[furyossa]

Nice link with good information. Wish I found that before having to experiment endlessly. I use a Creative SB Play3 usb sound card for my mic input and either a qudelix 5k or oppo ha2 for the output. As the link mentioned building a calibration file by looping a 3.5mm cable to both input and output is important.
https://www.worldbolding.com/home/2020/8/3/hyperx-amp-usb-sound-card-2020-review
The dayton mic is a great mic. @assassin10000's setup is quite accurate from 20hz to 10khz.

Oh, and to answer your question regarding separating the signal path from the dayton and dac, yes it is much better to connect the earbuds to the external dac.

Before I bought iRigStream my original choice was:
- Sound BlasterX G1
- Creative Xmod
- HyperX Amp
When I read about the reviews for these devices most users said that these devices "colorize" the sound by default to enhance the gaming experience. Are you check that?
Audio interface is a bit expensive choice but at least signal is clean.

Thank @Sam_L for the info. It will take me a while to examine how this whole DIY rig works. Then I'll do measurement for some buds from my collection and post some tests.
This time I will skip DIY earbuds because some of them are still W.I.P.
I tried PEQ files that you done for PK2 on my DIY PK2 but I'm not happy with the result. Yes, the bass bloat is reduced but other frequencies sound a bit weird.
Even if it is the same driver, the change of the shell itself significantly affects the change of sound. In my case, it's a DOCOMO shell, not PK.

 

[furyossa]

hmmm... I don't agree that a calibration file for the IMM6 shouldn't be used and the dac calibration file alone is enough. The deviations that are corrected by dayton's measurements can add up to altering the resultant measurement. Besides it's pretty simple to just import dayton's file into REW, only takes a couple clicks and you're done.

I also tried with the .cal file but I didn't notice any difference. I'll try again when I assemble this rig.

 

[onedvt]

Just got my replacement Monk Lite 120ohm in. I missed these! Default tuning is pretty terrible, as some of you already know.

VE Monk Lite 120ohm
Version 1.5 Neutral

I'm running wavelet at 70% eq strength.
Guessing Peace/APO will need the "compress" button hit twice (and preamp @ -12dB)

**edit**
I'm actually going to keep it at 100% eq strength for a couple days. Let me know if you try it at 100% and what you think.

Thanks for this, Sam. What would you recommend setting the pre-gain at? Currently using PEQ on the Qudelix 5k connected to an iPhone as my Android phone is being fixed.

 

[furyossa]

I posted earlier a link for a DIY measurement Rig that requires a few devices and proper calibration of Mic and DAC separately.
I also looked around a bit to see if there is a simpler solution, like one external device (sound card) that supports the mic and earphones and has a volume control.
It is also essential that they can work well on older PC/MAC configurations.
These 3 devices are caught my attention
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-g3 .............(test with REW)
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blaster-x3 .............(test with REW)
https://www.eposaudio.com/en/rs/gaming/products/gsx-300-gaming-soundcard-1000201

 

[Sam L]

I posted earlier a link for a DIY measurement Rig that requires a few devices and proper calibration of Mic and DAC separately.
I also looked around a bit to see if there is a simpler solution, like one external device (sound card) that supports the mic and earphones and has a volume control.
It is also essential that they can work well on older PC/MAC configurations.
These 3 devices are caught my attention
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-g3 .............(test with REW)
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blaster-x3 .............(test with REW)
https://www.eposaudio.com/en/rs/gaming/products/gsx-300-gaming-soundcard-1000201

To be honest, I think any of those will work fine. I saw your post on the other thread and agree that there are other variables (os version, etc.) and it can definitely be frustrating to make it all work without paying $500-$1500 for the head unit that often accompanies a good coupler.

One thing to note, you can still get really good results with separate devices. I get good results outputting through a number of portable dacs (qudelix 5k, fiio btk5, fiio btk3, oppo ha2). I get good input with the sb play 3. But the output on this little usb sound card isn't as good as the other dacs -- the 20hz to 250hz range isn't very accurate and there are some random points of distortion in the treble area. The weird thing is the sb play 3 output is better on my macbook than my windows machines. However, I can't get the rest of my dacs to calibrate decently on my macbook, there's a ton of distortion throughout the entire FR.

 

[Sam L]

Thanks for this, Sam. What would you recommend setting the pre-gain at? Currently using PEQ on the Qudelix 5k connected to an iPhone as my Android phone is being fixed.

I'm going to guess around -7dB to -12dB? I'm on a macbook now and can only use regular GEQ settings now. I think I should also generate GEQ settings along with PEQ and Wavelet files from now on, in case there are users who want to just go the GEQ route.

By the way, I love the qudelix 5k peq. It keeps getting better and better as they update firmware after firmware.

 

[waynes world]

By the way, I love the qudelix 5k peq. It keeps getting better and better as they update firmware after firmware.

Don't do that to me

Btw, I hope your facebook meet went well!

 

[Sam L]

Qian 39
v1.5 Bass and Neutral editions

I'm including settings for 10 band GEQ as well as wavelet and PEQ files.

The 39's take EQ well. I'm running the wavelet at 100% eq strength. In peace/apo I'm not needing to hit the "compress" button at all. If you use peace/apo, set the preamp value between -6dB to -10dB. Also, you might consider pressing compress once or twice if you are bothered by upper mid timbre. Excellent, excellent buds after compensation.

 

[Sam L]

Don't do that to me

Btw, I hope your facebook meet went well!

yeah, the qudelix is a great bluetooth dac. But I still use the btk3 often. I know you have the balanced version.

The virtual meetup was a ton of fun. we went 2 hours geeking out on earbuds. @lackOfInspiration is chill but has an intense fascination with all things FR related. I wouldn't be surprised if he publishes an academic paper soon on some aspect on the topic of FR. @mtl171 also joined us after stumbling on to earbuds just a little over a week ago. His general audio knowledge is impressive.

 

[Sam L]

Thanks for this, Sam. What would you recommend setting the pre-gain at? Currently using PEQ on the Qudelix 5k connected to an iPhone as my Android phone is being fixed.

-7.3dB to start. Bump to -10dB if you see any clipping, though I've noticed with peace/apo that just cause the music is clipping doesn't mean there's any degradation in sound on some buds.

 

[furyossa]

To be honest, I think any of those will work fine. I saw your post on the other thread and agree that there are other variables (os version, etc.) and it can definitely be frustrating to make it all work without paying $500-$1500 for the head unit that often accompanies a good coupler.

IMO around $100 is more than enough to make a solid measurement setup for earbuds and IEM's.
A higher price (expensive equipment) would be understandable only in the case where measurements need to be made for headphones as well
I thought Windows was problematic but obviously MAC also has its problems

One thing to note, you can still get really good results with separate devices. I get good results outputting through a number of portable dacs (qudelix 5k, fiio btk5, fiio btk3, oppo ha2). I get good input with the sb play 3. But the output on this little usb sound card isn't as good as the other dacs -- the 20hz to 250hz range isn't very accurate and there are some random points of distortion in the treble area. The weird thing is the sb play 3 output is better on my macbook than my windows machines. However, I can't get the rest of my dacs to calibrate decently on my macbook, there's a ton of distortion throughout the entire FR.

I faced the same problem on my old laptop. On the newer laptop, I managed to do some measurements. iMM6 mic is used with iRigStream and for the earbuds I use iFi ZenDAC. This is what the freq. graphs for the DaturaPro and HE150Pro look like.

 

[furyossa]

The same way I measured the rest. Down below is the REW file for the next buds:
- FAAEAL DaturaPro
- HE150Pro
- NicehckEBX
- Tingo TG-38s
- RY4S_Plus
- S.e.n.f.e.r_KP120 (black filter) If someone is interested in other filters (red and blue), I will make graphs for them as well. Black filter is the best for now
Other buds in the list are DIY
- PK2 (Docomo shell)
- PK1 150ohm "Red-Film" (Docomo shell)

The last two drivers are some of the best DIY drivers on the market
- DIY 400ohm graphene coat
- DIY 600ohm beryllium coat

 

[furyossa]

Here's an interesting one... You'd think that the EQ changes on this bud would sound really different from stock tuning -- not really the case. The changes are subtle and not very pronounced.

I play with some new buds that I bought last week and today I bought a spare pair. I just test to see if there some changes after the >40h break-in period between these two.
I will post more info in a few days about this interesting "retro" model with great tonal balance.

 

[theresanarc]

Qian 39
v1.5 Bass and Neutral editions

I'm including settings for 10 band GEQ as well as wavelet and PEQ files.

The 39's take EQ well. I'm running the wavelet at 100% eq strength. In peace/apo I'm not needing to hit the "compress" button at all. If you use peace/apo, set the preamp value between -6dB to -10dB. Also, you might consider pressing compress once or twice if you are bothered by upper mid timbre. Excellent, excellent buds after compensation.

I'm not sure if I've imported these correctly but on PeaceEQ, the last handful of frequencies are not changing at all on either neutral or bass version, I've tried both. Image below.

 

[Sam L]

I'm not sure if I've imported these correctly but on PeaceEQ, the last handful of frequencies are not changing at all on either neutral or bass version, I've tried both. Image below.

yep, that's because there is no change required. The various "q" values cover the necessary changes in treble area.