• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Drop Dan Clark Audio Aeon Closed X

hoverdonkey

Active Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
131
Likes
86
Congrats. I bellyache a bit here about the slam and upper bass, but I love the sound overall. Be interested to hear what you think!

Sorry for my slow reply, but I have been being a patient boy and have been letting my new cans & old ears settle in. Insodoing, I have had a pleasant few days re-reading this thread.

My Closed X were a long time coming - the order was placed four months ago. This did, however, give me time to get used to my existing cans (AKG K550 Mk. 1) with my new amp (Topping A30 Pro), DAC (Topping D10b) and player (Pi Zero 2W + PiCorePlayer or Moode), so I was well prepared for the new arrival. Coming from the K550, I find the Closed X to be much more comfy. More importantly, they are far less sensitive to postioning (I was always fiddling with the K550 to find some bass) which makes for a much more enjoyable listening session.

Soundwise, I was initially disappointed by the Closed X (shock!) - there was a distinct boxiness in the upper bass. I was just starting sweating and regretting my investment and four-month vigil... then I remembered they had tuning pads pre-installed. I whipped them out and, hey presto, boxiness gone! To put it scientifically: they sound fancantastic! But I don't need to tell you all that.

I notice that the pre-installed tuning pads (the single notch white felt) are quite stiff and have a distinct tone when tapped (in the upper bass region, funnily enough). It seems odd to me to put a resonator inside the cans! Moreover, blowing through the filter meets with noticeable resistance - this would surely cause them to tend to move with changes in air pressure - i.e. act as a passive radiator, thus compounding the resonating problem. Another thing, less likely, perhaps, but I wonder if the stiffness of the pad might also encourage reflections back to the transducer... that would mean be even more sonic mess? Needless to say, the pads won't be going back in!

It's great to finally be on board with my Closed X cans. They're lovely!
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Sorry for my slow reply, but I have been being a patient boy and have been letting my new cans & old ears settle in. Insodoing, I have had a pleasant few days re-reading this thread.

My Closed X were a long time coming - the order was placed four months ago. This did, however, give me time to get used to my existing cans (AKG K550 Mk. 1) with my new amp (Topping A30 Pro), DAC (Topping D10b) and player (Pi Zero 2W + PiCorePlayer or Moode), so I was well prepared for the new arrival. Coming from the K550, I find the Closed X to be much more comfy. More importantly, they are far less sensitive to postioning (I was always fiddling with the K550 to find some bass) which makes for a much more enjoyable listening session.

Soundwise, I was initially disappointed by the Closed X (shock!) - there was a distinct boxiness in the upper bass. I was just starting sweating and regretting my investment and four-month vigil... then I remembered they had tuning pads pre-installed. I whipped them out and, hey presto, boxiness gone! To put it scientifically: they sound fancantastic! But I don't need to tell you all that.

I notice that the pre-installed tuning pads (the single notch white felt) are quite stiff and have a distinct tone when tapped (in the upper bass region, funnily enough). It seems odd to me to put a resonator inside the cans! Moreover, blowing through the filter meets with noticeable resistance - this would surely cause them to tend to move with changes in air pressure - i.e. act as a passive radiator, thus compounding the resonating problem. Another thing, less likely, perhaps, but I wonder if the stiffness of the pad might also encourage reflections back to the transducer... that would mean be even more sonic mess? Needless to say, the pads won't be going back in!

It's great to finally be on board with my Closed X cans. They're lovely!
Congrats, and the EQ's created in this thread are without the white insert pads too, so now you've removed them any EQ's you try in this thread will be valid.
 

hoverdonkey

Active Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
131
Likes
86
Congrats, and the EQ's created in this thread are without the white insert pads too, so now you've removed them any EQ's you try in this thread will be valid.

Indeed, EQ is to be my next ASR-inspired adventure, now that I am getting familiar with the stock sound of my system. Many thanks to everybody, not in the least yourself, for all the contributions on EQ in this thread. This was, in fact, my main reason for re-reading it all, it is all very useful to a noob. I am keen to try your sample 2 and oratory1990 parametric EQ for starters.

For my cans source, the Pi Zero 2 W, I am currently experimenting with two SD card builds, 1) Moode and 2) piCorePlayer (for Squeezelite only - LMS is running on another Pi) but I would be open to recommendations for alternative players for Pi with nice EQ solutions.

Moode has a few options for EQ. Its built-in parametric EQ cannot do shelf filters, so I may skip that. Moode also offers CamillaDSP, but I cannot see how to use parametric values with it. Can anyone please link me to a guide for doing that?

Another possiblity is to use SOX in LMS, which can do parametric EQ with shelf. It is slightly fiddly, as it involves uploading a config file, but it should be achievable. That has the advantage that, once I have mastered it, I could also EQ my loudspeakers on my main LMS system.

Any little nuggets of advice would be very much appreciated before I dive in!
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Indeed, EQ is to be my next ASR-inspired adventure, now that I am getting familiar with the stock sound of my system. Many thanks to everybody, not in the least yourself, for all the contributions on EQ in this thread. This was, in fact, my main reason for re-reading it all, it is all very useful to a noob. I am keen to try your sample 2 and oratory1990 parametric EQ for starters.

For my cans source, the Pi Zero 2 W, I am currently experimenting with two SD card builds, 1) Moode and 2) piCorePlayer (for Squeezelite only - LMS is running on another Pi) but I would be open to recommendations for alternative players for Pi with nice EQ solutions.

Moode has a few options for EQ. Its built-in parametric EQ cannot do shelf filters, so I may skip that. Moode also offers CamillaDSP, but I cannot see how to use parametric values with it. Can anyone please link me to a guide for doing that?

Another possiblity is to use SOX in LMS, which can do parametric EQ with shelf. It is slightly fiddly, as it involves uploading a config file, but it should be achievable. That has the advantage that, once I have mastered it, I could also EQ my loudspeakers on my main LMS system.

Any little nuggets of advice would be very much appreciated before I dive in!
I'll let someone else advise you on Raspberry Pi stuff, I know virtually nothing about it! But you've chosen the most applicable two EQ's to try though, the Sample #2 EQ and Oratory's.
 

Shadez

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2021
Messages
23
Likes
5
Just got the Aeon Closed X, and I'm quite enjoying them using the default white filters that were in place when I opened the box. Soundstage is impressively wide for a closed headphone. They are keepers.

I need to get used to them. And then I'll be curious to see if they replace my Elear with Dekoni sheepskins as my go to closed headphones.
and?
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
I tried the Closed X in mobile mode, with a Hidizs S9 Pro dongle in balanced mode. Fantastic. Tons of headroom. [BUT see my PS comment below].

On desktop, I play the Closed X's with close to 3 watts (Topping A50s, 2v SE input, balanced output into 16 ohms), whereas the S9 Pro is probably under 150 milliwatts (good for a dongle, but certainly an order of magnitude less than the desktop amp). But as they say, current is the name of the game with low impedence phones, not watts, and the S9 Pro must be able to pull some good amps off my PC. (I wish manufacturer specs and ASR reviews covered the current side of things better!)

In fact, my initial impression is that some of the cuts I played and found lacking "slam" on the A50s, sound better to me today with the little S9! I'm laid up after foot surgery without my other phones and power source, but can't wait to A/B with those power sources and my HD6XX's. Today, these phones sound good, dynamic and rhythmic, whereas they sounded thin and limp a few days ago. I'm sure it's more subjective me than objective reality, but still.... Anyway, the Closed X's sound great on a good dongle!

PS a week later: I still concur. Some earlier listening sessions were "contaminated" by network bandwidth problems. These issues caused attenuated bass and other SQ symptoms that resembled the result of dongle power limitations. Once identified, these issues could be resolved, as explained further below.
 
Last edited:

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
While I was lying here with my bandaged foot up in the air, I also A/B'd the "Sample 2" and Oratory EQ's.

Both good. The oratory EQ sounded a tad more open at the top end; it's subtle, but I liked it a little better with Alan Loveday's incomparable Vivaldi on Decca with Neville Marriner, which has the most exquisite and detailed violin work. The Sample 2 is a little warmer, which is mostly a plus for phones that are a bit lean in the mids out of the box (although I found some material where the upper bass/lower mid transition sounded slightly thick). Female soprano sounded great on both EQ's (e.g. Loreena McKennit's "Bonny Portmore" on The Visit album, which is wonderful but can sound a little shouty with the wrong EQ and her powerful soprano voice). Sibilants sound just right to me for both EQ's. I'm not sure why, but despite my earlier comments on the more open top end of the Oratory EQ, the decay of cymbals lingered a little better on the Sample 2 EQ. Bass was convincing for both EQ's (e.g.Barenboim's Saint Saens Organ Symphony final movement with the CSO; or the 2010 remix of the Who's Live at Leeds, "Magic Bus", a you-are-there-live remaster of a classic where the original 1970 LP didn't sound like a great job of recording).

I just love how the Closed X's are pretty darn fault-tolerant: unless you really do something wrong with the EQ, they fill in all the detail without ever going too far, such as sounding etched, distorted or shouty, even with good volume.

The EQ's are pretty close and I can be happy with either.
 
Last edited:

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
I tried the Closed X in mobile mode, with a Hidizs S9 Pro dongle in balanced mode. Fantastic. Tons of headroom.

On desktop, I play the Closed X's with close to 3 watts (Topping A50s, 2v SE input, balanced output into 16 ohms), whereas the S9 Pro is probably under 150 milliwatts (good for a dongle, but certainly an order of magnitude less than the desktop amp). But as they say, current is the name of the game with low impedence phones, not watts, and the S9 Pro must be able to pull some good amps off my PC. (I wish manufacturer specs and ASR reviews covered the current side of things better!)

In fact, my initial impression is that some of the cuts I played and found lacking "slam" on the A50s, sound better to me today with the little S9! I'm laid up after foot surgery without my other phones and power source, but can't wait to A/B with those power sources and my HD6XX's. Today, these phones sound good, dynamic and rhythmic, whereas they sounded thin and limp a few days ago. I'm sure it's more subjective me than objective reality, but still.... Anyway, the Closed X's sound great on a good dongle!
While I was lying here with my bandaged foot up in the air, I also A/B'd the "Sample 2" and Oratory EQ's.

Both good. The oratory EQ sounded a tad more open at the top end; it's subtle, but I liked it a little better with Alan Loveday's incomparable Vivaldi on Decca with Neville Marriner, which has the most exquisite and detailed violin work. The Sample 2 is a little warmer, which is mostly a plus for phones that are a bit lean in the mids out of the box (although I found some material where the upper bass/lower mid transition sounded slightly thick). Female soprano sounded great on both EQ's (e.g. Loreena McKennit's "Bonny Portmore" on The Visit album, which is wonderful but can sound a little shouty with the wrong EQ and her powerful soprano voice). Sibilants sound just right to me for both EQ's. Bass was convincing for both EQ's (e.g.Barenboim's Saint Saens Organ Symphony final movement with the CSO; or the 2010 remix of the Who's Live at Leeds, "Magic Bus", a you-are-there-live remaster of a classic where the original 1970 LP didn't sound like a great job of recording).

I just love how the Closed X's are pretty darn fault-tolerant: unless you really do something wrong with the EQ, they fill in all the detail without ever going too far, such as sounding etched, distorted or shouty, even with good volume.

The EQ's are pretty close and I can be happy with either.
It is fun when you own a number of headphones that have been measured, to then compare headphones and mess around with EQ on them all. I recently bought a miniDSP Ears, it arrived today, it's a cheap headphone measurement rig, I'm gonna use it to create channel matching EQ's, as well as analysing a little bit of unit to unit variation of the 3 units of K702 and 3 units of HD560s I own. I'll also use it to create EQ's for each unit that sound identical, as in reproducing my favourite EQ result for all units for both of those headphones. And lastly I may use it to create my own favourite Target Curve on the miniDSP Ears that I can use to apply to my other models of headphone: NAD HP50, Hifiman HE4XX, and Senn HD600....but I'm aware this last point is gonna be less accurate because I'm aware of the limitations of the miniDSP Ears as a measurement device. But yeah, it's fun to compare headphones & mess around with EQ, so this tool should help me with that....I'll have a go with it this weekend I would think.

Yes, I think you'll find it fun to compare your different headphones, but you may also find it confusing, especially as you switch back to your original headphone and realise that it sounds a bit different to how you had remembered - the brain gets a bit burned in to whichever headphone you've been spending time with.....so it can be a bit maddening to compare headphones, which is probably part of the reason I bought this miniDSP Ears, it should give me a bit of measurement backbone to backup subjective listening tests & EQ's.
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
It is fun when you own a number of headphones that have been measured, to then compare headphones and mess around with EQ on them all. I recently bought a miniDSP Ears, it arrived today, it's a cheap headphone measurement rig, I'm gonna use it to create channel matching EQ's, as well as analysing a little bit of unit to unit variation of the 3 units of K702 and 3 units of HD560s I own. I'll also use it to create EQ's for each unit that sound identical, as in reproducing my favourite EQ result for all units for both of those headphones. And lastly I may use it to create my own favourite Target Curve on the miniDSP Ears that I can use to apply to my other models of headphone: NAD HP50, Hifiman HE4XX, and Senn HD600....but I'm aware this last point is gonna be less accurate because I'm aware of the limitations of the miniDSP Ears as a measurement device. But yeah, it's fun to compare headphones & mess around with EQ, so this tool should help me with that....I'll have a go with it this weekend I would think.

Yes, I think you'll find it fun to compare your different headphones, but you may also find it confusing, especially as you switch back to your original headphone and realise that it sounds a bit different to how you had remembered - the brain gets a bit burned in to whichever headphone you've been spending time with.....so it can be a bit maddening to compare headphones, which is probably part of the reason I bought this miniDSP Ears, it should give me a bit of measurement backbone to backup subjective listening tests & EQ's.
Hear the voice of ambition! I'm impressed and look forward to it.

I know the accomodation thing (getting used to a given sound); that's why I want to get back where I can A/B back and forth so as to extinguish the perceptual biases, at least to some degree.
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Hear the voice of ambition! I'm impressed and look forward to it.

I know the accomodation thing (getting used to a given sound); that's why I want to get back where I can A/B back and forth so as to extinguish the perceptual biases, at least to some degree.
I won't post any results or my findings on the miniDSP in this thread as it's not the topic for it, but at some point I may start a miniDSP thread somewhere when I've come to some conclusions on it's usefulness and what it's enabled me to achieve, etc. I'll send you a PM for where the thread is when I create it, or if I instead just post it somewhere relevant...so you can see what I've found.

Yes, you'll be able to A/B, ideally you'd want to make sure they're exactly volume matched (the 2 headphones), but that can be difficult....in the past I've done it based on subjectively matching the volume just through listening.....however, thinking about it, that's another plus point of this miniDSP measuring device, I'll be able to work out settings of equal volume when comparing headphones. You'll still be able to work out your preferences and overall conclusions for the A/B'ing you're talking about though.
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
I won't post any results or my findings on the miniDSP in this thread as it's not the topic for it, but at some point I may start a miniDSP thread somewhere when I've come to some conclusions on it's usefulness and what it's enabled me to achieve, etc. I'll send you a PM for where the thread is when I create it, or if I instead just post it somewhere relevant...so you can see what I've found.

Yes, you'll be able to A/B, ideally you'd want to make sure they're exactly volume matched (the 2 headphones), but that can be difficult....in the past I've done it based on subjectively matching the volume just through listening.....however, thinking about it, that's another plus point of this miniDSP measuring device, I'll be able to work out settings of equal volume when comparing headphones. You'll still be able to work out your preferences and overall conclusions for the A/B'ing you're talking about though.
I know I can't level the volume exactly. My rough-and-ready response is to give just a hint of extra volume to the phone I don't initially prefer, or that I'm less used-to, at least initially; and then try to work into a seat-of-the-pants level match by A/Bing repeatedly on the same music selections. I do also have an SPL meter. Best I can do with what I got.
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
I SPOKE TOO SOON on the headroom of the Hidizs S9 Pro dongle with the Closed X's. Most acoustic and classical music is fine and my average volume setting is pretty low, well before noon on the volume dial. But I played some bass-heavy material and the S9 clearly clipped. K's Choice/Cocoon Crash/Hide has sustained deep-bass lines plus lots of instruments and voices to untangle, and the sound "pumped" as the bass line phased in and out. Ditto the loud synth/percussion thwacks near the beginning of Metallica/Enter the Sandman. Listening to other material with some bass (though not as much), the presentation can be ok or the bottom end can sound a little hollow, depending on bass and volume levels. Most music sounded fine, though, including rock where the bass was more typical of bass guitars and drums ets, rather than synthesizers/electronica/metal.

{By the way, the current EQ adds about 3db of bass down to 20 Hz, but the EAPO pre-amp headroom shows as adequate to prevent digital clipping. I will probably roll off the deep bass with a separate EQ for the S9 and see how that works.)

Yup- its the bass that will cripple dongles with the low sensitivity/ high current requirement planars once you start to want the volume up more. That wont be unique to the Hidizs. You might get away with one of the E1DA dongles .
 

raistlin65

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
2,279
Likes
3,421
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Yup- its the bass that will cripple dongles with the low sensitivity/ high current requirement planars once you start to want the volume up more. That wont be unique to the Hidizs. You might get away with one of the E1DA dongles .

Yep. I have an E1DA 9038S on the way just for the Aeon Closed X to see how it does.
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
See the lately-edited version of my "I SPOKE TOO SOON posting". It struck me that our EQ's were starting with headphones that already have close-to-level sub-bass response, and we were adding dB onto that down to 0 hZ. I found an EQ solution that involved very little sacrifice.

If I were on the other side of the pick-a-dongle choice again, I'd sure take a look at the E1DA ... I just hadn't registered on it before now. If Ikeep having problems, I'll look again.
I also ordered the E1DA 9038s G3, after all. I'm away from the desktop more now, and craving more headroom. E1DA claims >500mW at 16 ohms. But I'm still in the dark on current for these dongles. Is there reason to believe that because it has 2-3x power of an S9 Pro that it can also produce more useable current for the 'phones?
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
PS I SPOKE TOO SOON on the headroom of the Hidizs S9 Pro dongle with the Closed X's. Music with really deep bass can clip, even though most music sounds good.

PPS I found a simple EQ solution to the deep-bass clipping. I started with the Oratory EQ, since it's a tad lighter on bass to begin with, and set the 105hz low shelf filter at 0db, figuring that The Closed X sub-bass is pretty good to begin with. Then I changed the other low shelf filter to 15Hz, -5.5dB, .5Q, which provided a nice, smooth roll-off from about 40Hz down to 0Hz. The result sounded very natural. Bass-heavy tracks sounded MORE bassy and more transparent, because of no clipping, and the overall tonal balance seemed like it had lost nothing. With my desktop amp, I know the really deep bass is more pronounced, but this version is completely acceptable to me for a mobile use-case.
I've not mathematically calculated your changes based on the the Oratory pdf:
But, you're right, the bass is great without any EQ as you can see from the RAW (without EQ) measurement at the above link. To be honest, looking at that pdf, I think you can just leave the bass at stock, so you'd set both Low Shelf Filters to 0dB (ie no effect), and you'd just keep the peak filter at 100Hz (Filter #1) which is just acting to smooth out the transition from upper bass through mid/low bass. So if I were you, based on the measurement, to avoid clipping & whilst achieving the good stock low bass extension then just deactivate the two Low Shelf Filters and keep Filter #1. Nice! :)

EDIT: that gives you 2db less energy at 50Hz and below - literally just following the stock bass of the headphone rather than EQ'd version. (if that does indeed keep you from clipping your little dongle, it is less energy than the full Oratory EQ).

EDIT #2: otherwise, if that doesn't work & you're still clipping then try the following, do as I said previousy in this message but just add an additional 105Hz Low Shelf Q0.71, and try -1dB on that, and keep decreasing that until you don't detect clipping. I guess it must be very underpowered to clip, but yeah, if you're detecting it for sure then this would help when added onto my changes above......this would provide the smoothest bass transitions through the freuqeuncy range (smoothest curve).
 
Last edited:

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
I've not mathematically calculated your changes based on the the Oratory pdf:
But, you're right, the bass is great without any EQ as you can see from the RAW (without EQ) measurement at the above link. To be honest, looking at that pdf, I think you can just leave the bass at stock, so you'd set both Low Shelf Filters to 0dB (ie no effect), and you'd just keep the peak filter at 100Hz (Filter #1) which is just acting to smooth out the transition from upper bass through mid/low bass. So if I were you, based on the measurement, to avoid clipping & whilst achieving the good stock low bass extension then just deactivate the two Low Shelf Filters and keep Filter #1. Nice! :)

EDIT: that gives you 2db less energy at 50Hz and below - literally just following the stock bass of the headphone rather than EQ'd version. (if that does indeed keep you from clipping your little dongle, it is less energy than the full Oratory EQ).

EDIT #2: otherwise, if that doesn't work & you're still clipping then try the following, do as I said previousy in this message but just add an additional 105Hz Low Shelf Q0.71, and try -1dB on that, and keep decreasing that until you don't detect clipping. I guess it must be very underpowered to clip, but yeah, if you're detecting it for sure then this would help when added onto my changes above......this would provide the smoothest bass transitions through the freuqeuncy range (smoothest curve).
Wow, what thoughtful, clear response. Will do.

PS, there are still two problems with my roll-off solution. I have to keep listening volume tame, which is ok much of the time for me, but not always. Second, I still hit a problem now and then... and once having been sensitized to that potential, I've started listening for it all the time, and that awareness undermines my confidence in the hardware and/or EQ solution.
 
Last edited:

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,874
Likes
6,672
Location
UK
Wow, what thoughtful, clear response. Will do.
That's alright, you're welcome, I was able to see a way to provide a smooth flow from upper bass to lower bass whilst allowing you to adjust bass level with the 105Hz Low Shelf. It was easy to see (without using a graphing program like REW) because the stock bass frequency response is so smooth & good that the filters don't have to change it much.
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
I've not mathematically calculated your changes based on the the Oratory pdf:
But, you're right, the bass is great without any EQ as you can see from the RAW (without EQ) measurement at the above link. To be honest, looking at that pdf, I think you can just leave the bass at stock, so you'd set both Low Shelf Filters to 0dB (ie no effect), and you'd just keep the peak filter at 100Hz (Filter #1) which is just acting to smooth out the transition from upper bass through mid/low bass. So if I were you, based on the measurement, to avoid clipping & whilst achieving the good stock low bass extension then just deactivate the two Low Shelf Filters and keep Filter #1. Nice! :)

EDIT: that gives you 2db less energy at 50Hz and below - literally just following the stock bass of the headphone rather than EQ'd version. (if that does indeed keep you from clipping your little dongle, it is less energy than the full Oratory EQ).

EDIT #2: otherwise, if that doesn't work & you're still clipping then try the following, do as I said previousy in this message but just add an additional 105Hz Low Shelf Q0.71, and try -1dB on that, and keep decreasing that until you don't detect clipping. I guess it must be very underpowered to clip, but yeah, if you're detecting it for sure then this would help when added onto my changes above......this would provide the smoothest bass transitions through the freuqeuncy range (smoothest curve).
Question: if I still need to prevent clipping, why wouldn't I center the negative dB a lot lower than 105 Hz as a as a peaking filter rather than a low-shelf filter (i.e. use a roll-off instead)? That would concentrate the correction with deeper sub-bass where the energy savings would be greater, while preserving bass higher at higher bass levels where most music operates...
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
See the lately-edited version of my "I SPOKE TOO SOON posting". It struck me that our EQ's were starting with headphones that already have close-to-level sub-bass response, and we were adding dB onto that down to 0 hZ. I found an EQ solution that involved very little sacrifice.

If I were on the other side of the pick-a-dongle choice again, I'd sure take a look at the E1DA ... I just hadn't registered on it before now. If Ikeep having problems, I'll look again.
The zero bass boost (or even reduction) will help but what is killing the dongle is the 5db of preamp to prevent clipping the 2k peak. You're fighting against that to get the overall volume to exciting levels.

See if you can live with a smaller peak there and you can reduce the preamp accordingly and maybe even add back a dB or 2 of bass too.
 

JanesJr1

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jun 9, 2021
Messages
505
Likes
449
Location
MA
The zero bass boost (or even reduction) will help but what is killing the dongle is the 5db of preamp to prevent clipping the 2k peak. You're fighting against that to get the overall volume to exciting levels.

See if you can live with a smaller peak there and you can reduce the preamp accordingly and maybe even add back a dB or 2 of bass too.
You're right. I learned something there. I tended to see the pre-amp load as being kind of a bass thing, and tended to discount the impact of mids and treble. It really helps. It was kind in front of my nose but I wasn't even looking.

I can't chop the whole 2k but a big cut seems ok. I'm great with Indigo Girls and Haydn, but iffy with electronica and heavy rock.

This whole thread has been worth it, to follow the EQ proocess and learn from it.
 
Top Bottom