[Ghoostknight]

Hello,

im experimenting quite a bit with House Curves lately and tweaking my own "Hourse/Target Curve" and wanna share my experience and my to date best approach imo
this is mostly about Hourse Curves on Speakers but some of it is applicable to headphones to some degree too (i will get into this later)

as EQ im using the "Linux Studio Plugin x32 Parametric EQ" via EasyEffects, i think this is important to note since different EQ implementations can result to different results
i think these following filters just apply truely to the EQ plugin im using which has a "Apo" setting or EqualizerAPO

currently im using two bands

High Shelf, 4500Hz, Q0,36, -3,5dB, "APO" setting (can be set in the plugin im using or what equalizerAPO is using)
- starting from around 600Hz where the steady decline starts at around 1000Hz going to 20kHz
- the 4500Hz can be tweaked, imo for best results the range is around 3500Hz(starting at 400-500Hz) to 14000Hz (starting at 4-5kHz)
- dB can range from 0dB to -10db depending on your preference and setup
- Q of 0.36 is tweaked for smoothest transition possible without "under-shooting"
- Headphones: works quite well imo on headphones that are already corrected by the harman curve (or stock ones for that matter) to get similar response as on speakers with the same house curve

High Shelf, 70Hz, Q0,5, -3,8dB, "APO" setting (can be set in the plugin im using or what equalizerAPO is using)
- this will result in a steady climb of volume from 200hz to around 20hz
- here you can play around with Q and Hz quite a bit depending on your preference, to better understand whats going on i definitely recommend some plugin that can visualize things
- dB can range from 0dB to -10db (if not -15dB) depending on your preference and setup
- Headphones: this one is already included in the harman curve to some degree, so i wouldnt really use it for headphones

i have to say, this is the smoothing eq im using so far, where most if not all music works with, which isnt nessecarly the case with more variable target curves/EQ`s
the db values you prefer on those filters also depend heavily on the listening volume you usually listen to (to some degree these can also be used as loudness compensation)

if you use the Plugin im using also check out the "FIR" setting instead of "IIR" (linear vs minimum phase) and see what you prefer

i choose this parametric equalizer approach to keep it variable, so i can keep tweaking it, which is often not possibly if you just use REW to make a target/house curve for example

Well if you try my housecurve let us know what you think

 

[Ghoostknight]

to maybe visualize things better, this is how the curve looks like (i did take -10db for both filters to make the curve a bit clearer to see)

 

[Ghoostknight]

Another pretty useful setting worth trying, this also shows how versatile only two filters can be, tho i generally prefer some setting like above shown

 

[Ghoostknight]

i should also mention that to make these curves really work you have to go from some "standard" (ideally flat response) either trough harman curve which is pretty close imo to a audible flat response beside the big bass bump or flat response speakers

also i tried quite a few settings over the years but i personally prefer "smooth" applied EQ (low Q), it just sounds better imo