• 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!

Question about AutoEQ and REW for headphone EQ correction

Volutrik

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2023
Messages
47
Likes
20
Hello everyone. Today I did a little experiment: I downloaded the Harman 2018 over ear target curve from AutoEQ repository and also the headphones measurement available there. I then used REW to equalize the headphones to the downloaded Harman target curve and, unexpectedly, the result doesn't sound the same as the one that's already available as a "preset" on the AutoEQ repository.
I'm using IRs for more accuracy and the one I did using REW sounds slightly darker. Both measurements are using the Harman OE 2018 target, the difference is that one is already available on AutoEQ and the other one I made myself using REW.

Does REW have the same accuracy as AutoEQ or is AutoEQ more refined? I'm kinda confused right now. Both are using the same measurements and targets.

Below are the REW EQ settings I used for this as I want the results to be as close as possible to the target. Let me know if I should use some other settings :)
 

Attachments

  • rew eq settings.png
    rew eq settings.png
    13.7 KB · Views: 85

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
7,851
Likes
12,534
I then used REW to equalize the headphones to the downloaded Harman target curve and, unexpectedly, the result doesn't sound the same as the one that's already available as a "preset" on the AutoEQ repository.
the one I did using REW sounds slightly darker.
The presets you find on the AutoEQ GitHub do not use the stock Harman target.
They use a modified version of Harman OE2018/IE2019v2 with 2dB less bass.
 
OP
V

Volutrik

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2023
Messages
47
Likes
20
The presets you find on the AutoEQ GitHub do not use the stock Harman target.
They use a modified version of Harman OE2018/IE2019v2 with 2dB less bass.
I used the Harman OE 2018 v2 available from the AutoEQ Github and also the measurement from Oratory1990 too! Makes sense if you take into consideration that a sound with less low frequencies will be perceived brighter when compared to one with more low frequencies at the same perceived loudness. But the differences are much more than a matter of frequency tilting, they're very different on the mids/high mids, even above 5kHz. If you want I can provide you the Impulse responses, they're very different indeed, I'm kinda confused to why that is. Maybe REW doesn't do so much of a good job Auto EQing as Jaakko's Auto EQ and that's why it sounds different? I kinda like the result when comparing to the official Auto EQ one though
 

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
7,851
Likes
12,534
You can plot the frequency response of both EQ presets in REW to compare them directly.

Here's how I do it with PEQ, but convolution filters should work just as well:
 
OP
V

Volutrik

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2023
Messages
47
Likes
20
You can plot the frequency response of both EQ presets in REW to compare them directly.

Here's how I do it with PEQ, but convolution filters should work just as well:
Thank you for the tip! I tried doing it and the corrections don't look quite aligned to the target. The green one is the one downloaded directly from the Auto EQ Github and it has a bass boost by default, the orange one is the one I did using REW's auto EQ function and it is matched to the Harman OE 2018 v2 without the bass boost, and the blue one is the raw Harman target without the bass boost as well. Although I've been messing around with EQing headphones for some time, I'm kinda new to REW and to comparing the actual corrections to the target. My previous experiences were more based on just listening to the result and reading stuff online. Is this dip occuring between 2.2kHz and 7.3kHz a thing or is it an error? I'm wondering because the same occurs on the official Auto EQ one too...
 
Top Bottom