Why don't more people use EQ to get the desired sound?

[wind016]

Because people are using sh!t equalizers and use them wrong and then go off teaching people their wisdom about equalizers.
 
I have never heard a completely neutral headphone yet so if you're not using an EQ even a little bit, then you are just forcing yourself to adjust to the headphone's sound. When you do this with treble emphasized headphones, I imagine you are desensitizing your ears, unless they are already desensitized.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

It's cheating.

And modding isn't?  A tool is a tool is a tool.
 
Quote:

Because people are using sh!t equalizers and use them wrong and then go off teaching people their wisdom about equalizers.

Sad but true...
 

 

[LizardKing1]

OP, some Head-Fi'ers would hands-down pay over 1000$ for an interconnect. ALO LODs cost 100$~200$. Do you think they would ever ever let something as blasphemous as *gasp* tainted sound signatures mess up their gear?
 
RPGWizard, on your 5-point list, points 1 and 5 are pretty much the same

 
People don't do it because most EQ's make you do a trade-off: more (moar) bass, less detail. Forward mids, recessed instruments. Higher highs, brighter music. I'm not saying there are no good EQ's, I just never encountered one. I still use EQ to get a bit more bass on the go. But I understand those who don't. If I would ever color the sound, I would definitely do it at the last link in the chain: the headphones. I might be wrong, but I think a good pair of bassy headphones will always sound better than a neutral/bright pair of headphones equalized to sound bassy.

 

[wind016]

Quote:

OP, some Head-Fi'ers would hands-down pay over 1000$ for an interconnect. ALO LODs cost 100$~200$. Do you think they would ever ever let something as blasphemous as *gasp* tainted sound signatures mess up their gear?
 
RPGWizard, on your 5-point list, points 1 and 5 are pretty much the same

 
People don't do it because most EQ's make you do a trade-off: more (moar) bass, less detail. Forward mids, recessed instruments. Higher highs, brighter music. I'm not saying there are no good EQ's, I just never encountered one. I still use EQ to get a bit more bass on the go. But I understand those who don't. If I would ever color the sound, I would definitely do it at the last link in the chain: the headphones. I might be wrong, but I think a good pair of bassy headphones will always sound better than a neutral/bright pair of headphones equalized to sound bassy.

Some EQs are very good, ie Cowon's hardware implemented. They can change the sound sig of a headphone and still sound detailed as long as you know how to use the BBE over sampling.

 

[LizardKing1]

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

 
Your opinion addresses my second point of EQing, which is to change emphasis of certain parts of the spectrum. The use of hardware or software EQ can indeed correct flaws the hardware has. All hardware is flawed in some way, and depending on how the hardware sounds compared to what's being listened through it, EQing can correct those differences. Said correction can be partial or complete, this depending on both the quality of the EQ and the the extent of the mismatched sound.
 
And no, I don't think modding and EQing are on the same level, even if both change the sound in their own way.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

Here's a good argument to concider modding vs EQing though. With that kind of modding you refer to, you will affect the whole frequency response range while by EQing if for example only taking care of a too big peak in the highs you will only interfere in a certain spot of the range and will thus do very little modification to it.
 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

i generally don't use equalizer. i find that when i use an eq i get so excited by the boost in treble or whatever it is that when i go back to flat it starts to sound unlively. so to counteract this i run flat all the time.

 

[strannik]

 
Quote:

Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. 

 
Neither will your amp, or your dac, or your phones. The same argument you people are applying to EQ can be applied to just switching cans or amps or tubes. They all add a distinctive flavor despite trying to be 'natural'. Somehow I don't see a small army of head-fiers fiercely opposed at tube rolling, or owning more than one headphone. 
 
 

 

[wind016]

Quote:

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

Modding anything other than what the manufacturer intended always affects the sound and almost always has a negative impact on some aspect. Neutralizing with a good mastering EQ is just common sense.
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

Here's a good argument to concider modding vs EQing though. With that kind of modding you refer to, you will affect the whole frequency response range while by EQing if for example only taking care of a too big peak in the highs you will only interfere in a certain spot of the range and will thus do very little modification to it.
 
Very intertaining thread so far, feels like I could spend here arguing for a day as I love to argue in a civilized way especially subjects like these.
 
I wish the poll had asked "Do you use EQing?" Yes or No though to get a better picture of which people EQ and which doesn't. But it's useful like this as well. Will be interesting to see what kinda statistics that poll will lead to.

 

[caracara08]

amps with bass boost, or settings like the arrow that add bass and treble, isnt that all EQing in a way?  the decision i came to was, id buy the most transparent, biggest sound stage, and most comfortable, and slightly eq it more to my liking.  i dont have the right amp for my hd800 but they are amazing.  very very slight adjustments and theyre perfect for me.  im hoping ot get a good tube amp so i can go flat again or maybe just slight adjustemnts.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Equalizing is nothing like modding. I'm sorry, but it's just not. Most mods make the headphones more revealing. When you take the foam in front of an IEM's driver you are making it more detailed, thus lettin you hear more of what the original sound was like. Say what you want about equalizing, and I think if it's for free it's a fantastic tool, but EQ will never let you hear the sound closer to what was first recorded. It might make it more fun, but just don't compare it to phisically removing objects that are in between your ears and the driver (yes, I'm only talking about those mods).

The original sound?  Manufacturers put foam over drivers for a reason.  It's not as if the sound coming right off the driver is more pure or something.  The entire enclosure, mounting, cable, driver material, etc is affecting the way the driver sounds just as much as that foam over the front of the driver, and they are all doing the same thing- trying to get the driver to perform to a certain specification, to reproduce the signal in a more accurate way.  Ideally, the manufacturer wouldn't need to put foam over the driver to fix treble peaks, but that doesn't mean it's more accurate without it.  When you remove the foam over the driver, you change it's frequency response.  It becomes brighter, which is mostly why it sounds more detailed.  But that just means it's brighter.  In all likelyhood it is now less pure, less accurate and less true, unless of course the manufacturer made a mistake in their voicing. 

 

[Roller]

It's just like when people like bass, they're called basshead, but people who like treble can't be called trebleheads, that's heretic

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

And modding isn't?  A tool is a tool is a tool.
 

Yeah I was mostly kidding.  Although I just don't like the idea of EQ.  I'd rather have equipment that is made to sound right.  Maybe it's silly, I don't know.  Not using EQ is kind of like wanting FLAC instead of 320 mp3's.