admin_exported

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Just wanted to discuss the merits of equalizers?

I've read with interest the debate on here regarding tone controls and i'm with the no's on this having cyrus equipment.
 

aliahk

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My father was a sound engineer and he still uses one in his own set.

He bought a stereo system that sounded as neutral as possible and he is able to make the original recording sound even better.

ex: In old vinyl recordings not al the frequencies are represented and so he can lower those and the amp has more power reserves for the other frequencies.

But it's only for the fortunate few who know how to work with it!
 

Frank Harvey

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You can't make anything sound 'better' with an EQ, only different. That 'different' might be more pleasing to some people, but it's not better
emotion-1.gif
 

bernasmeister

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Funny, there was a bit of a craze in the early 90s with graphic equalizers. My dad had (still has actually) a Marantz EQ515, which came with a microphone so you could actually analyse and set-up the actual room sound.

Perhaps we will see a rebirth of the equalizer in some form in the future - plus it's another box that the manufacturers can sell us!
 

JamesOK

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FrankHarveyHiFi:
You can't make anything sound 'better' with an EQ, only different. That 'different' might be more pleasing to some people, but it's not better
emotion-1.gif


Agreed. Whilst I can kind of see a point to them if your room acoustics are really bad (ish, just about), I fail to see the point of using them purely to change the sound. The record producer is the expert here, he or she gets paid loads to produce a record which sounds as good as it can. So I never understand why people would want to change it. Albeit, if a sound engineer gets involved this is slightly different!

To me its like seeing these cars which have had plastic bits stuck on, chrome bits, different wheels etc. The car company paid a load of money in development costs to make the car look as good as it could. So why then does some bloke with a Halfords loyalty card think he can make it look better...
 

SteveR750

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I can see that in concept a eq would be great for normalising for different room acoustics, after all the recording engineer is monitoring the sound with as little external influence as possible. Most of us have realised that changing the listening room has a huge if not the biggest impact on your SQ.
 

ear

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Im on a quest to find an equalizer. Behringer FBQ800 or JB Systems EQ-215.I'll get one of those when I find them in stock.

My mission: to make speakers that are a bit edgy at some point of the frequency range more balanced.
 
T

the record spot

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JamesOK:
The record producer is the expert here...

Oh, if only...

When you hear some of the dreck that passes for supposed great production these days, you do wonder if they ever bothered to finish the course or just dropped out after the first year.
 

JamesOK

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manicm:I'm quite surprised no-one's seeing the irony in this post. Tone controls are just a simplified form of an equaliser.

Er, is that irony in the Alanis Morrisette form of the word?
emotion-1.gif
 
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Anonymous

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+1 Record Spot

On the other hand I'm currently listening on my very un Hi Fi system via Spotify to the supremely talented and much missed John Martyn album "Live Classics Volume 1" No idea how long ago most of the tracks were recorded but it is just sublime. Course the talent and musicianship on show helps. Head and Heart acoustic guitar acoustic bass and percussion magical. Probably 3 sheets to the wind as well but hey talent will out.
 
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Anonymous

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Lyngdorf do room correction which is a form of equalisation to compensate for room acoustics.
 
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Anonymous

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Can someone please explain this to me.

Some of you are saying that if you use an equaliser or tone controls then this changes the sound away from what the producer/engineer intended. Surely this is nonsense. Unless you play the music on the exact same system then you will have changed the sound anyway.

For example play it on a Cyrus system with Monitor Audio speakers or an Arcam system with some B&Ws. This will produce a completely different tonal balance and a sound which is well away from what the producer intended.

This audiophile attitude to tone controls is crazy.
 

Richard Allen

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bobbyg81:

Can someone please explain this to me.

Some of you are saying that if you use an equaliser or tone controls then this changes the sound away from what the producer/engineer intended. Surely this is nonsense. Unless you play the music on the exact same system then you will have changed the sound anyway.

For example play it on a Cyrus system with Monitor Audio speakers or an Arcam system with some B&Ws. This will produce a completely different tonal balance and a sound which is well away from what the producer intended.

This audiophile attitude to tone controls is crazy.

Agreed. During my time as a studio engineer, I always used EQ. you have to. Once the sound is 'right', that material is then replayed on a home system that is different, in a room which is different and received by a pair of ears that are different.

In my system, I have a yamaha twin 31 brand graphic inline permanently. I used a CD with 40 mins of pink noise on it and 'tuned' the room using a pair of my speakers that I know the response for. This was all displayed on a 31 band spectrum analizer. Once set, all the knobs were pulled off the sliders. Result? a tuned room which, in fairness to a mastering studio, is what the engineer started with.
 
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Anonymous

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+2 the hair shirt school of amplifier designers has a lot to answer for. Sensibly implemented correctly engineered EQ can only be a good thing. Might even cut down on the "need" to "tune" system sound with cables or the constant swapping of components.
 

aliahk

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the record spot:JamesOK:
The record producer is the expert here...

Oh, if only...

When you hear some of the dreck that passes for supposed great production these days, you do wonder if they ever bothered to finish the course or just dropped out after the first year.

Indeed, not al the recordings are produced to a perfect standard!
 

Richard Allen

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2oldnslow:

+2 the hair shirt school of amplifier designers has a lot to answer for. Sensibly implemented correctly engineered EQ can only be a good thing. Might even cut down on the "need" to "tune" system sound with cables or the constant swapping of components.

True. If you tune the system to the room, you alleviate the chopping and changing of components. A graphic EQ, as previously posted, is a form of tone control but not as severe and more flexible than a standard set of tone controls. With conventional amps, you will get bass, mid and treble but no indication as to the severity of the lift or cut at those bands. I've forgotten, or had til this post, the effects of my Yam. Tip: Most spectrum analyzers are 31 band so, to work within these parameters, you need at least a 31 band stereo equalizer. just my take on it. Ur welcome to disagree.
 

Frank Harvey

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bobbyg81: Can someone please explain this to me.

Some of you are saying that if you use an equaliser or tone controls then this changes the sound away from what the producer/engineer intended. Surely this is nonsense. Unless you play the music on the exact same system then you will have changed the sound anyway.

For example play it on a Cyrus system with Monitor Audio speakers or an Arcam system with some B&Ws. This will produce a completely different tonal balance and a sound which is well away from what the producer intended.

This audiophile attitude to tone controls is crazy.

I understand your point, but using tone controls, whether it be an equaliser or bass/treble controls, produces distortions, so not only are you deviating from your system's version of what's on the LP/CD, but you're also adding in distortions that weren't originally there. As an exaggerated example, listen to an iPod, and introduce ANY of the EQ settings that aren't OFF. All of them sound awful.
 

ear

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speakers are not neutral.speakers sound different on different rooms. different levels of sound make difference in behavior of speakers.music is the last thing i want to tune.
 

aliahk

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Nowadays an EQ in a high fidelity set is considerded "not done",
because 90% of the users are simply not able to use it properly.(myself
included, that is) and the philosophy of high fidelity is as much
frequencies as possible in hifi reproduction.

By using tone controls(a simplified EQ) you are actually cutting them or artificially boosting them.
The main purpose for an EQ in a home hifi set should be to tune your set
to your room acoustics. I think this is a work for professionals and I
am rather convinced that there are very few people who can accomplish
this. Many high end users use a lingdorf roomperfect for this purpose
which is of course an EQ
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81: Can someone please explain this to me.

Some of you are saying that if you use an equaliser or tone controls then this changes the sound away from what the producer/engineer intended. Surely this is nonsense. Unless you play the music on the exact same system then you will have changed the sound anyway.

For example play it on a Cyrus system with Monitor Audio speakers or an Arcam system with some B&Ws. This will produce a completely different tonal balance and a sound which is well away from what the producer intended.

This audiophile attitude to tone controls is crazy.

I understand your point, but using tone controls, whether it be an equaliser or bass/treble controls, produces distortions, so not only are you deviating from your system's version of what's on the LP/CD, but you're also adding in distortions that weren't originally there. As an exaggerated example, listen to an iPod, and introduce ANY of the EQ settings that aren't OFF. All of them sound awful.

There are always going to be minor distortions and Im sure there are EQs on the market which keep distortion to such a level that it is negligible. Im not talking about something cheap and nasty but something that would be in line with its partnering .equipment
 
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Anonymous

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"There are always going to be minor distortions ...." absolutely right bobby81. For instance the harmonic distortion that gives valve amplifiers their "rich, warm, organic sound" An audiophile might rave about it but it's distortion all the same.

Sensibly engineered EQ subtly applied can enhance the listening experience.
 
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Anonymous

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2oldnslow:

"There are always going to be minor distortions ...." absolutely right bobby81. For instance the harmonic distortion that gives valve amplifiers their "rich, warm, organic sound" An audiophile might rave about it but it's distortion all the same.

Sensibly engineered EQ subtly applied can enhance the listening experience.

I use my equaliser (from the early 90s!) to reduce the amplitude of vocals, because instruments matter more to me, especially in pop music. In the end, it gives me what I prefer listening to. I bypass the equaliser when listening to country etc.

It has 0.05% THD, as opposed to 0.08% of the amp. Given that the speakers produce close to 10% distortion, how does it matter anyway?
 

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