[Mak333]

Good afternoon.  Before I begin, I'd like to say that I'm a fairly new member to Head-Fi and audio in general.  From what I've read on Head-Fi forums, there seems to be a majority opinion on EQ:  Don't use one, especially for headphones.  Well I'm the exception and want to use one between my source and headphone amplifier, which outputs to Sennheiser HD600s. 
 
I know many suggest software equalizers as they don't add noise throughout the line up, but my experience with software EQs has been bad.  I'm currently running an X-Fi sound card and using Creative's EQ is just pathetic.  If I amplify any frequency range, it automatically distorts.  I've tried using Foobar, and while it won't distort, it appears reduce the volume of other frequencies when the amplified frequency is heard.  It gives off an awkward effect.
 
So I found a cheap deal on craigslist for a hardware EQ and picked one up yesterday.  It's a very low end EQ, but I can't detect too much noise added to my setup.  The result:  Well it definitely does a much better job in manipulating the audio to my headphones than any software EQ does.  For lack of a better word, I'll quote another Head-Fi'er by saying the software EQs I've used (Creative, iTunes, and Foobar) only "mangle" the audio.
 
So... as far as EQs go... why am I having a hard time finding a good quality software EQ that matches up to the hardware EQ that I have, when everyone else is raving about software EQs?

 

[harpua]

Perhaps it is more the way you are applying EQ rather than the application itself.  I came across a most educational (to me) post about how to use EQ the other day on this forum which might be helpful to you as well. Here's a link to the thread: 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/522232/setting-up-eqs-and-volumes
Take a look at post #5 in that thread.

 

[khaos974]

Use a good parametric EQ, sett global gain to negative values if you need to boost some frequencies.
Or if you need to cancel out peak, simply cut out the relevant frequencies, easier to do and affects SQ less.
 
'Electri-Q - posihfopit edition' is a free  parametric EQ for foobar (I think you need to get a VST bridge plugin first).

 

[MomentofSilence]

Been using Enhancer for Winamp for the past 4-5 years and its the only thing that has really cleaned up my music collection because well without it everything sounds like crap heh.
 
then bass boost from Windows since the drivers that come with the sound card are pretty bad at giving any bass at all..
 

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Digital EQs, both software based and hardware based, have different rules that need to be followed to properly use them compared to the old analog EQs.
 
The main rule to follow with digital EQ is that you don't want to cause digital clipping on any of the frequencies.  So if you boost 500 Hz by 5 dB then you need to lower the overall gain in the EQ by at least 5 dB to match.  Different digital EQs can have different ways of doing that.  Some will have a master gain slider and it will be up to you to set that slider as appropriate.  Some will do automagic clip protection that will kick in when it detects that the EQ processing is about to cause clipping (the corrections it does will sound odd).  Some have no master gain slider at all and it is up to you to use the rest of the sliders in a manner that protects from clipping (in such a case you'll want to only cut and never boost a frequency above the 0 dB mark).
 
The Foobar EQ has a button for "auto level".  The auto level button will lower all the sliders to prevent clipping.  So if you boost 220 Hz by 5 and click "auto level" then all frequencies will get decreased by 5 to compensate.
 
For software based EQs, many of us are using parametric EQs rather than graphic EQs.  Parametric EQs allow for finer control which is necessary if you are using an EQ to correct for specific aspects in a headphone's sound.  A graphic EQ is too general and won't have the frequency sliders at exactly the frequency you want.  Parametric EQs allow you to select specific frequencies.
 
Analog EQs are different.  They can boost as much as their internal analog gain can allow.  So you can boost a frequency without necessarily needing to reduce anything else.  
 
I've probably confused you more than helped.  

 

[Dynobot]

Software EQ's are sloppy, crude and introduce distortion in my experiences. 
 
Hardware EQ's both analog and digital seem to be more accurate and distortion free.
 
In the end, I preferred the sound of a good professional tube based analog EQ over all else....

 

[Mak333]

Quote:

Digital EQs, both software based and hardware based, have different rules that need to be followed to properly use them compared to the old analog EQs.
 
The main rule to follow with digital EQ is that you don't want to cause digital clipping on any of the frequencies.  So if you boost 500 Hz by 5 dB then you need to lower the overall gain in the EQ by at least 5 dB to match.  Different digital EQs can have different ways of doing that.  Some will have a master gain slider and it will be up to you to set that slider as appropriate.  Some will do automagic clip protection that will kick in when it detects that the EQ processing is about to cause clipping (the corrections it does will sound odd).  Some have no master gain slider at all and it is up to you to use the rest of the sliders in a manner that protects from clipping (in such a case you'll want to only cut and never boost a frequency above the 0 dB mark).
 
The Foobar EQ has a button for "auto level".  The auto level button will lower all the sliders to prevent clipping.  So if you boost 220 Hz by 5 and click "auto level" then all frequencies will get decreased by 5 to compensate.
 
For software based EQs, many of us are using parametric EQs rather than graphic EQs.  Parametric EQs allow for finer control which is necessary if you are using an EQ to correct for specific aspects in a headphone's sound.  A graphic EQ is too general and won't have the frequency sliders at exactly the frequency you want.  Parametric EQs allow you to select specific frequencies.
 
Analog EQs are different.  They can boost as much as their internal analog gain can allow.  So you can boost a frequency without necessarily needing to reduce anything else.  
 
I've probably confused you more than helped.  

No, this is very good information and suggestions.  This clears up the difference between digital and analog EQs as well as software-based equalizers.  Thank you all for the replies and I'll take a look at the educational EQ thread and also check out some more software EQs and get more familiar in using them.
 
Thanks!