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Proper equalizer for rock songs (audioengine a2)

post #1 of 6
5/9/12 at 12:28pm
Thread Starter 

first of all i do not know any of technicalities some of you guys write and i appreciate it. I have been using a2s for a year and they are fantastic. But as soon i ramp up the volume button the highs get to be little harsh or the whole signature turns harsh and tiring to listen...

So my question is what kind of equalizer to use on a2s as many of you are familiar with its freq. response(i am not).

plz do help 

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post #2 of 6
5/9/12 at 6:40pm
I've been playing with various EQ's recently, so this is of interest to me too.

First of all it's really easy to EQ a little bit positive and get clipping in most recordings now. Clipping is going to sound harsh.

You can handle this 2 ways, you can just negative EQ, or find a EQ with a master gain (master volume in other words). If you added 3db of bass, you'll want to lower the master gain by at least 3db (more seems to help in practice).

Trying a few different ones out, Graphic equalizers (the one with 6-18 bands) seem to add more harshness to my ear. Granted this is on my nice gear, but there seems to be more sound changes going on in these EQ's. I've tried a Parametric EQ, which works differently under the covers, and it sounds better to me. I'm currently using apQualizr, which is a VST plugin on the Mac.

I really want to try a UAD-2 VST plugin, the Manley Massive Passive. 'Course I could buy a really nice set of cans for that money, but the EQ is way more flexible.

What's your source?
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post #3 of 6
5/10/12 at 12:30am
Thread Starter 

Thanx a ton m2man.. The sad part is that i supply it directly from my laptop's realtek card. The sound is clear enough and resolving.

I did not understand master gain,clipping and positive eqing part(i am a noob :( ). please do tell me how to get rid of harshness and fatigue. 

And last part is -How do i go from here, add sub or DAC and i do not want to go for overkill. I stay in a small dorm.

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post #4 of 6
5/10/12 at 12:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocky001 View Post

Thanx a ton m2man.. The sad part is that i supply it directly from my laptop's realtek card. The sound is clear enough and resolving.

I did not understand master gain,clipping and positive eqing part(i am a noob :( ). please do tell me how to get rid of harshness and fatigue. 

And last part is -How do i go from here, add sub or DAC and i do not want to go for overkill. I stay in a small dorm.

 

Ok, you know how the EQ works, right? You increase/decrease (positive/negative EQ) the amplitude of a certain frequency region by pushing the sliders up/down.

Master Gain: Controls the overall gain of the signal. 

Clipping: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio) 

Basically the signal amplitude becomes too high for the amp, so it just cuts it off at the max it can provide. Its a problem with modern music because its volume is already too high, and if you push any frequency higher the amp will clip. This is covered here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Hence a positive EQ followed by lowering the master will prevent clipping.

 

Usually a slight roll off (gradual negative EQ) in the high frequency region should make it less fatiguing.

Try this out first.

Now for the laptop card you can just get a USB DAC. Something like the HRT Streamer can do.


Edited by proton007 - 5/10/12 at 12:52am
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post #5 of 6
5/10/12 at 2:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by proton007 View Post

 

Ok, you know how the EQ works, right? You increase/decrease (positive/negative EQ) the amplitude of a certain frequency region by pushing the sliders up/down.

Master Gain: Controls the overall gain of the signal. 

Clipping: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio) 

Basically the signal amplitude becomes too high for the amp, so it just cuts it off at the max it can provide. Its a problem with modern music because its volume is already too high, and if you push any frequency higher the amp will clip. This is covered here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Hence a positive EQ followed by lowering the master will prevent clipping.

 

Usually a slight roll off (gradual negative EQ) in the high frequency region should make it less fatiguing.

Try this out first.

Now for the laptop card you can just get a USB DAC. Something like the HRT Streamer can do.

Heya, Thankyou. I know of clipping in general as i am an electronics engineer.:P..But i wanted to know how it would contribute to harshness.( Will read the article if its there).

I am using foobar and i do not see a preamp button. Is is like i have to but an apm+dac???

P.S- Last question - How do i manually design an equalizer for my iPod, because the rock one is kinda harsh.?

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post #6 of 6
5/10/12 at 2:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocky001 View Post

Heya, Thankyou. I know of clipping in general as i am an electronics engineer.:P..But i wanted to know how it would contribute to harshness.( Will read the article if its there).

I am using foobar and i do not see a preamp button. Is is like i have to but an apm+dac???

P.S- Last question - How do i manually design an equalizer for my iPod, because the rock one is kinda harsh.?

Preamp in foobar?? No such thing....The volume slider controls the gain.

Clipping doesn't contribute to harshness, it'll just introduce clicking noises on having a positive EQ.

A real world example is Metallica Death Magnetic, a very poor recording, you can find the audio clipping on youtube.

A lot of DACs come with the amp because they're meant to be used with headphones. But in your case, your monitors already have amp, so you just need a DAC that has RCA out, you can plug it into your monitors.

With the stock iPod firmware, its not possible to have manual EQ. You'll can see if Rockbox supports that, and your iPod.


Edited by proton007 - 5/10/12 at 2:30am
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