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Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:46 pm
by mf
stip wrote:why does it make sense to turn settings down rather than up? Why go with a -2 mid and a +2 bass/treble, for instance, rather than a +2 mid and a +6 bass/treble
basically EQ works by adjusting the loudness of a particular frequency. I'm certainly no expert on car or home stereos but my guess is that if you're boosting everything then you could potentially be introducing unwanted gain into the mix. Work from 0 and boost/cut from there as your ears dictate.
In the world of sound mixing, different frequencies have a habit of messing with each other. For example, in the studio you might find that cutting some of the low mids from your guitar brings your bass track to life. This happens because the low mids of the guitars were hogging its part of the spectrum. Simply boosting the bass to compensate would have just muddied the mix up even more.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:59 pm
by Alex
mods can we move this thread to technical support
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 6:01 pm
by BurtReynolds
Alex wrote:mods can we move this thread to technical support
With all the time Cracky has on his hands these days, you'd think he would be on top of this.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 6:21 pm
by Alex
BurtReynolds wrote:Alex wrote:mods can we move this thread to technical support
With all the time Cracky has on his hands these days, you'd think he would be on top of this.
a lot of time. from redundancy comes abundance.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:17 pm
by Revelator
mf wrote:in the car i do a slight bass boost (+2 or +3), a slight mid cut (-1 or -2) and keep the treble flat. i also fade the sound to the back speakers a bit. every car is different and i listen to metal mostly but that seems to be the sweet spot for me. ymmv.
I'm going to try something like this. Before I had everything too high (mids, bass, treble) and I got a really muddied sound. I got much more clarity cutting back the mids (-3) but the bass (while clearer) still appears to be too prominent at +4. I also think I still have the treble way too high (around +6 now I think)...
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:48 pm
by stip
what's a good test song where you can really hear clear contrasts as you adjust settings?
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:54 pm
by Norah
Just pick a song that's really dynamic in it's sound.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:57 pm
by Norah
In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:11 pm
by Alex
cutuphalfdead wrote:In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
i guess even mashed potatoes can be pleasantly surprising sometimes
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:15 pm
by Norah
Alex wrote:cutuphalfdead wrote:In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
i guess even mashed potatoes can be pleasantly surprising sometimes
A little bit of garlic and leave the skins on.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:19 pm
by darth_vedder
mf wrote:stip wrote:why does it make sense to turn settings down rather than up? Why go with a -2 mid and a +2 bass/treble, for instance, rather than a +2 mid and a +6 bass/treble
basically EQ works by adjusting the loudness of a particular frequency. I'm certainly no expert on car or home stereos but my guess is that if you're boosting everything then you could potentially be introducing unwanted gain into the mix. Work from 0 and boost/cut from there as your ears dictate.
In the world of sound mixing, different frequencies have a habit of messing with each other. For example, in the studio you might find that cutting some of the low mids from your guitar brings your bass track to life. This happens because the low mids of the guitars were hogging its part of the spectrum.
Simply boosting the bass
to compensate would have just muddied the mix up even more.

Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:27 pm
by bodysnatcher
Depends on the speakers you're using, but for smaller speakers I've always had luck with the "negative perfect" approach (via iTunes)
which is based off these settings I found years ago...

Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:32 pm
by Norah
I keep mine flat when I'm just listening to winamp on my computer, even with my good headphones plugged in. It's only when I'm listening through my stereo setup do I equalize on the receiver there.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:34 pm
by bodysnatcher
I basically just tried to draw boobs with my settings
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:35 pm
by Norah
You're doing the Lord's work.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:41 pm
by Simple Torture
cutuphalfdead wrote:In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
I've never really played with the settings on my receiver too much (I've only got bass/treble on it and usually keep them flat, unless I'm listening to something where I really want to feel the bass, like Beastie Boys), but I'm going to experiment later with this track. YHFT is the only Wilco record I have, so I lucked out. Any other LPs good benchmarks, you think?
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:42 pm
by Norah
Simple Torture wrote:cutuphalfdead wrote:In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
I've never really played with the settings on my receiver too much (I've only got bass/treble on it and usually keep them flat, unless I'm listening to something where I really want to feel the bass, like Beastie Boys), but I'm going to experiment later with this track. YHFT is the only Wilco record I have, so I lucked out. Any other LPs good benchmarks, you think?
Really sucks that you don't have adjustable mids. I find bringing those down helps more than turning the rest up.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:47 pm
by LetMeSleep
Simple Torture wrote:Any other LPs good benchmarks, you think?
Whatever record you know inside out is the best benchmark for you.
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:48 pm
by Norah
LetMeSleep wrote:Simple Torture wrote:Any other LPs good benchmarks, you think?
Whatever record you know inside out is the best benchmark for you.
yep, pick something where you're going to notice the nuance the easiest
Re: Equalizer settings
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:50 pm
by Simple Torture
cutuphalfdead wrote:Simple Torture wrote:cutuphalfdead wrote:In the past I've used Wilco's "I Am The Man Who Loves You"
I've never really played with the settings on my receiver too much (I've only got bass/treble on it and usually keep them flat, unless I'm listening to something where I really want to feel the bass, like Beastie Boys), but I'm going to experiment later with this track. YHFT is the only Wilco record I have, so I lucked out. Any other LPs good benchmarks, you think?
Really sucks that you don't have adjustable mids. I find bringing those down helps more than turning the rest up.
Yeah, this is the next upgrade...I wish we were registering at someplace that sold stereo equipment.