[jerg]

Quote:

There's a major dip in most people's hearing around 9kHz. It's the quietest frequency below 15kHz aside from the bass. That's probably why so many headphones have a peak right there.

Huh, TIL.

 

[Okamoto]

I just did the sinegen test again just to confirm, and found a bit different "bad spots". It's 7.5khz and 12khz instead of 7.7 and 11.
 
First time i listened i thought it was arround 2~3k and 4~5k, but it really is arround 7 and 12.

 

[Okamoto]

Just equalized it with Electri-q and voilà. No more sibilance(much less, at least).
 
I prefer it without equalization though. I'm afraid it sacrifices some detail, and i'm a detailfag.

 

[sbtruitt]

I understand EQing to user preference, but to fix a considerable problem I'm not sure.  I have seen a few mention that they have found EQ settings that have improved sibilance, but there does not seem to be a silver bullet for those who are reporting it.  I have no experience with Foobar or other equalization software.  I'm under the assumption that they actually assuming control of the computer's audio properties, so is it correct that I could use with MOG and youtube?

I have personally given up on Foobar as of a few days ago.  I had some contention using it with the Wasapi driver as I was switching DACs in an out.  I've moved over to Winamp, and as a preference, I'm happier, and my issues have gone away.  

I basically drop the 6 KHz frequency down a bit and problems are solved.  I don't feel that the EQ masks anything, it just controls the response, so that frequency is "tamed."  You can control the amount of reduction that you want.  Usually, just a few dB does it.  Plus, when reducing that frequency down, it only eliminated the sibilants for me, but doesn't remove any of the other sound qualities that I enjoy.

+ 1 A little EQ judiciously applied can almost always help, as no one headphone will do everything everybody wants, especially as everyone has a different set of ears, and different music is mixed/mastered differently.

I've never met a live musician/band, room/speakers, or headphone I couldn't make better to my ears by using EQ. Granted, headphones have less variables than room acoustics to content with, but still benefit to a bit of EQing to get the best sound. I have no problem with worrying about what the 'original' sound was, as this is impossible given what it was mixed/mastered on is not what you will be listening to it through. It's just another way to get closer to that sound nirvana we are all looking for

 

[beaver316]

Man Electri-Q is such a hassle for me. It doesn't save and load my custom preset correctly.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Quote:

I think Winamp is incredibly simple and minimalistic. I love it...been using it since...well, basiclally for like 10 years.



That's what I have on the bottom right of my desktop screen. That's all I need.

 




Foobar is about 100X better 

 

[chewy4]

Foobar's library management is pretty terrible, so I don't use it for regular listening.

 

[Okamoto]

Quote:

Man Electri-Q is such a hassle for me. It doesn't save and load my custom preset correctly.

Never had a problem with it here at all.
 
Great program.
 
I just with there was a peak curve type that emphasized more on a specific frequency. Peak II which aparently is the best for me here, is bringing the 8's and 9's a bit down too.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Foobar is about 100X better 

 
I would have preferred to stay on Foobar, but when it started flaking on me, I had to jump ship.  There will be no 100% solution that will suit all of us at the same time.  That is why there are options, which is a good thing.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Quote:

Foobar's library management is pretty terrible, so I don't use it for regular listening.

I don't see how the library management is terrible, I have no problem what so ever managing my library (about 10,000 songs). I can get to anything I'm interested in listening to in a second or two without a problem. MediaMonkey, VLC, Winamp, Windows Media Player, Foobar etc. None are really better or worse for media management really, they are all easy to use as soon as you are familiar with using them.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Foobar is about 100X better 

That is WAY too busy for me. I prefer a simple app style window, as I posted. I have foobar, and I don't care for it, at all. At the most, I expand Winamp to show the playlist right under. That's it. I don't care for album cover, description or other such nonsense. I care about the music, play, pause, and skip. That's about it.

 

[sbtruitt]

Same here, to my ears there seems to be a major dip around 9kHz or so, bracketed by two treble peaks. Could be an artifact of the amp or a ringing peak in disguise though.

There's a major dip in most people's hearing around 9kHz. It's the quietest frequency below 15kHz aside from the bass. That's probably why so many headphones have a peak right there.

Yeah, our ears don't hear the same frequencies proportionately thoughout the audible range:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour
There a paragraph on headphones in that which is interesting.

 

[Okamoto]

Foobar > Your lives

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

Foobar's library management is pretty terrible, so I don't use it for regular listening.

 
What i do is use MusicBee for library management, and foobar for playback. So all my songs are organized in MusicBee, and I simply click on a song and hotkey, which I choose, to launch the song in foobar. Best of both worlds, MusicBee for management, and Foobar for playback.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

I don't see how the library management is terrible, I have no problem what so ever managing my library (about 10,000 songs). I can get to anything I'm interested in listening to in a second or two without a problem. MediaMonkey, VLC, Winamp, Windows Media Player, Foobar etc. None are really better or worse for media management really, they are all easy to use as soon as you are familiar with using them.

You can't even remove anything from your library without making the files hidden or removing them from the directory they're in.
 
I haven't seen any screenshots of it where it's set up in the way I want it to be either. But I'm not even going to bother with that when I can't even manage which individual files I want to appear in my library, that's a dealbreaker for me.