[B-Dawk20]

Hey there, I have an Ath-M50 and I wanted some bass increase for some songs but I'm curious as to if this much EQ could be damaging long term.
 
30-50hz: 2db
51-100hz: 4db
101-170hz 3db
 
 
Thanks so much in advance. I've never really messed with EQs before so I just wanna make sure I don't mess up my cans.

 

[youngngray]

Physically damaging to the headphones? No. It would be pretty hard to damage a pair of headphones you're listening to with EQ without damaging your hearing too, if not totally impossible.
 
However, depending on what you're planning on using to apply the EQ, there are some other things you should be aware of. If you just have a device that has the ability to boost those frequencies, then fine, however if you're using some kind of program with a graphic EQ, the best way to achieve this would NOT be to boost those frequencies.  Rather, what you would want to do is reduce every other frequency except for those by however much you wanted to boost by. So for you, the 51-100Hz range would be at 0db the 101-170 would be at -1, 30-50 at -2 and everything else at -4. This method results in the same response curve, however it prevents your gear from the possibility of clipping the signal which would result in a loss of quality. (Also be wary of mentioning EQ too much, /some/ people believe applying any EQ at all is akin to blasphemy.) Good luck! 

 

[B-Dawk20]

I used to think EQ was blasphemy as well, but it's kinda fun every now and then. The only EQ I care for so far though is bass boosting. Besides that, I believe keeping the natural sound signature of your headphone(flaws and all) is the best for testing and just overall evaluation. That and it sounds more natural to my ears if I just wanna hear the song.
 
 
But anyway, I have a software eq and it just runs by letting you type in the numbers of the range you want to increase or reduce. and thanks for the recommendation on how to boost the stuff I want! It makes much more sense to reduce everything else and just increase volume if need be.

 

[youngngray]

Of course! I say if you don't want EQ, don't use it, if you do like to have a little fun and play with the sound a bit, no problem with me! It's great, just do what you like and have fun doing it. Glad to help

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

Physically damaging to the headphones? No. It would be pretty hard to damage a pair of headphones you're listening to with EQ without damaging your hearing too, if not totally impossible.
 
However, depending on what you're planning on using to apply the EQ, there are some other things you should be aware of. If you just have a device that has the ability to boost those frequencies, then fine, however if you're using some kind of program with a graphic EQ, the best way to achieve this would NOT be to boost those frequencies.  Rather, what you would want to do is reduce every other frequency except for those by however much you wanted to boost by. So for you, the 51-100Hz range would be at 0db the 101-170 would be at -1, 30-50 at -2 and everything else at -4. This method results in the same response curve, however it prevents your gear from the possibility of clipping the signal which would result in a loss of quality. (Also be wary of mentioning EQ too much, /some/ people believe applying any EQ at all is akin to blasphemy.) Good luck! 

Indeed, you don't want to hit the 0 dB clipping threshold while digitally EQing.
 
 

 

[mikeaj]

Once I heard there was a producer who decided to add this EQ for the final master of a new group's breakout album:
 
30-50hz: 2db
51-100hz:  4db
101-170hz:  3db
 
Unfortunately, everybody who listened to it had their headphones and speakers explode...
 
 
 
No really, what were you expecting?  

  The headphones don't know the difference.  If the levels aren't way too high, then they won't be damaged.  For most decent headphones, you will damage your ears from the music being too loud, before you damage the headphones.
 
Depending on how the EQ is implemented, you do want to cut rather than boost, to avoid digital clipping, as has been pointed out.

 

[B-Dawk20]

Quote:

Once I heard there was a producer who decided to add this EQ for the final master of a new group's breakout album:
 
30-50hz: 2db
51-100hz:  4db
101-170hz:  3db
 
Unfortunately, everybody who listened to it had their headphones and speakers explode...
 
 
 
No really, what were you expecting?  

  The headphones don't know the difference.  If the levels aren't way too high, then they won't be damaged.  For most decent headphones, you will damage your ears from the music being too loud, before you damage the headphones.
 
Depending on how the EQ is implemented, you do want to cut rather than boost, to avoid digital clipping, as has been pointed out.

I was just paranoid was all

they're my main headphones and when I heard some popping on a track(that I forgot was 128kbps and needs to be replaced

) I freaked out. But now I know I was just being silly

 
 
My final EQ was this
 
0-50hz: -2db
51-100hz: 0db
101-170hz: -1db
171-200hz: -3db
200-300hz: -4db
300-500hz: -5db
501hz-20khz: -6db
 
 
Felt it sounded more balanced for the songs I used it for and gave me more range. Going to mess with them more though.

 

[BlackbeardBen]

Quote:

I was just paranoid was all

they're my main headphones and when I heard some popping on a track(that I forgot was 128kbps and needs to be replaced

) I freaked out. But now I know I was just being silly

 
 
My final EQ was this
 
0-50hz: -2db
51-100hz: 0db
101-170hz: -1db
171-200hz: -3db
200-300hz: -4db
300-500hz: -5db
501hz-20khz: -6db
 
 
Felt it sounded more balanced for the songs I used it for and gave me more range. Going to mess with them more though.

That popping you heard is a telltale sign of clipping, which very likely was caused by your EQ'ing.  Clipping from a file or a DAC (when it is bad) sounds horrible, although it by itself won't ever do any damage to headphones.
 
Speakers, however, are a different matter where amplifier clipping (not the file or signal from the DAC) often is the cause of tweeter failures.  Clipping causes higher frequency harmonics to be produced, temporarily greatly exceeding the power handling of the tweeter.  Dome (and cone) tweeters are more resilient (although definitely not invincible) to this sort of damage, but planar magnetic tweeters are known for the signal arcing across the traces of the diaphragm, burning it, and then shorting out.  Traditional coil dome and cone tweeters are more likely to overheat with sustained high level playback (this includes sustained amplifier clipping), melting the coil and shorting it.  A very, very high signal level would also cause the coil to rip out of its position, so that would obviously be very bad too.

 

[B-Dawk20]

Oh the popping was after I turned the EQ off. I could of swore I had the song in FLAC but I did not. This caused me to freak out about it >_<