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Should I use equalizers?

kurotoast

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I have akg-712 pro with Fiio K5 Pro and I wonder should I use an equalizer? I heard some people make them sound "better" but I have no experince with it so I'm not sure, I don't even know which software to use. I found stuff like this - https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq#usage and many other settings.
 

Berwhale

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Yes. See here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ows-linux-macos-ios-ipados-and-android.18450/

I use EqualizerAPO + PEACE on Windows to EQ both spekears (measured and calculated with REW) and headphone (EQ based on Oratory1990's measurments)

I also EQ on Android using USB Audio Player Pro with the Toneboosters PEQ add-in.

Note that the jaakkopasanen site you link to calculates EQ based on Oratory1990's measurements (amongst others). This is not the same as Oratory1990's own EQ settings which he calculates himself and tunes by ear.

The list of Oratory1990's EQ presets are here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets

Oratory1990's own explaination of the differences between his and Jaakkopasanen's is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory199...is_list_different_to_the_github_.2F_autoeq.3F
 
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kurotoast

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Thank you, I've tried both oratory1990 and jaakkopasanen for AKG-712 PRO and I prefer jaakkopasanen. oratory1990's setting for midrange 5700 Hz on -7,8 dB makes voices to sound muffed.

But maybe I did something wrong, here's my settings in PEACE, oratory1990 AKG-712 and jaakkopasanen for AKG-712 PRO:
 

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Berwhale

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I think 5700Hz might be a bit high for vocals. Have you tried playing around with band 3 as Oratory1990 suggests?

Of course, ultimately, it's all about what sounds best to you. If you've tried both EQ settings and the variations for preference that Oratory1990 suggests and your happy with Jaakkopasanen, then stick with that. However, I would also add that you should give your ears and brain time to adjust to the 'correct' settings. You might find that your preference changes after listening to each setting for a week with different types of music, rather than switching between them over a short timeframe.
 

GaryH

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Thank you, I've tried both oratory1990 and jaakkopasanen for AKG-712 PRO and I prefer jaakkopasanen. oratory1990's setting for midrange 5700 Hz on -7,8 dB makes voices to sound muffed.

But maybe I did something wrong, here's my settings in PEACE, oratory1990 AKG-712 and jaakkopasanen for AKG-712 PRO:
Looks like you've copied the filters from the wrong pdf (Oratory's 'Optimum HiFi' preset which is lacking in the bass, and for this particular headphone happens to have less energy at 5700 Hz). Most people will prefer his default preset which EQs to the Harman target. Also looks like the gain is snapping to the nearest 0.5 dB. To change that go into Peace's settings, to the 'Sizes and Amounts settings' tab, then change the value next to 'Snap to dB gain' to 0.1 dB. And after you've entered in the filters for an EQ, you can check they're right by clicking the little green curve just under the 'Effects' button and making sure it matches with the 'EQ curve total' on Oratory's pdf.

As for the AutoEQ settings, again that's not the right preset. You're using the fixed-band EQ version, you want the parametric EQ. You're also using the EQ based on Rtings' measurements whose rig isn't fully industry standard so isn't as accurate. This is the one you want, based on Oratory's more accurate measurements. But I'd recommend Oratory's own EQ preset from his pdf above, as he generally uses lower-Q positive-gain filters to prevent possible audible filter 'ringing', and of course actually listens to the headphones when creating the EQ to check and fine-tune them.
 
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kurotoast

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Thank you, I fixed everything and it sounds good but now I don't know which one is better - no settings, Oratory's and AutoEQ all sound good but different and I'm not sure which one to choose.
 

GaryH

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Thank you, I fixed everything and it sounds good but now I don't know which one is better - no settings, Oratory's and AutoEQ all sound good but different and I'm not sure which one to choose.
Well only you can know which one you prefer :) But Oratory's is most likely to bring the response to the Harman target while minimizing the possibility of audible filter 'ringing' (AutoEQ's also has a bit of an 8 kHz peak), the Harman target being close to the tonality of neutral speakers in a studio, and so close to what most recording artists / mixers / mastering engineers heard and intended their music to sound like. I'd keep it on Oratory's preset for a while, listen to a wide variety of music with it, then switch it off / to AutoEQ's and then you might hear the deficiencies in them.
 
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ilyen85

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Hey all! Sorry for hijacking an old thread, but I have the very same setup akg-712 pro with Fiio K5 Pro (non ess). Sometimes I feel it lacks some base, when listening something like Prodigy or something. (90% of the music I listen is Jazz and I love this setup, but sometimes I just crave something crazy xD)

1. So I was happy to find this question, I downloaded and setup everything based on this (I have an M2 mac mini):
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/qi8s6h
I managed to setup Blackhole and AUlab, also verified that it does something :)

2. So I copied the values into the EQ from this pdf:

based on this comment:
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/9mb3v0/_/e7eojey
Currently the settings look like this:
Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 16.59.41.png


But I'm pretty sure that these are wrong, because the bass is distorted, so can someone please help me?

My guesses:
- Filter type: In the pdf it has PEAK while in the EQ the setup guide (1) recommended has no such filter type. I tried to guess which one should I use, but I think Parametric might be wrong
- Q-factor: again in the recommended EQ there is no such column, but I bet it must be width (?)
- Pre-amp: the pdf mention -8.5 dB, but again the EQ recommended has no such setting, is it maybe the one called "Global Gain"?

Thank you, and sorry for the long post / question
 

ilyen85

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I think I managed to find answers for some of my questions:
Pre-amp vs Global Gain should be fine according to this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/gm6hzo/_/fr2loaa
Filter type: Parametric might be good, although I'm not convinced based on this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/gm6hzo/_/g0rjn0j
Q-factor:
It appears that I should have used the BW column instead, based on this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/15y6ltr/_/jxe8ya5
After I have applied the -8.5 dB global gain, the distortion seems to be fixed, or less audible because of the negative gain... so I'm not sure...

I tried to set the global gain to 0 dB there is some distortion but its a lot less than before, so I think this is good now:

Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 17.51.42.png
 
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Berwhale

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After I have applied the -8.5 dB global gain, the distortion seems to be fixed, or less audible because of the negative gain... so I'm not sure...
Yes, you need to apply global negative gain because you've applied positive gain to some frequencies. Basically, you need to apply enough negative gain so that no points in your graph above go over 0dB - this ensures that you don't get clipping, which is probably what you were hearing as distorted bass.

In PEACE - which is a front end for eAPO in Windows - you can switch the effect of pre-amp on and off, so it's easy to see the effect.

No pre-amp...

1705078787520.png


With pre-amp...

1705078776674.png


BTW - These are my settings for my Sennheiser HD660S based on Oratory1990's measurements.
 
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ilyen85

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Yes, you need to apply global negative gain because you've applied positive gain to some frequencies. Basically, you need to apply enough negative gain so that no points in your graph above go over 0dB - this ensures that you don't get clipping, which is probably what you were hearing as distorted bass.
I see, thank you! This makes sense.

Yeah the AUNBandEQ has no such setting, but once I have applied the negative gain, the graph maximum is just touching the 0, so I think its good :) Thank you!
 
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NTK

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- Q-factor: again in the recommended EQ there is no such column, but I bet it must be width (?)
- Pre-amp: the pdf mention -8.5 dB, but again the EQ recommended has no such setting, is it maybe the one called "Global Gain"?
  • Use the numbers in the BW (bandwidth) column for "Width".
  • Adjust "Global Gain" so that the EQ curve does not go above 0 dB.
If you do everything right with Oratory1990's numbers, your EQ curve should match the curve below (which it doesn't, especially at the higher frequencies at the moment). Once you've achieved that, then you can use it as the start point and freely adjust further to what you prefer.

eq_curve.png
 

MAB

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I think I managed to find answers for some of my questions:
Pre-amp vs Global Gain should be fine according to this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/gm6hzo/_/fr2loaa
Filter type: Parametric might be good, although I'm not convinced based on this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/gm6hzo/_/g0rjn0j
Q-factor:
It appears that I should have used the BW column instead, based on this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/15y6ltr/_/jxe8ya5
After I have applied the -8.5 dB global gain, the distortion seems to be fixed, or less audible because of the negative gain... so I'm not sure...

I tried to set the global gain to 0 dB there is some distortion but its a lot less than before, so I think this is good now:

View attachment 341442
Regarding the PEQ differences, I think the equalizer application you are using has filters defined by 'Width' instead of 'Q'. This is why your high frequency EQ looks much different than the Oratory target EQ. You need to convert W to Q and then the EQ settings should match!
Here is a page on converting W to Q:

Also discussed here:
 

ilyen85

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  • Use the numbers in the BW (bandwidth) column for "Width".
  • Adjust "Global Gain" so that the EQ curve does not go above 0 dB.
If you do everything right with Oratory1990's numbers, your EQ curve should match the curve below (which it doesn't, especially at the higher frequencies at the moment). Once you've achieved that, then you can use it as the start point and freely adjust further to what you prefer.

View attachment 341446
Well, I have eyeballed the shape of the graph and the EQ and it seems to be pretty close or the same, so I think I managed to use the right settings. Also it sounds way better than before, bass is plenty, I think I'm happy, although I will listen my usual stuff without the EQ, I got used to the natural (plain) sound of this setup :D
 

ilyen85

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Regarding the PEQ differences, I think the equalizer application you are using has filters defined by 'Width' instead of 'Q'. This is why your high frequency EQ looks much different than the Oratory target EQ. You need to convert W to Q and then the EQ settings should match!
Here is a page on converting W to Q:

Also discussed here:
I think the Q-Factor and the BW column values provided in the PDF are already converted.

I mean if I use the BW column from the PDF as the value of the Width column of the EQ it should be right.

I tried to convert the the 2 column's values on the page you have linked and the values are always pretty close:
Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 18.26.57.png


I hope you get what I mean, sorry my English is quite limited xD

So the solution is to just use the BW column from the PDF as the values for the "width" column in the EQ.

Right? :D
 
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MAB

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I think the Q-Factor and the BW column values provided in the PDF are already converted.

I mean if I use the BW column from the PDF as the value of the Width column of the EQ it should be right.

I tried to convert the the 2 column's values on the page you have linked and the values are always pretty close:
View attachment 341452

I hope you get what I mean, sorry my English is quite limited xD

So the solution is to just use the BW column from the PDF as the values for the "width" column in the EQ.

Right? :D
OK!
You got it right! I misread your post!
Looks like your English is better than my reading comprehension.:D

I got confused since the upper end of your EQ looks different than than oratory EQ:
1705083177162.png

It seems your trace isn't including the high shelves at 800Hz and 11kHz, or am I missing something?
 

MAB

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OK!
You got it right! I misread your post!
Looks like your English is better than my reading comprehension.:D

I got confused since the upper end of your EQ looks different than than oratory EQ:
View attachment 341456
It seems your trace isn't including the high shelves at 800Hz and 11kHz, or am I missing something?
edit, I think it is oratory, allowing different bass and treble shelves for preference:
1705083532550.png
 

ilyen85

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I have uploaded a new screenshot of the EQ in my 2nd post, sorry for the misunderstanding I should have note that the 2 screenshots are not the same anymore.
It appears that I should have used the BW column instead, based on this:

And because of this change, I have uploaded the new screenshot of the EQ, which has the right shape now.
 
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MAB

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I have uploaded a new screenshot of the EQ in my 2nd post, sorry for the misunderstanding I should have note that the 2 screenshots are not the same anymore.


And because of this change, I have uploaded the new screenshot of the EQ, which has the right shape now.
Line on line (see my trace of the target superimposed on your PEQ):
1705085180502.png

Looks good.
Cheers!
 
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