[mmd8x28]

I thought I'd give Songbird a try, and despite it crashing on first load right after playing an iTunes purchased file, but now seems to be working.

But, after duplicating my iTunes EQ settings, it sounds more muffled than iTunes, to the point I don't really like it.

Are the EQ's just on a different scale or something? Both are 10-bands.

 

[krmathis]

No, they seem to have the exact same bands and range.
30Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1KHz, 2KHz, 4KHz, 8KHz and 16KHz, with a range of ±12dB. Their slope may be different though, I do not know (6dB - 12dB - 24dB/octave).

 

[mmd8x28]

Well they seem to work differently. For example, in iTunes, if I turn down all the sliders in the EQ, it just gets quieter, but on Songbird left and right sound totally off balance, heavy on reverbs and low on some vocals..

They just don't sound the same. I can make sound clips comparing the two if you'd like..

 

[krmathis]

Not needed. From what you say it sure sounds like they have a different slope, like if iTunes use 6dB/octave while Songbird use ex. 12dB/octave.
Not sure you would get that verified around here though. Perhaps try the Songbird forum?

Or just learn to live with it. EQ is mostly evil anyways.

 

[mmd8x28]

Well I posted on the Songbirds help site, which is just the get satisfaction site.

I usually need EQ, because otherwise my headphones sound pathetic in bass and treble department compared to my home stereo, and even my car.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Is Songbird able to load Winamp plug-ins or any other kind of third party plug-in? There are some alternative equalizers available as Winamp plug-ins. There are some other more or less standard plug-in formats as well that Songbird might maybe support.

Digital EQs are tricky little beasts. They don't all sound the same. There are multiple ways to implement a digital EQ. Some EQs do have the effect of muffling or deadening the sound. The better EQs don't do that.

If Songbird has some way to add in a third party EQ as a plug-in you'd be able to try some different EQs.

The last time I tried Songbird was over a year ago. I haven't been following its development. I no longer know what it is capable of.

 

[mmd8x28]

There's none, just what it has, which was clearly rushed as it doesn't even have a pre-amp..

 

[mmd8x28]

Ok, they responded. They said that Songbirds EQ is standard IIR, whereas iTunes and Winamp restrict the bandwidth narrower than Songbird.