[NLNH]

Got cheapo artificial ear for impulse response / freq scanning : <
trying to put EQ to work seriously
 
newbie here dragged in by Joe
 

 

[Greenears]

When it comes to headphones, I think it would be simpler to take it as given that an entry level source, DAC and amp of adequate power will be able to drive your headphones transparently and move on to choosing your headphones... (or shaping them, as I do

)

If it's a matter of loudspeakers, invest in sound treatment at the first reflection points and then a flagship AV amp that has sophisticated loudspeaker calibration, eg Audyssey XT32.

My humble opinion is you're usually up a certain creek without a paddle if you're having to depend on the different sound "signatures" of different boutique source components to make or break your audio experience. If you need to change the sound of your music, change it for real (using DSP).

 
It's a good idea. How much does an Audyssey enabled amplifier usually cost?  Are these active feedback (as in they monitor the material and change the equalization, or is it a measure it - set it - and forget it?)  I'm wondering if this can be done using a laptop as source as well.

 

[bigshot]

Most AV receivers have equalizers built in. I have a Yamaha myself. Onkyo, Dennon, etc. too. I'm not convinced that Audyssey is so great though. It can give you a place to start from, but it can be a long way off from where you want to end up at. That takes a little work and careful listening.
 
Once you have calibrated your equalization response curve the way you want it, you never need to touch it again. It works for any source that is audibly transparent (computer, disk, iPod, etc.)
 
I've never played with one of those gadgets, NLNH. I always tune EQ by ear. How closely does the artificial ear match the response of a human ear? A lot of people talk about specs in the abstract and never relate them to the range and limitations of human hearing. I always cut to the chase and just use a real ear. I have it connected to me 24/7 so it's convenient for me!

 

[ferday]

personally i really like Audessy.  For me, it was a great place to start and really cut a lot of time doing manual measuring/EQ'ng (it really helped with the room!)
 
there is an active Audessy mode on my receiver (onkyo) and although i don't really ever use it, it does sound nice and because it's so easy it may be something you're looking for

 

[bigshot]

When I used the auto EQ function on my receiver, it got the crossover between the mains and the sub right, but it dialed down the volume on the sub down to nothing. The volume relationship between the mains, center and rears were all imbalanced too. When I corrected for that, it threw the equalization on each channel off again. I corrected for that and it threw off the relative volumes again. I had to do a few weeks of parallel parking between volume and response to get it into the correct range. When I was close to being happy with it, I brought in an engineer buddy to run tones and see if he could improve upon it. He told me that I had gotten it as flat as I could with a 5 band parametric equalizer.
 
Another thing that affects it is DSPs. The relative volume of the channels using a DSP was different than typical 5.1 blu-rays. So I had to calibrate for both, which threw off the EQ again. It was an ongoing process for a while. But I learned a lot and my ears are considerably smarter now. If I have a problem, I know exactly where in the frequency spectrum it lies.

 

[ferday]

  It was an ongoing process for a while. But I learned a lot and my ears are considerably smarter now. If I have a problem, I know exactly where in the frequency spectrum it lies.

 
it's still an ongoing process for me, but thanks to a lot of people (yourself included bigshot!) i have also learned a lot and now have a multichannel system that i'm extremely proud of sound wise.  i don't have a sound engineer buddy LOL so i can only go off of my measurements (REW)
 
it's true it takes a bunch of manual work, but for me Audessy made an excellent starting point and taught me a lot about the process.  when i first started making chirps with it i moved my couch around and stuff just to see how it would affect everything and it was pretty informative

 

[Greenears]

Thank you for all the responses on amplifier EQ.  I gave you all a "like".  Interesting how so many people came out of the woodwork on this, but I rarely hear it talked about.  I personally use EQ on my laptop, it is 5 band graphic and I don't think the best quality but for rough and ready listening it works better than none.  Since I move the laptop around to various rooms and various headphones I've found myself saving files for each speaker & phone and several genres of music.
 
I will definitely consider upgraded EQ whether a dedicated application or an outboard unit. 
 
My takeaway is you want to fine tune it once for the speakers and room combination, and try to get it as "flat" as you can.  If you have reasonable speakers then you should be pretty neutral after that and able to handle any material.  Sounds like a simple sound meter and pink noise source well help gross level adjust but you still need to fine tune with ears.   Good to hear Onkyo and others offer EQ options, and Audyssey or others may all work. 

 

[bigshot]

Have you tried the CDs I recommended? The Reiner Marche Slav can be very handy for making sure the low end is balanced. Glad to hear your system is up and working. It's really amazing to make the jump from 2 to 5.1.

 

[bigshot]

 
Merry Christmas to all the sound science folks!

 

[RRod]

   
 
Merry Christmas to all the sound science folks!

 
And to you too. I just let the kid know his gifts were bandlimited this year.

 

[bigshot]

Just a question for the regulars... Is it possible that there is an effort going on to troll Gregorio's 24 vs 16 bit and ProgRockMan's Testing Audiophile Claims threads to get them locked?

 

[stv014]

  Just a question for the regulars... Is it possible that there is an effort going on to troll Gregorio's 24 vs 16 bit and ProgRockMan's Testing Audiophile Claims threads to get them locked?

 
This may or may not be the case, but in general the best response to trolls is to ignore them.

 

[ferday]

This may or may not be the case, but in general the best response to trolls is to ignore them.

I find the best response to trolls here is to spend my time on hydrogen

Some great people and info here but it's getting bad lately. Poor big shot is running ragged

 

[bigshot]

I'm not really run ragged. I'm just bored with all the long blathering posts full of nonsense.

 

[bigshot]

I notice that Gregorio's "24 bit vs 16 bit Myth" and the "Testing Audiophile Myths" threads are particular targets of trolls. I think some folks would dearly love to see those threads get locked. Does anyone else get that feeling?