[gerG]

I use a digital equalizer on most all of my headphones. I do it to correct deviations in the headphone response relative to my target response. Those variations far exceed anything present in upstream components (assuming decent gear). Subtle changes can make huge variations in the character of a particular headphone. It is also very useful in revealing the true nature of some headphones.

I do not change the EQ for different kinds of music. Once I get a pair of headphones where I want them, the correction curve pretty much stays put.
I don't even bother with the ipod EQ.

My best results are with the Behringer DEQ2496, located in the digital path upstream of the DAC.

I have been trying the drop-in parametrics in Patchmix for my Emu cards. It has a lot of capability, and the processing is done in the Emu processor, not on the main CPU. This is a feature well worth exploring if you have one of these cards.


gerG

 

[AsuAmo76]

Quote:

It is also very useful in revealing the true nature of some headphones.

Or "masking the true nature"?

Quote:

and the processing is done in the Emu processor, not on the main CPU.

That's the way to do real time processing.

 

[Ayreonaut]

Just to compensate for bass roll-off. EVERY headphone rolls off in the lowest octaves and EQing in the inverse curve helps the ultra-lows.

I don't mess with the treble.

 

[K2Grey]

I find it interesting that people are listening to music with headphones that have wildly varying frequency responses, and yet everyone claims that they don't use EQ because they are listening to music as it was meant to be heard. Since the frequency responses of headphones are much different, we can safely conclude that the majority of people are, in fact, not listening to their music as it was meant to be heard, and if one can find a good EQ which doesn't distort or do anything other than what you want it to, then there is no reason not to use it if you think your music afterwards sounds more natural or just better.

 

[noorudeenshakur]

I EQ them all the time.

My iriver has a 5 band eq and makes beautiful sound with the " Wave setting"

 

[luuk]

with my shures and ms-1's: yes (portable)!
with my senn's/ms-1: no(home)!

 

[AsuAmo76]

The volume control knob or slidebar works as EQ for the most people as our ears are less sensitive to highs and lows for low volume sound. By the way in good old days they used pots with additional filters for the frequency compensation (more highs and lows for lower volume).

No EQ at all is equal to listening the music at the same level as the original recording was done.

 

[AdamWill]

asu: but that has the rather unfortunate side effect of damaging your hearing. And as others have pointed out, listening at the same level as the recording was done means very little since the same levels sound very different on different equipment, and the chances the recording engineer was using the same equipment as you are tiny.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fatality_ Care to share your HD590 EQ settings?

Currently I'm just doing some bass dehumping on these.
55 Hz -2 dB
77 Hz -3 dB
110 Hz -4 dB
156 Hz -3 dB
220 Hz -2 dB
311 Hz -1 dB
All the rest: 0 dB.
When they're recabled, this also is all that's needed IMHO.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

everyone claims that they don't use EQ because they are listening to music as it was meant to be heard

i never did.

i don't think it's the right way to fix sound. i've done a lot of work with digital and analog eq and it almost always sucks the air out of recordings.

 

[utep10]

All the time now on every headphone.

I used to be a non-believer of EQing but gerG has shown me the light!!

The DEQ2496 is a tweaker's dream. I thought that I would be constantly tweaking, but found that once I had a decent setting, to optimize that last 2% takes some time and patience.

Those of you who haven't heard this DEQ2496, don't know what you are missing. It's not your typical analog equalizer.

 

[Nepenthe]

See sig

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch What about this weak link: poor recordings . P.S. I don't EQ, but if I listened to more rock, pop, techno, rap and other studio music, I would be mighty tempted.

This is true, I find all the time that I'd like a certain album to have a bit more or less treble and bass. In fact I think that mastering has just as much impact on the sound as the transducer. Saying you only 'listen to music as the artist/engineer intended' is just wrong for reasons that I won't go into here.
So IMO eq as frequently as you want to, but remember with over-boosting comes clipping (and possible digital distortion) unless you cut the gain on the source material or the pre-amp volume. Also remember that making larger alterations with the eq will change your perspective of sound over time, and may increase listening fatigue if your not using a parametric equalizer where you can specify a width amount of cut or boost as well.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut Just to compensate for bass roll-off. EVERY headphone rolls off in the lowest octaves and EQing in the inverse curve helps the ultra-lows.

According to both frequency graphs and my ears, the DT880 does not. Saying "EVERY" anything is a recipe for getting into trouble later

.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utep10 All the time now on every headphone. I used to be a non-believer of EQing but gerG has shown me the light!! The DEQ2496 is a tweaker's dream. I thought that I would be constantly tweaking, but found that once I had a decent setting, to optimize that last 2% takes some time and patience.

That's actually a major reason why I don't EQ. I almost always listen to music to relax, and having the ability to constantly tweak the sound would drive me nuts! In fact I would probably continue tweaking even after things seemed "perfect" because of how different various recordings are (not to mention swapping headphones).

I got enough tweaking issues here with a vintage turntable... in fact I listen to vinyl very little because the urge to continue tweaking my vinyl setup is highly annoying! One of these days I'm gonna sell my TD160 and get a nice Music Hall with far less tweakability. I just don't enjoy that nagging sensation that "it could just be better if I did this, or this or this" anymore. Often it just causes more problems than it solves.

P.S. this goes against my earlier post to a certain extent, but on second thought it became more obvious why I don't use EQ.