EQ'ing to Harman curve doesn't give me pleasing results - why not?

[OCA]

As is Floyd Toole.

But the point is that Harman Curve used colloquially in internet chatter can mean the target curve above, also seen in any of the downloadable Dirac targets from Arcam or JBL Synthesis, and the target curve that Dr Olive has published which has the odd looking bumps (but is what you want for a neutral sounding headphone).

My personal taste leans towards Toole's curve for stereo listening due to its slightly less bassy profile compared to the Harman curve, which I find more suitable for multichannel movie setups. However, I receive feedback from a number of subscribers who desire a touch more bass after room correction. This might be partly attributed to my age (and the limitations of hearing above 15kHz) influencing my preference for slightly boosted treble.

My latest, unpublished method takes a different approach, eschewing target curves entirely. I believe a well-designed modern speaker, placed in the right environment (in terms of size and reflectivity), should shine on its own. My focus is on minimizing room influence and achieving a natural, speaker-centric listening experience. This involves inverting the minimum phase response at the listening position, as it's mathematically the only "stable" option for inversion. Using target curves and room reflections to enhance bass can introduce group delay and compromise the speaker's capabilities. Ultimately, I believe the ideal DRC "target curve" is the speaker's own anechoic response.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Except for that it was originally developed for headphones!

No. Please inform yourself. Floyd Toole, Chapters 5.7 and 12.2.

See Floyd Toole and Sean Olive. Anecoically flat speaker in a room. First studies already started at the Canadian Consumer Union and were then continued when Toole moved to Harman.

Only later mainly Sean Olive derived the headphone curve from above flat speaker curve while considering the „acoustics“ of the ear. Paragraph 5.

https://acousticstoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Perception-and-Measurement-of-Headphone-Sound-Quality-What-Do-Listeners-Prefer-Sean-E.-Olive.pdf

And btw: It is the Harman in-room preference not target curve. See also here
Post in thread 'What is your favorite house curve'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...s-your-favorite-house-curve.2382/post-1471583
It aim was to find out which speakers are preferred by a majority and not to EQ towards. And of course individuals might differ.


More references. All been discussed before.
Post in thread 'What is your favorite house curve'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...-is-your-favorite-house-curve.2382/post-67187

 

[OCA]

It aim was to find out which speakers are preferred by a majority and not to EQ towards

That deems the subject of this whole discussion pointless though. Speaker producers might have an interest at that curve and there's not much use for anyone else.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

That deems the subject of this whole discussion pointless though. Speaker producers might have an interest at that curve and there's not much use for anyone else.

Yes mainly for speaker manufacturers. For everyone else it merely serves as a good starting point from which you then adjust to your own preferences especially as the fundamental Harman curve "only" is prefered by ca. 61% of the listeners, ca. 15% prefer more and ca. 21% less bass if I remember correctly and still indiviually you might "fall" completely outside the preference because people simply have a large variety in preferences - but again, people might wanna do whatever they want obviously.

It also serves to remotely preselect speakers for later in-home testing, because there is a certain favorable proability that you might like the speaker or at least with some minor EQ tweaks in bass. Again, ultimately one needs to decide at home based on their individual preferences and room acoustics.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

I used the auto generated filters by REW and that was enough to not try again. As noted, you may want to make a correction in higher frequencies if the anechoic measurements of your speakers show an issue. Otherwise, fix the modal (low frequency region) and use the target curve to get the balance of bass vs treble to your liking.

Me too. REW generated filters weren’t even a good starting point! I now create filters in Equalizer APO and measure and adjust and adding more filters until I get my nice descending FR at my LP(listening position).