got carried away and put the 50hz and below is at +14db but then my preamp is -14db so it compensates for it

when i put the preamp at 0db and the music plays you can see the 'CUT' sign there in a red circle, this means clipping is happening.
but other than that when i use this curve my music flows out fantasticly (either the software is ok or my headphone is not revealing enough....)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 

You should always EQ subtractively. Instead of turning the bass up, pull all the other frequencies down. If you boost, you'll push the bass into clipping and it will distort.

 

If you notice, everything on that graph is under the zero line.

This. A hundred times, this. And SMALL adjustments at first (no more than +/- 2db) - especially if you are not working from actual data, or have identified specific frequencies to cut.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Bloggs 

 

Hey xnor, I thought digital non eco was the best setting too, but then I ran Electri-Q (freeware) through Audacity and I found that eco mode preserved a sharp impulse spike while non-eco mode smeared it out.  And I could get two equal and opposite EQ settings to cancel out into a clean impulse spike again using eco mode but not when using non eco mode.  Can you tell me what's going on?

Oh yeah I remember someone PMing me because of this.

The non-eco mode seems to internally oversample (which includes a low pass filter). Eco mode doesn't do that. Electri-Q also has a DC blocking filter that afaik cannot be disabled.

I just used electri-q as an example, there are other EQs. Let me suggest this one: EasyQ. It's free, simple to use and does exactly what you tell it to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by streetdragon 
this is because this eq doesn't have a auto limiter, its basically a safety feature so that the rest of the spectrum is reduced when the lets say bass is increased. most eq's have this feature, this one however is quite unforgiving

yes i know i got carried away and put the 50hz and below is at +14db but then my preamp is -14db so it compensates for it

when i put the preamp at 0db and the music plays you can see the 'CUT' sign there in a red circle, this means clipping is happening.
but other than that when i use this curve my music flows out fantasticly (either the software is ok or my headphone is not revealing enough....)

Ah I see. So basically an EQ with an auto limiter isn't exactly what you see is what you get?

I see I see, I proably won't look into to much more with an EQ, as the standard FooBar one was pretty good when I Eq'd my Xb 700s, and ofc the Dt 880s dont need more than +2db boost to the lower ranges

still though I might try Easy Q just for fun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mshenay 

I see I see, I proably won't look into to much more with an EQ, as the standard FooBar one was pretty good when I Eq'd my Xb 700s, and ofc the Dt 880s dont need more than +2db boost to the lower ranges

 

still though I might try Easy Q just for fun!

the electri-q that xnor was kind enough to explain to me how to install is actually really cool too, if you follow the directions he gave me you could have it in foobar in a matter of minuets. i actually spent 4-5 hours with iems yesterday, followed by 2-3 hours with speakers. foolish, but i did it anyway. so after all that my ears hurt like hell and still do a little bit - so i havnt been listening to music - so i havnt been playing with the eq - so i cant tell you much more. 

non the less, i found it to be really cool from what little messing about i got in =]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamlr 

the electri-q that xnor was kind enough to explain to me how to install is actually really cool too, if you follow the directions he gave me you could have it in foobar in a matter of minuets. i actually spent 4-5 hours with iems yesterday, followed by 2-3 hours with speakers. foolish, but i did it anyway. so after all that my ears hurt like hell and still do a little bit - so i havnt been listening to music - so i havnt been playing with the eq - so i cant tell you much more. 

 

non the less, i found it to be really cool from what little messing about i got in =]

well it seems cool but it made my FooBar crash <3 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

Ah I see. So basically an EQ with an auto limiter isn't exactly what you see is what you get?

well, yes and no. the frequencies are in correct proportion to each other, its just that one is it doesn't really add the bass, it reduces the rest of the spectrum to create the difference in amplitude. but if you compare them to the eq off/flat setting it will not be correct

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

 

Yeah I've heard that, but at any rate when bumping it up causes massive distortion it shows that it's not the best quality of equalizer. Using my STX's EQ doesn't cause distortion like that if I bump it up to the same levels.

Either the STX EQ is limiting as mentioned, or it's automatically raising the output volume and lowering an invisible preamp setting.  All software EQs clip when pushed beyond 0dB but some software EQs integrated with hardware (like the STX EQ and the EQ on some mp3 players and EQ apps on phones) have fancy workarounds to prevent this from happening in a more obscure way than the user manually setting a preamp setting.  Doesn't really mean these EQ are superior in quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

Oh yeah I remember someone PMing me because of this.

 

The non-eco mode seems to internally oversample (which includes a low pass filter). Eco mode doesn't do that. Electri-Q also has a DC blocking filter that afaik cannot be disabled.

 

I just used electri-q as an example, there are other EQs. Let me suggest this one: EasyQ. It's free, simple to use and does exactly what you tell it to.

I like Electri-Q though, it can do narrower bandwidth cuts than EasyQ and I'm just used to it and have made lots and lots of presets for it XD

What purpose does oversampling serve, does it somehow make the non eco mode better?  I'm inclined to think that eco mode is better right now but all my presets were made in non eco mode and switching modes changes the filter FR according to the graph the program draws :/