Teach me your ways Audio G-ds!!!!!

[joshloft]

Ok so I want to learn about frequency, impedence, sound stage, imaging, mids, highs, bass, sub-bass. All that mumbo jumbo. Any thing I could read or do to help me learn about this kind of stuff? Oh and how did you learn how to be an audiophile? I'm in high school so I would have to wait until college if it was a college course I need to take. Lets start small though. Just give me something to read, that would be fantastic. Second post, courtesy would be appreciated. 

 

[joshloft]

Oh and learning how to EQ my M50s so they can reach there full potential would be great to know also. 

 

[Willakan]

There is a guide on EQ-ing headphones on this forum which is quite good and can be found with a search.

 

[joshloft]

And for everything else?

 

[liamstrain]

wikipedia has quite good articles on the majority of those topics. 
 
There are also reviews and explanatory posts here that detail them well - again, a search of the forums will provide many answers. Ultimately - there is not a way to be spoonfed this. Take your time, read a lot. Listen a lot more (and pay attention when you listen - when you make changes, take notes if you have to). 
 
Feel free to ask specific questions as they come up, and remember to always take what you learn on a forum like this with a grain of salt - you never really know what someone's true knowledge and expertise cover. There are many smart people here, and there are many other smart people who know nothing about what they're talking about in these threads. Keep an open mind, but be skeptical enough that your brain doesn't fall out in the process. 
 
You'll get it.

 

[firev1]

 
Quote:

And for everything else?

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/551426/my-eq-curves-for-lcd-2-hd650-m50-and-007mk2/30 I think lunatiques EQ curve is one of the nicer sounding ones I used so far with my old M50s.
 
You have to pick it up slowly, you will have to play around a bit, don't follow 'all in one' solutions. Know which frequencies play which role. If you can, you may like to invest in a small mic and analog to digital converter(ADC) if you buy more expensive headphones to help you know which frequencies really need boosting(if you would like to go pro/ just prefer neutrality) and general measurements.
 
As for soundstage, there was someone who actually wrote a really definitive(well maybe, its LONG) but I can't find it atm. Otherwise for me, simply put, it is the illusion of an acoustic environment like how different would you hear the same instruments at say a concert hall, theater or recording studio. Its defined usually by depth and height and probably measured(or rather predicted not so sure) by phase response(correct me if I'm wrong). Usually, speakers have a better soundstage as they are not so "in the head" as headphones are though some can come close to speakers(usually defined as large/wide soundstage) like the Sennheiser's HD800(probably the most exaggerated example) and the use of digital signal processing(DSP) like crossfeeding(also on analog), head related transfer function(HRFT). Amps/ digital to analog converters(DACs) employing crossfeed or similar techniques include the Smyth Realiser DACs, Phonitor, Lavry DA11. Virtual Studio Technology(or VSTs) can also be employed to the same effect with audio players (for windows, I recommend Jriver Media Center), examples are Tonebooster Isone, Redline monitor. 
 
http://www.recordingeq.com/Subscribe/tip/tascam.htm This can be pretty useful, if you use it correctly.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/ is one of the best sites out there for anything headphone related. Tyll(the main writer) is doing some really great work out there. I also advice you on reading the amp measurements article on the site too, it should be pretty much answer a lot of your questions. 
 
You can also look around for some good articles from benchmarkmedia, as like all commercial sites don't take it way too seriously.
 
For all in ear stuff, you can head over to http://www.inearmatters.net/ for ClieOS extensive reviews.
 
More headphone stuff from http://www.headfonia.com/
 
If you would like a book on audio, I think http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Engineering-Explained-Douglas-Self/dp/0240812735 summarises and recommends more reference material really well. If you search around, it might even be in a library, as it was in mine(polytechnic library.)
 
I think I will stop here for the moment, seems like you have enough to read atm ^^;
 
As for college-fi, you and I are on the same boat, advice is,never rush into getting something, take your time(if you can, go for local meets or try out at the local shop). Oh ya, and of course, buy cds.
 
 
 

 

[joshloft]

Wow the responce from you guys is awesome. And I do read almost every article from Tyll and watch his videos also. Do you recommend the EQu App for the iPhone? I use it but don't know how to use it correctly but I am going to learn. Could I use that to do the lunatiques Eq?

 

[Willakan]

By the looks of it, yes: it appears to be a proper equaliser as opposed to just a bar-based one.

 

[joshloft]

I have a Mac does anybody know if there is a good Parametric  EQ app for Mac?

 

[liamstrain]

Lots of good AU and VST plugins that will work on your mac with a good host. I use Audio Hijack pro, which has limited VST support, but great AU support. 
 
My personal favorite parametric eq is Redline's Equalizer. But it's spendy. There are many others available (Gliss EQ from Voxengo, for instance... or Tone Boosters has one as well). 

 

[firev1]

I use the Toneboosters EQ and it is awesome, eas(ier) to pick up imo, though first time users maybe put initially by the interface of VSTs. As for EQ on iphone, you could do it if you want, though I see little point in doing so, consumes extra battery life and the little gain you get in sound would be better heard on the desktop environment.