Who's Played With Ipod 4G EQ Settings?

[vranswer]

I'm looking to get just a little additional bass out of the Ipod 4G to round out the source going into my Ety ER4S phones through the SR71 amp. Bass is better when I plug the Etys in without the P->S adaptor, but of course the "S" sound is sweeter - just lacks the bass response and results in the dreaded Ety bright sound. Has anyone played around with the supposedly improved EQ presets on the new Ipod 4G? I've tried "Bass Boost" and "Loudness" EQ settings and found both to still be too distorting for my taste. Just wondering if anyone else has found an acceptable preset to add just a hint of bass before I proceed to go through each one myself.

 

[rextrade]

IMO they all suck, unfortunately. But the one I use, if any, is the Latin setting--it adds a bit of bass and a bit of high end without being offensive. I've also recently discovered the bass reducer for my e5s (thanks to someone on this forum, can't remember who though), but that's not what you want.

 

[leon]

You can look up each preset in iTunes to see the frequencies they add too/take off from. These aren't specific to 4G but apparently nothing's changed between the mini and the 4G in this regard (corrections are always welcome).

(1) Light bass
Latin - Eliminates most of my "iPod sounds dull" complaints. If this is too insubstantial for you, try classical.
Jazz - more oomph than latin.

(2) in between
Classical - not unlike a typical (light) Japanese bass boost. More likely to distort on some (not all) files. My current favorite.
Rock - If you're used to the east asian bass boosts, you might think this doesn't scratch the itch enough, but give it a try.

(3) thumpy
Hip Hop - will distort unless you reduce the default volume of most files
R&B - ditto.

(4) if you think the vocals are too distant
Electronic - a bit of a boost towards the midrange, but fairly nice (can't say that about the Dance preset).

Edit - I always say this but... if you don't want distortion, select all track in iTunes, go to the info screen and turn down their default volume by a notch or half

 

[austonia]

i tried all the iPod's presets with Ety's. None were suitable in the end because the two i liked most Rock and Electronica, they distort on the bass hits of some music. minor i guess but too annoying for me. the only worthy soultion i found was to use a Xin SuperDual amp with the hardware bass boost feature. Most excellent.

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon You can look up each preset in iTunes to see the frequencies they add too/take off from.

Really! I am unable to locate this feature in iTunes. Is this possible on Windows platform? If so, how?

Thanks for the specific feedback above. I believe I'll try the Latin preset and see what happens.

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by austonia i tried all the iPod's presets with Ety's. None were suitable in the end because the two i liked most Rock and Electronica, they distort on the bass hits of some music. minor i guess but too annoying for me. the only worthy soultion i found was to use a Xin SuperDual amp with the hardware bass boost feature. Most excellent.

Absolutely agree! I find the SD with bass boost a very strong solution. To me, it sounds better with imped switch set "off" and using the P->S cable. Theoretically they should be the same, but the SD seems to clip a little with the imped switch on. Has no trouble driving through the P->S cable with the switch off however.
I'm trying to find the upper end of bliss with my SR71 however, which has no bass boost. The SR71 drives my Shure E3s beautifully in this respect, but the Etys need that lower end bump.

 

[leon]

Re: EQ preset in iTunes

The button's in the bottom right hand corner, click and it'll bring up a list of presets, or you can make your own (this is iTunes only, of course).

Isn't it far easier to achieve the kind of 'lower end' you guys want with an ex71/md33 than the Etys? IMnotsohumbleO it's not something one should attempt to wring out of the Etys, it's like demanding low-end torque from rotary engines

 

[viator122]

Does anyone know how the song presets in iTunes work with the EQ presets on the iPod? If you click "Get Info" for a song in iTunes you can give that song a preset so that everytime iTunes plays that song it uses that preset. How does this interact with the iPod? Does the iPod EQ settings override the song's preset?

 

[AuroraProject]

I've played with most of the eq settings and I always seem to go back to the same one-"off"

 

[photographlondon]

I've used MP3Gain to set all my files to 89db, and I seem to get no distortion when using the bass boost eq setting on the iPod (it's a mini).

I've found that with the bass boost eq setting the iPod sounds warm and bassy enough through the SR-71 and ety 4s to me - your tastes may vary though.

 

[Yasmin_Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranswer I'm looking to get just a little additional bass out of the Ipod 4G to round out the source going into my Ety ER4S phones through the SR71 amp.

It's a shame that you have spent so much money for these high-end earphones, and they dont delivery the quality you require. Have you thought about double checking the quality of your mp3s? Best of luck.

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon Re: EQ preset in iTunes The button's in the bottom right hand corner, click and it'll bring up a list of presets, or you can make your own (this is iTunes only, of course). Isn't it far easier to achieve the kind of 'lower end' you guys want with an ex71/md33 than the Etys? IMnotsohumbleO it's not something one should attempt to wring out of the Etys, it's like demanding low-end torque from rotary engines

No, the Ety bass is almost perfect for me - just needs ever-so-slight a boost. As a matter of fact I may be re-thinking my original post here, in that the SR71 seems to be sounding better and better on providing that low-end response as I approach 50 hours of burn in time. Ray says 100 hours is required, so I may just have been a little impatient. (I find the concept of leaving the thing on with no one listening to be a little wierd) Haven't heard the ex71 or md33, but from what I've read here I would predict they would be way too bassy for my tastes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yasmin Khan It's a shame that you have spent so much money for these high-end earphones, and they dont delivery the quality you require. Have you thought about double checking the quality of your mp3s? Best of luck.

Quite the contrary, they deliver all the quality of sound I could ever have imagined. They simply can be tweeked to achieve perfection. I find the Etys presentation to be blissful and intoxicating. I rip only to Apple Lossless format.

 

[Grelkman]

Anyone know the difference between the "off" and "flat" EQ settings?

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grelkman Anyone know the difference between the "off" and "flat" EQ settings?

I would think the effect must be exactly the same, as "flat" would be +/- 0 DB on all frequencies. I'm now wondering if the new presets you can create in iTunes will be made available for playback on the iPod (after synching of course). I've saved a very slight bass boost custom preset in iTunes - will check to see if iPod has it available after synching.

 

[TonyTripleA]

Well, I guess I blame some recordings too. On 90% of recordings I can use bass boost without distortion. But on others distortion ruins the bass response. And my etys do like a slight bass boost to keep my ears happy. So latin is my compromise when I don't have time to fiddle with the bass boost on/off/on/off/on/off solution.

Oh, and cycling I use sony ex71s and yes... the bass is very strong. Perfect in some ways for the i-pod but in other ways well below the quality that the i-pod can deliver. Still, riding down the freeway quality isn't everything.

Cheers,

TonyAAA