[joseluishs]

When i had the Arya Stealth, I found EQing for harman killed the magic in the headphones. So boring.

Same here!

 

[szore]

I don't get EQ...to me it ruins the fidelity of the headphone...musicality and engagement collapses.

 

[chargedcapacitor]

I don't get EQ...to me it ruins the fidelity of the headphone...musicality and engagement collapses.

That's like saying you don't want X amount of salt added to a particular meal because it becomes overpowering. Everyone has a salt preference, and it may be more or less than what the chef puts in the dish.

EQ is the same. If EQ makes the headphone sound worse, then you are using EQ the wrong way.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "user friendly" EQ approach; that's why Apple and other device manufactures avoid having it available in their device. For many headphone and audio enthusiast, properly implementing EQ is too difficult or confusing in technicality. Properly setting up EQ will always require a certain aptitude and understanding of software and audio science.

 

[szore]

That's like saying you don't want X amount of salt added to a particular meal because it becomes overpowering. Everyone has a salt preference, and it may be more or less than what the chef puts in the dish.

EQ is the same. If EQ makes the headphone sound worse, then you are using EQ the wrong way.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "user friendly" EQ approach; that's why Apple and other device manufactures avoid having it available in their device. For many headphone and audio enthusiast, properly implementing EQ is too difficult or confusing in technicality. Properly setting up EQ will always require a certain aptitude and understanding of software and audio science.

I respectfully disagree....but you enjoy your EQ and have a nice day.

 

[joseluishs]

That's like saying you don't want X amount of salt added to a particular meal because it becomes overpowering. Everyone has a salt preference, and it may be more or less than what the chef puts in the dish.

EQ is the same. If EQ makes the headphone sound worse, then you are using EQ the wrong way.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "user friendly" EQ approach; that's why Apple and other device manufactures avoid having it available in their device. For many headphone and audio enthusiast, properly implementing EQ is too difficult or confusing in technicality. Properly setting up EQ will always require a certain aptitude and understanding of software and audio science.

I agree. EQ has to do also with the user’s taste, not only to please a graph or the preferences of another person. Using EQ might be one of the most musical and healthy practices that audiophiles can do!

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I don't get EQ...to me it ruins the fidelity of the headphone...musicality and engagement collapses.

If you limit yourself to implementations that have only a few bands, or low Qs (wide instead of narrow adjustments), most EQ changes will likely seem unnatural. If you define "fidelity" as hearing the headphone as it sounds, then of course EQ will act against that. But if you define fidelity in terms of how the recording sounds, as far as I know, there are very much standards on what constitutes "neutral" speakers in a studio environment, and as such, EQing toward something close to that (which Harman and diffuse-field aim to do) is going to bring you much further toward "fidelity" than sticking with just one of the myriads of frequency response flavours offered by headphone manufacturers. A "neutral" frequency response means passing through the original recording without any boosting or reduction of frequency content. Most headphones severely colour the sound, which is by definition not "high-fidelity", but you are free to enjoy those sound signatures if you acknowledge that. Taking a look at https://www.spinorama.org/scores.html (click on the "Reviews" for frequency response measurements), you will see that the frequency response deviations in the speaker mind studio monitor world are substantially less than what we find in the headphone world, though beyond that, one has more major and inconsistent variations introduced by room acoustics, such resolved with room treatment and EQ.

Anyways, yes, there is quite a learning curve, but with huge rewards. Someone already posted a video, and I've posted links to my own EQ work as well as a recommendation for the Arya Stealth. You will at the minimum need to understand how to read frequency response charts. If you are using a good digital implementation of EQ such as Equalizer APO and are properly applying digital preamps to prevent boosts from causing digital clipping, that EQ should be effectively completely transparent. The aim of EQ here is first to try to restore something close to the original studio monitor sound, then to adjust to your preference if you don't like what the mixer did. EQ when done by ear with the help of sine sweeps and pink noise can also substantially clean up various treble peaks or midrange bloat that you may have had no idea were compromising the clarity and vividness of your listening experience. E.g. You may have not realized that all that constant "air" in the top octave was actually noise accentuated by a peak that could be EQed down. Turning on the EQ profile for my Arya Stealth and Meze Elite is literally like "lifting a veil". Everything is balanced. Timbre sounds correct. All warmth and fullness passes through just fine, and I can add or decrease certain qualities as I please.

 

[joseluishs]

I agree. EQ has to do also with the user’s taste, not only to please a graph or the preferences of another person. Using EQ might be one of the most musical and healthy practices that audiophiles can do!

Wild thought - by using EQ to your taste, you become an extension to the mastering engineers (within your own personal little world)

 

[galushsen]

I respectfully disagree....but you enjoy your EQ and have a nice day.

I totally agree with you. The graph reading and EQ is hyped a lot in threads of “not so well” measured headphones. There are different EQ implementations, but they all degrade the sound. Some more, some less, there is no perfect DSP.

I guess EQers just focus mostly on frequency response feeling and ignore the subtle details in sound.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I totally agree with you. The graph reading and EQ is hyped a lot in threads of “not so well” measured headphones. There are different EQ implementations, but they all degrade the sound. Some more, some less, there is no perfect DSP.

I guess EQers just focus mostly on frequency response feeling and ignore the subtle details in sound.

That "all" EQ degrades the sound is just your and a number of others' opinion. Now of course, there are other headphone factors independent of frequency response. Arguably, EQ can precisely make those "subtle details" easier to hear if done properly, namely to fill dips and tame peaks so that no details are masked by other frequencies.

 

[joseluishs]

I totally agree with you. The graph reading and EQ is hyped a lot in threads of “not so well” measured headphones. There are different EQ implementations, but they all degrade the sound. Some more, some less, there is no perfect DSP.

I guess EQers just focus mostly on frequency response feeling and ignore the subtle details in sound.

I agree with you. EQ can degrade the sound quality. What about this thought: the sound was already degraded with the sub optimal frequency response of the headphone to begin with…

Also, guys… EQ is getting better and faster. We are getting closer to the era of true transparent EQ - it’s exiting to think about it that way. I personally love the EQ on the Mojo 2 and on the Walkman NW-WM1AM2. On the RME is fine too.

 

[joseluishs]

That "all" EQ degrades the sound is just your and a number of others' opinion. Now of course, there are other headphone factors independent of frequency response. Arguably, EQ can precisely make those "subtle details" easier to hear if done properly, namely to fill dips and tame peaks so that no details are masked by other frequencies.

That’s true… HD800 S’ 6K peak is so easy to clean up with EQ.

 

[galushsen]

That "all" EQ degrades the sound is just your and a number of others' opinion. Now of course, there are other headphone factors independent of frequency response. Arguably, EQ can precisely make those "subtle details" easier to hear if done properly, namely to fill dips and tame peaks so that no details are masked by other frequencies.

Respectfully, this is not so easy. Headphones are limited sound reproducers, which are not perfect. You can make frequency response similar to reference, but frequency response is not the only property.

By adjusting FR to your preference, you just add counter-influence to the sound to compensate the FR And this will not make headphones sound less distorted.

The result of EQ may sound better for your ears, but this is the same preference topiс, as everything else in our hobby. We all listen to music the way we like it

 

[chargedcapacitor]

Aww shoot. I derailed the thread to arguing over EQ again. Let's call it a draw and move back to the topic at hand

 

[szore]

I agree. EQ has to do also with the user’s taste, not only to please a graph or the preferences of another person. Using EQ might be one of the most musical and healthy practices that audiophiles can d

That’s true… HD800 S’ 6K peak is so easy to clean up with EQ.

And the musicality and engagement collapses.

 

[joseluishs]

And the musicality and engagement collapses.

Not for me thankfully it enhances its musicality (for me)