[j-dawg]

No EQ ever!

... Because I want to hear what the raw components of my gear are doing at all times. As my critical listening skills improve, I may trust myself more and more to use eq to sweeten things a bit but not yet. No soapboxing about "just listen to the music" because I firmly believe you can do both. Listen to the music and the gear, that is.

And to those people who proclaim to want to "hear the music the way the artist intended it"; I grant that you may be hearing that on some albums but not very many. There are soooo many fingers (and ears and opinions, all of which have huge $$$ at stake) in this pie which is the modern music production process, that what you are hearing is the end result of a massive conglomerate of people massaging an artists' performance into a commercial product. If you're listening to largely self-funded and produced indie artists, or OTOH, extremely wealthy and successful big-name artists with production and/or engineering skills then yes, you might be hearing quite a bit more of the artists' intent on your mass-produced-commercial-CD-product. Most other situations you'll want to read all the material you can find about who engineered, produced and (very importantly) mastered the album to understand who really is responsible for the sound you are hearing. I do believe a fair amount of people here understand this, but I also fear that many many many more don't, and those people look very silly when they talk about this stuff.

 

[ak40ozKevin]

I use EQ when I feel I need it. As important as every component in your set up is it will never prevent a track from being poorly recorded or just recorded 'differently'.

The only time you'd ever hear music as the artist intended as with them right in front of you in their venue of choice.

 

[Spyro]

Absolutely...all the time.

On my Triple Fi's I boost the highs a tad.

On my ER4P's I boost the lows a tad.

Makes 'em sound mighty fine.

 

[BigJohn]

I understand that many times the remastering is done with poor playback systems, and airplay in mind.
Not good/high end systems like what some of us use.
So it would be nice to have some eq help every now and then, but from what I hear eq'ing hurts more than helps giving you the best possible sound.
I don't use it, at the moment, but I would like to try a good eq in my system for the bad recordings I have (most of the times it's the exaggerated bass on some recordings...)

Just my opinion...

 

[frozncore]

I boost the highs for my e500s

 

[tstarn06]

Sometimes, but very little on balance. As someone noted, no chance to use EQ with the Zune80, so that makes it easy. With other daps (Sony, ZVM, Sansa), now and again. I tick the bass boost up a single click on the Sony A816 when using the SA6s (everything else flat). And with the Minibox, I will turn on the bass boost, depending on the headphone (example, when I had the 716s, or when I plug in the Grados).

Otherwise, I stay away from any major EQing. Just a personal preference.

 

[acegazda]

I use the rock eq on my zen for my ep630s, but I don't use eq with my bose IEs. The bass is just too overpowering to the rest of the frequencies with the eq on.

 

[guyverl]

Sony forced my hand to use the eq on the MZ-R10 - the darn mp3 implementation is rolled off on the highs! No such problems with ATRAC though

 

[pez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJohn /img/forum/go_quote.gif B: That's crap! Every artist would want his recording sound as good as possible. Why some doesn't sound all that good is something else... Many different reasons for that... There are enough artists out there who don't interfere all that much with how the sq will be on the record. Why? I don't know, ask them! And there are (still) engineers who use crap equipment to get the sounds they get... But I believe either one of them wouldn't mind the recording sounding great! In hifi eq is concidered something the devil invented, but in the recording studio's it's used extensively imo. I think it has it's place, sometimes... With bad recordings... But still, I don't use it... I don't own an eq... Maybe I should...?

I'm gonna say false. A LOT of harcore and indie bands, like to have that veil over their music when it's recorded to give it that signature "hardcore sound". I got to sit in with a friend of mine at a studio up in Raliegh once, and he showed me how all of that is carried out, such as turning down vocals a little bit. He even said that some bands that really prize on the drums want the bass and mids turned up so that it's more audible. The neatest part about it was hearing the un"modded" song and the one that the band preferred. Then again, there are a lot of people who prefer good sound, but a lot like an old classy "veiled" sound. I found the perfect example. Les Claypool (Primus) was a bass beast, and when he recorded albums he boosted midrange. He did it because he did a lot of slaps and pulls and even taps. You can tell this by hearing all the taps being "boosted" and you can also hear vocals clearly (b/c that midrange) and snares and toms good too.

 

[stevenkelby]

To me, EQ is not about the source at all. If it's a crap recording, I want to hear that.

EQ is to "fix" the output of the transducers (HP or loudspeaker), and to "fix" the response of the room, or ears I guess.

All transducers I am aware of, need EQ, and definitely all rooms need it.

If you're looking for the most accurate possible response that is. "Need" is relative, but I stand by it.

Sadly, the drawbacks of EQ often aren't worth it. Most EQ just is not good enough.

 

[BigJohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pez /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm gonna say false. A LOT of harcore and indie bands, like to have that veil over their music when it's recorded to give it that signature "hardcore sound". I got to sit in with a friend of mine at a studio up in Raliegh once, and he showed me how all of that is carried out, such as turning down vocals a little bit. He even said that some bands that really prize on the drums want the bass and mids turned up so that it's more audible. The neatest part about it was hearing the un"modded" song and the one that the band preferred. Then again, there are a lot of people who prefer good sound, but a lot like an old classy "veiled" sound. I found the perfect example. Les Claypool (Primus) was a bass beast, and when he recorded albums he boosted midrange. He did it because he did a lot of slaps and pulls and even taps. You can tell this by hearing all the taps being "boosted" and you can also hear vocals clearly (b/c that midrange) and snares and toms good too.

Sure, I agree with that...

You where there, so how can I disagree

It's very well possible that some artists like it like that (?!) but they still want it sounding as good as possible but within their frame of mind of how they think it should sound.
Man, how am I gonna talk me out of this one...

 

[slowth]

I usually only do sound adjustment when I listen to my music through my mac speakers cos they aren't all that fantastic sounding. so I use the iwow plugin. But through my speakers.. I'd like it plain.. especially for audiophile recordings.. they made it audiophile for a reason!!

 

[pez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJohn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sure, I agree with that... You where there, so how can I disagree It's very well possible that some artists like it like that (?!) but they still want it sounding as good as possible but within their frame of mind of how they think it should sound. Man, how am I gonna talk me out of this one...

It's alright, I know where you're coming from. They obviously do want a good quality recording. It all comes down to what is actually "bad".

 

[averydonovan]

I don't bother with EQ on my home or portable stuff. I do use it in my car because it just makes the sound suck a little less than it could. Back when I used a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone I would occasionally use the MegaBass when using regular earbuds since it did help a little, especially when using them on the bus.

 

[Trubble]

Good Music, Doesn't need EQ.