[frtorreira]

Hello,

I got myself a pair of dt880 two weeks ago and enjoy them a lot. However I am little concerned about the treble being a little bit too sibilant sometimes. This of course depends on the recording. Now I am thinking that it would be wise to reduce the spike their frequency response has at 9000Hz by a couple of dB. I have tried with the EQ in my rockboxed ipod and so far it sounds ok.

Can I safely state that I reduced the sibilance of these headphones while still taking advantage of its better attributes, or do you think I will miss something in the long run?

 

[Pibborando]

I have also tried EQing a bit in Rockbox for my DT 880s. I didn't mess with the cutoff freq values but just gradually sloped the response down to -3dB at 12,000Hz. Now that you mention it, and looking at the response graph on Headroom, it would make more sense to address the specific freq spikes.

I would like to better understand how the Rockbox EQ works. What is Q?

 

[frtorreira]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pibborando /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would like to better understand how the Rockbox EQ works. What is Q?

Me too. I have no idea what Q is

Maybe someone else on this forum can help us

 

[Pibborando]

Ok, so reading the manual: Q is how much of the freq spectrum the +/- gain affects. If it's not dumb, that should mean that at 1.0 the gain slopes to the next freq marker, at 0.5 it slopes to half way to the next marker and at 2.0 it the affect goes twice as far as the closest markers. I think.

So here's what I've done
LS: 1.5dB, 160Hz, 1.0Q (this boosts the gradual falloff of low frequencies starting at 160Hz)
PK: -0.5dB, 300Hz, 0.7Q (slightly reduces midbass hump)
PK: 0.5dB, 1,500Hz, 0.5Q (this boosts the little dip at 1,500Hz, affecting only a small area)
PK: -3.0dB, 8,000Hz, 0.5Q (this helps take care of the big spike around 8,000Hz)
HS: -5.0dB, 16,000Hz, 1.0Q (this attenuates the big treble spike starting at 16,000Hz)

Impressions? Slightly more laid back sound, beefier bottom end and vocals are a bit more intimate and smoother. I like.

edit: Adjusted EQ slightly

 

[HFat]

Head over to this old thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=159462

A resourceful member describes his attempts to EQ DT880s with a view to obtaining a flat FR. His conclusions are near the end of the thread obviously but I think you should skim the whole thing.

 

[wovenhand]

Q = Bandwidth. How much or little nearby frequencies of the centre frequency is being affected by cut/boost. The higher the value, the narrower the bandwidth. A too narrow Q will induce phase artefacts.

 

[Pibborando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wovenhand /img/forum/go_quote.gif The higher the value, the narrower the bandwidth.

Oh, drat. I had it backwards. Time to adjust.

 

[wovenhand]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pibborando /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, drat. I had it backwards. Time to adjust.

That's how it is on pro audio EQ's anyway, if the EQ you are using has 1 as maximum value, that's still pretty wide comparing to pro audio EQ's who can go as high as 12-15.
Q's that high are never used to boost though, but rather to notch out annoying freq's (like ringing from a steel snare). You CAN of course use to boost, but the phase artifacting from a Q that high will sound very weird and resonant.
Sorry to go all comic book-guy on you.

 

[Pibborando]

No it's cool. The Q in Rockbox goes from 0.5 to 6.something. I adjusted my settings again, and here's what I've got:

LS: 1.5dB, 160Hz, 0.7
PK: 0.5dB, 1550Hz, 2.0
PK: 0.5dB, 5200Hz, 2.0
PK: -2.0dB, 9000Hz, 1.0
HS: 0.0B, 14000Hz, 0.7

Precut at -1.5dB

Gonna do some A/Bing now.

edit: Ok, changed the 9000Hz one to -2.0dB because I think -3.0 takes away too much sparkle.

 

[oak3x]

Curious, which model DT880 do you guys have...250 ohm, 600 ohm

 

[Pibborando]

Says in my sig. '05 250ohm.

 

[Pibborando]

Hooked the AE-1 to the computer and tried some EQing in foobar2000. Here's what I've settled on:

0, -1, -1, -2, -3, -3, -3, -3, -3, -4, -3, -4, -4, -3, -5, -6, -1, -3

Since -3dB is the new average, I've just turned up the AE-1 so it's twice as loud as normal, which equals the same perceived volume of before without EQ. Definitely smoother and more natural sounding. Vocals no longer have the hard high energy edge they did before and and the bottom end is nicely fuller.

edit: slight adjustment

 

[Pibborando]

Man, this adjustment has brought out my dormant bass-head side. Listening to BT - Never Gonna Come Back Down (Hybrid's Echoplex Dub) Sooo gooood!

 

[frtorreira]

I have settled on -3dB at 9KHz. This removes the unwanted sibilance. Apart from this issue I really like these headphones.

 

[tbonner1]

-3 db is not that bad.

You could also try cabling changes to help reduce the bright treble.