[Br777]

I should make something clear... I'm looking back on my posts in this thread and realizing that at times I sound very opinionated and a bit like im on my high horse... please dont take me too seriously. i can be a bit feisty and playful at times, but I certainly dont consider myself an expert on this subject, or any audio related subject for that matter. I really just like to learn, and sometimes i find the best way to do so is to just dive in head first and see what happens.

That said, I am clearly a strong proponent of at least trying to equalize your headphones in the way outlined in the "how to" thread, only because it really does have the potential to revolutionize your listening experience. What can i say... I'm excited

Of course i understand that its not for everyone... nothing ever is...

 

[germanium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif considering this thread is addressing listening via headphones, most of what you have said is not relevant to this conversation... thanks anyway

I agree that some of the parts pertaining to speakers do not apply but much of what I wrote equally applies to headphones as well. I do listen to both but prefer speakers due to thier more realistic imaging than headphones can provide.

 

[leeperry]

I demand a PRaT EQ!

did you try David Griesinger's method? The necessity of headphone equalization

the mp3 links are wild, you just need to add the filenames to the current domain name

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif I demand a PRaT EQ! did you try David Griesinger's method? The necessity of headphone equalization the mp3 links are wild, you just need to add the filenames to the current domain name

fiddling with it now.. dont have speakers though...

and for those of you who arent techy rocket scientists and cant decipher Leeperry's cryptic code

http://www.davidgriesinger.com/1k_5k_3k.mp3
http://www.davidgriesinger.com//1k_2k_4k_8k.mp3
http://www.davidgriesinger.com/1k_500_250_125.mp3

 

[bixby]

I assume since the post originator put this in the computer audio thread he or she is using a computer as the source and is using the computer to process the signal via software running on same.

I guess I am a purist, not troll. (can't believe you still referred to Fallen Angel as a troll with your definition) And believe firmly that everything in computer audio matters and adds its little distortions, jitter, grit, anomalies, etc. By minimizing what we can control we do get better sound. For me adding software that is sucking up CPU cycles and memory will undoubtedly affect the sound and add those nasties we are trying to avoid. Not to mention how it uses the operating systems calls to process that audio be it in core audio or audio units or in Windoze.

But if flat frequency response is the goal and damn the distortions, then so be it.

A purist will look at everything to make sure the path is as clean as possible, and that means using the right player, right amount of memory, right storage, storage interfaces, and cpu cycles and memory management. Even file type matters.

And if we bought our headphones for how they sound, then fine, We will deal with their freq anomalies in favor of no added signal anomalies.

cheers

 

[9pintube]

One must do what One enjoys best! I'll take my sound from Headphones or my speakers with the least amount of "CRAP" Electronic Bandages in the signal path..Remember this is just what "I" perfer......do what you need to do, so you get the most from your rig and music.....Happy Listening!

 

[leeperry]

I might have actually found a PRaT EQ: Trident A-Range Equalizer by Softube

still evaluating

PS: OMG, it sounds good! my current opamps have a killer SS, but PRaT is not very high...maybe this will take care of things

 

[ROBSCIX]

EQ like any effect can be great when used as intended and sparingly. I think some get into trouble when they see players etc that have EQ with presets for rock..pop..etc.
They start using this to EQ their source material, and many will suggest that such a procedure is entirely incorrect.
Many audio gurus would suggest using the EQ to equalize your playback gear itself to produce a flat response meaning no peaks or valleys in your response. Many also do a similar procedure with their cans EQ'ing for certain aspects of the ear or balancing the cans themselves. For speaker we delve into subjects such as measured flat response Vs. perceived flat response and house curves etc.
One thing is for sure, EQ'ing itself is a very large topic and one worthy of some study.

 

[leeperry]

hehe, I set up this EQ before doing a bunch of stuff for a few hours IRL:

killing spikes at 7KHz/10KHz and adding harmonic distortion....but I completely forgot that it was enabled

so I came back a few hours later, slowly telling to myself...huh, so break-in does work after all!

PRaT is very high, Trident's are like the Neve Capricorn mixing boards...most sound engineers start salivating when you say that word, I can hear why

who needs burson anymore

and one thing that sucks w/ opamps is that they color your sound, but you cannot EQ it...so annoying.

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif hehe, I set up this EQ before doing a bunch of stuff for a few hours IRL: killing spikes at 7KHz/10KHz and adding harmonic distortion....but I completely forgot that it was enabled so I came back a few hours later, slowly telling to myself...huh, so break-in does work after all! PRaT is very high, Trident's are like the Neve Capricorn mixing boards...most sound engineers start salivating when you say that word, I can hear why who needs burson anymore and one thing that sucks w/ opamps is that they color your sound, but you cannot EQ it...so annoying.

sometimes its like yorue speaking another language

what is PRaT eq?
and what is this 64 bit and 32bit float youre always referencing?

well, now i have ANOTHER eq to try.. thanks a lot!

I spent a while today trying all the modes in Electri-q - ended up sticking with plain old Digital mode.. everything else colored the sound in ways i didnt like... I guess im just a parametric purist

 

[leeperry]

donunus explained it pretty well here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/wha...1/#post4854619

basically some ppl like tubes or discrete designs because they add an harmonic distortion that increases PRaT...and the whole point of that Trident EQ is to do exactly that, give a warm enjoyable sound...that's badly needed in nowadays digital world, sadly.

the higher the processing bit depth, the more accurate it'll be in the end...especially if you stack several instances

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif donunus explained it pretty well here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/wha...1/#post4854619 basically some ppl like tubes or discrete designs because they add an harmonic distortion that increases PRaT...and the whole point of that Trident EQ is to do exactly that, give a warm enjoyable sound...that's badly needed in nowadays digital world, sadly. the higher the processing bit depth, the more accurate it'll be in the end...especially if you stack several instances

Got it - PRat is like a Parliment Funkadelic Mod. It's the bootsy booster

 

[leeperry]

and it works pretty darn fine on "Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft.flac"

 

[Br777]

we need to start a funk appreciation thread... thats it.. im doin it right now! BOOGIE BOOGIE!

Update: Done - Thumpasorous People's FUNK appreciation thread

 

[germanium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif and what is this 64 bit and 32bit float youre always referencing?

64 & 32 bit float is really only needed in the studio during mix down phase of production as it retains full data even if you turn the volume all the way down on a channel then save your work & reopen it later & decide you want to bring the volume back up on that channel. The data is still there so it is easy to recover the volume with no loss. You must of coarse save your data in that format though in order for it to work properly when reopened for later work. Anything beyond 24 bit audio & in many cases even 16 bit audio is sufficient for pop & rock music playback. Some music is so compressed from the studio that you would not even be able to tell the difference between 16 bit or 8 bit audio during playback. Only when the signal drops more than 20 db would you be able to tell the difference in many of these really bad recordings by using 8 bit instead of 16 bit playback medium.

32 bit & 64 bit floating point also helps with proccessing effects. All this data though has the penalty of huge storage requirements such that one album could take up an entire HDD if you are mixing a lot of channels. Not practical for the average consumer especially when 16 bit is more than sufficient in almost all cases.

It is rare that 24 bit audio is needed to capture the full dynamic range of a recording. DACs nowdays are incredably good at dealing with 16 bit data & have very little distortion if dithered. 16 bit dithered can recover 18-19 bit worth of sound even though it is a bit noisy.