[Dhimay]

Quote:

It just feels dirty to me. Like, the headphones don't do bass well, trying to make them have better bass via EQ just seems wrong. Physically modding them to have better bass is another thing.
 
Its like asking a track and field olympian to hop on a football team and saying he'll be good beause they're both athletes - They just wear different equipment.
 
Maybe I'm just weird. 

 
Should it feel anymore wrong or dirty than adjusting your TV settings to get the best picture possible? Although, I can understand people wanting their headphones to be self-contained, especially if your source varies constantly. But I think generally most people listen to a consistent source/setup for EQing to not really be a hassle.
 
And if a track and field olympian could adjust to playing football, why not? He might not be as good, but it's certainly better than the alternative of playing with one less person.

 

[Clayton SF]

Mods, whether done physically or via software, are preformed to get the effect you want so that you can have a wonderful listening experience. And I am all for a grand listening experience.

 

[sesshin]

re:minimal use of EQ, just for sake of example, this is the setting I had last night listening to Monk Alone In San Francisco.

 
It was a little dark on my LCD-2s so I opened up the top a bit, increased the subbass to give it more weight, and scooped the mids a hair to separate to the sound. just a nice gentle curve to accentuate what was already there.
 
After that I was listening to electronic music (Simian Mobile Disco) and my EQ was flat. The sound of that particular music + headphone/amp combo didn't need to be altered at all.

 

[kkl10]

Following the advices for simplicity, I tried to make a new and simpler EQ curve from scratch for my doublepadded GMP 450 Pro.
Here's the result:
 

 
A bit simpler and actually better sounding than my previous one:
 

 
Maybe still a bit to much right?
Well I guess that when you are on a very limited budget and are stuck to just one setup it will be very dificult to be able to use less equalization than what your current setup requires to sound perfectly flat.
 
My setup: Yulong D100 + doublepadded GMP 450 Pro - 600 Euros budget.
 
I still would like to see more EQ curves/settings (towards flatness) for sub 1000$ headphones...
 
 

 

[lorriman]

I would never had thought to EQ but for the intelligence that fun/pleasurable phones had a V shape. I wanted to hear the difference, out of idle curiosity. Being somewhat averse to the idea of boosting the bass and trebles instead I simply lowered around 800Hz which was the Rockbox mid point in it's equalizer. The difference floored me. My iem's, humble pl30's, sounded marvellous. Without EQing the musicians sound like they are playing in a cramped box. With that one EQ (which on my pl30s is about -3.5 db) the music opens up beautifully.

Since then I've tried the "How to EQ your phones thread" to remove harsh spikes/resonances and ended up with the same effect. That 800Hz is roughly were most people have a major resonance.

For me there's no going back. I haven't yet tried some strongly V shaped phones to compare. I expect, however, that I would still have to EQ out a harsh spike here or there anyway.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Following the advices for simplicity, I tried to make a new and simpler EQ curve from scratch for my doublepadded GMP 450 Pro.
Here's the result:
 

 
A bit simpler and actually better sounding than my previous one:
 

 
Maybe still a bit to much right?
Well I guess that when you are on a very limited budget and are stuck to just one setup it will be very dificult to be able to use less equalization than what your current setup requires to sound perfectly flat.
 
My setup: Yulong D100 + doublepadded GMP 450 Pro - 600 Euros budget.
 
I still would like to see more EQ curves/settings (towards flatness) for sub 1000$ headphones...
 
 

There's no such thing as "too much" in EQing, different headphones require different amounts of adjustments to reach closer to neutrality (if that's the aim of the EQing).
 
A suggestion would be to adjust your bass and/or mids to your taste, if your cans lack / have too much of any of those in your own opinion. Generally neutral treble sounds best, but having neutral bass or mids being the most preferred is debatable.

 

[sh4w]

After playing around with the EQ for some weeks I realized that trying to get the headphones "flat" isnt really the way to go.
I just made a few minor changes to my K701s to remove the harshness and the artificial mids and now I fully enjoy the sound signature they have!
 
 

 
  2400 Hz | -4 db | BW: 0,4
  6000 Hz | -4 db | BW: 0,3
12000 Hz | -4 db | BW: 0,2

 

[lorriman]

Since then I've tried the "How to EQ your phones thread" to remove harsh spikes/resonances and ended up with the same effect. That 800Hz is roughly were most people have a major resonance.
.

Actually I'm not sure that that's right. I think I'm confusing it with 7500Hz. In anycase I did end up with removing some db's around the same area as the rockbox mid EQ.

 

[kkl10]

Quote:

There's no such thing as "too much" in EQing, different headphones require different amounts of adjustments to reach closer to neutrality (if that's the aim of the EQing).
 
A suggestion would be to adjust your bass and/or mids to your taste, if your cans lack / have too much of any of those in your own opinion. Generally neutral treble sounds best, but having neutral bass or mids being the most preferred is debatable.

I agree that different headphones require different amounts of adjustments to reach neutrality, but I think it is preferable to start with a relatively neutral headphone so that one don't take the risk of cutting to much and thus raising the noise floor of the music, nor boosting to much to avoid distortion, phasing issues or whatever.
 
My main issue with the GMP 450 Pro, isn't really with bass or midrange (I can play with earpads to easily deal with those frequencies), my main issue is with the upper mids - treble linearity - that's where the main peaks and dips are and I just can't get rid of them unless I use EQ. I believe this upper mids - treble non linearity affects most traditional headphones... if not all...
 
Appreciate the comment anyway!
 

 

[ourfpshero]

this is a topic that comes up every so often. saying 'i dont eq' is the headfi version of e-peen. 
everything we buy, headphones, amps, sources, even cables, change the sound. only the person who actually mixed the final recording knows what the music should actually sound like (in his/her opinion). each person does what they want for sound reproduction and uses what they want to achieve that.
i use my eq liberally, and i applaud those that have taken a knowledgable approach to eq usage

 

[bisayaboi]

Quote:

Haha, I've sometimes wondered if I should make this exact same thread. What I've philosophized on this subject is that:
 
1. Many people haven't had any experience with GOOD quality EQs. The quality of the EQs varies a lot, some ruins the sound more than it helps (distorts, colors/skews the frequencies), most software EQs are bad such as iTunes, foobar2000 etc. In best case scenario an EQ simply adjusts the loudness curve, this works well with a good hardware EQ. Cheapest option if wanting to try out what a good quality EQ can do: pick up an Audigy 2 ZS 2nd hand for around $15 => install kX Audio drivers and use the built-in hardware DSP 10-band EQ.
 
2. The site is head-fi where many people are very theoretical and simply go by theory rather than using their ears. Audiophiles have it in their head, the way an EQ works like is something "bad" as you interfere with what the manufacturer for the headphone or the producer of the music intended it to sound like. The only "clean" / proper way is to go for a headphone with that particular sound.
 
3. People are getting more and more convenient and expect more and more "plug-n-play" / Apple-like kind of motto. People are getting too lazy to fiddle around with settings, want everything served on a plate to enjoy directly.
 
4. The higher price people pay for a headphone the more they expect it to meet their prefers and don't accept the thought of "customization" to be the part of paid price.
 
5. People lack the skill/experience to EQ for a good result.
 
 
These are my major theories regarding this subject. As for me I couldn't cope without a good quality EQ. It's a matter of my headphones sounding bad or great.

Perfect post. If you can get past all this, EQ is perhaps the greatest tool in achieving one's perfect sound.
 
People get tube amps to "color" sound. I ask, why not just equalize?
 
 

 

[TMRaven]

Well, tube amps are also a cheap means to get lots of voltage from an amp to drive high impedance headphones.

 

[Tronz]

Quote:

 
Should it feel anymore wrong or dirty than adjusting your TV settings to get the best picture possible? Although, I can understand people wanting their headphones to be self-contained, especially if your source varies constantly. But I think generally most people listen to a consistent source/setup for EQing to not really be a hassle.
 
And if a track and field olympian could adjust to playing football, why not? He might not be as good, but it's certainly better than the alternative of playing with one less person.

I tried my best to calibrate all of the HDTV's in my house to not impose on the overall picture quality. I personally, don't like EQ's either. I'm just a purist, audio or video.
 

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Perfect post. If you can get past all this, EQ is perhaps the greatest tool in achieving one's perfect sound.
 
People get tube amps to "color" sound. I ask, why not just equalize?

There is a warmth I hear with tube amps that I don't hear with ss amps but you're right--I equalize my tube amps as well to get just the "right" sound. It is much more economical than finding that "holy grail" tube that costs a fortune (which, by the way, I've gotten caught up in, too).

 

[stockpimp007]

I would never use an EQ, completely alters the original sound imo