WavGain + iPod's Bass Boost = <BOOMING ER4s??>

[vranswer]

Just tried the iPod EQ-fixing WaveGain on a few of my rips. The default settings (w/dithering), brought down the gain on most tracks 9 or 10 db. Imported back into iTunes and re-converted to ALAC -> uploaded into iPod. Bass Booster preset works beautifully and has pretty beefy punch to it. Ran that signal through SMV3 to my newly re-acquired Ety ER4S phones (yeah, just had to get 'em back), and WHAMM!

I had to fumble around my head, feeling my ears for those little sticks, to make sure this wasn't my overwhelming Shure E5s pumping bass into my noggin. Absolutely musical, more than well-rounded..I'm talking POWERFUL BASS. And the Etys still serve up their characteristic high end detail, now made wonderfully balanced and welcome - not unsatisfyingly puny like I used to know of these phones. iPod's bass boost preset is way over the top on full-gain recordings, but is just extremely potent when you've knocked the gain down. I'm not able to hear any normalization distortions or artifacts introduced by WaveGain, although individuals with more discerning ears just might. But if so, there's not a lot - just mind-exciting, fully satisfying musical bass response. Highly recommended!

 

[deathsharp]

do you have the bass boost on the SM3 too?

 

[vranswer]

Yup. Adds that even extra oomph on top! Sweet!

 

[ChicagoPhil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranswer Yup. Adds that even extra oomph on top! Sweet!

how does the SM bass boost alone, with the ipod eq turned off, sound?

i'm not understanding how WaveGain is making a difference here... (i can be dense at times, and only did a cursory search...)

from what i could gather, replaygain is meant to calibrate a music collection to a common volume benchmark, so you don't have to constantly adjust the volume. but this seems to be a convenience more than anything else.

for a "loud" song, what is the difference between running WaveGain on the original recording to lower the gain, then add bass boost, and just turning down the volume on the original version with bass boost on?

thanks,
phil

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChicagoPhil i'm not understanding how WaveGain is making a difference here... (i can be dense at times, and only did a cursory search...) from what i could gather, replaygain is meant to calibrate a music collection to a common volume benchmark, so you don't have to constantly adjust the volume. but this seems to be a convenience more than anything else. for a "loud" song, what is the difference between running WaveGain on the original recording to lower the gain, then add bass boost, and just turning down the volume on the original version with bass boost on? thanks, phil

Because those loud songs are already near or at clipping levels, and the iPod EQ brings them up further there is no headroom for the extra signal so it just clips (more) and sounds horrible. By giving the EQ more headroom it won't cause the signal to distort when the EQ amplifies parts of the signal causing it to work as designed.

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar Because those loud songs are already near or at clipping levels, and the iPod EQ brings them up further there is no headroom for the extra signal so it just clips (more) and sounds horrible. By giving the EQ more headroom it won't cause the signal to distort when the EQ amplifies parts of the signal causing it to work as designed.

Precisely. Quite incredible that a market-leading device such as iPod can have such a glaring weakness, but there it is. At any rate, iPod's other strengths still make it worth the trouble for me, thus the WavGain workaround. If you look at the EQ settings (in iTunes) you'll see substantial bumps in bass frequencies on such presets as Bass Booster and others...something in the range of 8 or 10 db. As Mr.Radar notes, just not enough headroom to handle this kind of extension, and as a result most recordings sound terrible with any incremental EQing. WavGain universally drops most of the tracks by 9 or 10 db, giving that headroom back.

To be honest, I still like my E5s' sound better, as they have that full range by design. But the ER4s have a upper frequency capability and detail the Shures can't match, and are nice to listen to when the bass is shored up.

 

[VicAjax]

i was under the impression that iTunes allows you to reduce the gain when ripping and exporting to the iPod... with its own EQ. am i wrong? iTunes' EQ does have a gain slider... just leave the FR flat and lower the gain?

color me confused.