So before going into it too much, yes JRiver has a digital EQ, it's in their DSP Studio settings. There is a parametric, but for the sake of this comparison I am trying to keep it simple. First off, the EQ set flat and then switched on or off produced much less of an effect than I anticipated. Can I hear it? Yes. It's a very thin veil over the whole presentation, VERY subtle and maybe without the HE-400 I could not tell. I'm impressed, but it's still a degradation in detail, maybe even less dynamic?
My test music is "Jazz at the Pawnshop" in 24/88 directly out of the AQ DragonFly, I decided to leave the Lyr out of the equation. I used "Jazz at the Pawnshop" because not only is it an incredible recording, it is live and the amount of ambient noise and sense of space is amazing, there are glasses clinking,the phone rings every now and again, you can hear people talking, it's truly an amazing listen, music is good too!
Okay, so based on this reportedly good frequency response graph of the V2 HE400 as shown above, as others have said it's good to roll off at about 8-15K. I have tried this and tried several different amounts of cut and no matter what i do it kills the detail in the recording, sucks the air out of the room and makes the detail go away. The EQ has settings at 1K, 3K, 6K, 12K, 14K and 16K (of course there are other settings, these are the ones that are applicable). So, i tried a little bit of a cut (1 or 2 db) at 6K and then got a little more aggressive at the other frequencies, never going more than 4-5 db down. I just don't like what it does to the overall sense of space and detail. It jsut makes it sound dull and 2 dimensional
So what I think I've learned over the last week of ownership of the HE-400 is that system matching is crucial. I've also learned that my DragonFly is better than my NAD SACD/DVD-Audio player and the Lyr is a fantastic match for the HE-400, like they were made for each other!
One other comment I'd like to make to guys/gals that are newer to the hobby: the bass, mids and treble are what you hear the most, the frequency response that we all hear and notice right away. But then there is also, just as important and maybe even more so to some, the spatial presentation, sound stage, depth, transparency, layering, whatever words you want to use to describe it, I like to describe it as the difference in 2D listening (bass, mid, treble) and 3D listening (space and layering). It's all important, but some just hear the 2D part and not the 3D part. I'm not sure if some just CAN'T hear it or they just need time to appreciate it.
So I have tried it and I say "no go" for me, not saying anyone else is wrong, but I will leave the EQ option unchecked on my rig. Can we still have a cyber hug?