I tend to have my EQ settings at default 'flat' all the time... Is that bad?

I know it's got a lot to do with preference, but I was wondering whether adjusting equalizer settings is important. If I just leave it at 'flat' (ie everything at 0db) am I hearing something different than what I would hear if I were listening to the music in the same room as the musicians?

I can hear a difference when I choose from the different default EQ settings in my X-Fi software, but I can't really tell what sounds 'right'. Can anyone point to somewhere where I can educate myself?

*edit* oh, and when I listen to music I use my Sennheiser HD 595 headphones not the z5500... the music sounds somehow more immersive than with my speakers for some reason. Maybe because the volume is higher so I can hear more of the sound?

Absolutely not, although I'm sure you're going to get a lot of replies that might say otherwise. I've been listening to audio "flat" since I got involved in digital audio back around 1980 or so (yeah, it was possible way back then, just not nearly as easily as it is today). Ever since I purchased my first CD in 1985 (Dire Straits, "Brothers In Arms") I've never bothered with EQ settings at all. The headphones I purchase are always as close to having a flat response curve as I can manage (had a pair of Sony V6 for nearly 2 decades now because they have a nearly flat response curve, pretty rare thing in headphones) and the audio production work I do is particular to sound quality, obviously.

When it comes to an audio system - meaning from source to final output - the most important part of the entire chain is the end result. Speakers, or headphones are the most important part of any audio system in the long run. You can have the highest quality hardware and source material, but if the speakers or headphones can't reproduce the material properly, it's going to sound like shit and there's nothing you can do about it.

There'll be people that'll tell you what sounds best to them, as I could tell you what sounds best to me but I won't do that. All I'll say is if it sounds good to you, so be it. Nobody else's ears matter in that respect. You can find a lot of people that will favor a particular product or way of doing things, but even after that kind of situation you'd have to give that product or way of doing things yourself and still have to listen yourself with your ears and make the decision.

There are instances where having EQ can help, sometimes because of serious deficiencies in either the hardware or the actual listening environment, but overall I'd say once again, if it sounds good to you, that's all that matters.

I use a flat EQ on my PC. Nothing wrong with that. You can adjust it a bit if you think you're missing certain frequencies or something like that. For example, I tweaked the equalizer in my car because it was lacking a bit of bass and treble. I mean if it sounds good to you, then why worry about it? Most of the time unnecessary EQ screws up the sound, at least to my ears.

Also, I'm pretty sure those Sennheisers sound better than your Z5500s, which is why they seem better to you. The Z5500 misses some of the midrange frequencies and in general has an uneven frequency response..

Most software EQs will distort and damage the sound more than any "improvement" you might hear; I always leave them disabled or flat.

The X-Fi uses its own hardware DSP for equalization within Windows, and, to my ears, the EQ sounds pretty damn decent. So long as the processing is happening with greater precision than the source (like 32-bit float or 48-bit fixed), artifacting tends to be minimal.

I actually use bit-perfect output in Audio Creation mode on my Prelude for music listening, and I boost one decibel on the first and last octaves in Game Mode. Games tend to benefit from some slight loudness (smiley face) equalization, not unlike movies, but for music, linearity is my goal.

Flat or no EQ is the way to go. The record engineers and producers have spent a lot of time (or they used to before they went LOUD) getting the sound right so why decide they are wrong.

If you have good gear you dont really need EQ.

As for games, mess around with it as you like.

daglesj said:

Flat or no EQ is the way to go. The record engineers and producers have spent a lot of time (or they used to before they went LOUD) getting the sound right so why decide they are wrong.

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QFT, especially the part about stuff being LOUD nowadays. Here's a great article I always share the link for regarding just how absolutely fucking horrible audio sounds nowadays compared to years past. If you think today's high end pure digital extremely high bitrate audio devices sound good, well, there's something wrong and this article explains why:

http://www.moozeek.de/mirrors/articles/over_the_limit.htm

To expand on what Joe Average said, an EQ is really designed to compensate for environment variables that cause the source material to not sound as intended once it leaves the speakers.

For example, if you really wanted to tune your audio system, you might employ an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) placed in your listening position and then use an EQ to flatten out the sound picked up by the mic that are caused by those variables.

I was first introduced to this concept many, many years ago when I was doing consulting work for a company that did sound engineering. They would go to venues, setup the equipment, setup the RTA's, and then adjust the sound to flatten out the peaks and valleys that were unique to each location.

As it is, since the average person is not going to have an RTA, EQ's are just used by people to change the way the source material sounds to them, which in itself isn't bad, but the idea is you want it to sound like the engineer that recorded it intended for it to sound. In the end, if it sounds good to you, I guess that's all that really matters.

phide said:

The X-Fi uses its own hardware DSP for equalization within Windows, and, to my ears, the EQ sounds pretty damn decent..

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true. hardware eq's sound good, software eq's sound like crap if any sliders are moved above 0. you can usually move them down and it sounds ok
i actually like my x-fi for its wonderful eq

i have heard that most music-especially mass-pop-radio stuff is recorded midrange heavy so that it plays on any old radio. any in-the-know peeps that can verify this or not?


in games i like a v shaped eq. if im on teamspeak its pretty flat for clear voices. for music it depends. ive had some wonderful dacs that needed no eq

ourfpshero said:

true. hardware eq's sound good, software eq's sound like crap if any sliders are moved above 0.

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Not always true. Like I said, if the precision of the software DSP is high enough, artifacting is minimal. If it's working at the source bit depth, that's where you start to have problems.

ourfpshero said:

i have heard that most music-especially mass-pop-radio stuff is recorded midrange heavy so that it plays on any old radio. any in-the-know peeps that can verify this or not?

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Most modern masters place greater emphasis on lows and highs. This is sort of advantageous for mixing engineers, because the midrange (especially in the 500 Hz-2 kHz range) is hard to mix (really hard). It's advantageous for consumers because no loudness equalization needs to be applied at lower volume levels.

Listen to a typical mid-80's CD and compare it to a just-released CD and you'll sort of get the idea.