Cowon J3 - Personal User EQ Settings
Jan 27, 2011 at 9:18 PM Post #46 of 221
Well, I have switched from my Westone 3 back to the IE8. (something I had a feeling was going to happen eventually)  
 
I must say, the IE8 + the Cowon EQ capabilities is GREAT!  Everyone knows about the extreme (mid)bass response on the IE8, yet they have one of the best sound signatures of any IEM (IMHO).  SO, I've been playing with my settings for a bit and and now hearing the IE8's like I never have before.  When I had my last pair of IE8's I was using the Sony X, not J3.  
 
 
I looked at the frequency response graph of the IE8 on headroom's website  
The bass hump is fairly wide, centering around 100 Hz, with the upper midrange/treble starting to drop below 0 at about 1200Hz, more drastically at 10,000Hz.
I adjusted the J3 EQ accordingly in attempt to smooth out the response and have settled on these for now:
105Hz_Wide_-2
500Hz_Narrow_0
650Hz_Narrow_0
4.1kHz_Normal_+1
11.7kHz_Wide_+2
 
BBE_6
Mach3Bass_6
3D_Off
MP_On
SE_Off
Rev_Off

Bass Knob is at minimum.  
 
WOW!  The IE8's midrange is so much clearer and there is no question that it is more detailed than the IE7's.  All that bass created a bit of dark cloudiness before and made it seem not as well presented sometimes, but now the IE8's are a hands down win win win.  The treble is also much more present and the resolution capability of these phones is much more apparent than before.  The mach3 bass is changed depending on what I am listening to and how much "umph" I want.  It sounds very punchy and realistic in the 3-7 range.  Turning the bass knob up deepends the extension but also creates a boomy feel which I do not care for.  Though, this pair of IE8's was brand new and they are not fully burned in yet.  I'll check back with that later on.
 
If anyone else has the IE8's and the J3, or any Cowon player, try these settings!
 
On a separate note...did you guys know the Cowon EQ is hardware implemented on the Wolfson DAC chip?  That's cool! 
ksc75smile.gif

 
 
Jan 27, 2011 at 10:04 PM Post #48 of 221
BBE needs to be set to max. Any less and you are not getting the best from the J3. MP needs to be on. SE can be 3, although the change in sound isn't that much. Does Mach3Bass actually have an effect on your bass? Can't say that I feel it does. I like to set 3D to 1, to add some air to my sound, although I can see the value in setting 3D off and certainly think that any higher than 1 is unbearable. Rev off is obvious.
 
Jan 28, 2011 at 12:23 AM Post #49 of 221
I haven't played much with the EQ, but Mach3Bass seems to roll-off the bass or something to make it seem "tighter".
 
Feb 15, 2011 at 1:47 AM Post #50 of 221
I used Golden Monkey's setting for User 1 with my SM3 for my Jazz Collection and my Mainstream Music.
 
For my Live Albums I tweaked it a bit like this:
 
This is for User 2:
80Hz  - Normal +2
220Hz - Narrow +1
780Hz - Wide +1
4.1KHz - Wide +2
13KHZ - Wide +4
 
BBE 10
Mach3Bass 4
3DS 3
MpEnhance On
SE 6, No reverb

Still have to tweak EQ for Dance/Club/Fast, using the Dance EQ for the meantime.
 
Quote:
Yes, thanks for these settings.  I used them as a baseline for the J3+SM3 (FLAC files) as well, but I've tweaked it a bit:
 
80 - Wide - +2
500 - Wide - +1
1.1k - Narrow - +2
4.1k - Wide - +3
13k - Normal - +4
 
BBE - 5
Mach3 - 5
MPE - OFF 
SE - OFF 
 
Essentially, I bumped up each EQ setting by one, turned down the Mach3 bass since I'm using an Arrow, with the bass boost set to I, and turned off the MPE, since the files are FLAC.  Results are a less dark SM3, without a fat midrange hump.  Now I just need to fiddle with EQ settings for the Beyer T50p (which will require taming the mid-mids a bit while boosting the mid-bass) and the ESW9 (with an aim of greater clarity and focus, if possible).  If anyone has a setting for either of these that I can riff off of, please post them! Thanks.

Quote:

 



 
Feb 15, 2011 at 4:31 AM Post #51 of 221
I'll try your settings too, King...the SM3 seems very dependant on source material and equipment to shine, but curiously enough doesn't benefit hardly at all from any sort of amping.  I don't know if you changed the "width" settings on the EQ or not, but it looks like my settings have a little more of a hump/increase in the lower/mid treble, but we differ widely on the other enhancements.  I will say that I have been using much more MP Enhance lately and I like the results...better clarity and it doesn't affect the overall sound signature nearly as much as I thought it would.  BBE is just fantastic...I'm amazed at how much of an inprovement to SQ you gain with no real tradeoffs, unlike older methods, like Dolby this or that.  Another difference betrween our settings is the Stereo Enhance and 3D...I LIKE the effect of these, but I don't use them due to using my Arrow amp's crossfeed, which sounds much more natural to me than the J3 effect settings.  A little 3D + crossfeed is fantastic though, especially on live recordings. 
 
I also have some preliminary Beyer T50p and AT ESW0A settings I've been playing with that I'll post soon, and could use some help and feedback from anyone using these phones.  My aim was to more or less achieve a fairly flat(ish) response from each phone whole retaining the character of each phone...smoothing out the weaknesses while maintaining the strengths.  This was REALLY hard to do do, and I'm still not very satisfied with the results...
 
Feb 16, 2011 at 1:32 AM Post #52 of 221
Sorry GoldenMonkey, I didn't include the "width" settings, here's my EQ User 2 for SM3s:
 
80Hz  - Normal +2
220Hz - Narrow +1
780Hz - Wide +1
4.1KHz - Wide +2
13KHZ - Wide +4
 
BBE 10
Mach3Bass 4
3DS 3
MpEnhance On
SE 6, No reverb
 
Try it and let me know.
 
 
Feb 16, 2011 at 4:00 PM Post #53 of 221
It seems weird to me that you use all those effects for your iems. So much bass and SE BBE etc. Yes some of them sounds good but are very colored in my taste. I only change the sound a bit when pairing with my brainwavz m1. I bring the highs a bit more upfront and thats about it
rolleyes.gif

 
Feb 17, 2011 at 3:29 AM Post #54 of 221
Only for my SM3s, I haven't used it to other IEMs. It's a little bit colored but sooo pleasant to my ears when playing live jazz music (like Diana Krall's "Live In Paris").
 
Enjoy yours and happy listening!
 
Feb 17, 2011 at 7:39 AM Post #55 of 221

Quote:
and this one (which is v.2 of the 1st one)
 
105Hz +0 Normal
300Hz +0 Normal
780Hz +4 Wide
4.1KHz +5 Wide
11.7KHz +4 Normal

BBE 8
M3B 2
3D sound 3
MP Enhance On

STE 4
REV Off

This just killed my urge to get a more detailed set of IEMs to complement my Atrio M5s. Thanks man! The BBE Viva 2 setting I used before sounds veiled and bloated now... :)
 
 
Mar 3, 2011 at 1:05 AM Post #56 of 221
I will have to return here once my SM3s arrive
etysmile.gif

 
Mar 30, 2011 at 9:24 PM Post #58 of 221
Just wanted to say thanks to all of you guys for these settings. I have programmed my newly received J3 with these and am loving it. Best mp3 I have owned, even over my old fav the zen vision M.
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 9:42 PM Post #59 of 221
Hey Sorensiim , since you seem like a nice guy here are my 4 settings i use with my RE-262 as it seems to need a bit eqing on the highs - as always feel free to  tweak them yourself and find sth that suits you even better cheers
 
I have kept the lows intact , and put an extra +2 on the mids and an extra +2/+3 on the highs
 
I minimized the other sound enhancemenths to keep it nice and tight
 
Like i said , there is certainly a better eqing so do it and share it here with us
 
Cheers
bigsmile_face.gif

 
 
1
 
80Hz     +0   Normal
300Hz   +0   Normal
780Hz   +2   Normal
2.4KHz  +2  Wide
9KHz    +2  Wide

BBE 8
M3B OFF
3D sound OFF
MP Enhance On

STE 4
REV Off
 
 
2
 
80Hz       +0 Normal
300Hz     +0 Normal
1.1KHz    +2 Normal
4.1KHz    +2 Wide
11.7KHz  +2 Wide

BBE 8
M3B OFF
3D sound OFF
MP Enhance ON

STE 4
REV OFF
 
 
 
3
 
80Hz       +0 Normal
300Hz     +0 Normal
780Hz     +2 Wide
3.0KHz    +3 Wide
9KHz       +3 Wide

BBE 8
M3BOFF
3D sound OFF
MP Enhance ON

STE 3
REV OFF
 
 
4
 
 
80Hz        +0 Normal
300Hz      +0 Normal
1.4 KHz    +2 Normal
4.1KHz     +3 Normal
11.7KHz   +3 Wide

BBE 8
M3B OFF
3D sound OFF
MP Enhance ON

STE 3
REV OFF
 
 
Quote:
This just killed my urge to get a more detailed set of IEMs to complement my Atrio M5s. Thanks man! The BBE Viva 2 setting I used before sounds veiled and bloated now... :)
 



 
 
Mar 31, 2011 at 11:37 PM Post #60 of 221
Got my J3 recently (yesterday) and been playing with it, I dont use IEM's but HD25-1's so hopefully I wont get flamed for posting my set up at the moment that Im enjoying. Anyone else can share their presets for HD25-1's?
 
80Hz -Wide-5
220Hz-Wide-2 
780Hz-Wide-1
 
BBE-8
Mach3Bass-8
 
Everything else turned off...so far it sounds way too much fun...not very analytical or balanced or nutural...sounds naturals to my suprise though, Im amazed how the EQ doenst take away much from midrange or high end. Loving it so far =) 
 

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