[Miguel]

I just bought a Rio Karma and Shure e3c earphones. The earphones are amazing! (except the emphasized mids, I would prefer it to be more balanced)

I would like to equalize with Karma's 5-band parametric equalizer to have a fairly balanced/neutral EQ profile for classic music, and a second "punchy" EQ profile for other music (bit stronger bass etc).

My problem is that I am lost with the parametric equalizer (I am used to set just the bass & treble settings, and in a parametric EQ you can adjust decibel levels, band center and width). Could you give me some advice on what equalization settings should I use for both profiles?

Sorry if my question is too basic, I'm a newbie related to equalizers.

P.S. I've heard that you can get better results using a headphone amp, can you give me any recomendation on a portable one? (as small & light as possible)

 

[Jmmmmm]

do a search for 'karma eq tutorial' in portable audio

 

[Miguel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmmmmm do a search for 'karma eq tutorial' in portable audio

Hmmm... I know how to change the settings

my problem is that I do not have any clue idea how many db increase/decrease should I set in each band, because I have never been playing with a proper equalizer, or if I should change the bands (I have just been using bass/treble settings). By default, the bands are:

40 Hz (2 octaves width)
150 Hz (2 octaves width)
600 Hz (2 octaves width)
2.5 KHz (2 octaves width)
10 KHz (2 octaves width)

Could anyone please give me a rough idea of it? I have been reading about this matter, and decided not to change anything before asking, because some people recommend to decrease the mids, other to increase the bass (not the mid bass that seems to be ok in the e3c) and the treble but not at too high freqs because it could harm your hearing (not sure about this) etc. and I do not have any clue idea what is considered mid bass or mids or "too high" freq (10KHz? 15? 20?)

 

[hackeron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miguel Hmmm... I know how to change the settings my problem is that I do not have any clue idea how many db increase/decrease should I set in each band, because I have never been playing with a proper equalizer, or if I should change the bands (I have just been using bass/treble settings). By default, the bands are: 40 Hz (2 octaves width) 150 Hz (2 octaves width) 600 Hz (2 octaves width) 2.5 KHz (2 octaves width) 10 KHz (2 octaves width) Could anyone please give me a rough idea of it? I have been reading about this matter, and decided not to change anything before asking, because some people recommend to decrease the mids, other to increase the bass (not the mid bass that seems to be ok in the e3c) and the treble but not at too high freqs because it could harm your hearing (not sure about this) etc. and I do not have any clue idea what is considered mid bass or mids or "too high" freq (10KHz? 15? 20?)

Read the entire thread. This is covered a lot here

-- mid bass starts at about 100hz. So dont really touch 150hz unless you want thin sound. 40hz you can push as much as +8db which will give you more of a feel it bass great in trance and rock.

600 is the middle, so you can decrease that by a few db to make them less forward. 2.5khz is the treble already, but not close to the rolloff, so no real need to adjust. As for 10khz, you can push it up by up to 12db as its what gives music that "open" sound many cheap headphones and speakers do (depends on how much you like that kind of sound really). 10khz is very high pitch - it will affect maybe 1-5% of the overall sound but it really makes the headphones sound "impressive" in a fake way.

Hope that helps.

 

[Miguel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hackeron Read the entire thread. This is covered a lot here -- mid bass starts at about 100hz. So dont really touch 150hz unless you want thin sound. 40hz you can push as much as +8db which will give you more of a feel it bass great in trance and rock. 600 is the middle, so you can decrease that by a few db to make them less forward. 2.5khz is the treble already, but not close to the rolloff, so no real need to adjust. As for 10khz, you can push it up by up to 12db as its what gives music that "open" sound many cheap headphones and speakers do (depends on how much you like that kind of sound really). 10khz is very high pitch - it will affect maybe 1-5% of the overall sound but it really makes the headphones sound "impressive" in a fake way. Hope that helps.

Many thanks for your reply

it is a great help, as I was really confused about what is considered low/mid bass etc. I will also read again the entire thread again, I think I missed some pages.

I will try with different combinations of your recommendations when I arrive home (I'm at work right now

). Just one question more (sorry again to ask too basic questions). I heard that very high pitch could be harmful for your hearing. Is there any risk in pushing 10khz up to 12db? (as the band width is 4 octaves -just checked- maybe I'm pushing 20khz by 12db, not sure if this is good, as I do not really know how equalizers works internally)

 

[jeffcw]

I've owned both pairs annd happen to prefer they ety sound. For what it's worth, I had to spend 3 hours in laguardia airport waiting for a flight and the Shures did an outstanding job of isolating/eliminating the outside sound...all while I was sitting next to the Bose kiosk!!!

Also, the customer service from Etymotic has been outstanding. They seem to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the "customer" happy. I was having issues with the seal with foamies and they were extremely helpful with solutions and options. Super friendly people. On the other hand, never needed to contact Shure, so I can not comment on their customer serivce.

 

[godvirus]

jamey,

Your FR charts are extremely useful. Could you please provide a chart for the ER-6i's? I'm curious how Etymotic's i-version is different from the ER-6. Thank you much!!