Need a PEQ in-depth guide/resources for my IEMs

[kemmler3D]

My problem with such tools is human hearing is naturally more sensitive to some frequencies, so recordings will already account for this. Equalizer APO's Peace Add-on has a "hearing test" feature that takes this into account and can generate EQ's.

This is true, but the headphones are ALSO supposed to compensate for this to an extent. Headphones pump sound straight into your ears and bypass your head, so this alters the frequency response compared to what you'd hear from speakers.

This compensation is always imperfect to some extent, so EQ can help get your headphone closer to a neutral response by nudging the correction closer to your personal HRTF.

 

[Chromatischism]

My problem with such tools is human hearing is naturally more sensitive to some frequencies, so recordings will already account for this. Equalizer APO's Peace Add-on has a "hearing test" feature that takes this into account and can generate EQ's.

When you listen to a tone sweep through your headphones/earphones you are getting "what you hear" including all of the frequency response issues inherent in that piece of equipment. The EQ being done is to neutralize the playback device first, and your hearing second.

 

[IsaacOscar]

When you listen to a tone sweep through your headphones/earphones you are getting "what you hear" including all of the frequency response issues inherent in that piece of equipment. The EQ being done is to neutralize the playback device first, and your hearing second.

Yes I get that, I just don't have a reference to what "neutral" is supposed to sound like. I can sort of judge if two tones are the same loudness (but not very low or high ones). This is why I was using music to judge EQ: I can tell whether it sounds better or not (I can't tell if it sounds correct though).

 

[kemmler3D]

Yes I get that, I just don't have a reference to what "neutral" is supposed to sound like. I can sort of judge if two tones are the same loudness (but not very low or high ones). This is why I was using music to judge EQ: I can tell whether it sounds better or not (I can't tell if it sounds correct though).

Yes, comparing two tones is how I have done it, but in another thread, a user describes using a high quality studio setup to compare pink noise via speakers to pink noise via headphones and get them to sound the same. Pink noise is also good for finding frequency response anomalies, but I find it somewhat hard to interpret what I'm hearing, as I don't think I can just intuitively imagine a true pink noise tonality, i.e. what pink noise "actually" sounds like, and then mentally compare it to what I'm hearing.

I think you can quickly pick out big problems and problems with overall FR tilt with pink noise, and probably sharp peaks, but just with ears I think it's challenging at best to go much further than that.

Sweeping the tone back and forth quickly is helpful, as if you hear it fading in and out at least once, you can zero in on peaks and dips or even broad defects in tonality.