[coolchu001]

I was messing with the Razer AC-1's control panel last night and I A/B for about an hr with a few songs with the EQ off/on and immediately I noticed that the music was a lot smoother when the EQ was turned off. I used my D2000 via optical into the Zero amp. Anyways, the bass was a lot more settled (even though I didn't turn up the low freq on the EQ before) everything just sounded so different. The vocals seem to be brought out more too. Then today, I tried to turn on the EQ features and the Dolby Digital feature on the Razer card and do some more comparison, but nothing happened. It seems like what I did last night messed up the control panel settings somehow. I reinstalled the driver and software and still the EQ and enhancement features didn't work. Oh well, I actually prefer all of that to be off. I didn't think turning off the EQ would actually improve the music so much, I always thought the EQ is there to fine tune the music. I use to have an EQ that was skewed to the high freq and on iTunes an EQ similar to the Latin preset. Now my settings are EQ OFF on the soundcard software, and a slightly modified Flat EQ on iTunes. Maybe I was doing the EQ settings wrong all along??

 

[mr.khali]

I have been wondering about this very same thing. I don't know if this is the right area to post it though. Perhaps under Computer As Source?

 

[coolchu001]

Well I'm not sure if it is turning the EQ off improves the sound quality, or perhaps my D2000s finally burned in and my Zero amp is starting to sound better... that these don't require any EQ enhancement.

 

[feh1325]

EQ boosts frequencies artificially so it distorts music

 

[krmathis]

In my opinion EQ's do more harm than good.
They ass distortion, which is probably the reason why you prefer the sound when the EQ are turned off.

Just like I do...

 

[donunus]

Some music playback software like windows media player also do dynamic compression when you boost frequencies on the equalizer to prevent clipping. The resulting sound is not natural. The only time I use eq on my laptop is when i use my sr60s with flats. I use the eq to compensate for the bass proximity effect of the supraaural flat pads to give a more even sound. The eq on winamp, which is the one i use with my sr60/flats is not that bad actually.

 

[Akabeth]

Self explanatory no..?

EQ = distortion
I mean you can use it to tailor the sound to suit your liking but it doesn't help SQ-wise. I mean you can use it to tame the shrill highs, smooth off the flabby bass, or whatever. I personally don't use the dolby features at all except when gaming.

Happy listening