Parametric EQ options with audio interface and monitors

[dimezis]

I have a Focusrite 2i2 audio interface, and its speaker outputs are combined with headphones output in the system, as in most/all audio interfaces out there, I guess.
I'm planning to buy some active near-field monitors, and I'd like to EQ speakers only (without affecting the headphones output), mostly to fix the low-mid boominess in my room, as well as tame highs if needed.

I had Neumann KH 80 for a week and they were a perfect fit because of their built-in full parametric EQ, but I had to send them away because of malfunctioning auto-standby (they could turn off in the middle of playing music).
I hoped to replace them with KH 120 II, but turned out their internal DSP works only with MA1 software, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to splurge on their room correction kit as well, since the speakers themselves are pretty pricey. Also, it's apparently impossible to manually adjust that MA1 correction, which kind of sucks for the price.

What options do I have?
- Are there other similarly priced speakers with EQ, that do not require the microphone kit for the DSP to work? Or at least ones that allow manual correction.
- Are there interfaces that allow EQing only the speakers' output one way or another? UAD interfaces seem to have full EQ plugins, but a single plugin is 100+eur, which is insane, also it's not clear if it's possible to apply the plugin to the monitors output only.

 

[ZolaIII]

How about going other way around? Buying a good measuring active speakers like Kali LP 6 V2's and the standalone DSP (ADC-DSP-DAC) like MiniDSP Flex and of course mic. Price all together should be like KH 80's alone. Add sub/sub's and have a very nice and deap low end which you can adopt better instead going for a bit bigger KH's.

 

[dimezis]

How about going other way around? Buying a good measuring active speakers like Kali LP 6 V2's and the standalone DSP (ADC-DSP-DAC) like MiniDSP Flex and of course mic. Price all together should be like KH 80's alone. Add sub/sub's and have a very nice and deap low end which you can adopt better instead going for a bit bigger KH's.

That's not a bad idea overall, but I've read there's 25-30ms latency on the Flex, and I'd like to avoid that, since I'm also playing guitar through my audio interface

 

[somebodyelse]

Assuming the KH120 II is using the same SSC protocol as the KH80, 750 and 150 there are other ways to control them. No polished UI though, so won't be for everyone.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-sennheiser-sound-control-protocol-ssc.38607/

 

[dimezis]

Assuming the KH120 II is using the same SSC protocol as the KH80, 750 and 150 there are other ways to control them. No polished UI though, so won't be for everyone.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-sennheiser-sound-control-protocol-ssc.38607/

That would be great, but I wonder if anyone could confirm it's compatible

 

[ZolaIII]

That's not a bad idea overall, but I've read there's 25-30ms latency on the Flex, and I'd like to avoid that, since I'm also playing guitar through my audio interface

Well there is always added latency whenever you do conversation and give series job to DSD but I doubt it's so big even in case you feed it analog, on the other hand remainder is that 20 ms is a blink of an eye time. If we have to nippy pick it would be not stelar PEQ filter quality and relatively complex to use FIR implementation but then again you don't have that on Neumann's at all.

 

[dimezis]

Well there is always added latency whenever you do conversation and give series job to DSD but I doubt it's so big even in case you feed it analog, on the other hand remainder is that 20 ms is a blink of an eye time. If we have to nippy pick it would be not stelar PEQ filter quality and relatively complex to use FIR implementation but then again you don't have that on Neumann's at all.

20-30ms is actually a lot when playing guitar. Combined round-trip latency would be slightly below 40, and that's absolutely noticeable when playing, speaking from experience.

 

[dimezis]

I think I will end up buying an audio interface that allows splitting headphones and monitors virtual output channels, and then EQ them separately using whatever is available on Mac

 

[Zensō]

I’d suggest running the Sonarworks SoundID Reference plugin hosted within Soundsource on your Mac. This gives you the flexibility of one click switching between systemwide EQ for your monitors and headphones, regardless of which monitors, headphones, or interface you’re using.

SoundID also gives you the option of zero latency, mixed, or linear phase.

SoundID Reference - Speaker & Headphone Calibration

Create with full confidence in sound with speaker & headphone calibration software SoundID Reference. Already trusted by over 140'000 studios globally.

www.sonarworks.com

SoundSource - A Superior Sound Control

Access your Mac's audio devices, control per-app audio, and much more, all from the menu bar.

rogueamoeba.com

 

[czt]

Are there other similarly priced speakers with EQ, that do not require the microphone kit for the DSP to work? Or at least ones that allow manual correction.

ADAM Audio A Series - Built to Reveal

ADAM Audio A Series monitors deliver highly accurate, transparent sound across a full array of speaker sizes and configurations.

www.adam-audio.com

 

[dimezis]

I’d suggest running the Sonarworks SoundID Reference plugin hosted within Soundsource on your Mac. This gives you the flexibility of one click switching between systemwide EQ for your monitors and headphones, regardless of which monitors, headphones, or interface you’re using.

SoundID also gives you the option of zero latency, mixed, or linear phase.

SoundID Reference - Speaker & Headphone Calibration

Create with full confidence in sound with speaker & headphone calibration software SoundID Reference. Already trusted by over 140'000 studios globally.

www.sonarworks.com

SoundSource - A Superior Sound Control

Access your Mac's audio devices, control per-app audio, and much more, all from the menu bar.

rogueamoeba.com

Awesome, I really liked Soundsource!
SoundID not so much, since I need just an EQ, not a flat profile for speakers or headphones (they didn't sound good to me, and correcting the profile is harder than just applying a manual EQ from scratch).
Currently testing Apple's AUNBandEQ hosted in Soundsource, with Shortcuts + hotkeys for switching between presets.
So far seems like the best option

 

[Zensō]

Awesome, I really liked Soundsource!
SoundID not so much, since I need just an EQ, not a flat profile for speakers or headphones (they didn't sound good to me, and correcting the profile is harder than just applying a manual EQ from scratch).
Currently testing Apple's AUNBandEQ hosted in Soundsource, with Shortcuts + hotkeys for switching between presets.
So far seems like the best option

Cool!

Yeah, for simply listening SoundID may be overkill. It’s really designed for producers monitoring on the desktop in near-field under 1 meter, and for checking mixes using the built-in speaker simulations. Flat at ~80-90cm is probably not the most pleasant for casual listening, but it’s pretty much the standard for mixing and mastering in a small home studio where mix translation is the top priority. I do find though that, after correction, their B&K 1974 preset curve sounds very good for causal listening in mid-field. In fact, in my set up it sounds as good as the best results I was able to obtain using REW and manual EQ in FabFilter Pro-Q3.

AUNBandEQ hosted in SoundSource seems like a great solution for straightforward EQ.