[clasam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakhtiar /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am staying away from EQ as far as possible. I like to hear what the sound engineer want us to hear

I totally understand this, but I have a difference of opinion.

The problem is that if we were not present when the song was written, recorded or mixed/mastered, we DON'T know what it was meant to sound like. (On a side note, that's why I find it funny when people say a song is over-produced...how do they know what it sounds like in the minds of the artists, producers & engineers?)

Additionally, as a musician, I've talked to enough engineers to know that they mix on a wide variety of speakers to try and balance music to a wide array of equipment.

In other words, they cater to the listener's varied equipment. And we have to remember there is no such thing as "neutral" gear ...every piece of hardware introduces a change to the sound.

EQ definitely has its uses, especially outdoors, when there isn't an ideal listening situation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakhtiar /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW, it is your equipments and ears, and it is up to you, to control the EQ as long as you are enjoying it .

Completely agree there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy better gear

It WOULD be nice to have that option

But as long as I have a solid EQ, I'd rather not pay several hundred more dollars for something I can do for free.

 

[Ishcabible]

It depends on the source. The only thing I use EQ for is my A726. It's too warm.

 

[JMT391]

I use the treble boost on my ipod for the turbines because otherwise the sound is way too bass heavy. I don't notice any distortion, even at elevated volumes.

Otherwise, however, an EQ is normally a bad idea unless it is a hardware EQ. For example, in a car audio system, an in-line EQ is often used in hi-fi systems to get the system to "reference level," which means that every frequency of sound is reproduced at the exact same dB level. This way it is possible to achieve that flat sound audiophiles are after.

With a car speaker system, using subwoofers, woofers, mids, and tweeters along with adjustable crossovers, infinite amplification combinations, and the irregular and inconsistent shape of the car's cabin, it's EXTREMELY difficult to hit that flat response without an EQ - so in that case, a quality hardware EQ can produce great results.

As far as quality headphones go, most hi-fi sets are designed to produce that sound naturally, as it is a much more controlled environment so an EQ is often not needed.

 

[RedSky0]

Yeah I do, to fix the bass recession on my ER4Ps both at home through Foobar2000 convolves and through my 5G iPod's EQ. I've found most portable players if not pretty much all have trashy EQs that distort the sound overly whereas using rockbox it does not.

I don't really get the argument about neutrality when you're colouring the sound by hearing it through a specific set of headphones and interpreting it in a variant of different ways from the way in which it may have been intended as. Neither do I get it when people says it adds distortion or sound muffling. Some EQs certainly do that, but not all.

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clasam /img/forum/go_quote.gif I totally understand this, but I have a difference of opinion. The problem is that if we were not present when the song was written, recorded or mixed/mastered, we DON'T know what it was meant to sound like. (On a side note, that's why I find it funny when people say a song is over-produced...how do they know what it sounds like in the minds of the artists, producers & engineers?)

Yeah, I hear you, but about that last comment, I've been a big fan of ELO for decades. Not until I got my Grados did I actually hear the seams in some of those seventies ELO albums. They were beautiful but sometimes they were "overproduced." If you'll recall, they used to do this looping thing where - even with all those tracks - they would get the original take and then do an overdub where they would ping one more tracks onto yet another track. Sometimes, in the effort to fill the album with more sound, the end result would be a tad muddier.

I don't know what EQ could possibly do to help with that, but even if I wasn't there, some of that stuff was, in fact, overproduced, to the later chagrin of the artists. I don't think Out of the Blue is the cleanest set of recordings, even if they were wondrously enjoyable.

 

[bakhtiar]

Your equipments, your ears, you are in control

. If I want to EQ sound, I will do it physically, such as, modding speakers or changing earphone's tips, or like old days, using analog equalizer, but, most of time I used it as a spectrum analyzer to check my recording.

This was my graphic equalizer, those days

Sony SEQ-333ES

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSky0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah I do, to fix the bass recession on my ER4Ps both at home through Foobar2000 convolves and through my 5G iPod's EQ. I've found most portable players if not pretty much all have trashy EQs that distort the sound overly whereas using rockbox it does not. I don't really get the argument about neutrality when you're colouring the sound by hearing it through a specific set of headphones and interpreting it in a variant of different ways from the way in which it may have been intended as. Neither do I get it when people says it adds distortion or sound muffling. Some EQs certainly do that, but not all.

exactly... your music is always altered from the exact intended sound signature because your equipment is obviously different. perhaps it has an overly flat and boring sound signature like my shures. i dont just suck it up and convince myself that's how it supposed to sound. i'm actually pretty sure a lot of the recording artists i listen to would not prefer the sig of my shures. unless properly eq'd.

so dont be AFRAID of that eq. you dont have to religiously stay away from it. it can be your friend (but also like redsky here says a lot of software eq's just suck).

 

[decay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakhtiar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your equipments, your ears, you are in control . If I want to EQ sound, I will do it physically, such as, modding speakers or changing earphone's tips, or like old days, using analog equalizer, but, most of time I used it as a spectrum analyzer to check my recording. This was my graphic equalizer, those days Sony SEQ-333ES

Badass from how it look!

If there's any, do you like the coloration of the EQ itself? How about the distortion the EQ causes (realistic, musical, etc.)?

 

[bakhtiar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock&rollfrenchfries /img/forum/go_quote.gif so dont be AFRAID of that eq. you dont have to religiously stay away from it. it can be your friend (but also like redsky here says a lot of software eq's just suck).

Agree

.Also, you still can train your ears/brain to listen and interpret just like you wanted too

. Quite difficult, but achievable.

@decay.
As I mentioned earlier, most of the time I only used it's spectrum analyzer to check my recording. Usually I set it flat or mild EQ only. And a good thing about the analog EQ, it is tolerable to distortion if you don't pushed it to max/threshold. It's do sound very nice compared to DAP's digital EQ

... BTW, the SEQ-333ES was an audiophile level equalizer, same as other Sony ES series, and sounded good too

.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

ahh the power of perception... yeah my shures still needed a little help though

 

[decay]

I doubt it's "difficult".
But definitely time-consuming.

 

[dweaver]

I EQ if I think it helps what I am listening and don't mind changing the settings as needed.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

right. it can be tedious going through the eq looking for that just right sound. i find it wothwhile though if the phones aren't colored to my taste. i do what i can to get the sound i like. which of course I consider to be pretty balanced but you may not.

 

[CoMePunk]

no, I don't. IMO it makes the song sounds too artificial for me.

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy better gear

LOL!! Sorry, as far as "unamped" goes, NOTHING beats my Nano with UM3X on the "jazz" EQ setting.