[trollbearpig]

Does anyone here use Muse EQ on susvara and think they’ve improved the sound ? Everytime I try it just comes out sounding worse stock tuning is

 

[newToAudio100]

Does anyone here use Muse EQ on susvara and think they’ve improved the sound ? Everytime I try it just comes out sounding worse stock tuning is

Neverv tried eq with susvara and never wanted to. The harmon curve seems like a joke to me. Susvara tuning is my favorite. I had the thought cross my mind to try and add a tapered bass shelf of 0db to 3db from 40hz to 20hz for gaming. Not because the susvara lacks bass. It actually hits hard, punchy and flat. Just because for movies/games years ago I used to use svs subwoofers and was used to heavier than normal sub bass. Never did it because it was just a fleeting thought.

Susvara has plenty of bass so I won't even bother. Also Abyss AB 1266 phi tc is the best headphone I've tried for gaming. If I really want the biggest soundstage and most natural realistic sound for ambient gaming I will use abyss + niimbus. I have also never used EQ with abyss.

My favorite headphone to EQ was hd800s. I would add some bass and that headphone became a monster. -5db pre gain, +0db to +5db tapered gain from 120hz to 20hz, abrupt to +0db for 10hz and below. Abyss still has better open bass than hd800s. The soundstage on the abyss is also wider than hd800s.

 

[plumpudding2]

Does anyone here use Muse EQ on susvara and think they’ve improved the sound ? Everytime I try it just comes out sounding worse stock tuning is

I usually give the Susvara +1 on the bass knob and -1 on the treble knob on my HM1. Tried Oratory's EQ but you lose the magic.
To my ears the Sus sounds significantly bassier than it measures, I like my harman bass shelf but Susvara to my ears sounds like it only has a tiny bit less than that and certainly not 6db.

 

[Alpexis]

The only Susvara EQ that made sense for my ears was the paid filterset by Accurate Sound. Adds bass and removes some of the upper end energy. One could argue it removes some of Susvara's main traits, since you will experience a more neutral Susvara. Then again, it highlights in a different way how fantastic this headphone is.

 

[thefitz]

i was hoping that we might have moved on from the asr 'noise' by now

It invokes the word "science" in a post-COVID world and quantitatively convinces noobs and dorks that they're smarter than everyone else for spending less money.

They are an Unstoppable force that needs to be dunked upon at all times.

I tried oratory's harman EQ on the Susvara and it sounds terrible. Bloated bass and honky mids. The stock tuning is far superior for music reproduction. Maybe the harman curve sounds good when listening at 120db like Amir but I want to preserve my eardrums. I also don't have to worry about that pesky 114db inaudible distortion.

Being able to EQ a headphone precisely to Harman really does let everyone know how unpleasant that Target curve is. Hollow in the lower mids, very intense in the bass, and quite crispy in the upper frequencies. Invaluable as a reference point when comparing headphones, as you can factor out tuning and hear the difference in the technicalities alone.

If "compliance" to the Harman target is what you're looking for, you're going to find an unpleasant sounding headphone. But then again, a dude that uses the phrase "earlobe resonance" unironically probably isn't very wise.

 

[theveterans]

It invokes the word "science" in a post-COVID world and quantitatively convinces noobs and dorks that they're smarter than everyone else for spending less money.

They are an Unstoppable force that needs to be dunked upon at all times.

 

[theveterans]

I've seen them discard Dan Clark's idea from one of his CanJam seminar videos of where detail can potentially come from and ASR discredited that since it doesn't align to their version of science

 

[thefitz]

I've seen them discard Dan Clark's idea from one of his CanJam seminar videos of where detail can potentially come from and ASR discredited that since it doesn't align to their version of science

What a shame! Amir's reference/only can is the Stealth, since it uses metamaterials to exactly align to Harman. I wonder if he'll find a problem with it now.

Double tangent: imagine if DCA got into the Mod business again, making metamaterial inserts for famous headphones? Maybe even tuned to your preference?

 

[MartussDer]

I tried oratory's harman EQ on the Susvara and it sounds terrible. Bloated bass and honky mids. The stock tuning is far superior for music reproduction. Maybe the harman curve sounds good when listening at 120db like Amir but I want to preserve my eardrums. I also don't have to worry about that pesky 114db inaudible distortion.

I also tried oratory peq in my susvara and sounds terrible.
My lcd4 sounds better than susvara with the oratory eq.
Maybe we are adding to much distortion to the headphone with this eq.

 

[theveterans]

I also tried oratory peq in my susvara and sounds terrible.
My lcd4 sounds better than susvara with the oratory eq.
Maybe we are adding to much distortion to the headphone with this eq.

Software DSP and EQ takes away resolution to me unless they're programmed deeply on the hardware level (e.g. digital filter level or through FPGA). That's why I'm not a fan of those and they also create phase manipulation resulting to poorer sound unlike tuning with amp topology and impedance matching (damping factor) with Susvara

 

[Rhamnetin]

Neverv tried eq with susvara and never wanted to. The harmon curve seems like a joke to me. Susvara tuning is my favorite. I had the thought cross my mind to try and add a tapered bass shelf of 0db to 3db from 40hz to 20hz for gaming. Not because the susvara lacks bass. It actually hits hard, punchy and flat. Just because for movies/games years ago I used to use svs subwoofers and was used to heavier than normal sub bass. Never did it because it was just a fleeting thought.

Susvara has plenty of bass so I won't even bother. Also Abyss AB 1266 phi tc is the best headphone I've tried for gaming. If I really want the biggest soundstage and most natural realistic sound for ambient gaming I will use abyss + niimbus. I have also never used EQ with abyss.

My favorite headphone to EQ was hd800s. I would add some bass and that headphone became a monster. -5db pre gain, +0db to +5db tapered gain from 120hz to 20hz, abrupt to +0db for 10hz and below. Abyss still has better open bass than hd800s. The soundstage on the abyss is also wider than hd800s.

The Harman curve isn't a joke, it's the best approximation we have for a linear speaker frequency response in a headphone. This is obvious if you compare the tone of a headphone like the DCA E3 (that is - one that follows the Harman curve and generally performs well) to that of a speaker that measures linearly. It's why the E3 is the only headphone I've listened to that has a tonality that reminds me of my 3-way monitors. Of course, not everyone will prefer this.

The research is sound, but EQing a headphone can be tricky as it can introduce distortion artifacts. Some headphones take EQ better than others, like those with extremely low distortion and those with a frequency response not too far from your EQ target.

 

[helloh3adfi]

The only Susvara EQ that made sense for my ears was the paid filterset by Accurate Sound. Adds bass and removes some of the upper end energy. One could argue it removes some of Susvara's main traits, since you will experience a more neutral Susvara. Then again, it highlights in a different way how fantastic this headphone is.

This looks like a flat response you see in speaker measurements. Is the treble also flat?

 

[BassicScience]

The Harman curve isn't a joke, it's the best approximation we have for a linear speaker frequency response in a headphone. This is obvious if you compare the tone of a headphone like the DCA E3 (that is - one that follows the Harman curve and generally performs well) to that of a speaker that measures linearly. It's why the E3 is the only headphone I've listened to that has a tonality that reminds me of my 3-way monitors. Of course, not everyone will prefer this.

No, it is not "obvious". You are making a subjective assessment and presenting it as an objective fact. This is analogous to what ASR does in the subjective section of their headphone reviews, wherein one man's preferences and opinions are elevated to a de facto reference standard by his adherents. I own both the Susvara and the E3, and find the Susvara's presentation a much closer approximation of my speakers (Vandersteen Treo CT). Both of the headphones have excellent "neutral" tonality IMO, but the Susvara easily bests the E3 in soundstaging, which is a key element in emulating the presentation of a speaker setup. If you want to claim that soundstaging in headphones is "not real" because science can't explain it, then unfortunately we have no basis for further conversation on the topic.

 

[theveterans]

If you want to claim that soundstaging in headphones is "not real" because science can't explain it, then unfortunately we have no basis for further conversation on the topic.

FTFY: ASR worshipper's version of science. Real science is a trade secret among manufacturers and the R&D behind them, following the true scientific method of producing excellent sounding products.

 

[Rhamnetin]

No, it is not "obvious". You are making a subjective assessment and presenting it as an objective fact. This is analogous to what ASR does in the subjective section of their headphone reviews, wherein one man's preferences and opinions are elevated to a de facto reference standard by his adherents. I own both the Susvara and the E3, and find the Susvara's presentation a much closer approximation of my speakers (Vandersteen Treo CT). Both of the headphones have excellent "neutral" tonality IMO, but the Susvara easily bests the E3 in soundstaging, which is a key element in emulating the presentation of a speaker setup. If you want to claim that soundstaging in headphones is "not real" because science can't explain it, then unfortunately we have no basis for further conversation on the topic.

What's the frequency response like on those speakers? You make it seem like I was saying the E3 sounds more like any speaker and are thus insinuating all speakers have the same frequency response/tone.

I wasn't speaking of sound stage, as that's just inherently going to be not very comparable between speakers and headphones. Only tonality. Ignoring my subjective impressions, Harman's target curve is the best approximation of a speaker with a linear frequency response that has been discovered so far.