How to Equalize Your Headphones: 2016 update

Disclaimer: This article brought to you by Joe Bloggs personally, with no relationship to FiiO.

PiccoloNamek's How to Equalize your Headphones Tutorial was excellent but getting dated with linked resources disappearing. As an avid fan of EQ, I would like to re-link some of his resources as well as add some of my own.

Firstly, my original contribution for the year 2016: a video recording of Sinegen sweeping from 20Hz to 20kHz, equalized with a generic equal-loudness contour:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pyi1gug2s2jumzq/sweep.mp4?dl=0

I think this is an important resource in three ways:
1. You will be able to adjust an equalizer with immediate effect on the sound from the video, using any video player capable of supporting e.g. VST or AU plugins.
2. You can get immediate feedback on the frequency you're tuning, down to the exact Hz.
3. The sweep has been equalized with an equal-loudness contour, meaning that the distorting effect of equal-loudness contours on tone loudness perception can be negated to some extent and you can just concentrate on trying to get all tones to sound the same loudness.

So, the way to tune your headphones becomes really simple in outline:

1. Install a paragraphic equalizer for a video player. The first combo I've come across is PotPlayer 32-bit (not 64-bit) and Electri-Q free edition https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1yw2w8ahuyf4v7/Electri-Q_%28posihfopit%29_Install.exe?dl=0 . Install the *Winamp* plug-in and in PotPlayer's Preferences->Audio->Winamp DSP plugins, point Potplayer to the directory you installed the Winamp plugin to. "Electri-Q" will appear as a plugin--select it and click "settings" below to show its orange interface. Click on the big "Electri-Q" title in the middle to dismiss the boilerplate and show the adjustment curve. You may want to pull down the preamp setting on the right, say down to -10dB, to give yourself some headroom for EQ:



Also make sure that all fancy sound effects are turned off in Potplayer, especially the Normalizer.

2. Play the video. Sinegen will appear in the video, showing the frequency being played in the upper left. The first few seconds will be a test tone at 1000Hz. Adjust your windows volume and the volume from your amplifier until you get what bowei006 called a "meh loud" volume: loud but not uncomfortably loud, sort of like how loud you'd be playing your music if you were enjoying it. Remember this loudness level. After that the frequency will plunge to 20Hz and then go up slowly to 22050Hz.

3. Adjust the equalizer until you get a smooth even sweep from 20-22050Hz and there are no obvious peaks and valleys in volume, keeping in mind that the whole sweep should be "meh loud" . You may of course replay the video and seek to specific parts of the video to review specific frequencies...

How to use Electri-Q:

1. To cancel out a peak / trough in frequency, simply start by dragging a point in the main graph until the frequency matches the loudest / quietest frequency. For a loud frequency the point should be below the line, whereas for a quiet frequency it should be above the line. The frequency being adjusted and the adjustment level will be shown both graphically, and numerically at the upper left. Or you may double-click on a point to show a dialog box for further adjustment:


Freq. and Gain stand for the frequency being adjusted and the amount of positive or negative adjustment in dB, respectively. BW stands for Bandwidth, and is an important factor that only appears in the dialog box. A bigger number yields a bigger, wider mountain or valley in the EQ graph while a smaller number yields a sharper, narrower tower or pothole in the graph. For resonant peaks or dips in the treble range (>2kHz), you want to start with smaller values--0.3 as shown is a good place to start.

2. If you find that all the frequencies below a certain point are too loud / quiet, you may use a Low Shelf filter instead of the default Peak filter. Right click on a point and a different dialog appears:


Under "Basic", there are four relevant options, "Peak", "Low Shelf", "High Shelf" and "Gain only". Peak is the default setting. Low Shelf is the one you want for adjusting all frequencies below a certain point. High Shelf is the one for adjusting all frequencies *above* a certain point. After you change to one of these settings, you can see the point "shelfing" up or down all the frequencies to the left (low shelf) or right (high shelf). Then double-click on the point to set the BW to a value of 1.7 or above, for a smooth transition (otherwise there would be unwanted "ringing" of the frequencies--there would be an extra bump and dip near the transition frequency.). Use even higher BW values for more gradual transitions if needed.

"Gain only" pushes the whole graph up or down. This is the same effect as the Volume slider on the right in the Winamp plugin, but useful in the VST version that follows later.

3. For sharper low shelf and high shelf that cannot be achieved using the standard Low Shelf and High Shelf settings (without ringing), use the Butterworth 24dB or 48dB LS (low shelf) or HS (high shelf):


Finally, from measurements and testing, I find that, counterintuitively, the Digital "Economy" program setting yields the highest quality lossless EQ quality:


-----------------------

Loading and saving your settings

Press the "M" button on the lower right of the panel--it's the menu button. Presets->Export Preset... and type the filename you desire.

-----------------------

Using in foobar2000

Download the latest foobar Winamp DSP bridge
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bqlzcklhib7e4tn/foo_dsp_winamp.dll?dl=0

and copy it to the Components folder of foobar.

It will appear as the "Winamp DSP Bridge" under foobar's DSP manager. Double click it to put it in the Active DSPs column, "Configure selected", and all should be obvious except for the following:

1. The plugin can function as either 16-bit or 24-bit (32-bit doesn't work for the Winamp plugin)
2. If you want to show the Electri-Q control panel more easily, View->Show Winamp DSP Window shows Electri-Q directly, after you've configured the Winamp DSP Bridge to use Electri-Q.
3. Use the "M" button and select Presets->Import Preset... to import the EQ you created in Potplayer.

There's also a VST version of the plugin available on install, for use in other ways, but that's beyond the scope of this article for now.

------------------------

Comparing different presets (or comparing with no EQ)

The two presets need to be volume matched. This is not a simple task, considering that EQs need a volume cut to avoid clipping. So use Electri-Q's A|B button. It will switch you back and forth from a "B" preset, which for example can be a flat preset. Use the "Gain only" adjustment type (mentioned in step 2 of How to use Electri-Q) to move the flat line up and down, until you get an even music volume when you switch between A and B. This way you can be solely comparing the sound signature of the EQ, and not have to worry about volume differences.

Have fun!

Exporting parametric EQ settings to...

---------------

Neutron (Android and iOS app)

Neutron now has a 10 band parametric EQ available. This should be enough for reproducing most equalizer settings, with two caveats:

1. You may have used up more than 10 bands in the course of originally setting up your EQ. Usually you can make do with fewer bands but it is not immediately clear how...
2. Neutron does not support the sharp Butterworth low shelf / high shelf filters I mentioned for Electri-Q, so if you used any of those by any chance, you would have to convert your settings to use the standard shelf filters instead. Also, while peak filters on Neutron can be set to express width in BW, shelf filters are expressed via Q only.

Step-by-step:

1. If you have any of the above two problems with your settings, you'll have to re-approximate your settings. You can use Electri-Q to draft your reduced settings: Hit the Store button at the bottom, then the A|B button, then the Load button, and you'll get the same settings on both A and B sides. Now reduce the points to 10, change Butterworth filters to standard shelf filters, and tweak the remaining points until they approximate the original curve as closely as you can manage. Use the A|B button to switch between the two curves for comparison.

2. Open the Neutron Equalizer control panel (in settings menu, or hold down the equalizer icon) and click the cog button at the bottom to bring up additional options. Pull all the sliders all the way to the right for the max number of bands, gain range and Q factor range.

3. Go back to the main Equalizer screen and click the cog button to the right of each Band to enter its settings. Then click the cog button again to set the filter type (low shelf, high shelf or a Peak) and parameter type (change this from Q or BW where available; unfortunately not available for shelf filters), then use the tick button to save changes. Keep pressing the tick button until you exit back to the main Equalizer screen (you need to do this because of a bug where the new setting don't take until you confirm out of the filter setting screen), then click the cog to go back in the setting screen again to adjust the frequency, gain and BW according to a point in Electri-Q.

4. If you're entering a Shelf point, you may use this calculator to convert the BW value in Electri-Q to Q value for Neutron:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bandwidth.htm

5. Repeat for a few points... but don't try to do them all in one go. Click the tick in the main Equalizer screen to confirm changes and exit after you've done two or three points. This is because I've found it's very easy to mess up and lose all your changes otherwise...! Then go back in the equalizer screen and repeat until you're done with all ten points.

6. Enjoy!

---------------------

Onkyo HF player

This player has a different EQ scheme from parametric equalization: you simply specify the volume you'd like certain frequencies to be, and the EQ guesses the EQ curve you want by joining the dots. Now, by this points, you may have realized that for a non-trivial Electri-Q setting, the adjustment points you specify usually don't end up on the curve. For example...


To solve this problem, simply click on different parts of the curve to produce "marker points" showing the frequency and gain dB of sample parts of the curve precisely. To remove their effect on the curve, simply point to such a point and press X on the keyboard. This "bypasses" a point and makes it cosmetic in function but showing its frequency and gain numbers. You can then enter these numbers into the Onkyo EQ using your thumb... not an enviable task if your EQ setting is complex :blink:

Or, if your phone is rooted, you can go into data/data/com.onkyo.jp.musicplayer/files/Preset_EQ/ and see all the saved preset EQ files there in text format (with .plist extension). If you take a look at a previously saved EQ file, it should be quite trivial for you to edit it and save a new EQ file that contains the dots you want to specify. Just change those variables you understand, add new points apeing the format of what's already in there, and ignore stuff you don't understand. At least it worked for me ^_^

-----------------------

Viper4Android

Viper4Android has a Convolver function that changes the sound of audio going through the Android sound system according to an impulse response. You can use this to import any EQ preset (and many other sound effects besides) by the following broad methodology:

1. Create a "perfect impulse". For your convenience I've created them here:
at 44.1kHz: https://www.dropbox.com/s/288qqpis309nlv1/Dirac%2044k.irs?dl=0
at 48kHz: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eklofbls9xe1r1p/Dirac%2048k.irs?dl=0
2. Apply EQ to it and save the result as a wave file, but with an .irs extension instead of .wav
3. Copy the .irs file to ViPER4Android/Kernel/ . Tip: have V4A create the exact directory for you first, by skipping to step (4) and attempting to load a non-existent irs. This saves some grief in the sense that we don't know exactly which drive V4A wants to look for .irs's in. Having it create the directory ensures that it will then find the irs you put in there.
4. Change the V4A "UI Setting" (in menu button context menu) to "Expert" to show the Convolver settings, and click it to load your irs. Enjoy!

The sample rate at which you should work in (44.1 or 48kHz) depends on your phone. Start playing a piece of music, connect your cabled or Bluetooth headphones, and check the sample rate being used by the Android system under V4A's Driver Status screen (in the menu button context menu). If you use both cabled and bluetooth headphones, check the rate when using either--it may be different.

interested and very very thankful for you

Well done, thanks for sharing Joe!!

2nd post now details methods of exporting parametric EQ settings to various portable devices (mostly Android and iPhone ^_^" )

Android includes the FiiO X7, though!

joe bloggs said:

Disclaimer: This article brought to you by Joe Bloggs personally, with no relationship to FiiO.
 

Click to expand...

 
Hey Joe, how about using your connections with FiiO?

What are the chances that we can convince them to build a small inline parametric EQ + amp  for mobile devices, maybe the size of an E6 or a K1? Surely we can prove that there is an interest for such a device. You can even conduct an informal survey here.

As we all know, the problem is that iOS and Android don't have system-wide EQ unless jailbroken. I'm thinking, maybe an E6 with more presets, but with some of them customizable if you hook it up to a computer or a phone.
 
Stuff 7-band parametric + 2 shelving EQs inside an E6, and it's gold. Maybe include a small 7-segment display so the user can see which EQ preset is in play. And since we're already doing DSP, maybe even add a frequency-dependent crossfeed. And make it so that that headset microphones still work. Also if it's not cheap to build it quiet enough, bundle a voltage-divider attenuator adapter for those really sensitive IEMs with crazy impedance vs frequency curves, and it'll complete the package.
 
Such a device can advance the state of mobile audio more than almost anything out there. Most folks don't want to lug around an audiophile brick along with their phone. Something like this would be more useful to someone like me than, say, a K1. Nobody else is doing it, so if FiiO builds it a reasonable price, I would surely buy one (or more).

i really wish someone can send me a convolver to use with android---v4a----poweramp---mojo--- audeze to make my audeze more bassy, more musical with more warmth
 
if anyone can help i will totally appreciate it

Read an article on Innerfidelity about EQing to the Harman response curve. Any tips on trying to do the same with your method?

First let me thank you for your efforts to popularize eq for headpones. Your indication of V4A have bring a new life for my takstar hd2000, and now I foreseen even better sound with equalization, but I`m totally newbie and need more instructions in what appears look obvious for others.
 

3. Adjust the equalizer until you get a smooth even sweep from 20-22050Hz and there are no obvious peaks and valleys in volume, keeping in mind that the whole sweep should be "meh loud"   . You may of course replay the video and seek to specific parts of the video to review specific frequencies...
 
​I`m really don`t know what to do here... I mean, I have to adjust the curve on eletric-q accordingly to the frequencies of Sinegen video, but what i'm looking for? 

aneopa said:

First let me thank you for your efforts to popularize eq for headpones. Your indication of V4A have bring a new life for my takstar hd2000, and now I foreseen even better sound with equalization, but I`m totally newbie and need more instructions in what appears look obvious for others.



3. Adjust the equalizer until you get a smooth even sweep from 20-22050Hz and there are no obvious peaks and valleys in volume, keeping in mind that the whole sweep should be "meh loud"   . You may of course replay the video and seek to specific parts of the video to review specific frequencies...

​I`m really don`t know what to do here... I mean, I have to adjust the curve on eletric-q accordingly to the frequencies of Sinegen video, but what i'm looking for? 

Click to expand...

The frequency on the upper left will scroll up in the video and the frequency corresponding to the scrolling number will play. If at some point of the video the tone suddenly sounds too loud, take a note of the number scrolling in the video--that's the range of frequencies you have to tone down using Electri-Q. Vice versa, a part that sounds too quiet is a part you have to tone up using Electri-Q. There are frequency indicators on the horizontal axis of Electri-Q, and if you double-click on a point you can even enter a specific number. Look further down the tutorial for further instructions on Electri-Q

Thanks for putting this up, and looking forward to trying this with my HD650 and MDR-7520. 
 
I think the head-fi community really needs to get more of a grasp on that their headphones/speakers are not accurately portraying the information as accurately as possible, and all the amps, cables and DACs in the world won't fix what a simple EQ can. Many people here seem to be EQ averse, thinking it distort or ruin the dynamic (typically this is only happening if one hasn't compensated gain).

Having done some equalization with headphones, it can be helpful to gain a reference for what the music technically should sound like, and where you are comfortable with respect to compromises. For example, I know the HD650 doesn't produce enough bass, but I'm okay with it as generally it isn't the best headphone to reproduce deep bass transients. Also, its mid range, relative to low and high end, seems a bit pronounced, but not massively so. 
 
One thing that I found with the HD650 recently is that it seemed to present binaural recordings of nature, in a more realistic way than my LCD2. While the LCD2 were clearer and technically better in all areas, they are rolled off and perhaps not as linear on the top-end. I think one of the reasons its easy to tell with nature recordings is the amount of natural background noise is something we are intimately familiar with as a true reference.
 
I tried using your method with the downloaded video and my Sony MDR-7520 in Adobe Audition.  Aside from a slight peak at 8khz and another perhaps around 10khz the headphones seemed pretty damn smooth with no obvious peaks. Well, they do have a very pronounced low-end, while perhaps a bit north of reference neutral is very important from to hear from a recording perpect (and quite enjoyable for playback). 
 
I do think this is pretty challenging task to do by ear, but will at least show obvious defects in a headphones linearity. Even with my LCD2, it was a pretty smooth ride, and even though I'm aware that the LCD2 is missing a bit of top end presence as well as low-end , I'm not sure I'll be messing much with the EQ to make the adjustments. 
 
I think it is subjectively difficult to make some of these decisions, and perhaps that is why EQ balancing is not as yet popular in the head-fi community. 

Is anyone aware of a video player for Mac that accepts VST plugins?

I downloaded Electri-Q but it doesn't have the volume control shown here.
 
What did I do wrong?

koukol said:

I downloaded Electri-Q but it doesn't have the volume control shown here.

What did I do wrong?

Click to expand...

Are you using it within PotPlayer or otherwise using the Winamp plugin version, which has the volume control?

The VST plugin version does not have the volume control. You can however move the whole curve up and down by adding a point and right-clicking it to chain it to Basic->Gain only.

joe bloggs said:

 

koukol said:

I downloaded Electri-Q but it doesn't have the volume control shown here.

What did I do wrong?

Click to expand...

Are you using it within PotPlayer or otherwise using the Winamp plugin version, which has the volume control?

The VST plugin version does not have the volume control. You can however move the whole curve up and down by adding a point and right-clicking it to chain it to Basic->Gain only.

Click to expand...

Thanks I'll give this a try.
I'm using it as a VST in PMW, Reaper and Audacity.