How to equalize your headphones: A Tutorial

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Using 32 or 64 bit data length wont do much to improve the quality of an EQ in this scenario. It's only useful in a studio situation where you're stacking lots of effects. You still get ringing, phase distortion (if you're in analog mode), and if your Q is sharper than 0.6 you're likely to get audible distortion outside of the intended EQ band.

good point, but these resonating freqs have to be killed anyway...

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Using 32 or 64 bit data length wont do much to improve the quality of an EQ in this scenario. It's only useful in a studio situation where you're stacking lots of effects. You still get ringing, phase distortion (if you're in analog mode), and if your Q is sharper than 0.6 you're likely to get audible distortion outside of the intended EQ band.

Possibly, but personally I feel that those problems are preferable to a hugely distorted frequency response. I haven't noticed any anomalies so yet, so I'm feeling pretty good here.

 

[leeperry]

well I've found a PMEQ that sounds really good in the trebles I think :

it's available here : Magnus' plugins

Quote:

a gorgeous parametric EQ that can process treble right up to the Nyquist frequency — the highest frequency that can be represented in digital audio without aliasing. Most other digital eqs have great problems producing a natural sound here.

it's all by ear, no settings....it took me 2 mins to find the right settings, and it doesn't sound metallic anymore yet not muffled either

it's my favorite PMEQ by far now, but I might try more

 

[PiccoloNamek]

If it is good, I will add it to the list. It seems to be a lot less fully featured than Electri-Q, though.

Also, I am going to recommend that the older version of SineGen be used for now. The new one is slightly crippled. The older version has the ability to create a list of frequencies, each frequency having its own amplitude. Once you have found the resonant peaks, it is possible to create a list that contains a reference frequencies (say 500hz and 1000hz) to compare to the resonant frequency at several different amplitudes. Here, take a look:

Here I am comparing 500 and 1000hz to different levels of 7500hz. Higher level numbers equal lower amplitudes (kind of counter intuitive, but whatever). By quickly switching back and forth between my reference frequencies and the resonant frequency I can quickly discover which amplitude is the correct one and create my equalization based on that.

Hopefully the master interface in the newer versions of SineGen will be fixed soon, then it will also have this functionality.

 

[leeperry]

yep it's very clean in the trebles, nothing like the other EQ I tried...it sounds very natural and leaves the soundstage intact, finally my DT770 gives

when I turn it off, it sounds as if I were using this one instead...so much for 100% bit-perfect

 

[leeperry]

don't you think this EQ is actually fixing the resonances in the cups

everyone says it's a lot harder to make closed phones than opened ones..

anyway, I think I've found some perfect settings in that NyquistEQ...it sounds very natural, yet not metallic anymore

..looks like you're not gonna get that sticky either, did you PM the mods?

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif don't you think this EQ is actually fixing the resonances in the cups everyone says it's a lot harder to make closed phones than opened ones.. anyway, I think I've found some perfect settings in that NyquistEQ...it sounds very natural, yet not metallic anymore ..looks like you're not gonna get that sticky either, did you PM the mods?

In what range of frequencies are those dips?

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif don't you think this EQ is actually fixing the resonances in the cups everyone says it's a lot harder to make closed phones than opened ones.. anyway, I think I've found some perfect settings in that NyquistEQ...it sounds very natural, yet not metallic anymore ..looks like you're not gonna get that sticky either, did you PM the mods?

I've thought about PMing a mod, but I'm not sure if they'd go for it. There's a lot of negative feelings about EQ, and this forum is primarily about buying and trying headphones, trying to find the right one, rather than sticking with just one and flattening out the FR.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've thought about PMing a mod, but I'm not sure if they'd go for it. There's a lot of negative feelings about EQ, and this forum is primarily about buying and trying headphones, trying to find the right one, rather than sticking with just one and flattening out the FR.

yeah, like spending zillions of cash on a super-awesome tube amp that will EQ the trebles "naturally" you mean?

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT /img/forum/go_quote.gif In what range of frequencies are those dips?

not sure, this EQ works by ear...not figures

anyway I've got a bunch of tracks I use to check that my EQ is fine...and I think I need a third band like this :

this fixes the gap between the HRTF graphs Beyer got from their dummy simulator and MY ears...and I like it A LOT

 

[leeperry]

@Piccolo : if I remember well, you said the sine.wav was not resonating at all on your STAX phones...except for these 2 bands?

my 770 is resonating like CRAZY in the trebles on the sine.wav, to the level that I'm wondering if it's even possible to "fix" it

I need much more drastic EQ than 2 small notches

 

[PiccoloNamek]

The DT770s and the DT series in general all have very spiky treble. My headphones probably do not have very much inherent nonlinearity in their response, so it was easier for me.

 

[leeperry]

but do you think that ANY headphone can be "fixed"?
my test track is "nick cave - red right hand" and getting the voice resonances-free for the whole song would take a miracle I think

getting the sine.wav to sound perfectly linear doesn't seem doable..

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Theoretically, any headphone can be brought to a mostly flat response using EQ.

Also, I don't use music test tracks, I use SineGen and/or pink noise to see exactly what needs to be done. Test tracks are for confirmation after you've found the correct response.

I sent a message to a mod about getting this stickied. Be sure to voice your support.

 

[gregorio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSonicSmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sinewaves do not get reproduced with perfect smooth arcs as they do with analogue gear, but in stepped notch like patterns that only resemble sine waves if you're drunk or legally blind.

Sorry but this post was so inaccurate I had to respond. Sine waves do get reproduced perfectly, this is a basic tenet of digital audio theory. True they are not usually quite like the output of analogue gear because analogue gear can actually distort the sine waves whereas with digital it is perfect. However, some listeners prefer the analogue distortion to the perfect digital reproduction. What gets output from a DAC is definitely not stepped notch patterns but smooth perfect waveforms.

G

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Thank you for that. I had been meaning to reply to that for a while, but never quite got around to it and eventually forgot.