Maybe someone has said it in a comment some time ago, but in case it hasn't been said, for anyone coming here now: the restart of the PC is no longer required after enabling EqualizerAPO for a new device.
What about a Android App called SoundID. I use this and its great because U do the Setup only by ears. Also i use room acustic Meter to Put a small Microphone between the earphones and let it run. I can See then where are some Things and how It Looks Like in a Graph. Even If the mic use arent a proper Testing mic.
A lot of people aren't interested in the effort. I recommended several friends to try Oluv's EQ on the EarFun Free Pro 2's and they had very little interest to get it done even when I told them that they will sound 5-10 times their price point after. The process was a bit finicky for 20min, but now that they have it they keep messaging me about how unbelievably good it sounds. Everyone's not DIY minded, have faith in their ability to tune or feel "digital manipulation" will cast the plague on their beloved headphones.
Because people like to justify theirs own spendings for their chase of their perfect sound. They seemingly achieve that and they think everyone should go through the same trial by fire of spending money not liking the sound, returning/selling the hardware rinse and repeat
Thank you for this video. I'm a total noob in the headphone world, just brought my hd 560s. I did my initial search on reddit, but the audiophile posts were frankly a bit overwhelming and seldom helpful for a beginner. This tutorial helped me tailor the sound more to my preferences.
I think the main thing the 560s needs for EQ would be the 4khz area, down a couple dB. Other then that it's almost the flattest headphone money can buy, surely for the price.
Only time I tried eq was when I had no idea what I was doing and of course I ran into awful clipping issues like you stated. I'm taking some time to each myself how to do it because it really seems like a fun tool to just play around with. I ordered the XS and I'm looking forward to trying out the tuning you shared here. Thank you so much for all of this!
Thank you for making this tutorial! I tried EQing my Edition XS and was finally to fill a "hole" in the sound. It sounds so much more pleasant and easier to listen. I always felt like there was a gap in the low end that couldnt be filled. Now it's properly scratching my itch in that spot!
I know people will hate me for this but I think APO's Interface is much cleaner than Peace. After a while of using APO without Peace i can only say that I never looked back. Ohh and similar option for Android would be Poweramp Equalizer, which gives you a full blow parametric EQ without root.
Same for me. The stock APO Interface is actually fantastic because its not just cleaner but also very configurable. It starts with a blank slate but you can bake pretty much everything into it from graphic variable band EQs to full on VST Plugins where the plugins own UI can be accessed within APOs interface. Really don't get why people are so intend on using peace.
20:00 - for A/B testing with EQ on or off.. I do it by creating another EQ preset with flattened presets with same pre amp - 'Edition XS flat' where all sliders are 0 but the pre amp is set to the same -4... That way it is perfectly volume matched. Probably the same thing setting the digital volume but I'm used to clicking on the 2 presets to A/B test them vs setting it On or Off
For Peace APO I used the "flatten" button to turn off the EQ while keeping the pre-amp value. To turn it back on I just double click to reload the profile itself again.
sometimes the same pre-gain actually doesn’t sound like the same volume because of the altered decibels of the frequencies, so it’s actually better to adjust a flat preset’s gain manually until it sounds the same volume to you. I’ve seen Oratory comment that when i first got into EQ’ing and i tried it myself and it improves A/B testing by a lot
The main thing I noticed when EQing most of my IEMS, is that while you can roll off or EQ down most of the peaky frequencies above your target and it will generally sound better, EQing up or increasing frequencies that are way off your target (like 4dB or more) to your target usually don't work and will sound very unnatural. I'm betting it's because inherent driver limitations to properly reproduce the frequency. I'm just glad that I could EQ off some disgusting nasty peaky frequencies between 2 and 4KHz on my KZ ZS10 which made everything sound extremely emphasised and shouty on that range, now it finally sounds normal.
I worked in live sound for several years and it's a very popular technique to start with the graph at 0 and then to only subtract frequencies that jump out as being annoying. Think of it as having a piece of wood and slowly carving it down until it's shaped into whatever shape you're trying to make. It's not the only approach, but it's not a bad approach.
Very wise,@@seandavis9476 . People tend to think correction comes without cost. The farther your corrected curve is from flat, the more veil and distortion you add. As well as messing with time-based frequency-ratio volume decay issues which the brain uses to construct distance, direction, and other information inside its subjective representation of the objective world out there.
Great vid. If the headphones have a certain Hz response, then starting by boosting the lower levels might not be best/work bc the headphones are already having a problem producing those specific Hz. In that case, I would think that starting by lowering the higher dB responses to make the bass sound louder, for example, might work better. Also, by taking the boosting approach, you increase risk of distortion/clipping.
eqMAC does seems to work wonderfully. Generally the Presets for different headphones really enhance the sound, and even if I am not satisfied, I can generally work from those as a starting point to tweak.
I like how it allows you to select which audio device to turn EQ on for. I have Voicemeeter Banana set up for my speakers and Voicemeeter Input is my main audio device with it's own EQ and treble/bass that sounds good for my cheap logitech speakers, but when I got a new FX-Audio DAC for cheap I want to plug in solely my HD58X headphones so I can set the EQ only for that device since they need to be tuned in for those headphones to sound great for me. So anytime I wanna put the headphones on now I just swap the audio source to the DAC/AMP in windows 10 after flipping the power switch on the dac, put those headphones on, close voicemeeter banana so I can have hotkey volume control in windows, and bam good to go. A few steps but only 1-2 more over what I had to do before to switch from speakers to headphones, which I tend to have to do at night when I need to be quiet on the computer. Or sometimes you just get tired of wearing bulky headphones and need to give your head a break.
You got that much right that you want ONLY the media player going to the DAC, but to fully avoid the OS mixer you need to also make your passthru software an exclusive virtual device. Or just use an Audirvana or Roon type of thing.
I will have to look into those. Is there a way to make sure that I am doing a passthru and avoiding the OS Mixer? I am assuming it is RealTek (which I have had issues with in the past). I think I have bypassed it by setting my sound input device in windows as the DAC for headphones, or Voicemeeter for speakers. @@PartyMusic775
I use Wavelet too but honestly AutoEQ profiles are more miss than hit to me. Too over-EQ'd as it EQ's even frequencies that should not be touched and are measured inaccurately by the measurement rigs. Usually the end result is way too harsh sounding. But on reddit there is a guy who has imported every Oratory EQ profile into Wavelet compatible format. Even though they also aim to reproduce Harman Target the sound is much more pleasing in my ears. Oratory after all creates the profiles with having the headphone at hand and fine tunes with ear and understands the limitations of the measurement rig where as AutoEQ is entirely computer generated from 3rd party measurements. The sound is way different even if the AutoEQ profile happens to be made from Oratorys measurements.
@@MaaZeus This is a huge point to me. I remember trying the auto EQ profile for the blon bl-03, and how much it totally wrecked the sound of the fairly well tuned iem. That's the day I doubted auto EQ. Handmade EQ's by reputable people like Oluv or Oratory, definitely do make the sound much better.
A good way to check whether or not you want to get into EQ is by using Oratory1990’s presets, which aim for the Harman target. The Harman target isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s the “most preferred” natural sound for a majority of people, and Oratory1990 has a massive list of EQ presets for different headphones to push them to the Harman target. If you try the preset and feel it sounds better, you can really get into EQ’ing from there. If you think it doesn’t sound any better, maybe don’t get into it.
I figured out either the neutral EQ target or Harman target is fine with some EQ'ing from there with the bass and treble. Boosting that treble a bunch and just a little for bass seems to make my headphones very nice sounding after EQ'ing to one of those two targets with EQ APO and Peace gui.
Harman target is crap. The deeper I dig into the research, the more shocked I am. I used to say if those papers were peer reviewed (they weren't), they'd look like confetti. But after reading even deeper into it, it's more correct to say they'd be smoke, the whole thing would be burned in a fire. Now it just so happens a good lot of people like V and U shaped tunings so there's nothing magic about some people liking Harman over flat. But there is absolutely no gold standard to this curve, how high or low it goes, and where the slopes start, or any of that, AT ALL. Period. End of story.
VERY GOOD explanations and tips. Thank you for making this vid it really helps to understand proper EQ'ing and I can't wait to try some adjustments :- )
i am not sure how many people are here who will read this or even people who have some very good ears and systems.. Speackers... or clear headphones.... and the Most IMPORTENT part is how sound works.. How to modyfy it or cange it according to your way... As he mention in the video you can be on any side of the group... Understanding the Sound is the Major part of the system and your ears... lol what if you have the best headphones or speckers and sound perfect to you.... How you make sound different ?... Thats the ART and it dose not comes by coping the Preset files from someones or some systems you have to work with it.. and your group will love the sound.. BTW i come in a More Clear and Balanced sound.. Using Technics very OLD school lol... But the point here is... IF you make adjusttemnts the frequescy will blow your ears... Headackes or heavy eyes after listning to those kind a sound can happen.. THAT IS A BAD Modification of a sound... this is the Reasion you need to know What is hitting me hard and lets lower down that volume... EQ is a ART it has its own Technics also but if you are into this and you know what you are doing... then welcome to the WORd of SOUND... My Techincs Speackers Sound like someone is present in the ROOM.. If you play a good recordings.. Some Times freinds of mine listen to it and say someone is at the door or something.. This never happen from the Stock Technics Speackers but it sound now better then it was made for... I am not sure if someone get this idea what i am tring to explain.. coz not everyone can understand this... and blessed with the system i have... Hope you Unlock your Knowladge and get this hobby to understand... PLS dont copy paste presets lol My experince tells you IT WILL NEver ever WORK for anything... God bless it was a good video.. I needed some other solution for my MIC lol so i came across to it... ty
Would be cool if one could EQ individualy for left and right channel to compensate for an imbalance in hearing. My right hearing has a dip between 6 - 8k of 4db.
Damn I didnt think about that, thats a good Idea bro cuz my left ear is clogged or something. I hear less out of the left ear. I found out accidently too one day I was panning my kick in a beat and noticed something was off. So then I panned the kick 100% to the left and panned a clone of the same kick 100% to the right and thats how I tested my hearing.
I would get a physical Equaliser so that you can use Exclusive mode in windows. Non exclusive audio is not great. Use an audio program like Tidal where you can enable and disable exclusive audio quickly (Bypass the windows audio Mix) and you will hear the difference. Speakers will make it more evident. Edit: Equaliser APO may have its own driver mix handing all streams without any processing bypassing the windows mix. But Id be surprised if it does and that its not sending just sending the modified streams into the windows mix.
Nah, false, so long as you bypass the CAudioLimiter and replace the original APOs, the result is essentially bit-perfect. No one is going to hear distortion components below -150 dB, lol. That shit is hard to hear even at -80 dB.
@@tdg176 No it is not. Windows recently introduced a way to bypass the processing within the windows Mix but most programs have not implemented it yet. You can in chrome using the flag 'Raw audio capture' Enable/Disable the usage of WASAPI raw audio capture. When enabled, the audio stream is a 'raw' stream that bypasses all signal processing except for endpoint specific, always-on processing in the Audio Processing Object (APO), driver, and hardware. MPC-HC also recently added the option 'ignore system channel mixer'. Test it yourself. With speakers is really easy to hear the difference.
@@KaneAmaroq I only EQ in games not for anything else. So I dont need to keep an EQ running. Compared to though the windows audio mix. Exclusive is night and day. The Mix sounds compressed, missing detail. Going through APO's drivers might disable the audio mix or processing, though disabling processing on an audio stream has only recently been introduced. So maybe it handles all of the incoming streams itself? I assumed it would still be within the windows mix but It must go through its own. Not sure. All I know is the windows audio mix sounds terrible.
I have tried Equlizer APO for my Denon AH-D7200. I have not done it myself but I've used AutoEQ option. The data base is huuuge! and basically you can find EQ settings for any headphones you wish. I've chosen EQ for my Denons prepared by "crinacle" and damn, did not expect to hear so clean sound! They sound much better now. I never thought I would EQ any headphones, simply had no idea what and how I can do it. Thanks to AutoEQ option I do not have to do it myself. :) I need to try it with my Sundara as well. Thank you for your videos about EQ!
what I dont understand about eq is everytime I look up neutral eqs for e.g. my m40x, they boost the bass. but on all measurements I can find, the bass is already beyond the harman curve. That means they further increase the bass, making the sound muddy, which is the exact opposite of what you'd normaly want when going for neutral
I've had great sound success for IEM's using my PC Windows 7 Dolby Surround Home Theater V4....It's a 10 band graphic virtualizer EQ, and it has a gain adjuster known as Volume Leveler, it has (6) intelligent EQ filters, Surround Virtualizer, a dialogue enhancer to bring out voices...... and it's clear with no noises, humming or any distortions.... It works for me and I like it !
Sound Source is a great paid option for Mac - they have a nice trial mode which you can try out and decide if it's right for you. It's got built in integration with Headphones Auto EQ which is a game changer - you can quickly find EQs for your headphones - crinicle oratory whatever you can see
Yes it's great ! With sound source you can also use the parametric EQ of your mac (AUNBand EQ, 16 bands) or add any plugin you like (ToneBosters, Pro-Q 3 from Fabfilter, etc.).
Very interesting but you can't do that with WASAPI exclusive output. And if I'm not mistaken that output is required to let the DAC decode itself the files (like DSD files). Is there a way to EQ while using WASAPI exclusive output?
I have noticed that my headphones don't have a 20db(or any noticeable) dip near 8khz but it's there on the graph by a reviewer. Got me wondering what's objective . Our senses are subjective hence all the equipment and measurements are subjective. We can't perceive what's there unless it's changing in some sense.
i am a DSP guy and i don’t like EQing (at least digitally). because if the headphones could sound better,the manufacturers would have made them in that away. i don’t think the EQ app creates a magic that the manufacturers couldn’t. moreover, the 24 bit or 16 bit 96 KHz or 44.1KHz lossless bit perfect audio will not be bit perfect anymore and will be corrupted by the DSP filtering(convolution). so making the cd quality audio meaningless and worthless. But, But, if anyone feels EQing sounds better. i think it would be a happy ending. just forget about the technicality and enjoy that musicality.
I am slapping the Ifi Zen Can Xbass button and additional +6db low shelf so I can enjoy the bass of my Hifiman Edition XS headphones. I don't even know what kind of bass you are getting with dialing up the lower frequencies with only +4 db. That must sound boring lol
There's no risk of clipping if your pre-amp slider is set or the "prevent clipping" checkbox is set. And it's easier to think in terms of "this needs to go up" and "this needs to go down".
I just want to use the EQ on my RME 2/4 DAC AMP. Wouldn't that be better than software. There are several present EQ's that I want to set up for the different headphones. The main one that needs eq is LCD-5's. I'm trying to get better punch, attack in the low end.
Are there any options to eq an iPhone to reduce IEM sibilance? I have been looking for an app with a parametric equalizer, but they all seem to be very basic EQs with fixed frequency bands and no single decibel or half decibel increments, with names like "Bass Boost" or "Volume Boost", which means they are probably of questionable quality. Also, most of the apps for iPhone are focused on streaming and won't let me import local files for offline listening. Radsone looks like a good app, but it won't let me import local files.
always avoided eq because i usually just made the sound worse... decided to try this on my edition XS and... i need to go pull the he-r10d out the box. they are way too bassy and a little Qing could bring them down...
Hello Sir! Can u answer me one query, I was using an earphone which was having high bass, but one day it stopped working, so i changed the wire of that earphone, but suddenly I lost all the bass, and it treble has increased. So my question is changing wire reduce the quality of earphones? If yes, then what type of cable i should use? Please answer sir
To me EQing my iems is like giving my favorite audio reviewer a spa treatment and a little exercise. We all love Resolve for his intelligence and wit, but who wouldn't want to see a ripped Resolve with maybe a little more hair on top and a little less back hair? That's what you're doing to your headphones/ iems when you EQ. You're giving them a spa treatment and a little exercise. I know the analogy about exercise doesn't quite hold together, but seriously Andrew; you need to exercise more ❤️
Great video and very informative! I have an question: Is EQ something that we should consider in general when we are choosing to buy an iem/headphone? I mean let's say we want to buy an iem that costs 200-300eu and the tuning is not good and there is another iem that cost 50eu with a great tuning. That means that the first one in not a good iem and we should avoid it and buy the second one? Or if the expensive one has good technicalities then we can buy it and then EQ it. Is tuning something that should play important role to our decision (no matter the rest elements of the iem) or is it something that we should consider less as it is very easy to change tuning by EQ?
Well, the problem is that you can have good and bad IEMs at all price tags. But IMO there's stuff you can't fully EQ in, like aspects to the experience that show up with some that don't show up with others. There's a LOT that you can influence by EQ, but just because you can make the adjustments, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily SOUND better in the end. This might be too fine-grained to be able to identify reliably, but also because of that, there's no real indicator for good or bad when it comes to many aspects of sound quality that aren't uniquely related to a headphone's tonal balance/tuning. To be clear, I'm not saying the additional subjectively desirable stuff is not there somewhere in the FR, merely that it's not obvious what 'good' is in an analysis of FR in terms of these qualities.
I've essentially lost interest in the stock sound of headphones (IEMs less so since EQ can get trickier with portable sources and they are easier to tune to begin with) so in testing I always move quickly to slapping a Harman EQ on it to see if it can handle it. If it an then I'm sure it'll EQ to whatever I desire. HD800s, Clear MG and Arya for example don't do Harman well so I went with the LCD-X that did. Now I'm slowely trying develop my own EQ with what I've learned from Crinacle's and Oluv's tunings and I should check Andrew's as well to see if there is something different there. Then just several months of arduous trial and error and hopefully I'll find a breathtaking sound before I find an asylum.
Try to find one that doesn’t need EQ. Because the need of good EQ will limit what audio equipments you can use. Especially in portable audio. If it will be always connected to a PC, then maybe it’s okay ignore the tonality and go straight with one that has high technical capabilities.
Basically, this is assuming we're using our headphones with a PC attached to them. Why don't Dac/Amps just come with EQ's? Instead we get 7 settings that all sound almost the same like quick roll-off, max response, blah boo boo poo poo.
Does this happen to someone ? xD when I sit too long making my eq and adjusting volume and all after a while everything starts to sound wrong and I have to take a pause. Like for example It tales me like one hour for my eq and the next day I make like extra adjustments, because the same day I cant.
somehow still don´t know which numbers i need to put in there for my Arya Stealth - I just want to smoothen the treble a bit and maybe a lil bit more bass
If all you're going to do is just adjust by graphs, might as well go to oratory1990's measurements which also provide the bands, gains and Q's for different targets (harman, diffuse, etc). Essentially what you're doing here just an order of magnitude more effectively with no room for error
Sorry this is a substandard way of doing eq. You have to give up using Asio and Wasapi Exclusive and hence create computer interference with the digital stream. A much better way of doing it is by using MiniDSP SHD Studio. This gives you up to 96/32 bit processing and it has a built in Parametric EQ. Doing it this way you are able to still use Asio and Wasapi Exclusive and have a much better digital stream.
Thoughts on using a klark teknik 370 or 360 as an analog EQ? For those of use they don’t use a pc as a source and don’t want an RME ADI Dac nor do not want a basis schiit tone control.
Hey question, certain headphones, often ones that still sound good, will give me a "singe" or slight "burning" sensation on my eardrums if I wear them too long. Can EQ help with this? I always feel like it is because of too much treble or subbass. Or would this be a factor of the airpressure released by the drivers?
i think it's your own heat that get trapped and accumulates in the headphones cups material. Also I think the prolonged pressure on some points could feel like heat. Did you feel the same on some open back headphones ?
General question: I'm initially interested in EQ'ing my Sundara's. I'd be referencing Oratory's preset. However, it looks like along with my Sundara's, I'll be EQ'ing my powered speakers as well since they're sharing the DAC & Pre-amp of my Atom stack, right? Does that mean I need to make & then switch to 2 different EQ settings?
@@casedistorted Yeah. I could make a different profile for the powered monitors. Or, what I normally do, is just hit the 'off' switch at the top right. It disables the current profile (In this case, the one I made for my Sundara's).
Find a part in a song that bothers you. You can try to isolate it in Reaper for example or just directly try to find the frequencies in APO+Peace or whatever and see if you can help it by lowering the volume there or increasing it around them. The timbre can also be the sum of several separate regions (harmonics) so you might need to spend time finding them. I'm sure it can be improved to a meaningful extent, but perhaps not fully erased.
so tried to find this on the website but the pages are broken. could anyone help me decide what iem's to get for gaming? got into a surrounding where dont want open backs so i chose iem's. but not sure what ones to go with for sound stage. imaging. as a comp shooter player that is my main goal. any input is greatly appreciated as i am still very new to the audio world
Can I use EQ software if I'm using a PC with optical out to powered speakers (Audioengine HD6)? Would the software be able to EQ a signal going over optical?
Help me out with something...if we decrease gain level in Peace and turn the volume up even more on our amp to get back to preferred listening level, is it not the same thing as leaving the gain alone in Peace and leaving our amp volume lower? I don't understand how this necessarily matters. EQ novice here, please inform me. Also, is there any merit in reducing the frequencies below 20hz(when I have say a 100hz shelf) way down so the headphone isn't trying to reproduce those? Hypothetically reducing distortion and power requirements in the low end
To the 20hz and below question, I wouldn't worry about that stuff. I think if it can handle a sub-bass shelf, the stuff below that should be fine (within reason... people do bizarre things sometimes with EQ). For the gain question, the point is more about your digital volume and clipping. If all digital volume is at 100%, and you increase things further with digital EQ, it can cause clipping. So you have to either reduce that by applying pre-gain in PEACE, or reduce your digital volume some other way (through the player for example). You can compensate for the loss in volume by increasing the volume on your amplifier, which isn't digital gain at that point.
@@ResolveReviews So the clipping itself is digital like there is some dynamic range with numerically defined limits that can be passed? I also don't know much about this side of things.
@@hartyewh1 Have you ever watched your music play through an oscilloscope? Normally it produces nice peaks and valleys that have a rounded top and bottom to them. Clipping means the peaks and valleys have been increased so much that the rounded part is being cut off and now looks like the top or bottom of a square. Turning up or down the amplifier is just amplifying the already clipped signal.
@@seandavis9476 Yeah, I just find it strange that a digital signal can clip already while being digital. Seems like it could be handled differently in a standardized way, but perhaps it's not desireable to allow some automatic pre-gain to be done by the software.
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](/img/1.gif)
Maybe someone has said it in a comment some time ago, but in case it hasn't been said, for anyone coming here now: the restart of the PC is no longer required after enabling EqualizerAPO for a new device.
What about a Android App called SoundID. I use this and its great because U do the Setup only by ears. Also i use room acustic Meter to Put a small Microphone between the earphones and let it run. I can See then where are some Things and how It Looks Like in a Graph. Even If the mic use arent a proper Testing mic.
Resolved! Not sure why so many people are anti EQ not hard to get in to and improves pretty much any headphone to your preference.
Great work Andrew!
Probably because people think it's more complicated than it is. The reality is it's the best value for time spent doing Audiophile stuff.
Eq is the best tool in audio. You move some sliders and everything sounds better
A lot of people aren't interested in the effort. I recommended several friends to try Oluv's EQ on the EarFun Free Pro 2's and they had very little interest to get it done even when I told them that they will sound 5-10 times their price point after. The process was a bit finicky for 20min, but now that they have it they keep messaging me about how unbelievably good it sounds. Everyone's not DIY minded, have faith in their ability to tune or feel "digital manipulation" will cast the plague on their beloved headphones.
I like eq
I dislike using eq outside of my PC
Because people like to justify theirs own spendings for their chase of their perfect sound. They seemingly achieve that and they think everyone should go through the same trial by fire of spending money not liking the sound, returning/selling the hardware rinse and repeat
I EQed my 4XX and it went from just ok to incredibly satisfying.
Thank you for this video. I'm a total noob in the headphone world, just brought my hd 560s. I did my initial search on reddit, but the audiophile posts were frankly a bit overwhelming and seldom helpful for a beginner. This tutorial helped me tailor the sound more to my preferences.
I think the main thing the 560s needs for EQ would be the 4khz area, down a couple dB. Other then that it's almost the flattest headphone money can buy, surely for the price.
@@mikafoxx2717 thx for the tip, I'll try it tomorrow. :)
Only time I tried eq was when I had no idea what I was doing and of course I ran into awful clipping issues like you stated. I'm taking some time to each myself how to do it because it really seems like a fun tool to just play around with. I ordered the XS and I'm looking forward to trying out the tuning you shared here. Thank you so much for all of this!
Thank you for making this tutorial! I tried EQing my Edition XS and was finally to fill a "hole" in the sound. It sounds so much more pleasant and easier to listen. I always felt like there was a gap in the low end that couldnt be filled. Now it's properly scratching my itch in that spot!
What did you do?
I like the way you explain the basics of EQ-ing, especially the pitfalls. Good video.
Sadly the worst pitfalls were left with sticks and leaves right over them waiting for you to fall into them. Read my other comments above.
Deepest rabbit hole ever
I know people will hate me for this but I think APO's Interface is much cleaner than Peace. After a while of using APO without Peace i can only say that I never looked back. Ohh and similar option for Android would be Poweramp Equalizer, which gives you a full blow parametric EQ without root.
Same for me. The stock APO Interface is actually fantastic because its not just cleaner but also very configurable. It starts with a blank slate but you can bake pretty much everything into it from graphic variable band EQs to full on VST Plugins where the plugins own UI can be accessed within APOs interface. Really don't get why people are so intend on using peace.
THANK YOU
I'm not alone
@@GrumpiestKitten I guess it's because Peace UI is very simple and easy to use
I agree!
Same here 🙌
20:00 - for A/B testing with EQ on or off.. I do it by creating another EQ preset with flattened presets with same pre amp - 'Edition XS flat' where all sliders are 0 but the pre amp is set to the same -4... That way it is perfectly volume matched. Probably the same thing setting the digital volume but I'm used to clicking on the 2 presets to A/B test them vs setting it On or Off
For Peace APO I used the "flatten" button to turn off the EQ while keeping the pre-amp value. To turn it back on I just double click to reload the profile itself again.
sometimes the same pre-gain actually doesn’t sound like the same volume because of the altered decibels of the frequencies, so it’s actually better to adjust a flat preset’s gain manually until it sounds the same volume to you. I’ve seen Oratory comment that when i first got into EQ’ing and i tried it myself and it improves A/B testing by a lot
this has changed my life, and my enjoyment of my old HD650s
Finally I can remove my video on Peace now. Thanks
One ought to respect the classics ;)
Oh great, another episode from Resolve, the EQ guy!
Don't you dare!
The main thing I noticed when EQing most of my IEMS, is that while you can roll off or EQ down most of the peaky frequencies above your target and it will generally sound better, EQing up or increasing frequencies that are way off your target (like 4dB or more) to your target usually don't work and will sound very unnatural. I'm betting it's because inherent driver limitations to properly reproduce the frequency.
I'm just glad that I could EQ off some disgusting nasty peaky frequencies between 2 and 4KHz on my KZ ZS10 which made everything sound extremely emphasised and shouty on that range, now it finally sounds normal.
that's like trying to add data to an already compressed source, you can't really pull things out of thin air
I worked in live sound for several years and it's a very popular technique to start with the graph at 0 and then to only subtract frequencies that jump out as being annoying. Think of it as having a piece of wood and slowly carving it down until it's shaped into whatever shape you're trying to make. It's not the only approach, but it's not a bad approach.
@@seandavis9476 Especially if those dips are comb filtering, trying to EQ them up will only make the peak sharper.
Very wise,@@seandavis9476 . People tend to think correction comes without cost. The farther your corrected curve is from flat, the more veil and distortion you add. As well as messing with time-based frequency-ratio volume decay issues which the brain uses to construct distance, direction, and other information inside its subjective representation of the objective world out there.
Great vid. If the headphones have a certain Hz response, then starting by boosting the lower levels might not be best/work bc the headphones are already having a problem producing those specific Hz. In that case, I would think that starting by lowering the higher dB responses to make the bass sound louder, for example, might work better. Also, by taking the boosting approach, you increase risk of distortion/clipping.
Thank you sooo much for the video! You can really transform your headphones, if being familiar with eq. 👍
Excellent video resolve.
Volume matching while EQing is such a crucial part. Very few tutorials mention that.
eqMAC does seems to work wonderfully. Generally the Presets for different headphones really enhance the sound, and even if I am not satisfied, I can generally work from those as a starting point to tweak.
I like how it allows you to select which audio device to turn EQ on for. I have Voicemeeter Banana set up for my speakers and Voicemeeter Input is my main audio device with it's own EQ and treble/bass that sounds good for my cheap logitech speakers, but when I got a new FX-Audio DAC for cheap I want to plug in solely my HD58X headphones so I can set the EQ only for that device since they need to be tuned in for those headphones to sound great for me.
So anytime I wanna put the headphones on now I just swap the audio source to the DAC/AMP in windows 10 after flipping the power switch on the dac, put those headphones on, close voicemeeter banana so I can have hotkey volume control in windows, and bam good to go. A few steps but only 1-2 more over what I had to do before to switch from speakers to headphones, which I tend to have to do at night when I need to be quiet on the computer. Or sometimes you just get tired of wearing bulky headphones and need to give your head a break.
You got that much right that you want ONLY the media player going to the DAC, but to fully avoid the OS mixer you need to also make your passthru software an exclusive virtual device. Or just use an Audirvana or Roon type of thing.
I will have to look into those. Is there a way to make sure that I am doing a passthru and avoiding the OS Mixer? I am assuming it is RealTek (which I have had issues with in the past). I think I have bypassed it by setting my sound input device in windows as the DAC for headphones, or Voicemeeter for speakers. @@PartyMusic775
The new intro looks great👍
Definitely do another video with a more difficult headphone to EQ. Thanks, enjoyed this. :)
Thanks Andrew- so much appreciated!
My speakers sound perfect now, thank you!
I use Wavelet that have a Autoeq with ease by searching your headphone for a Harman Target or Neutral tune.
I use Wavelet too but honestly AutoEQ profiles are more miss than hit to me. Too over-EQ'd as it EQ's even frequencies that should not be touched and are measured inaccurately by the measurement rigs. Usually the end result is way too harsh sounding. But on reddit there is a guy who has imported every Oratory EQ profile into Wavelet compatible format. Even though they also aim to reproduce Harman Target the sound is much more pleasing in my ears. Oratory after all creates the profiles with having the headphone at hand and fine tunes with ear and understands the limitations of the measurement rig where as AutoEQ is entirely computer generated from 3rd party measurements. The sound is way different even if the AutoEQ profile happens to be made from Oratorys measurements.
@@MaaZeus This is a huge point to me. I remember trying the auto EQ profile for the blon bl-03, and how much it totally wrecked the sound of the fairly well tuned iem. That's the day I doubted auto EQ. Handmade EQ's by reputable people like Oluv or Oratory, definitely do make the sound much better.
Thank you for making this video. Very helpful
Wow I definitely learned something I didn't know here! Thanks!
A good way to check whether or not you want to get into EQ is by using Oratory1990’s presets, which aim for the Harman target. The Harman target isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s the “most preferred” natural sound for a majority of people, and Oratory1990 has a massive list of EQ presets for different headphones to push them to the Harman target.
If you try the preset and feel it sounds better, you can really get into EQ’ing from there. If you think it doesn’t sound any better, maybe don’t get into it.
I figured out either the neutral EQ target or Harman target is fine with some EQ'ing from there with the bass and treble. Boosting that treble a bunch and just a little for bass seems to make my headphones very nice sounding after EQ'ing to one of those two targets with EQ APO and Peace gui.
Harman target is crap. The deeper I dig into the research, the more shocked I am. I used to say if those papers were peer reviewed (they weren't), they'd look like confetti. But after reading even deeper into it, it's more correct to say they'd be smoke, the whole thing would be burned in a fire.
Now it just so happens a good lot of people like V and U shaped tunings so there's nothing magic about some people liking Harman over flat. But there is absolutely no gold standard to this curve, how high or low it goes, and where the slopes start, or any of that, AT ALL. Period. End of story.
@@PartyMusic775I think the downwards sloped diffuse field is a good target because of that more concrete baseline.
VERY GOOD explanations and tips. Thank you for making this vid it really helps to understand proper EQ'ing and I can't wait to try some adjustments :- )
i am not sure how many people are here who will read this or even people who have some very good ears and systems.. Speackers... or clear headphones.... and the Most IMPORTENT part is how sound works.. How to modyfy it or cange it according to your way... As he mention in the video you can be on any side of the group... Understanding the Sound is the Major part of the system and your ears... lol what if you have the best headphones or speckers and sound perfect to you.... How you make sound different ?... Thats the ART and it dose not comes by coping the Preset files from someones or some systems you have to work with it.. and your group will love the sound.. BTW i come in a More Clear and Balanced sound.. Using Technics very OLD school lol... But the point here is... IF you make adjusttemnts the frequescy will blow your ears... Headackes or heavy eyes after listning to those kind a sound can happen.. THAT IS A BAD Modification of a sound... this is the Reasion you need to know What is hitting me hard and lets lower down that volume... EQ is a ART it has its own Technics also but if you are into this and you know what you are doing... then welcome to the WORd of SOUND... My Techincs Speackers Sound like someone is present in the ROOM.. If you play a good recordings.. Some Times freinds of mine listen to it and say someone is at the door or something.. This never happen from the Stock Technics Speackers but it sound now better then it was made for... I am not sure if someone get this idea what i am tring to explain.. coz not everyone can understand this... and blessed with the system i have... Hope you Unlock your Knowladge and get this hobby to understand... PLS dont copy paste presets lol My experince tells you IT WILL NEver ever WORK for anything... God bless it was a good video.. I needed some other solution for my MIC lol so i came across to it... ty
Excellent video. Thanks!
Holy cow 🐮 this is an absolute game changer
It would be awesome to have a similar tool for LINUX users.
Would be cool if one could EQ individualy for left and right channel to compensate for an imbalance in hearing. My right hearing has a dip between 6 - 8k of 4db.
Damn I didnt think about that, thats a good Idea bro cuz my left ear is clogged or something. I hear less out of the left ear. I found out accidently too one day I was panning my kick in a beat and noticed something was off. So then I panned the kick 100% to the left and panned a clone of the same kick 100% to the right and thats how I tested my hearing.
Super useful! Thanks a bunch.
I use apo and peace ui and audio input over voicemeeter it make huge differents especially not natural sounds
exactly the video I wanted
I would get a physical Equaliser so that you can use Exclusive mode in windows. Non exclusive audio is not great. Use an audio program like Tidal where you can enable and disable exclusive audio quickly (Bypass the windows audio Mix) and you will hear the difference. Speakers will make it more evident.
Edit: Equaliser APO may have its own driver mix handing all streams without any processing bypassing the windows mix. But Id be surprised if it does and that its not sending just sending the modified streams into the windows mix.
This is absolute BS
Nah, false, so long as you bypass the CAudioLimiter and replace the original APOs, the result is essentially bit-perfect. No one is going to hear distortion components below -150 dB, lol. That shit is hard to hear even at -80 dB.
@@tdg176 No it is not. Windows recently introduced a way to bypass the processing within the windows Mix but most programs have not implemented it yet. You can in chrome using the flag 'Raw audio capture'
Enable/Disable the usage of WASAPI raw audio capture. When enabled, the audio stream is a 'raw' stream that bypasses all signal processing except for endpoint specific, always-on processing in the Audio Processing Object (APO), driver, and hardware. MPC-HC also recently added the option 'ignore system channel mixer'. Test it yourself. With speakers is really easy to hear the difference.
@@KaneAmaroq I only EQ in games not for anything else. So I dont need to keep an EQ running. Compared to though the windows audio mix. Exclusive is night and day. The Mix sounds compressed, missing detail. Going through APO's drivers might disable the audio mix or processing, though disabling processing on an audio stream has only recently been introduced. So maybe it handles all of the incoming streams itself? I assumed it would still be within the windows mix but It must go through its own. Not sure. All I know is the windows audio mix sounds terrible.
@@Valla451 I repeat this is BS stop spreading miss information please
Holy your mic is so good...
Mac OS please?? - thank you
Nice video.
I prefer the configuration editor without PEACE, it's quite easy to use.
that was me (i mostly prefered the regular one for the 31 band eq), but imo you can do a lot more with peace.
@@snow15243
No, you can do everything with the Editor. I'm using filters which is basically the same as PEACE, just in another layout.
I have tried Equlizer APO for my Denon AH-D7200. I have not done it myself but I've used AutoEQ option. The data base is huuuge! and basically you can find EQ settings for any headphones you wish. I've chosen EQ for my Denons prepared by "crinacle" and damn, did not expect to hear so clean sound! They sound much better now. I never thought I would EQ any headphones, simply had no idea what and how I can do it. Thanks to AutoEQ option I do not have to do it myself. :) I need to try it with my Sundara as well. Thank you for your videos about EQ!
what I dont understand about eq is everytime I look up neutral eqs for e.g. my m40x, they boost the bass. but on all measurements I can find, the bass is already beyond the harman curve.
That means they further increase the bass, making the sound muddy, which is the exact opposite of what you'd normaly want when going for neutral
I've had great sound success for IEM's using my PC Windows 7 Dolby Surround Home Theater V4....It's a 10 band graphic virtualizer EQ, and it has a gain adjuster known as Volume Leveler, it has (6) intelligent EQ filters, Surround Virtualizer, a dialogue enhancer to bring out voices...... and it's clear with no noises, humming or any distortions.... It works for me and I like it !
lower the treble instead of increasing the bass if you find your system to be thin/too bright/harsh drum cymbals
Doesn't "Prevent clipping" suffice to prevent the distortion? Why is adjusting the pre-amp necessary?
Sound Source is a great paid option for Mac - they have a nice trial mode which you can try out and decide if it's right for you. It's got built in integration with Headphones Auto EQ which is a game changer - you can quickly find EQs for your headphones - crinicle oratory whatever you can see
Yes it's great ! With sound source you can also use the parametric EQ of your mac (AUNBand EQ, 16 bands) or add any plugin you like (ToneBosters, Pro-Q 3 from Fabfilter, etc.).
I feel like a crazy person for preferring EQ APO to Peace in terms of interface. Anyone else?
Eq with streaming services for lossless?
Very interesting but you can't do that with WASAPI exclusive output. And if I'm not mistaken that output is required to let the DAC decode itself the files (like DSD files).
Is there a way to EQ while using WASAPI exclusive output?
I have noticed that my headphones don't have a 20db(or any noticeable) dip near 8khz but it's there on the graph by a reviewer. Got me wondering what's objective . Our senses are subjective hence all the equipment and measurements are subjective. We can't perceive what's there unless it's changing in some sense.
Idk if I'm doing something wrong but it's not working for me. I got the app up and running but i literally hear no difference.
Gotta enable your DAC in EQAPO and then restart your computer
I don't use any EQ on my phone (express method)
I'd prefer less sound processing
I got surprised from the DMS-themed intro.
i am a DSP guy and i don’t like EQing (at least digitally). because if the headphones could sound better,the manufacturers would have made them in that away. i don’t think the EQ app creates a magic that the manufacturers couldn’t.
moreover, the 24 bit or 16 bit 96 KHz or 44.1KHz lossless bit perfect audio will not be bit perfect anymore and will be corrupted by the DSP filtering(convolution). so making the cd quality audio meaningless and worthless.
But, But, if anyone feels EQing sounds better. i think it would be a happy ending. just forget about the technicality and enjoy that musicality.
I am slapping the Ifi Zen Can Xbass button and additional +6db low shelf so I can enjoy the bass of my Hifiman Edition XS headphones. I don't even know what kind of bass you are getting with dialing up the lower frequencies with only +4 db. That must sound boring lol
not working in my win11 sadly... tried everything but to no avail.
Thanks for this tutorial! Just a thought, why not do subtractive eqing from the start to not risk clipping at all?
There's no risk of clipping if your pre-amp slider is set or the "prevent clipping" checkbox is set. And it's easier to think in terms of "this needs to go up" and "this needs to go down".
I just want to use the EQ on my RME 2/4 DAC AMP. Wouldn't that be better than software. There are several present EQ's that I want to set up for the different headphones. The main one that needs eq is LCD-5's. I'm trying to get better punch, attack in the low end.
Are there any options to eq an iPhone to reduce IEM sibilance? I have been looking for an app with a parametric equalizer, but they all seem to be very basic EQs with fixed frequency bands and no single decibel or half decibel increments, with names like "Bass Boost" or "Volume Boost", which means they are probably of questionable quality. Also, most of the apps for iPhone are focused on streaming and won't let me import local files for offline listening. Radsone looks like a good app, but it won't let me import local files.
always avoided eq because i usually just made the sound worse... decided to try this on my edition XS and... i need to go pull the he-r10d out the box. they are way too bassy and a little Qing could bring them down...
I don’t need a tutorial - I jus want an awesome eq plug-in/app for my Apple Music interface.
What do you think of analog eq like the Schiit Lokius or any other external EQ?
Hello Sir! Can u answer me one query,
I was using an earphone which was having high bass, but one day it stopped working, so i changed the wire of that earphone, but suddenly I lost all the bass, and it treble has increased.
So my question is changing wire reduce the quality of earphones?
If yes, then what type of cable i should use?
Please answer sir
Yes!!! Changing the cable can definitely change the tonal quality! I buy my wires from a (local to me) vendor on etsy.
why is it that no matter what i do to the eq it wont change the sound at all... yet audio its going through the app and shows that its working?
The only thing I ever touch is bass up, or down. 😊
To me EQing my iems is like giving my favorite audio reviewer a spa treatment and a little exercise. We all love Resolve for his intelligence and wit, but who wouldn't want to see a ripped Resolve with maybe a little more hair on top and a little less back hair? That's what you're doing to your headphones/ iems when you EQ. You're giving them a spa treatment and a little exercise. I know the analogy about exercise doesn't quite hold together, but seriously Andrew; you need to exercise more ❤️
Great video and very informative!
I have an question:
Is EQ something that we should consider in general when we are choosing to buy an iem/headphone? I mean let's say we want to buy an iem that costs 200-300eu and the tuning is not good and there is another iem that cost 50eu with a great tuning. That means that the first one in not a good iem and we should avoid it and buy the second one? Or if the expensive one has good technicalities then we can buy it and then EQ it. Is tuning something that should play important role to our decision (no matter the rest elements of the iem) or is it something that we should consider less as it is very easy to change tuning by EQ?
Well, the problem is that you can have good and bad IEMs at all price tags. But IMO there's stuff you can't fully EQ in, like aspects to the experience that show up with some that don't show up with others. There's a LOT that you can influence by EQ, but just because you can make the adjustments, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily SOUND better in the end. This might be too fine-grained to be able to identify reliably, but also because of that, there's no real indicator for good or bad when it comes to many aspects of sound quality that aren't uniquely related to a headphone's tonal balance/tuning. To be clear, I'm not saying the additional subjectively desirable stuff is not there somewhere in the FR, merely that it's not obvious what 'good' is in an analysis of FR in terms of these qualities.
Depends on your use case IMO, many mobile devices cant use EQ, so if you cant use the transducer without it that's a limitation to consider.
I've essentially lost interest in the stock sound of headphones (IEMs less so since EQ can get trickier with portable sources and they are easier to tune to begin with) so in testing I always move quickly to slapping a Harman EQ on it to see if it can handle it. If it an then I'm sure it'll EQ to whatever I desire. HD800s, Clear MG and Arya for example don't do Harman well so I went with the LCD-X that did. Now I'm slowely trying develop my own EQ with what I've learned from Crinacle's and Oluv's tunings and I should check Andrew's as well to see if there is something different there. Then just several months of arduous trial and error and hopefully I'll find a breathtaking sound before I find an asylum.
Try to find one that doesn’t need EQ. Because the need of good EQ will limit what audio equipments you can use. Especially in portable audio. If it will be always connected to a PC, then maybe it’s okay ignore the tonality and go straight with one that has high technical capabilities.
What's a good one for a android phone?
Basically, this is assuming we're using our headphones with a PC attached to them.
Why don't Dac/Amps just come with EQ's? Instead we get 7 settings that all sound almost the same like quick roll-off, max response, blah boo boo poo poo.
There is only 1 to 1.5 and 2 and 2.5 gaine values but not 1.1 or 1.6 or 2.9? Are here only full numbers or does it go to decimal?
I need to put gaine values for example 4.8 but it goes only 5?
how do I disable the software.
Does the APO have to be open the entire time while using the headphones?
Hi. No, once you set the EQ profile you are all set.
Does this happen to someone ? xD when I sit too long making my eq and adjusting volume and all after a while everything starts to sound wrong and I have to take a pause. Like for example It tales me like one hour for my eq and the next day I make like extra adjustments, because the same day I cant.
somehow still don´t know which numbers i need to put in there for my Arya Stealth - I just want to smoothen the treble a bit and maybe a lil bit more bass
Thanks Resolve, you're the man
If all you're going to do is just adjust by graphs, might as well go to oratory1990's measurements which also provide the bands, gains and Q's for different targets (harman, diffuse, etc). Essentially what you're doing here just an order of magnitude more effectively with no room for error
Can you do one for the Sundara please!?
Sorry this is a substandard way of doing eq. You have to give up using Asio and Wasapi Exclusive and hence create computer interference with the digital stream. A much better way of doing it is by using MiniDSP SHD Studio. This gives you up to 96/32 bit processing and it has a built in Parametric EQ. Doing it this way you are able to still use Asio and Wasapi Exclusive and have a much better digital stream.
Thoughts on using a klark teknik 370 or 360 as an analog EQ? For those of use they don’t use a pc as a source and don’t want an RME ADI Dac nor do not want a basis schiit tone control.
How do i equalize non-branded headphones?
Applying the Harman target to my 7506 with AutoEQ turns them into muddy, sibilant pain. Almost intolerable.
That's because you shouldn't apply the Harman target like that. Check out the video we did on the limits of EQ
Do you have any measurements on the Hifiman Deva Pro with Bluemini?
Hey question, certain headphones, often ones that still sound good, will give me a "singe" or slight "burning" sensation on my eardrums if I wear them too long. Can EQ help with this? I always feel like it is because of too much treble or subbass. Or would this be a factor of the airpressure released by the drivers?
i think it's your own heat that get trapped and accumulates in the headphones cups material. Also I think the prolonged pressure on some points could feel like heat. Did you feel the same on some open back headphones ?
General question: I'm initially interested in EQ'ing my Sundara's. I'd be referencing Oratory's preset. However, it looks like along with my Sundara's, I'll be EQ'ing my powered speakers as well since they're sharing the DAC & Pre-amp of my Atom stack, right? Does that mean I need to make & then switch to 2 different EQ settings?
Curious if you ever figured that out?
@@casedistorted Yeah. I could make a different profile for the powered monitors. Or, what I normally do, is just hit the 'off' switch at the top right. It disables the current profile (In this case, the one I made for my Sundara's).
I have a sennheiser gsp300 I didn't find its graphic could you help me?
Hello,
How does Balanced Armature IEMs reacts to EQ? (Compared to Planar Magnetic Headphones)
Thanks in advance
Hi, just bought CCA PLA13 IEM and want a auto EQ for it. Do anyone have a preset made for it.
I use a Lokius 6 band physical EQ, how can I measure my headphones? What software do I need to do so?
Too scary. I'll stick to my ifi and Lokius hardware EQs.
How would you EQ to compensate for BA timbre whether or not the IEMs actually have working BAs.
Find a part in a song that bothers you. You can try to isolate it in Reaper for example or just directly try to find the frequencies in APO+Peace or whatever and see if you can help it by lowering the volume there or increasing it around them. The timbre can also be the sum of several separate regions (harmonics) so you might need to spend time finding them. I'm sure it can be improved to a meaningful extent, but perhaps not fully erased.
How do you use dolby atmos with this equalizer? Or is it not important. Or do you play a dolby atmos song? I am not an audiofile.
so tried to find this on the website but the pages are broken. could anyone help me decide what iem's to get for gaming? got into a surrounding where dont want open backs so i chose iem's. but not sure what ones to go with for sound stage. imaging. as a comp shooter player that is my main goal. any input is greatly appreciated as i am still very new to the audio world
Can I use EQ software if I'm using a PC with optical out to powered speakers (Audioengine HD6)? Would the software be able to EQ a signal going over optical?
The EQAPO default UI looks a bit less nice than peace, but it is MUCH more powerful. Using PEACE instead of the default EQAPO UI builds a bad habit.
Sunny head! :)
Good stuff but i use Poweramp equaliser with AutoEq and I'm done
Does Poweramp work on streaming services and RUclips?
@@kyron42 Poweramp Equalizer is a stand alone app just for streaming audio services like RUclips music etc
@@kyron42 It does, has a feature that lets it work with everything. It's proper parametric EQ as well, unlike Wavelet.
@@zygote8888 it works on Spotify automatically but it won't work on RUclips.
@@kyron42 you need to get add some files from website please check in information dump permission
Appreciate the vid but he states for beginners then doesn't go into the interphase basics much..
If I hear no difference between default and Resolve's EQ, What does it mean?
Fuck I am deaf!
Make sure you've got the setup process done correctly so that the output device is properly initialized
EQ seems to be the only reason why I just want to choose WALKMAN for portable player😂
Help me out with something...if we decrease gain level in Peace and turn the volume up even more on our amp to get back to preferred listening level, is it not the same thing as leaving the gain alone in Peace and leaving our amp volume lower? I don't understand how this necessarily matters. EQ novice here, please inform me.
Also, is there any merit in reducing the frequencies below 20hz(when I have say a 100hz shelf) way down so the headphone isn't trying to reproduce those? Hypothetically reducing distortion and power requirements in the low end
To the 20hz and below question, I wouldn't worry about that stuff. I think if it can handle a sub-bass shelf, the stuff below that should be fine (within reason... people do bizarre things sometimes with EQ). For the gain question, the point is more about your digital volume and clipping. If all digital volume is at 100%, and you increase things further with digital EQ, it can cause clipping. So you have to either reduce that by applying pre-gain in PEACE, or reduce your digital volume some other way (through the player for example). You can compensate for the loss in volume by increasing the volume on your amplifier, which isn't digital gain at that point.
@@ResolveReviews So the clipping itself is digital like there is some dynamic range with numerically defined limits that can be passed? I also don't know much about this side of things.
@@ResolveReviews Thank you! This makes sense and I appreciate all that you do, sir.
@@hartyewh1 Have you ever watched your music play through an oscilloscope? Normally it produces nice peaks and valleys that have a rounded top and bottom to them. Clipping means the peaks and valleys have been increased so much that the rounded part is being cut off and now looks like the top or bottom of a square. Turning up or down the amplifier is just amplifying the already clipped signal.
@@seandavis9476 Yeah, I just find it strange that a digital signal can clip already while being digital. Seems like it could be handled differently in a standardized way, but perhaps it's not desireable to allow some automatic pre-gain to be done by the software.