Poll: Parametric EQ on Fiio X3

[sbradley02]

Quote:

 
There's lots of HF-ers that are anti-EQ, unfortunately.....apparently it is not "audiophile" 

I consider it a valuable tool.

I don't know if that is it.
 
Simply I have found that the negative impact of EQ on the overall response outweighs its benefits as far as I am concerned.
I don't use it on the road, nor at home on my desktop, and not on my home theater.
I prefer to tailor response through careful device selection and room treatment where appropriate.
 
YMMV....

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I don't know if that is it.
 
Simply I have found that the negative impact of EQ on the overall response outweighs its benefits as far as I am concerned.
I don't use it on the road, nor at home on my desktop, and not on my home theater.
I prefer to tailor response through careful device selection and room treatment where appropriate.
 
YMMV....

I do believe in using it sparingly. I don't go wild with it to create a whole all enveloping sound signature with everything I use.... I just like to be able to mildly compensate for certain headphones' deficiencies.

 

[zzffnn]

YMMV, but if you have parametric EQ correctly, you should not hear negative changes. Parametric EQ is used a lot in professional music production; the music that you are listening to may have been EQ'ed already. If done right, it will provide more benifit than harm. If anyone is interested, the links that I provided previously talk about how to EQ.

 

[zzffnn]

Folks, there is hope (per JamesFiio) that EQ bands may be available on X3 next year. I may not use it if it is not parametric, but there is hope.

Quote:

JamesFiiO
Sponsor: FiiO

Quote:
Originally Posted by DrKrFfXx 

Any chance of getting a proper Eq with bands?

I was about to sell the device, but watching your constant efforts is making me consider it. Although I'm not sure I like the sound signature that much, it is tiring and harsh with my Momentum (18 ohm is it too low for the raw power of the amp?). Maybe wih the option of lowering the 4khz region a little bit the sound might taste better to my ears.

Kudos for your constant work.
 
JamesFiio:

maybe in next year. caz we are working in the bugs fixing and X5. the X5 support EQ with bands, and if it success, we can use it in our X3 with new GUI.

Unquote

 

[jazzman7]

Folks, there is hope (per JamesFiio) that EQ bands may be available on X3 next year. I may not use it if it is not parametric, but there is hope.

Quote:

JamesFiiO
Sponsor: FiiO

Quote:
Originally Posted by DrKrFfXx 

Any chance of getting a proper Eq with bands?

I was about to sell the device, but watching your constant efforts is making me consider it. Although I'm not sure I like the sound signature that much, it is tiring and harsh with my Momentum (18 ohm is it too low for the raw power of the amp?). Maybe wih the option of lowering the 4khz region a little bit the sound might taste better to my ears.

Kudos for your constant work.
 
JamesFiio:

maybe in next year. caz we are working in the bugs fixing and X5. the X5 support EQ with bands, and if it success, we can use it in our X3 with new GUI.

Unquote

Let's hope that James adds a parametric "option" to a conventional graphic EQ. Something like sliders with fixed frequencies and standard bandwidths, but a deeper menu that allows you to change the center frequencies and Q on each. Rockbox has 10 such bands, but I would be tickled pink even with seven. Oh yes, and +/-20 dB swing in gain with 0.1 dB steps. No need to limit to +/-10 dB with 2 dB steps of the standard tone controls.

 

[PsiCore]

For which player there's a Rockbox 10 band parametric EQ available? On my iRiver H320 there's only five (updated with the latest version).

 

[Achmedisdead]

For which player there's a Rockbox 10 band parametric EQ available? On my iRiver H320 there's only five (updated with the latest version).

 
I have it on two Sansa Clip Zips, a Sansa e280 v1, a Sansa Fuze+, an iPod Mini 2nd-gen, and an iPod Video 5.5 gen. All are running the 3.13 stable release except for the Fuze+ which is running a daily build.

 

[jazzman7]

Rockbox with up to 10-band EQ runs great on my Nano 1st gen along with an iPod Mini 2nd gen and an iPod Video 5.5 gen for me.  I tend to have only 7 bands "active" though.  I read on rockbox.org that if you leave any one band's gain at zero, the code for that slider is not invoked, and it is the case that the UI slows down with more active bands for me.  

 

[Achmedisdead]

  Rockbox with up to 10-band EQ runs great on my Nano 1st gen along with an iPod Mini 2nd gen and an iPod Video 5.5 gen for me.  I tend to have only 7 bands "active" though.  I read on rockbox.org that if you leave any one band's gain at zero, the code for that slider is not invoked, and it is the case that the UI slows down with more active bands for me.  

 
Yeah, I don't actually need all 10 bands active either, but I do like having the option to do so. 

 

[tienbasse]

  YES for parametric EQ. I strongly consider buying X3, but without a parametric EQ it's a no go for me.

Same here, with this and maybe a higher internal capacity (16/32Gb please), it would be perfect.

 

[PsiCore]

 
I have it on two Sansa Clip Zips, a Sansa e280 v1, a Sansa Fuze+, an iPod Mini 2nd-gen, and an iPod Video 5.5 gen. All are running the 3.13 stable release except for the Fuze+ which is running a daily build.

 


Oh, strange, I have the 3.10 release although lately I downloaded the latest release with the RB installer - at least I thought so Need to try it again, though I either don't think I'll use all the bands.

 

[zzffnn]

Some may not know that parametric EQ can provide precise sub bass boost without affecting mid bass/mid range.

In Rockbox, you can use EQ's low shelf filter to boost sub bass tightly and precisely. An example low shelf (LS) filter setting is: 100 HZ as cut off frequency, 0.7 as Q (this band width factor should not be changed in LS), +3 db as gain. This setting will give a +3db boost to bass below 100Hz without affecting frequencies at 100Hz and up (i.e., this setting will not distort or muddle mid bass/mid). 

But note that software bass gain of > +6db may distort, if your DAP/amp cannot supply 4 times more power there. Hardware bass gain (e.g., that from Fiio E11, E12 or E17) can supply more power and limit distortion, but in exchange you loose the precise frequency control of parametric EQ -- hardware bass boosts are not implemented the same way in every amp, for example, E11's level 1 bass boost is a lot tighter than that of E17 (E17's bass boost goes way beyond 100Hz and affects mid range, while E11 does not).

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Some may not know that parametric EQ can provide precise sub bass boost without affecting mid bass/mid range.

Can we put this feature in dx50 also?

 

[zzffnn]

Can we put this feature in dx50 also?

If we can talk iBasso into that....
I heard from James Fiio that implementing parametric EQ via firmware is not difficult. Hardware-wise, it is also not demanding at all (even a Rockboxed iPod Video, which has a very slow/ancient CPU, can do it; a $40 cheap and tiny Rockboxed Sansa Clip can do it too).

 

[jazzman7]

One suggestion I have - if some presets can be developed that meet some goal or sonic effect, that might entice the manufacturers to put in parametric EQ. For example, one thing that could be designed is sub-bass boost like what the Fiio E12 had in its first production units (later units had more of a mid-bass boost). It would not be to hard to design a parametric EQ to emulate the sub-bass boost very closely, at least in frequency response.