Is equalizing for listening with headphones a horrible idea?

[Redcarmoose]

One of the posters put it well previously. EQing does not actually mean dicking around making changes to the sound. Equalizing means flattening the frequency response of the headphone by cancelling out what is I presume deviation in the form of a curve.

This is the Sonarworks True-Fi app. The white line represents the deviation of an LCD-X. When enabled the app equalizes the headphone as indicated by the flat orange line. There's a reddit thread that describes how to try to do this yourself with a free program like EqualizerApo, not sure if I linked it in this thread and can do so upon request. You don't do this by messing around. A number of us who tried the Sonarworks app with our LCD-Xs were quite impressed with the difference this makes. I repeat, this is by far the best bang for the buck in improving the sound of a headphone, beating spending hundreds of dollars more even on DACs and amps, let alone cables. That has been my experience, and even if you get a great DAC and amp each worth over $1k I'm not sure you'd correct or compensate for the crap of an unequalized headphone. I don't have the slightest clue why headphones are released like this, just speaking from my experience.

ScareDe2 is technically not equalizing, by the way. He's experimenting. That just feeds into misconceptions I'd imagine. Equalizing is not about turning the sound into something else, it's about correcting it. That's my understanding of what's happening here anyway.

Anything someone can do to increase their enjoyment of music with their system is great. I’m not knocking what anyone else does but explaining what I have come to believe.

But again you seem to think that the software is taking bad frequency response curves and making them good, which in your explanation is flat. I’m simply saying that some listeners are not looking for flat. Now obviously it could be a tweak after the corrections from the software?

If there was a software which could improve everyone’s experience and slow down the purchasing process or stop the searching....I’m all for it.

I simply like and love the character of my headphones and want to keep them that way.

Still I could be 100% wrong........when revolutionary new process get introduced, it is always with non-acceptance.....always!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm always amused by the logical fallacies people sometimes use when trying to justify their weird biases.
I mean, the logic behind " if you don't like headphone XYZ without EQ, then you just don't like headphone XYZ and you need to get a different set" makes as much sense as, "If the seating position and mirrors and steering wheel in your car don't suit you as it came from the factory, then that car just isn't right for you"

That can be phrased and looked at differently. Like how boosting the bottom the end of a Grado isn't going to result in an HE400i, same way that if somebody is too short or too tall there's no seat, mirror, or steering tilt-tele that will help, same way that too short people will have trouble on some superbikes in stop and go traffic while too tall people will not be able to tuck in behind the windshield for long without having to see a chiropractor.

It depends on how far you'd want or need to go really. I've had the HD600 for ten years (got it real cheap then), and for half that I just used EQ (plus keeping the earpads thicker), so basically I've been using an HD650. Which of course is a shorter jump than between an RS1 and an HE400i.

 

[codythelucario]

did not like the sound of the headphones (a bit too dark and opaque sound for my taste), so I decided to arrange some equalizing setups for these albums and I spent about 40 minutes doing it until I was really satisfied with the results and I was again enjoying my all-time favourites. The sound was now really good compared to my previous headphones: the detail was fantastic and the soundstage was quite enjoyable.

are you me!? I also recently bought my hd599s and my bowers and wilkins px on sale. I hated the sounud profile but after tuning it to the harman curve they are absolutely amazing.

I think it helps but I think a better rule of thumb is to buy headphones that match your sound profile, but otherwise i don't think EQ should be a problem. People who have a problem with it.. just ignore them

So I asked him if he knew something (via link or similar) about how I should equalize for listening music with headphones and all I got for an answer was something like "Equalizing for headphones? Facepalm". I asked him to ellaborate on his answer and he told me that if I didn't like the Hifiman HE4XX right away with a flat EQ setting (i.e., by default), it means that I don't like the headphones and that I should sell them right away and get a new pair of headphones that I really like without the need to equalizing. He went on to tell me that by equalizing I was adding distortion, ruining the detail of the Hifiman and tainting the mix made by the sound engineer. He also said that if I was going to equalize, I could have gotten a pair of Takstar HI2050 for $45 on Aliexpress and gotten the same results.

I've been hearing a lot of this type of answer on EQ from the headphones subreddit on reddit as well as the main audiophile discord server so I can relate to your frustration on this

 

[HWB3]

I use eq and it works for me. It's all about how it sounds to you.

 

[xcluded]

I don't EQ at all.
I like the way how my headphones sound.
I love the way for who they are.

 

[earmonger]

Every headphone frequency response is different. Every recording session is different. Every set of ears is different. If you're not hearing the music the way that sounds best to you, of course you should EQ to your satisfaction. You'd want your regular headphones to be as compatible with your regular listening as possible, of course, but EQ exists for good reasons.

I suppose there are people who have a shelf full of $$$ headphones that are each exquisitely perfect for a certain album or genre without EQ -- like a sommelier's wine cellar with exactly the right match for every dish in every season -- but EQ is more than sensible for those of us who haven't won a lottery lately.

 

[Ufanco]

I‘m not an anti EQ I just prefer to buy my Iem to match as close to sound signature that looking for. Then use things like R2R dac, eartips, different tubes and yes even different cables to fine tune the sound signature to what I enjoy.

Since the Wells Audio Dragon tube amp allows for increasing the tube gain I enjoy experimenting and tinkering around to find what sounds best to my ears.

Some people enjoy using EQ others by hardware changes I don’t feel there's a right way just the way you find most enjoyable.

 

[BobG55]

I use eq and it works for me. It's all about how it sounds to you.

Ditto.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Don't be deterred. The numbskulls who don't use equalizer apps tend to be the same idiots who would use cables to do the same thing instead of cables that just transmit the signal without modifying it (which also doesn't even require any fancy and expensive BS)

Overgeneralizations. I almost never EQ headphones and I don't believe properly constructed cables have sound.

I think it comes downs to whether you're a gear-head or audiophile. I want to listen to music, I don't want to twist knobs.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Overgeneralizations. I almost never EQ headphones and I don't believe properly constructed cables have sound.

I think it comes downs to whether you're a gear-head or audiophile. I want to listen to music, I don't want to twist knobs.

There's a reason why I used "tend to."

Yes it's a generalization.

No it doesn't forget there are exceptions.

 

[Ufanco]

“

Don't be deterred. The numbskulls who don't use equalizer apps tend to be the same idiots who would use cables to do the same thing instead of cables that just transmit the signal without modifying it (which also doesn't even require any fancy and expensive BS), if not also use warmifying boombasticators instead of amplifiers, which, by the very name, should just amplify the signal without adding distortion or noise. And making it more boombastic by warming up the sound is distortion. You might as well apply a targeted EQ profile to actually hit the problematic frequencies, more so when totally flat response doesn't exist yet.

By its very name, "equalize" means to "make frequenciy response equal." First you need to know the response of your headphone to know where it has excessive response or where it is very weak. Second step is to target those frequencies, provided you now understand how equalizer settings work, like Q factor, which affects the width of the effect. Note that cuts are better than boosts since the latter is forcing the driver to do more of something that it can't, so rely more on trimming where it's too strong and minimize auditory masking than relying more on boosting where it's weak and get more driver distortion (excessive bass boost can also damage the drivers).

Based on the measurements below, I'd go with these settings:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MassdropHiFiMANHE4XX.pdf

Center frequency 150hz, Low Shelf filter, Q factor 1.0, Gain +1.0
Center frequency 1800hz, Peak EQ, Q factor 1.0, Gain +3dB
Center frequency 7000hz, Peak EQ, Q factor 1.0, Gain -4dB

There's a reason why I used "tend to."

Yes it's a generalization.

No it doesn't forget there are exceptions.

Really to call others numbskulls and idiots for doing things differently than yourself was a bit unneeded IMHO. Think we can agree to disagree on things without resorting to name calling.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Really to call others numbskulls and idiots for doing things differently than yourself was a bit unneeded IMHO. Think we can agree to disagree on things without resorting to name calling.

Except I didn't used to but then they started doing that when I disagree which showed me that we can not agree to disagree but inviting me to after all that is nothing but gaslighting by this point.

 

[Ufanco]

Sorry you not I refered to others as idiots and numbskulls. The rest of response was confusing at best. Going drop it since it’s off subject.

Except I didn't used to but then they started doing that when I disagree which showed me that we can not agree to disagree but inviting me to after all that is nothing but gaslighting by this point.