[Kodhifi]

I've run into this. Short answer is you need to run the EQAPO configuration utility again, and re-select the Realtek driver. Every single time you change anything about the system, the name of the speakers, the USB port something is on etc, it uses a new internal driver ID and you will have to run the configuration tool to hook back into it.
 
For instance when I run the configuration tool I see several copies of each of my soundcards, trial and error to find the 'active' one. You could do them all if you are in a hurry.
 
Then reboot and it should work again.

 

[Kodhifi]

  I've tried Kodhifi's Q701 settings on a pair of skullcrushers and an iHome desktop speaker (my office at work) and with most of the music I've tried I'm hearing a slight pulsing between highs & lows.  I understand that these settings weren't meant for either of my devices but I needed a starting point and when I'm hooked up to my port replicator at work I have no control over the system audio other than volume up/down.  So with this currently I have to set preamp gain to +6 or greater, otherwise I must turn system audio to 80% or more to hear it clearly at my desk three feet from speaker.
 
I understand that none of the hardware I mentioned is an audiophile's dream, and that I shouldn't need to set the preamp gain this high or play with this much 'Q' for everyday listening but I'm looking for some direction as to clear up this pulsing that I hear between the lows & vocals/highs.  Is it just my ears?
 
With my last work laptop I could set the iHome to about 20% volume and the system volume to a very moderate level and hear everything very clearly and music was crisp.  This is obviously a difference in audio cards but now my system volume is 70-80% and the iHome is at about 50% and I feel like something is missing.  This was my initial reason for finding Equalizer APO, now I can see the potential there but not sure how to fine tune it for my personal hearing.  I'm an electronics technician and familiar with communications equipment but spectral analysis of audio waves and 'Q' is new to me.  I can see the waveform for each band in REW but don't have enough time to experiment with everything.
 
I guess I've not been real clear to this point as to what I'm looking for, does anyone have any recommended settings for small desktop speakers or bass-heavy headphones using Equalizer APO?  A good starting point would be great, I can fine tune it from there.

Yes those settings are particular to the Q701 but also to my ears and my Q701. I built it using pink noise and a sine sweeper. If you had q701's that would be a good starting place but on any other headphone and especially on a speaker that doesn't have the HRTF distortion that the ear canal produces, it's going to sound very uneven.
 
If you want a good place to start on a new speaker or headphone, set all the filters to OFF, Then change the frequencies to be set up like a graphic EQ
 
IE
 
Filter  1: OFF  PK       Fc    30.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  2: OFF  PK       Fc    60.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  3: OFF  PK       Fc    100.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter  4: OFF  PK       Fc    200.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00  
Filter  5: OFF  PK       Fc    500.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00   
 
etc etc
 
using the usual graphic equalizer freqencies. You could even use Itunes or something's EQ to find something that sounds good on those speakers or headphone, and then write down the frequencies and the boost or cut in db and re-create it using EQAPO
 
In the example I gave above I'm using common 10band graphic EQ frequencies, 30, 60, 100, 200, 500, 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k  and their Q width of 10 (very narrow). You could then turn the filters "on" and set the gain + or - whatever you would set it to if it were a graphic EQ and you were adjusting the slider.
 
A common bass boost might look like this
 
Filter  1: OFF  PK       Fc    30.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  2: OFF  PK       Fc    60.0 Hz  Gain   5.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  3: OFF  PK       Fc    100.0 Hz  Gain   3.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter  4: OFF  PK       Fc    200.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00  
Filter  5: OFF  PK       Fc    500.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00 
 
 
A common treble boost might look like this
 
Filter  6: OFF  PK       Fc    1000.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  7: OFF  PK       Fc    2000.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  8: OFF  PK       Fc    4000.0 Hz  Gain   2.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter  9: OFF  PK       Fc    8000.0 Hz  Gain   4.0 dB  Q  10.00  
Filter 10: OFF  PK      Fc    16000.0 Hz  Gain   6.0 dB  Q  10.00 
 
Combine them and you get the "scoop sound" with boosted bass and treble, kind of like the loudness control on some stereos.
 
Filter  1: OFF  PK       Fc    30.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  2: OFF  PK       Fc    60.0 Hz  Gain   5.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  3: OFF  PK       Fc    100.0 Hz  Gain   3.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter  4: OFF  PK       Fc    200.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00  
Filter  5: OFF  PK       Fc    500.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00 
Filter  6: OFF  PK       Fc    1000.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  7: OFF  PK       Fc    2000.0 Hz  Gain   0.0 dB  Q  10.00
Filter  8: OFF  PK       Fc    4000.0 Hz  Gain   2.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter  9: OFF  PK       Fc    8000.0 Hz  Gain   4.0 dB  Q  10.00  
Filter 10: OFF  PK      Fc    16000.0 Hz  Gain   6.0 dB  Q  10.00 
 
 
IF you want to make an equal loudness curve for a speaker or headphone, turn all EQ off and use something like SINEGEN to use a sine wave and sweep it up and down in pitch, looking for areas where it's particularly louder than usual, or quieter than usual, and note the frequencies and then boost or cut, until the volume sounds the same level regardless of what frequency it is.
 
For instance 100hz should sound as loud to your ears as 1000hz and as 10,000hz. If 100hz is louder, cut it by a few db until it sounds just as loud as everything else. IN this way you make a EQ curve that perfectly compliments both your ears, your speakers, and the environment you're listening to them in.

 

[Yukon Trooper]

Question: what's the lowest available frequency to modify? I've only seen 20Hz examples in this thread and I can't find anything in the immediate documentation (I only looked briefly). I'm assuming since the OS's APO is being directly modified, the adjustable range starts at >0, ≤1. Obviously, such a low range has minimal application in the headphone community, but having access to ultra-low frequencies (ULF) would be great for owners of ULF subwoofers and bass shakers that can reach as low as ~5Hz.

 

[patradio]

Looking for someone who's expert on Equalizer APO to provide me with some help.  We want to write an application that will use EQAPO but we need advice about how to use its settings.  Asking questions on this forum will be too time-consuming, so hopefully someone can advise me privately.  I will of course insist on remunerating you for your time.  If you can help, please email Patrick Gubbins at info@tygervalleysystems.com with a brief description of your experience and quote some sort of hourly rate.  Thanks very much.

 

[Kodhifi]

It's a filter and so frequency isn't really limited software wise for any normal number. IE not 65,380hz
 
The thing is that many speaker systems have protection circuits in place exactly to prevent DC voltages. Once you are talking about very low frequencies you start moving out of the realm of AC and into DC which could melt a voice coil, unseat a voicecoil, rip a cone, not to mention turn your amplifier into a flash of smelly smoke.
 
I've boosted as low as 18hz with good results using closed headphones like the Sony MDR-V6. Sinewave gen only went down to 17-18hz so I wasn't able to test lower.
 
I would recommend cutting anything below 30hz and I 'll tell you why. Much of the noise in an audio signal is subsonics, this is mostly true of recordings done with microphones, IE guitar, singer, drums, anything except electronic instruments. When I am mixing a piece of music the first thing I do is apply a high-pass filter to every track because it cleans up the sound, extending the headroom and giving me a lot more to play with in the mixing process. I will typically only allow 1 or 2 instruments to extend below 80hz. IE The kick drum becomes my low sound, or the bass guitar.
 
Any boosts to subsonics are better off being done on the amp stage, IE servo control for your subwoofer *after* the low pass filter. IE boost 30hz +10db. Doing it at the windows level is going to muddy up everything, sound worse, and may even damage your amplifier or speaker at higher spl.
 
In general you don't want to boost using EQ either, the goal is to cut peaks to flatten the overall sound. If you want subsonics don't boost them, cut everything else.

 

[Kodhifi]

  Looking for someone who's expert on Equalizer APO to provide me with some help.  We want to write an application that will use EQAPO but we need advice about how to use its settings.  Asking questions on this forum will be too time-consuming, so hopefully someone can advise me privately.  I will of course insist on remunerating you for your time.  If you can help, please email Patrick Gubbins at info@tygervalleysystems.com with a brief description of your experience and quote some sort of hourly rate.  Thanks very much.

 
 
Hit me up in message and I will try to answer your questions. I'm not affiliated with EQAPO but I've used it extensively and have already scripted my own settings to make it more user friendly.

 

[rickdmer]

Has anyone had any luck getting this to work with Windows 8.1?

 

[eujaee]

  Has anyone had any luck getting this to work with Windows 8.1?

It is working on my windows 8 laptop (I want windows 7 back), 8.1 is not much different from 8 is it?  On my previous HP laptop, the APO did not work with the internal sound card, I think it was IDT.  On current Toshiba laptop, both external and internal sound card support this, I can't remember the maker or find that info on the internet.
 
To the writer of this program, a big THANK YOU.  Very nice to have system wide equalizer and all for the price of nothing.  It was a very generous donation of your time and brains.
 
And thank you, Kodhifi, for bringing it to our attention.
 
Edit:
 
Okay, it says DTS Studio Sound.  Uh, Dolby don't make sound cards do they?
 
Also, haven't seen this mentioned yet, but when I installed Room EQ Wizard, the EQ filter plot window was set to inverse as default.  The graph always seemed to be opposite of what I was hearing until I found this setting on the button with the picture of the cog on it.

 

[rickdmer]

Everything was fine in Windows 8 but when I upgraded to 8.1 it stopped working.

 

[wiinippongamer]

Everything was fine in Windows 8 but when I upgraded to 8.1 it stopped working.

 
You don't need sound to rejoice on the exquisitely modern simplicity of the Metro interface.

 

[eujaee]

I cannot help you, sorry.  Here is the link to a thread started by the guy who wrote this:
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/rew-forum/62114-software-equalizer-use-rew-windows.html.  I would ask your question there, if you haven't.  I tried a search, but couldn't find anything about windows 8.1 and the apo.
 
Just to make sure, have you checked the device properties to see if "disable all enhancements" is not checked?  Does your sound card show up on the Configurator?

 

[motownboy]

I finally got the EQ to work properly in my Windows 8 laptop. It is a GREAT tool to improve the sound of your PC or laptop..

I recently got the Monster Gratitude - Earth Wind & Fire in ear phones. Got 'em cheap on line like so may others have recently...
They sound great, with nice deep bass, but they do have a bright spike in the lower treble. I am putting below my settings for the
"example" .txt file... I have adjusted and tweaked the settings over the last couple of weeks and have a sound that for me is very detailed
with nice full but not overdone bass, detailed highs and good but not forward midrange.... And it has translated nicely with new recordings
as well as old classics

Keep in mind that I started with the best fit I could find and I used the largest of the pairs of ear buds... Which already gave me nice bass and
a pretty good stereo image. With the tweak, I tamed the obvious treble peak and enhanced the bass.

I hope this helps others with the Gratitude IEM's - at least as a starting place. Like I said, for me, I am getting sound that is quite detailed
and is rivaling my Q701s in musicality.



Filter Settings file

Ro6m EQ V5,01
Dated: 29.02.2012 20:04:50

Notes: M-EWF Gratiude 034
Equaliser: Generic
No measurement
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 80.0 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 3.05
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 30.0 Hz Gain 0.5 dB Q 5.58
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 40.0 Hz Gain 0.4 dB Q 5.85
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 50.0 Hz Gain 0.3 dB Q 5.90
Filter 5: OFF PK Fc 60.0 Hz Gain 0.2 dB Q 5.98
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 110.0 Hz Gain 0.1 dB Q 5.00
Filter 7: OFF PK Fc 140.0 Hz Gain 0.0 dB Q 5.80
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 250.0 Hz Gain 0.2 dB Q 5.60
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 515.0 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 8.30
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 810.0 Hz Gain 0.3 dB Q 5.20
Filter 11: OFF PK Fc 1000.0 Hz Gain 0.1 dB Q 3.50
Filter 12: ON PK Fc 2250.0 Hz Gain 0.4 dB Q 5.30
Filter 13: ON PK Fc 3900.0 Hz Gain -4.0 dB Q 7.20
Filter 14: ON PK Fc 6800.0 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 5.40
Filter 15: ON PK Fc 9000.0 Hz Gain -4.9 dB Q 8.20
Filter 16: ON PK Fc 11000.0 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 4.62
Filter 17: OFF PK Fc 12000.0 Hz Gain 0.0 dB Q 8.00
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 15900.0 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 2.47
Filter 19: ON PK Fc 20000.0 Hz Gain 5.6 dB Q 4.21
Filter 20: ON PK Fc 8400.0 Hz Gain -10.1 dB Q 7.30


David

 

[vumpilol]

Hey, my first post here. First of all ty for letting me know about this thingy, was looking for something similiar for ages.
 
After few minutes of playing with notepad and equalizer from foobar I ended up with something like this, using it with Fiio E10 - Beyerdynamic DT 990 mainly for some EDM and dubstep. Let me know what you think about this preset or give some suggestions how to improve, might be abit too bassy for some of you. Thanks
 
Filter  1: ON  PK       Fc    55.0 Hz  Gain   3.0 dB  Q  1.00
Filter  2: ON  PK       Fc    77.0 Hz  Gain   1.0 dB  Q  2.00
Filter  3: ON  PK       Fc    110.0 Hz  Gain   -5.0 dB  Q  2.00   
Filter  4: ON  PK       Fc    156.0 Hz  Gain   -7.0 dB  Q  2.76   
Filter  5: ON  PK       Fc    220.0 Hz  Gain   -10.0 dB  Q  4.00   
Filter  6: ON  PK       Fc    311.0 Hz  Gain   -11.0 dB  Q  8.00   
Filter  7: ON  PK       Fc    440.0 Hz  Gain   -13.0 dB  Q  2.89  
Filter  8: ON  PK       Fc    622.0 Hz  Gain   -13.0 dB  Q  2.48  
Filter  9: ON  PK       Fc    880.0 Hz  Gain   -12.0 dB  Q  6.02   
Filter 10: OFF PK       Fc    1200.0 Hz  Gain   -12.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter 11: ON  PK       Fc    1800.0 Hz  Gain   -9.0 dB  Q  5.00   
Filter 12: ON  PK       Fc    2500.0 Hz  Gain   -8.0 dB  Q  6.00    
Filter 13: ON  PK       Fc    3500.0 Hz  Gain   -6.0 dB  Q  6.00
Filter 14: ON  PK       Fc    5000.0 Hz  Gain   -4.0 dB  Q  7.00   
Filter 15: ON  PK       Fc    7000.0 Hz  Gain   -2.0 dB  Q  4.32   
Filter 16: OFF PK       Fc    10000.0 Hz  Gain   0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter 17: ON  PK       Fc    14000.0 Hz  Gain   0 dB  Q  3.82   
Filter 18: OFF PK       Fc    20000.0 Hz  Gain   -1.0 dB  Q  10.00   

 

[Kodhifi]

  Hey, my first post here. First of all ty for letting me know about this thingy, was looking for something similiar for ages.
 
After few minutes of playing with notepad and equalizer from foobar I ended up with something like this, using it with Fiio E10 - Beyerdynamic DT 990 mainly for some EDM and dubstep. Let me know what you think about this preset or give some suggestions how to improve, might be abit too bassy for some of you. Thanks
 
Filter  1: ON  PK       Fc    55.0 Hz  Gain   3.0 dB  Q  1.00
Filter  2: ON  PK       Fc    77.0 Hz  Gain   1.0 dB  Q  2.00
Filter  3: ON  PK       Fc    110.0 Hz  Gain   -5.0 dB  Q  2.00   
Filter  4: ON  PK       Fc    156.0 Hz  Gain   -7.0 dB  Q  2.76   
Filter  5: ON  PK       Fc    220.0 Hz  Gain   -10.0 dB  Q  4.00   
Filter  6: ON  PK       Fc    311.0 Hz  Gain   -11.0 dB  Q  8.00   
Filter  7: ON  PK       Fc    440.0 Hz  Gain   -13.0 dB  Q  2.89  
Filter  8: ON  PK       Fc    622.0 Hz  Gain   -13.0 dB  Q  2.48  
Filter  9: ON  PK       Fc    880.0 Hz  Gain   -12.0 dB  Q  6.02   
Filter 10: OFF PK       Fc    1200.0 Hz  Gain   -12.0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter 11: ON  PK       Fc    1800.0 Hz  Gain   -9.0 dB  Q  5.00   
Filter 12: ON  PK       Fc    2500.0 Hz  Gain   -8.0 dB  Q  6.00    
Filter 13: ON  PK       Fc    3500.0 Hz  Gain   -6.0 dB  Q  6.00
Filter 14: ON  PK       Fc    5000.0 Hz  Gain   -4.0 dB  Q  7.00   
Filter 15: ON  PK       Fc    7000.0 Hz  Gain   -2.0 dB  Q  4.32   
Filter 16: OFF PK       Fc    10000.0 Hz  Gain   0 dB  Q  10.00   
Filter 17: ON  PK       Fc    14000.0 Hz  Gain   0 dB  Q  3.82   
Filter 18: OFF PK       Fc    20000.0 Hz  Gain   -1.0 dB  Q  10.00   

 
Those are some severe cuts across multiple frequencies, I can't imagine this working very well.
 
The DT990 are superb out of the box and my own EQ settings are incredibly slight, just a slight cut around 9khz, and another at 7khz to help with a resonant peak and that's it.
 
You're cutting 13DB at very specific and close frequency ranges, with a Q that causes one cut to overlap with another. The net effect is that some frequencies between 100 and 900hz you're cutting -24db or more.
 
I would consider -5db to be a severe cut and 12 would only be needed on a severe resonance and on a very badly colored set of headphones.
 
I would imagine what happens with this setting is that your over all volume level drops by 15db leaving 10,000 and 14,000 untouched for a relative boost of 15db.
 
This EQ curve would have the effect of making your output much too low and throwing off what is an otherwise flat natural EQ curve of the 990's.

 

[frix]

I agree with kodhifi try using as few filters as possible
 
For a broad bass boast you could also use a lowshelf filter.
There comes a help file with equalizer apo describing which filter types are supported.
 
First step should be finding (resonant) peaks. Which are most likely in the treble region.
To really pinpoint those there is no way around a sine wave generator.
 
After that one can start to color the sound to ones liking, by adding bass boosts or something.