[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tourmaline, what he means is that it is a bad idea to amplify/boost frequencies with an EQ because it can cause clipping and distortion, whereas attenuating them doesn't. If you want to make the bass louder, then cut out some treble and middle and boost the volume at the power stage - don't leave everything else flat and amplify bass with an EQ.

That's what I did. Boosting a frequency with 1dB gave distortion. Lowering the volume of all the other frequencies didn't make the louder sound any clearer, it just sounded louder that's all.

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's what I did. Boosting a frequency with 1dB gave distortion. Lowering the volume of all the other frequencies didn't make the louder sound any clearer, it just sounded louder that's all.

For someone so into the subjectivist realm, you sure take an awfully objective approach to EQ

There's something distinctly holistic about getting a good EQ, and part of that is being able to hear the 'clarity point," if you want to call it that, where you're getting a relatively even representation of all frequencies. The more you work with EQs in live settings, the easier that gets, but you can learn it just as well sitting around at home if you've got free time.

When you say "it doesn't sound clearer, it just sounds louder" you're looking at that frequency band explicitly. You need to take in the whole of frequencies. Let's put it like this... Say you've got a set of speakers in a room but they're right up against the wall. You're going to hear a really boomy sound in the lower midrange, most noticeable in rock music and such when the bass player starts going up the neck. So you can go from a perfectly clear sounding vocal break with chorus into a muddy mess when the bassist breaks in. To take care of that, you can EQ out some of the lower midrange and the overall sound becomes clearer because it isn't being drowned out by the frequencies the room is amplifying. Hence, clarity. This was all accomplished by just changing the volume of a particular frequency band, but the overall effect must be evaluated holistically.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley /img/forum/go_quote.gif For someone so into the subjectivist realm, you sure take an awfully objective approach to EQ There's something distinctly holistic about getting a good EQ, and part of that is being able to hear the 'clarity point," if you want to call it that, where you're getting a relatively even representation of all frequencies. The more you work with EQs in live settings, the easier that gets, but you can learn it just as well sitting around at home if you've got free time. When you say "it doesn't sound clearer, it just sounds louder" you're looking at that frequency band explicitly. You need to take in the whole of frequencies. Let's put it like this... Say you've got a set of speakers in a room but they're right up against the wall. You're going to hear a really boomy sound in the lower midrange, most noticeable in rock music and such when the bass player starts going up the neck. So you can go from a perfectly clear sounding vocal break with chorus into a muddy mess when the bassist breaks in. To take care of that, you can EQ out some of the lower midrange and the overall sound becomes clearer because it isn't being drowned out by the frequencies the room is amplifying. Hence, clarity. This was all accomplished by just changing the volume of a particular frequency band, but the overall effect must be evaluated holistically.

I see. EQ is compensating for the flaws in the room. But why not fix the room problems in the first place instead altering the music? Or even better, change to headphones...

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see. EQ is compensating for the flaws in the room. But why not fix the room problems in the first place instead altering the music? Or even better, change to headphones...

In that example, it is compensating for the room. It can also correct for the physical limitations of speaker design, as well. Many $25,000+ speakers are often paired with a RTA, and some actually have it on-board as part of the package (I can think of one subwoofer in particular which comes with this feature). You can't fix the problem that no speaker is flat. No headphone is flat, either. You can either get used to the coloration or you can get an EQ. Spending your money on thousands of dollars of power cables which can't even be demonstrated to do anything (you know, because the tools aren't as sensitive as our ears

) is seemingly daft compared to spending a few hundred dollars on a good parametric EQ, which shows you what it does and allows you to affect immediate, drastic sonic change, but there you go.

 

[Patrick82]

How do you get blacker background from EQ?

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do you get blacker background from EQ?

EQ out the frequency at which the noise appears, particularly easy with power since the only frequency will be 60hz? You've got a mighty expensive single-frequency EQ with your fancy power cables... and they don't even do anything that an instrument can measure

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see. EQ is compensating for the flaws in the room. But why not fix the room problems in the first place instead altering the music? Or even better, change to headphones...

The answer to your question is simple... NO room and NO headphone or speaker has perfectly flat response. You do room treatments and choose headphones and speakers carefully. Then you use an equalizer to take it the rest of the way.

See ya
Steve

 

[bigshot]

edit

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley /img/forum/go_quote.gif EQ out the frequency at which the noise appears

Another technique that sometimes works is to boost the band at 1/2 the frequency slightly. For instance, noise residing in 8kHz can be masked by a slight boost at 4. This can work well with very light tape hiss.

See ya
Steve