hi,
I do not eq much, perhaps by lack of confidence. I think I gave up about eq-ing for better "neutrality". There was once a head-fi, a big thread about how to calibrate a headphone (where is it, I can't find it anymore), and I was wondering if all the "audiophiles" in the thread were not all nuts. I just couldn't hear any improvement by following the advices . It was just very dubious.
The problem I have with eq-ing:
- it often sound better when the volume is louder , so when you raise the bar, for a particular frequency bar in the eq, you are not sure it sound better because it is more "balanced" , or just because the overall volume has increased.
- when you eq while listening a music, some frequencies seems unaffected (or you just don't have any preference). Also some eq settings might work better with a track/setting than an other.
- I don't know what is "true" neutral sound, I doubt anyone has experienced it.
By the way I didn't like at all this electri-q vst plugin. I noticed it was affecting the sound even when flat, and in a bad way. I don't remind what was exactly the problem, I think it was undesirable low level noises, that disappeared when disabling eq. I'd recommend instead the plugin equality by dmg audio, which is not free, but easier to use, received lot of praise at kvraudio, and I didn't notice a problem with it, at least .
My first "positive" experience with eq (used onboard from realtek), was with the audioengine a2. Although I liked how these speakers sound , I found them very fatiguing, the sound was too much "on your face". So I lowered the bass and the high, and it was less fatiguing. Then, I didn't need to raise the volume too high, in order to hear more mid-range details (I think it's the most important part of sound). But the end result was a bit frustrating, the sound was just much less exciting, than without eq. Until I've learned how to position the speakers correctly (they must not face you, direct the speakers to the side, and the sound is not anymore on your face, simple as that), and then the eq was less interesting. The proof anyway, that eq-ing cannot fix everything, but can help to improve the listening experience.
The second "positive" experience with eq was on my cowon s9. I thought this mp3 player was enough expensive for not using the EQ (which was supposed to be one of the advantages of the player) , so after seeing a big thread at iaudiophile.net, where all user where posting their favorites setting (often different , for the same headphone), I wanted to do the same. I laughed about some eq setting suggested, when I saw some user boosting both the bass & the mach3bass effect to the max with their sennheiser IE8. I can tell you that I tried this with my senn IE7, and the result was disgusting, there's nothing worse than saturated and distorted bass.
My conclusion about eq-ing, is that seeking "neutrality", is fruitless (at least for me) . I think the best way to eq, is to listen at different kind of music, and try to find "average" settings, that makes everything overall more enticing (what I've done with my cowon).
The keyword, is enticing.
