How I Turned A Bass-IEM into a balanced/clearer iem
Jul 11, 2013 at 12:03 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 29

Snyper0012

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Okie, just to start off, im using jvc fx3x's which are normally considered bass heavy. What I found that was lacking was the clarity/ sound seperation while playing music. Here are some of the steps i took to make these bass iems sound more balanced/articulate.
Another disclaimer, this requires a portable media player, preferably an android phone that is rooted.
Ok so the first thing i did was analyze my earphones response to frequency. I did this by analyzing a frequency chart from goldenears. I then tuned the equalizer on my phone so that the mids would come out more so that the response was flatter.

Once I did that, i then downloaded an app called viper4android xhifi which restores audio quality especially in treble ranges. I then enabled that alongside my music player and set the bass knob to maximum. Normally when i do this, the mids and highs are overpowered by the excessive bass, but now, the sound is much more balanced. I can hear many more details. Downsides to this are that it still wont be nearly as clear as a balanced iem, and some soundstage may get a bit narrower, but is much better than an untuned sound.
Overall this method should work with anyone with a bassy iem and a rooted android phone. Even on a pc, the equalizer can be set to bring out the mids.
 
Jul 11, 2013 at 5:59 AM Post #2 of 29
Quote:
Okie, just to start off, im using jvc fx3x's which are normally considered bass heavy. What I found that was lacking was the clarity/ sound seperation while playing music. Here are some of the steps i took to make these bass iems sound more balanced/articulate.
Another disclaimer, this requires a portable media player, preferably an android phone that is rooted.
Ok so the first thing i did was analyze my earphones response to frequency. I did this by analyzing a frequency chart from goldenears. I then tuned the equalizer on my phone so that the mids would come out more so that the response was flatter.

Once I did that, i then downloaded an app called viper4android xhifi which restores audio quality especially in treble ranges. I then enabled that alongside my music player and set the bass knob to maximum. Normally when i do this, the mids and highs are overpowered by the excessive bass, but now, the sound is much more balanced. I can hear many more details. Downsides to this are that it still wont be nearly as clear as a balanced iem, and some soundstage may get a bit narrower, but is much better than an untuned sound.
Overall this method should work with anyone with a bassy iem and a rooted android phone. Even on a pc, the equalizer can be set to bring out the mids.

thx man for the app
 
Jul 12, 2013 at 7:36 AM Post #3 of 29
Haha THANKS MAN!
 
Viper4Android FX contains all the EQ tools you need to tune your FX3X.  It even includes an impulse convolver which lets you import any sound effect you create on the computer (can be an arbitrarily complicated EQ profile created by a professional VST parametric equalizer, or even reverb effects) onto your phone!
 
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Jul 12, 2013 at 8:46 AM Post #4 of 29
Here, download the following impulse response file and copy it to <storage>/ViPER4Android/Kernel/
http://www.mediafire.com/?kzc0qb64kr5h8w5
 
and activate Convolver and choose "FX3X" from list of impulse response files
 

 
Image showing the impulse response and its frequency response (inverse of the graph you showed with a little subbass boost so that some of the FX3X's bass power is retained)
 
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Jul 13, 2013 at 5:08 PM Post #7 of 29
It would be highly appreciated if you could make one for the xb90ex
http://en.goldenears.net/index.php?mid=GR_Earphones&page=2&category=112&sort_index=readed_count&order_type=asc&document_srl=17313
 
Jul 14, 2013 at 12:53 AM Post #8 of 29
Quote:
Wowowowowow. Your file is amazing. What program did you use to produce that file?


biggrin.gif

It is created using Audacity to create an impulse (just zoom all the way into a silent audio track and use the pencil tool to draw a peak sample) and then using the VST plugin Electri-Q to EQ the impulse according to the inverse of the response provided by goldenears, with some bass boost left in as mentioned.
 
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Jul 14, 2013 at 12:54 AM Post #9 of 29
Quote:
It would be highly appreciated if you could make one for the xb90ex
http://en.goldenears.net/index.php?mid=GR_Earphones&page=2&category=112&sort_index=readed_count&order_type=asc&document_srl=17313

 
I'll do that when I get home.  Expect it within 24 hours
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Jul 14, 2013 at 1:33 AM Post #11 of 29
It got done faster than I thought
biggrin.gif


 
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/9wnuaas7s414hor/XB90EX-bassy.irs
 
It's theoretically higher fidelity this time, using 32 bit precision instead of 16 bit and making full use of the 16384 taps Viper4Android can process.  But let me know if there are any problems
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Jul 14, 2013 at 9:52 PM Post #12 of 29
Just wondering did you bring out the bass a bit on the eq? I am already using bass boost on my media player (Poweramp) and seem to be getting bass that my headphones cannot process LOL. Are the equalizers you set up mostly flat or did you leave the bass untouched. Its just that i prefer to have a flat equalizer and then use bass boost on my music player instead.
 
Jul 14, 2013 at 10:31 PM Post #13 of 29
Just wondering did you bring out the bass a bit on the eq? I am already using bass boost on my media player (Poweramp) and seem to be getting bass that my headphones cannot process LOL. Are the equalizers you set up mostly flat or did you leave the bass untouched. Its just that i prefer to have a flat equalizer and then use bass boost on my music player instead.
You are probably getting digital clipping as the first impulse response I made for the FX3X was a little "hot" in digital level and did have bass and subbass boost left in. I'll make some completely neutral IRs for you if you want but I think you should use the v4a eq instead of Poweramp to reproduce that deep bass boost :wink: The digital clipping issue can be solved by going to "output gain" (second from bottom of v4a menu" and setting it to a negative value. This will lower the digital level, you just need to up the phone's volume output and the music should play at the same loudness as before, with no bass clipping issue. :D
 
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Jul 14, 2013 at 10:33 PM Post #14 of 29
If you are still using bass boost on Poweramp you may also need to lower its preamp slider to prevent the signal clipping before going to v4a.
 
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Jul 14, 2013 at 10:44 PM Post #15 of 29
Thanks for advice I will try with your options and see if it makes any difference. As for the completely neutral ir's i would love to have those to test also and see if the bass improves.
 

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