bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Agree in general but not on the non FR issues.I apologise if my post sounded as though I was picking on your reply.
My post was a general post, addressing a school of thought/assumptions championed by many.
It goes something like these:
- PEQ cures a rainy day!
- With enough PEQ bands, setup precisely, any headphone can be cured and made to sound like any other.
- FR curves obtained from reputable outlets are accurate enough to conjure up accurate PEQ settings that would cure all.
These assumptions are just plain wrong scientifically, because:
- PEQ can help with broad tuning of a headphone, no more.
- Every sample of a particular headphone, make & model, is different slightly, and they change as time goes by. Enough to nullify a preset PEQ setting to fit every sample at any age or condition.
- Obtaining FR curves is an approximate endeavour, even using the best test rigs costing many tens of 1000s, handled by experts. The very same headphone sample can yield different results, when tested again and again. slight seating changes, small variations to the pads, shape of the ears used, etc . . . .
- Test rigs are dumb! on an FR test, they do not segregate, distortion or resonances from signal. these would show up as peaks and nulls. Of course a knowledgeable person, would also run distortion tests. Using the two together, he can tell which peak or null is due to what.
On a typical EDXS, I would suggest using a wide bandwidth (small Q) PEQ to correct the 1-3kHz deficiency, that's all.
Depending on individuals, wide bandwidth corrections can also be applied for taste, preferences.
The 4kHz+ and 12kHz peaks are distortions/resonances. By filtering out the music at these frequencies, one would not correct the problem.
Think about it, PEQ only affects the music output to the phones, nothing else.
I was an anti-EQ for decades - but after all my mods of the HE-500 was still short of satisfaction I tried PEQ. Obvious FR issues adjusted in a positive manner. But some issues remained. Areas where CSD charts showed the driver wasn't at rest (the mellower left overs of ringing) conformed to where I heard issues. Broad strokes for sure not called for. I've also mentioned in other places in HF that planars in particular over about 2.5k vary quite a bit sample to sample - so I'm talking my samples. Crinicle addresses these CSD issues somewhat if they are at FR spikes (lets leave out the fact that Cinicle is actually wrong in descrete places for this discussion). However, its not always the case.
Having realized a long time ago that at best playback can give a decent illusion of real live unamplified music, and my goal is accuracy/transparency/timbre w/o annoyance of amusical treble sharpness (been using estat/ribbon tweeters/speakers for decades because I perceieve them to have less cruft than domes, horns, etc.). So, let's say that a proper treble overtone level at 9k gets a value of 80 db in some given piece of music. Say my HE-500 has issues with 9k and the irritation/distortion it adds makes it an 84 db in my perception. I've done the fuzzor, pads, cables, rear screens, dynamat - so it's down to a 82, along with the other improvements. But its still not right.
Well I can't afford an Orpheus or a Corinna. Maybe I should put a piece of cloth in front of the driver like the OG HE-6 that covers 1/4 of the driver? PEQ in narrow bands at specific FR locations on my headphones mitigates the annoyance/brings the level down to ~80 db. I'm usually in the Q 7.5-9.0 range with 1.8-3.4 db - anymore and the music suffers. Any less - it's annoyance time again. Without those changes I would use them less. I ran hundreds of tests by ear to arrive at my settings. Purist? The question is does it bring me closer to the performers and the music. That answer is yes.