First off I'd like to thank forum members Al Ears, DocG and Erik for their pointers in my original quest for more detail in my system due to my failing ears. BTW my left ear is worse than my right!
So I got the DEQ with matching microphone for £250 exactly and it turns out to be a bit of a bargain. It does a lot more than a GE from the 80's can do and all in the digital stage, ie before the DAC. I found a few articles on the net and in general the people using it as part of a home hifi don't think the DAC in the Behringer is as good as a standalone one, hence pre-DAC connection. It can be used as a dynamic EQ, a parametric EQ and using the microphone, an analyser for manual or auto-correction of a room. It will do so much more but I'll try to keep this post specific to its current task.
Basically each function is a 'module' which you can tune to how you like it, so you can just tweak the EQ settings and save it as a preset ( there are 64 preset spaces ) any of which can be recalled in two button pushes. You can also name your preset anything you like. Now the clever bit. You can superimpose a module on top of another module ie tweak the EQ then have a play with the parametrics, then combine them and save as a preset. When you recall any preset, you can inspect which modules are in there and bypass or tweak any or all of them. They don't get combined as one, so it's easy to recall and adjust or remove the modules in your preset and then save it back out again. Don't forget that they do affect each other, though. If you're familiar with 'layers' in photo editors then this is exactly how the Behringer works. Everything you tweak in a session can be saved out, including the limit module which is very important as input/output distortion is easily avoided for every preset - no need to worry about the volume levels.
The Behringer ECM8000 microphone revealed a disturbing LF in my room from 20Hz to 40Hz in a high to low shape, with nothing else switched on! I couldn't hear a thing then realised it was all happening below -60 dB but it's there all the same. It's a very sensitive piece of kit and well worth the money. I haven't got anywhere with serious room correction but I set up the 'auto correct' function which outputs pink noise and sets the room EQ to follow a preset shape. This shape is defined by you, and is already set and recalled as the INITIAL DATA preset so if you need a bass dip and a treble lift just set this on the EQ and save it. Using the room auto EQ then uses the INITIAL DATA preset as a map and creates a preset accordingly. It did sound so much better, no, a helluva lot better for my poor ears so I'm looking forward to playing with this a lot more. The channels can be set up in dual mono mode so if your room isn't symmetrical or has different furnishings they can be EQ'd separately.
I've got both my headphone presets done, 6 for each set - normal, medium and high ( levels of EQ ) with low and medium volume presets for each headphone. At the end of the day, I've got a huge smile on my face again. Behringer have the DEQ2496 manual online so if you're really interested it's out there. Phewww!
I hope this post is helpful to someone and maybe an enjoyable read too.
So I got the DEQ with matching microphone for £250 exactly and it turns out to be a bit of a bargain. It does a lot more than a GE from the 80's can do and all in the digital stage, ie before the DAC. I found a few articles on the net and in general the people using it as part of a home hifi don't think the DAC in the Behringer is as good as a standalone one, hence pre-DAC connection. It can be used as a dynamic EQ, a parametric EQ and using the microphone, an analyser for manual or auto-correction of a room. It will do so much more but I'll try to keep this post specific to its current task.
Basically each function is a 'module' which you can tune to how you like it, so you can just tweak the EQ settings and save it as a preset ( there are 64 preset spaces ) any of which can be recalled in two button pushes. You can also name your preset anything you like. Now the clever bit. You can superimpose a module on top of another module ie tweak the EQ then have a play with the parametrics, then combine them and save as a preset. When you recall any preset, you can inspect which modules are in there and bypass or tweak any or all of them. They don't get combined as one, so it's easy to recall and adjust or remove the modules in your preset and then save it back out again. Don't forget that they do affect each other, though. If you're familiar with 'layers' in photo editors then this is exactly how the Behringer works. Everything you tweak in a session can be saved out, including the limit module which is very important as input/output distortion is easily avoided for every preset - no need to worry about the volume levels.
The Behringer ECM8000 microphone revealed a disturbing LF in my room from 20Hz to 40Hz in a high to low shape, with nothing else switched on! I couldn't hear a thing then realised it was all happening below -60 dB but it's there all the same. It's a very sensitive piece of kit and well worth the money. I haven't got anywhere with serious room correction but I set up the 'auto correct' function which outputs pink noise and sets the room EQ to follow a preset shape. This shape is defined by you, and is already set and recalled as the INITIAL DATA preset so if you need a bass dip and a treble lift just set this on the EQ and save it. Using the room auto EQ then uses the INITIAL DATA preset as a map and creates a preset accordingly. It did sound so much better, no, a helluva lot better for my poor ears so I'm looking forward to playing with this a lot more. The channels can be set up in dual mono mode so if your room isn't symmetrical or has different furnishings they can be EQ'd separately.
I've got both my headphone presets done, 6 for each set - normal, medium and high ( levels of EQ ) with low and medium volume presets for each headphone. At the end of the day, I've got a huge smile on my face again. Behringer have the DEQ2496 manual online so if you're really interested it's out there. Phewww!
I hope this post is helpful to someone and maybe an enjoyable read too.
. It's very easy to get things wrong with any EQ and maybe that's why they get a bad press? Having said that, some of the 'remasters' I've heard couldn't be much worse!
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