Maybe someone has said it in a comment some time ago, but in case it hasn't been said, for anyone coming here now: the restart of the PC is no longer required after enabling EqualizerAPO for a new device.
What about a Android App called SoundID. I use this and its great because U do the Setup only by ears. Also i use room acustic Meter to Put a small Microphone between the earphones and let it run. I can See then where are some Things and how It Looks Like in a Graph. Even If the mic use arent a proper Testing mic.
A lot of people aren't interested in the effort. I recommended several friends to try Oluv's EQ on the EarFun Free Pro 2's and they had very little interest to get it done even when I told them that they will sound 5-10 times their price point after. The process was a bit finicky for 20min, but now that they have it they keep messaging me about how unbelievably good it sounds. Everyone's not DIY minded, have faith in their ability to tune or feel "digital manipulation" will cast the plague on their beloved headphones.
Because people like to justify theirs own spendings for their chase of their perfect sound. They seemingly achieve that and they think everyone should go through the same trial by fire of spending money not liking the sound, returning/selling the hardware rinse and repeat
I know 2.5 years on you won't see this, but great video. Was able to use this to get my LCD-X (2021) tuned in and are simply superb. Appreciate the work.
Thank you for making this tutorial! I tried EQing my Edition XS and was finally to fill a "hole" in the sound. It sounds so much more pleasant and easier to listen. I always felt like there was a gap in the low end that couldnt be filled. Now it's properly scratching my itch in that spot!
Only time I tried eq was when I had no idea what I was doing and of course I ran into awful clipping issues like you stated. I'm taking some time to each myself how to do it because it really seems like a fun tool to just play around with. I ordered the XS and I'm looking forward to trying out the tuning you shared here. Thank you so much for all of this!
Thank you so much for this video. I have actually been using Equalizer APO for a while now but now I know I've been doing it wrong. Fx I have never used Low or High pass filters, never understood them, and also, using the graph to actually see how each tuning can affect each other, never thought about that. I learned a lot from this video and now I'm looking forward to getting home tonight and retune my Beyerdynamics all over! :D Thank you!!
A good way to check whether or not you want to get into EQ is by using Oratory1990’s presets, which aim for the Harman target. The Harman target isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s the “most preferred” natural sound for a majority of people, and Oratory1990 has a massive list of EQ presets for different headphones to push them to the Harman target. If you try the preset and feel it sounds better, you can really get into EQ’ing from there. If you think it doesn’t sound any better, maybe don’t get into it.
I figured out either the neutral EQ target or Harman target is fine with some EQ'ing from there with the bass and treble. Boosting that treble a bunch and just a little for bass seems to make my headphones very nice sounding after EQ'ing to one of those two targets with EQ APO and Peace gui.
Harman target is crap. The deeper I dig into the research, the more shocked I am. I used to say if those papers were peer reviewed (they weren't), they'd look like confetti. But after reading even deeper into it, it's more correct to say they'd be smoke, the whole thing would be burned in a fire. Now it just so happens a good lot of people like V and U shaped tunings so there's nothing magic about some people liking Harman over flat. But there is absolutely no gold standard to this curve, how high or low it goes, and where the slopes start, or any of that, AT ALL. Period. End of story.
20:00 - for A/B testing with EQ on or off.. I do it by creating another EQ preset with flattened presets with same pre amp - 'Edition XS flat' where all sliders are 0 but the pre amp is set to the same -4... That way it is perfectly volume matched. Probably the same thing setting the digital volume but I'm used to clicking on the 2 presets to A/B test them vs setting it On or Off
For Peace APO I used the "flatten" button to turn off the EQ while keeping the pre-amp value. To turn it back on I just double click to reload the profile itself again.
sometimes the same pre-gain actually doesn’t sound like the same volume because of the altered decibels of the frequencies, so it’s actually better to adjust a flat preset’s gain manually until it sounds the same volume to you. I’ve seen Oratory comment that when i first got into EQ’ing and i tried it myself and it improves A/B testing by a lot
This video helped me greatly, now my hd560s have a bit more bass thump and sound amazing , thank you for this video, I actually input the values into Fiio app for my Fiio BTR7 dac amp as well for when I’m not at my computer, I really do wish companies would allow Bluetooth headphones such as momentum 4 to have such a comprehensive eq as peace eq
I know people will hate me for this but I think APO's Interface is much cleaner than Peace. After a while of using APO without Peace i can only say that I never looked back. Ohh and similar option for Android would be Poweramp Equalizer, which gives you a full blow parametric EQ without root.
Same for me. The stock APO Interface is actually fantastic because its not just cleaner but also very configurable. It starts with a blank slate but you can bake pretty much everything into it from graphic variable band EQs to full on VST Plugins where the plugins own UI can be accessed within APOs interface. Really don't get why people are so intend on using peace.
Thank you for this video. I'm a total noob in the headphone world, just brought my hd 560s. I did my initial search on reddit, but the audiophile posts were frankly a bit overwhelming and seldom helpful for a beginner. This tutorial helped me tailor the sound more to my preferences.
I think the main thing the 560s needs for EQ would be the 4khz area, down a couple dB. Other then that it's almost the flattest headphone money can buy, surely for the price.
Tiny extra tip: The Peace GUI (shown here) has the "Effects" section. I recommend at least playing around with the crossfeed options. Some music can sound weird on headphones if they are panned very strongly left and right for the different instruments. Especially older rock, blues, country etc. was often mixed with speakers in mind, and with speakers the sound radiates around the room, naturally reaching both your ears. With headphones that doesn't happen, and you might hear this as an extreme stereo effect. Playing around with crossfeed options lets you manually "bleed" some sound between the earcups, which can lead to a much more natural feeling. The Peace GUI Effects section has some manual crossfeed options, but I've just used the Jan Meier crossfeed filter option which sounds the most natural to my ears.
The main thing I noticed when EQing most of my IEMS, is that while you can roll off or EQ down most of the peaky frequencies above your target and it will generally sound better, EQing up or increasing frequencies that are way off your target (like 4dB or more) to your target usually don't work and will sound very unnatural. I'm betting it's because inherent driver limitations to properly reproduce the frequency. I'm just glad that I could EQ off some disgusting nasty peaky frequencies between 2 and 4KHz on my KZ ZS10 which made everything sound extremely emphasised and shouty on that range, now it finally sounds normal.
I worked in live sound for several years and it's a very popular technique to start with the graph at 0 and then to only subtract frequencies that jump out as being annoying. Think of it as having a piece of wood and slowly carving it down until it's shaped into whatever shape you're trying to make. It's not the only approach, but it's not a bad approach.
Very wise,@@seandavis9476 . People tend to think correction comes without cost. The farther your corrected curve is from flat, the more veil and distortion you add. As well as messing with time-based frequency-ratio volume decay issues which the brain uses to construct distance, direction, and other information inside its subjective representation of the objective world out there.
eqMAC does seems to work wonderfully. Generally the Presets for different headphones really enhance the sound, and even if I am not satisfied, I can generally work from those as a starting point to tweak.
Great vid. If the headphones have a certain Hz response, then starting by boosting the lower levels might not be best/work bc the headphones are already having a problem producing those specific Hz. In that case, I would think that starting by lowering the higher dB responses to make the bass sound louder, for example, might work better. Also, by taking the boosting approach, you increase risk of distortion/clipping.
I like how it allows you to select which audio device to turn EQ on for. I have Voicemeeter Banana set up for my speakers and Voicemeeter Input is my main audio device with it's own EQ and treble/bass that sounds good for my cheap logitech speakers, but when I got a new FX-Audio DAC for cheap I want to plug in solely my HD58X headphones so I can set the EQ only for that device since they need to be tuned in for those headphones to sound great for me. So anytime I wanna put the headphones on now I just swap the audio source to the DAC/AMP in windows 10 after flipping the power switch on the dac, put those headphones on, close voicemeeter banana so I can have hotkey volume control in windows, and bam good to go. A few steps but only 1-2 more over what I had to do before to switch from speakers to headphones, which I tend to have to do at night when I need to be quiet on the computer. Or sometimes you just get tired of wearing bulky headphones and need to give your head a break.
You got that much right that you want ONLY the media player going to the DAC, but to fully avoid the OS mixer you need to also make your passthru software an exclusive virtual device. Or just use an Audirvana or Roon type of thing.
I will have to look into those. Is there a way to make sure that I am doing a passthru and avoiding the OS Mixer? I am assuming it is RealTek (which I have had issues with in the past). I think I have bypassed it by setting my sound input device in windows as the DAC for headphones, or Voicemeeter for speakers. @@PartyMusic775
VERY GOOD explanations and tips. Thank you for making this vid it really helps to understand proper EQ'ing and I can't wait to try some adjustments :- )
Cool new intro transition! I wonder if it's influence from DMS as he joined the team xD... Though the camera framing itself is quite a bit zoomed-in compared to usual, which I find it a tiny bit distracting.
I use Wavelet too but honestly AutoEQ profiles are more miss than hit to me. Too over-EQ'd as it EQ's even frequencies that should not be touched and are measured inaccurately by the measurement rigs. Usually the end result is way too harsh sounding. But on reddit there is a guy who has imported every Oratory EQ profile into Wavelet compatible format. Even though they also aim to reproduce Harman Target the sound is much more pleasing in my ears. Oratory after all creates the profiles with having the headphone at hand and fine tunes with ear and understands the limitations of the measurement rig where as AutoEQ is entirely computer generated from 3rd party measurements. The sound is way different even if the AutoEQ profile happens to be made from Oratorys measurements.
@@MaaZeus This is a huge point to me. I remember trying the auto EQ profile for the blon bl-03, and how much it totally wrecked the sound of the fairly well tuned iem. That's the day I doubted auto EQ. Handmade EQ's by reputable people like Oluv or Oratory, definitely do make the sound much better.
I have tried Equlizer APO for my Denon AH-D7200. I have not done it myself but I've used AutoEQ option. The data base is huuuge! and basically you can find EQ settings for any headphones you wish. I've chosen EQ for my Denons prepared by "crinacle" and damn, did not expect to hear so clean sound! They sound much better now. I never thought I would EQ any headphones, simply had no idea what and how I can do it. Thanks to AutoEQ option I do not have to do it myself. :) I need to try it with my Sundara as well. Thank you for your videos about EQ!
HI! I recently purchased Beyer Dynamic DT-770 Pro X LE's and wanted to tune them just a bit to remove some of the harsh hi frequencies that the headphones naturally boost. I plan on doing that thru your tutorial here. however my question is. when picking the device. am i going to EQ my audio interface? my headphones or both? cant seem to find the info anywhere online. THANK YOU! im also running a Pre-Sonus Audio Box i Two.
For graphic equaliser on Android I use Equaliser Pro because it works with TH-cam and probably any streaming service. Which a graphic equaliser you can often get something pretty close to great.
@@phazonlord0098 it's only a graphic EQ but it gets you 80% of the way. It has a bug where you have to quit within the app to save that particular profile. There's an APK file you can download if you want to take the risk.
What i do is i just use the auto eq and then dial it in from there, usually if there are any peaks i notice then i just reduce them by ear. Everyone's ear cavities will have slightly difference resonances
Are there any options to eq an iPhone to reduce IEM sibilance? I have been looking for an app with a parametric equalizer, but they all seem to be very basic EQs with fixed frequency bands and no single decibel or half decibel increments, with names like "Bass Boost" or "Volume Boost", which means they are probably of questionable quality. Also, most of the apps for iPhone are focused on streaming and won't let me import local files for offline listening. Radsone looks like a good app, but it won't let me import local files.
I do not have audiophile headphones, but I still respect your knowledge and expertise in the field. That being said, what I do have is the Bose QC Ultra. Unfortunately, Bose’s app only allows me to EQ the bass, mids, and treble, and I can only do up to ten stops into negative or up to ten stops positive. With that being said, what would you recommend?
Hi Resolve. What Windows Music Player programs do you use that work with Equalizer APO? I've not done much with music on laptops/PCs yet so the players I do know have horrible interfaces, don't support new hi-res formats or are bad at finding and organizing all my music from various sources. As I research new programs those that look good seem to not work with Equalizer APO. Thank you.
i am not sure how many people are here who will read this or even people who have some very good ears and systems.. Speackers... or clear headphones.... and the Most IMPORTENT part is how sound works.. How to modyfy it or cange it according to your way... As he mention in the video you can be on any side of the group... Understanding the Sound is the Major part of the system and your ears... lol what if you have the best headphones or speckers and sound perfect to you.... How you make sound different ?... Thats the ART and it dose not comes by coping the Preset files from someones or some systems you have to work with it.. and your group will love the sound.. BTW i come in a More Clear and Balanced sound.. Using Technics very OLD school lol... But the point here is... IF you make adjusttemnts the frequescy will blow your ears... Headackes or heavy eyes after listning to those kind a sound can happen.. THAT IS A BAD Modification of a sound... this is the Reasion you need to know What is hitting me hard and lets lower down that volume... EQ is a ART it has its own Technics also but if you are into this and you know what you are doing... then welcome to the WORd of SOUND... My Techincs Speackers Sound like someone is present in the ROOM.. If you play a good recordings.. Some Times freinds of mine listen to it and say someone is at the door or something.. This never happen from the Stock Technics Speackers but it sound now better then it was made for... I am not sure if someone get this idea what i am tring to explain.. coz not everyone can understand this... and blessed with the system i have... Hope you Unlock your Knowladge and get this hobby to understand... PLS dont copy paste presets lol My experince tells you IT WILL NEver ever WORK for anything... God bless it was a good video.. I needed some other solution for my MIC lol so i came across to it... ty
Equalizer APO installs but at last > Configurator < doesn’t pop up or show anything I checked inside installed folder also there is nothing… I tried installing-uninstalling, restarting, watching multiple videos and articles but couldn’t find the solution please help (Windows 11 Home x64)
Very interesting but you can't do that with WASAPI exclusive output. And if I'm not mistaken that output is required to let the DAC decode itself the files (like DSD files). Is there a way to EQ while using WASAPI exclusive output?
Would be cool if one could EQ individualy for left and right channel to compensate for an imbalance in hearing. My right hearing has a dip between 6 - 8k of 4db.
Damn I didnt think about that, thats a good Idea bro cuz my left ear is clogged or something. I hear less out of the left ear. I found out accidently too one day I was panning my kick in a beat and noticed something was off. So then I panned the kick 100% to the left and panned a clone of the same kick 100% to the right and thats how I tested my hearing.
Great video and thanks. Just wondering if you might have any pointers (or URL's) for EQ'ing for folks with some hearing loss. I guess there's nothing stopping the manual approach of listening and manually adjusting but I'd love to understand a few of the guideposts a bit better before I jump into that end of the pool.
Is it possible to make tube amplifiers obsolete by being so good at EQ’ing? I get that there’s an element to this question where you would need to be able to translate what a specific tube amp does to the sound, but if you get where I’m going at. I would absolutely *deep* dive if that was the case.
After watching this video and adjusting my headphones on Equalizer APO, I realized that I can not stand to what most people do like. Most people are probably half deaf or I'm doing something wrong :)
I actually installed Equalizer bc of ear inflammation it produced in 7 days so much wax my left ear is completely clogged. But "party preset" is really good, Like this kind of sounding.
what I dont understand about eq is everytime I look up neutral eqs for e.g. my m40x, they boost the bass. but on all measurements I can find, the bass is already beyond the harman curve. That means they further increase the bass, making the sound muddy, which is the exact opposite of what you'd normaly want when going for neutral
i am a DSP guy and i don’t like EQing (at least digitally). because if the headphones could sound better,the manufacturers would have made them in that away. i don’t think the EQ app creates a magic that the manufacturers couldn’t. moreover, the 24 bit or 16 bit 96 KHz or 44.1KHz lossless bit perfect audio will not be bit perfect anymore and will be corrupted by the DSP filtering(convolution). so making the cd quality audio meaningless and worthless. But, But, if anyone feels EQing sounds better. i think it would be a happy ending. just forget about the technicality and enjoy that musicality.
I am slapping the Ifi Zen Can Xbass button and additional +6db low shelf so I can enjoy the bass of my Hifiman Edition XS headphones. I don't even know what kind of bass you are getting with dialing up the lower frequencies with only +4 db. That must sound boring lol
I don't quite understand why equal loudness is bad? In the video, you stated it's because some frequencies aren't meant to be heard equally loud. But isn't that addressed when the recording artist produces the track? For example, artist A may be producing music that tends to emphasize >10k.. that's just a purposeful decision from the artist (due to their own listening devices and intentions). If I were to "equalize", say a 12k peak as you did in the video, that I identified via sine sweep or listening to music to ear (as you did), all I did was get rid of a peak on my output (the headphones). The higher frequencies will still be emphasized when I listen to artist A (because they produced it that way)... But now, I won't have any additional emphasis from my headphones. I guess a rebuttal would be that the engineers who produced the headphones had intentionally left those peaks/dips in the treble because that's "suppose" to be natural (or sounds "good"). But then I'd say that a lot of engineers who make really expensive headphones don't always tune well (hence why we make a video on how to EQ). Plus, our ears are so different that a peak you find at 12k may be at 13k for me and 9k for someone else. IDK, there are so many variables involved that I wouldn't just discount equal loudness without trying it. It's personalized, and I never find that I make a headphone sound "wrong." In my experience, every time I EQ via sine sweep (looking for peaks and dips), the result sounds like I'm listening to music versus listening to a source; it's always better IMO. Perhaps it's just the unique process I use to EQ via equal loudness that makes it sound better to me (or my own biases since I'm the one creating them). EDIT: Side note. The recently released IE600's FR is fairly similar to the equal loudness curve, and I got that impression when watching DMS's interview with Jermo. For Sennheiser, their curves are fairly neutral; whereas most of the audio community thinks (from looking at the graph) it's V/U-shaped. Sennheiser focuses more on how it sounds (I think Jermo referenced the difference in FR from the output device; a speaker won't need as much of a bass shelf as an IEM) whereas the audio community likes to focus on adherence to a target response (+10 dB bass boost, must be trash!). I don't own an IE600, though, but from reviews, the subjective reviews have been solid so far--the only con is that people like to call out the higher bass/treble from the graph, but they may just be fooling themselves.
It's actually less about how things are recorded, and more about how things naturally sound in real life (and I suppose as they're recorded within given bounds of 'normal'). If you listen for consonant tones for example, those don't come across as equal loudness, neither in real life nor in recordings - at least not for all the fine-grained frequencies. Generally you want 'smoothness' of a kind, like no major perceptual peaks/dips things like that, but if you use slow sweeps to adjust everything to be the same volume (and you can try this with REW by having the cursor track the frequency tone), it's bound to cause naturally occurring tones to sound quite strange. Now, to be clear I'm not saying don't try to get closer to your HRTF, merely that achieving perfectly equal loudness for test tones isn't the way to do that.
@@ResolveReviews That would make sense (you don't want 10-12k to be the same volume as 2-4k). I agree that the goal with EQing with tones is moreso to achieve "smoothness" over having every frequency being the same volume--that's probably where my misunderstanding comes from (I confused the two). Overall, I think a mix between EQing to a target curve (as shown in the video), using a sine sweep to smoothen out peaks/dips (versus trying to make all frequencies have the same volume), and listening to music will produce the best result. Luckily, we can experiment with EQ to figure out what produces the best sound.
There's no risk of clipping if your pre-amp slider is set or the "prevent clipping" checkbox is set. And it's easier to think in terms of "this needs to go up" and "this needs to go down".
I would get a physical Equaliser so that you can use Exclusive mode in windows. Non exclusive audio is not great. Use an audio program like Tidal where you can enable and disable exclusive audio quickly (Bypass the windows audio Mix) and you will hear the difference. Speakers will make it more evident. Edit: Equaliser APO may have its own driver mix handing all streams without any processing bypassing the windows mix. But Id be surprised if it does and that its not sending just sending the modified streams into the windows mix.
Nah, false, so long as you bypass the CAudioLimiter and replace the original APOs, the result is essentially bit-perfect. No one is going to hear distortion components below -150 dB, lol. That shit is hard to hear even at -80 dB.
@@tdg176 No it is not. Windows recently introduced a way to bypass the processing within the windows Mix but most programs have not implemented it yet. You can in chrome using the flag 'Raw audio capture' Enable/Disable the usage of WASAPI raw audio capture. When enabled, the audio stream is a 'raw' stream that bypasses all signal processing except for endpoint specific, always-on processing in the Audio Processing Object (APO), driver, and hardware. MPC-HC also recently added the option 'ignore system channel mixer'. Test it yourself. With speakers is really easy to hear the difference.
@@KaneAmaroq I only EQ in games not for anything else. So I dont need to keep an EQ running. Compared to though the windows audio mix. Exclusive is night and day. The Mix sounds compressed, missing detail. Going through APO's drivers might disable the audio mix or processing, though disabling processing on an audio stream has only recently been introduced. So maybe it handles all of the incoming streams itself? I assumed it would still be within the windows mix but It must go through its own. Not sure. All I know is the windows audio mix sounds terrible.
Hey question, certain headphones, often ones that still sound good, will give me a "singe" or slight "burning" sensation on my eardrums if I wear them too long. Can EQ help with this? I always feel like it is because of too much treble or subbass. Or would this be a factor of the airpressure released by the drivers?
i think it's your own heat that get trapped and accumulates in the headphones cups material. Also I think the prolonged pressure on some points could feel like heat. Did you feel the same on some open back headphones ?
I'm stuck in the part where you go to Settings and click on Equalizer APO's Configurator under Debugging and Testing. It pops up an error message saying: "The Configurator wasn't found. Run the installer of Equalizer APO to get it properly installed on Windows." I tried reinstalling EQ APO and Peace several times, even as admin, it doesn't work. Any help would be much appreciated.
very informative ! Question: If i just want to EQ my headphones but leave my speakers to their default sound, how do i tell EQ APO to use my new custom profile for my headphones but to ignore it when i s witch to my speakers from windows ?
Just select your headphones from the devices list at the right of the equalizer part and then save the eq config so your eq remains "attached" to your headphones when loading.
General question: I'm initially interested in EQ'ing my Sundara's. I'd be referencing Oratory's preset. However, it looks like along with my Sundara's, I'll be EQ'ing my powered speakers as well since they're sharing the DAC & Pre-amp of my Atom stack, right? Does that mean I need to make & then switch to 2 different EQ settings?
@@casedistorted Yeah. I could make a different profile for the powered monitors. Or, what I normally do, is just hit the 'off' switch at the top right. It disables the current profile (In this case, the one I made for my Sundara's).
Thoughts on using a klark teknik 370 or 360 as an analog EQ? For those of use they don’t use a pc as a source and don’t want an RME ADI Dac nor do not want a basis schiit tone control.
Sound Source is a great paid option for Mac - they have a nice trial mode which you can try out and decide if it's right for you. It's got built in integration with Headphones Auto EQ which is a game changer - you can quickly find EQs for your headphones - crinicle oratory whatever you can see
Yes it's great ! With sound source you can also use the parametric EQ of your mac (AUNBand EQ, 16 bands) or add any plugin you like (ToneBosters, Pro-Q 3 from Fabfilter, etc.).
Great video and very informative! I have an question: Is EQ something that we should consider in general when we are choosing to buy an iem/headphone? I mean let's say we want to buy an iem that costs 200-300eu and the tuning is not good and there is another iem that cost 50eu with a great tuning. That means that the first one in not a good iem and we should avoid it and buy the second one? Or if the expensive one has good technicalities then we can buy it and then EQ it. Is tuning something that should play important role to our decision (no matter the rest elements of the iem) or is it something that we should consider less as it is very easy to change tuning by EQ?
Well, the problem is that you can have good and bad IEMs at all price tags. But IMO there's stuff you can't fully EQ in, like aspects to the experience that show up with some that don't show up with others. There's a LOT that you can influence by EQ, but just because you can make the adjustments, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily SOUND better in the end. This might be too fine-grained to be able to identify reliably, but also because of that, there's no real indicator for good or bad when it comes to many aspects of sound quality that aren't uniquely related to a headphone's tonal balance/tuning. To be clear, I'm not saying the additional subjectively desirable stuff is not there somewhere in the FR, merely that it's not obvious what 'good' is in an analysis of FR in terms of these qualities.
I've essentially lost interest in the stock sound of headphones (IEMs less so since EQ can get trickier with portable sources and they are easier to tune to begin with) so in testing I always move quickly to slapping a Harman EQ on it to see if it can handle it. If it an then I'm sure it'll EQ to whatever I desire. HD800s, Clear MG and Arya for example don't do Harman well so I went with the LCD-X that did. Now I'm slowely trying develop my own EQ with what I've learned from Crinacle's and Oluv's tunings and I should check Andrew's as well to see if there is something different there. Then just several months of arduous trial and error and hopefully I'll find a breathtaking sound before I find an asylum.
Try to find one that doesn’t need EQ. Because the need of good EQ will limit what audio equipments you can use. Especially in portable audio. If it will be always connected to a PC, then maybe it’s okay ignore the tonality and go straight with one that has high technical capabilities.
Awesome video! I was really into the AutoEQ side of things, but taking a more toned down approach feels really good. I just got my Sundara, and especially a -3.0 dB high-pass filter from 5k onwards really helped take the heat out of the treble. Is 3.0 dB a large amount? I also heard burn-in of the Sundara should lower the treble intensity somewhat. Is this true? Some suggest that burn-in is not a real thing but simply your brain getting used to the headphone...
I just want to use the EQ on my RME 2/4 DAC AMP. Wouldn't that be better than software. There are several present EQ's that I want to set up for the different headphones. The main one that needs eq is LCD-5's. I'm trying to get better punch, attack in the low end.
Maybe someone has said it in a comment some time ago, but in case it hasn't been said, for anyone coming here now: the restart of the PC is no longer required after enabling EqualizerAPO for a new device.
What about a Android App called SoundID. I use this and its great because U do the Setup only by ears. Also i use room acustic Meter to Put a small Microphone between the earphones and let it run. I can See then where are some Things and how It Looks Like in a Graph. Even If the mic use arent a proper Testing mic.
Resolved! Not sure why so many people are anti EQ not hard to get in to and improves pretty much any headphone to your preference.
Great work Andrew!
Probably because people think it's more complicated than it is. The reality is it's the best value for time spent doing Audiophile stuff.
Eq is the best tool in audio. You move some sliders and everything sounds better
A lot of people aren't interested in the effort. I recommended several friends to try Oluv's EQ on the EarFun Free Pro 2's and they had very little interest to get it done even when I told them that they will sound 5-10 times their price point after. The process was a bit finicky for 20min, but now that they have it they keep messaging me about how unbelievably good it sounds. Everyone's not DIY minded, have faith in their ability to tune or feel "digital manipulation" will cast the plague on their beloved headphones.
I like eq
I dislike using eq outside of my PC
Because people like to justify theirs own spendings for their chase of their perfect sound. They seemingly achieve that and they think everyone should go through the same trial by fire of spending money not liking the sound, returning/selling the hardware rinse and repeat
I know 2.5 years on you won't see this, but great video. Was able to use this to get my LCD-X (2021) tuned in and are simply superb. Appreciate the work.
Thank you for making this tutorial! I tried EQing my Edition XS and was finally to fill a "hole" in the sound. It sounds so much more pleasant and easier to listen. I always felt like there was a gap in the low end that couldnt be filled. Now it's properly scratching my itch in that spot!
What did you do?
I EQed my 4XX and it went from just ok to incredibly satisfying.
Only time I tried eq was when I had no idea what I was doing and of course I ran into awful clipping issues like you stated. I'm taking some time to each myself how to do it because it really seems like a fun tool to just play around with. I ordered the XS and I'm looking forward to trying out the tuning you shared here. Thank you so much for all of this!
this is the first time in a while a video left me with no unanswered questions. thank you
I like the way you explain the basics of EQ-ing, especially the pitfalls. Good video.
Sadly the worst pitfalls were left with sticks and leaves right over them waiting for you to fall into them. Read my other comments above.
Thank you so much for this video. I have actually been using Equalizer APO for a while now but now I know I've been doing it wrong. Fx I have never used Low or High pass filters, never understood them, and also, using the graph to actually see how each tuning can affect each other, never thought about that. I learned a lot from this video and now I'm looking forward to getting home tonight and retune my Beyerdynamics all over! :D Thank you!!
A good way to check whether or not you want to get into EQ is by using Oratory1990’s presets, which aim for the Harman target. The Harman target isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s the “most preferred” natural sound for a majority of people, and Oratory1990 has a massive list of EQ presets for different headphones to push them to the Harman target.
If you try the preset and feel it sounds better, you can really get into EQ’ing from there. If you think it doesn’t sound any better, maybe don’t get into it.
I figured out either the neutral EQ target or Harman target is fine with some EQ'ing from there with the bass and treble. Boosting that treble a bunch and just a little for bass seems to make my headphones very nice sounding after EQ'ing to one of those two targets with EQ APO and Peace gui.
Harman target is crap. The deeper I dig into the research, the more shocked I am. I used to say if those papers were peer reviewed (they weren't), they'd look like confetti. But after reading even deeper into it, it's more correct to say they'd be smoke, the whole thing would be burned in a fire.
Now it just so happens a good lot of people like V and U shaped tunings so there's nothing magic about some people liking Harman over flat. But there is absolutely no gold standard to this curve, how high or low it goes, and where the slopes start, or any of that, AT ALL. Period. End of story.
@@PartyMusic775I think the downwards sloped diffuse field is a good target because of that more concrete baseline.
@@PartyMusic775 Anywhere we can read or listen to more about what you thought were the worst things about those papers? 🙂
20:00 - for A/B testing with EQ on or off.. I do it by creating another EQ preset with flattened presets with same pre amp - 'Edition XS flat' where all sliders are 0 but the pre amp is set to the same -4... That way it is perfectly volume matched. Probably the same thing setting the digital volume but I'm used to clicking on the 2 presets to A/B test them vs setting it On or Off
For Peace APO I used the "flatten" button to turn off the EQ while keeping the pre-amp value. To turn it back on I just double click to reload the profile itself again.
sometimes the same pre-gain actually doesn’t sound like the same volume because of the altered decibels of the frequencies, so it’s actually better to adjust a flat preset’s gain manually until it sounds the same volume to you. I’ve seen Oratory comment that when i first got into EQ’ing and i tried it myself and it improves A/B testing by a lot
This video helped me greatly, now my hd560s have a bit more bass thump and sound amazing , thank you for this video, I actually input the values into Fiio app for my Fiio BTR7 dac amp as well for when I’m not at my computer, I really do wish companies would allow Bluetooth headphones such as momentum 4 to have such a comprehensive eq as peace eq
I know people will hate me for this but I think APO's Interface is much cleaner than Peace. After a while of using APO without Peace i can only say that I never looked back. Ohh and similar option for Android would be Poweramp Equalizer, which gives you a full blow parametric EQ without root.
Same for me. The stock APO Interface is actually fantastic because its not just cleaner but also very configurable. It starts with a blank slate but you can bake pretty much everything into it from graphic variable band EQs to full on VST Plugins where the plugins own UI can be accessed within APOs interface. Really don't get why people are so intend on using peace.
THANK YOU
I'm not alone
@@GrumpiestKitten I guess it's because Peace UI is very simple and easy to use
I agree!
Same here 🙌
Thank you for this video. I'm a total noob in the headphone world, just brought my hd 560s. I did my initial search on reddit, but the audiophile posts were frankly a bit overwhelming and seldom helpful for a beginner. This tutorial helped me tailor the sound more to my preferences.
I think the main thing the 560s needs for EQ would be the 4khz area, down a couple dB. Other then that it's almost the flattest headphone money can buy, surely for the price.
@@mikafoxx2717 thx for the tip, I'll try it tomorrow. :)
Tiny extra tip: The Peace GUI (shown here) has the "Effects" section. I recommend at least playing around with the crossfeed options. Some music can sound weird on headphones if they are panned very strongly left and right for the different instruments. Especially older rock, blues, country etc. was often mixed with speakers in mind, and with speakers the sound radiates around the room, naturally reaching both your ears. With headphones that doesn't happen, and you might hear this as an extreme stereo effect. Playing around with crossfeed options lets you manually "bleed" some sound between the earcups, which can lead to a much more natural feeling.
The Peace GUI Effects section has some manual crossfeed options, but I've just used the Jan Meier crossfeed filter option which sounds the most natural to my ears.
That oughta help some folks with some CCR tracks!
Excellent video resolve.
Volume matching while EQing is such a crucial part. Very few tutorials mention that.
Finally I can remove my video on Peace now. Thanks
One ought to respect the classics ;)
The main thing I noticed when EQing most of my IEMS, is that while you can roll off or EQ down most of the peaky frequencies above your target and it will generally sound better, EQing up or increasing frequencies that are way off your target (like 4dB or more) to your target usually don't work and will sound very unnatural. I'm betting it's because inherent driver limitations to properly reproduce the frequency.
I'm just glad that I could EQ off some disgusting nasty peaky frequencies between 2 and 4KHz on my KZ ZS10 which made everything sound extremely emphasised and shouty on that range, now it finally sounds normal.
that's like trying to add data to an already compressed source, you can't really pull things out of thin air
I worked in live sound for several years and it's a very popular technique to start with the graph at 0 and then to only subtract frequencies that jump out as being annoying. Think of it as having a piece of wood and slowly carving it down until it's shaped into whatever shape you're trying to make. It's not the only approach, but it's not a bad approach.
@@seandavis9476 Especially if those dips are comb filtering, trying to EQ them up will only make the peak sharper.
Very wise,@@seandavis9476 . People tend to think correction comes without cost. The farther your corrected curve is from flat, the more veil and distortion you add. As well as messing with time-based frequency-ratio volume decay issues which the brain uses to construct distance, direction, and other information inside its subjective representation of the objective world out there.
eqMAC does seems to work wonderfully. Generally the Presets for different headphones really enhance the sound, and even if I am not satisfied, I can generally work from those as a starting point to tweak.
Oh great, another episode from Resolve, the EQ guy!
Don't you dare!
Great vid. If the headphones have a certain Hz response, then starting by boosting the lower levels might not be best/work bc the headphones are already having a problem producing those specific Hz. In that case, I would think that starting by lowering the higher dB responses to make the bass sound louder, for example, might work better. Also, by taking the boosting approach, you increase risk of distortion/clipping.
this has changed my life, and my enjoyment of my old HD650s
I like how it allows you to select which audio device to turn EQ on for. I have Voicemeeter Banana set up for my speakers and Voicemeeter Input is my main audio device with it's own EQ and treble/bass that sounds good for my cheap logitech speakers, but when I got a new FX-Audio DAC for cheap I want to plug in solely my HD58X headphones so I can set the EQ only for that device since they need to be tuned in for those headphones to sound great for me.
So anytime I wanna put the headphones on now I just swap the audio source to the DAC/AMP in windows 10 after flipping the power switch on the dac, put those headphones on, close voicemeeter banana so I can have hotkey volume control in windows, and bam good to go. A few steps but only 1-2 more over what I had to do before to switch from speakers to headphones, which I tend to have to do at night when I need to be quiet on the computer. Or sometimes you just get tired of wearing bulky headphones and need to give your head a break.
You got that much right that you want ONLY the media player going to the DAC, but to fully avoid the OS mixer you need to also make your passthru software an exclusive virtual device. Or just use an Audirvana or Roon type of thing.
I will have to look into those. Is there a way to make sure that I am doing a passthru and avoiding the OS Mixer? I am assuming it is RealTek (which I have had issues with in the past). I think I have bypassed it by setting my sound input device in windows as the DAC for headphones, or Voicemeeter for speakers. @@PartyMusic775
The new intro looks great👍
Thank you sooo much for the video! You can really transform your headphones, if being familiar with eq. 👍
Deepest rabbit hole ever
Thanks Andrew- so much appreciated!
What are a headphone's EQ measurements for when wearing a tilted hat versus wearing a hat that is not on crooked?
Definitely do another video with a more difficult headphone to EQ. Thanks, enjoyed this. :)
Thank you for the tutorial!
With your instructions I curbed the fatiguing 3 kHz peak of my (otherwise amazing) Zmf Atrium.
VERY GOOD explanations and tips. Thank you for making this vid it really helps to understand proper EQ'ing and I can't wait to try some adjustments :- )
Holy cow 🐮 this is an absolute game changer
Long awaited
My speakers sound perfect now, thank you!
Thank you for making this video. Very helpful
Cool new intro transition! I wonder if it's influence from DMS as he joined the team xD... Though the camera framing itself is quite a bit zoomed-in compared to usual, which I find it a tiny bit distracting.
Wow I definitely learned something I didn't know here! Thanks!
Love the Peace software, surprisingly easy to use
Thank You , your instruction is really helpful and appreciated
I use Wavelet that have a Autoeq with ease by searching your headphone for a Harman Target or Neutral tune.
I use Wavelet too but honestly AutoEQ profiles are more miss than hit to me. Too over-EQ'd as it EQ's even frequencies that should not be touched and are measured inaccurately by the measurement rigs. Usually the end result is way too harsh sounding. But on reddit there is a guy who has imported every Oratory EQ profile into Wavelet compatible format. Even though they also aim to reproduce Harman Target the sound is much more pleasing in my ears. Oratory after all creates the profiles with having the headphone at hand and fine tunes with ear and understands the limitations of the measurement rig where as AutoEQ is entirely computer generated from 3rd party measurements. The sound is way different even if the AutoEQ profile happens to be made from Oratorys measurements.
@@MaaZeus This is a huge point to me. I remember trying the auto EQ profile for the blon bl-03, and how much it totally wrecked the sound of the fairly well tuned iem. That's the day I doubted auto EQ. Handmade EQ's by reputable people like Oluv or Oratory, definitely do make the sound much better.
Excellent video. Thanks!
I have tried Equlizer APO for my Denon AH-D7200. I have not done it myself but I've used AutoEQ option. The data base is huuuge! and basically you can find EQ settings for any headphones you wish. I've chosen EQ for my Denons prepared by "crinacle" and damn, did not expect to hear so clean sound! They sound much better now. I never thought I would EQ any headphones, simply had no idea what and how I can do it. Thanks to AutoEQ option I do not have to do it myself. :) I need to try it with my Sundara as well. Thank you for your videos about EQ!
Enjoyed this tutorial. Used with my HD6xx.
Any recommendation on a frequency visualizer? Would be useful to see where the peaks/dips are in the music you're listening to.
Yeahhh need this!
what's your OS?
looking forward on you EQ-uing the HD 600!
HI! I recently purchased Beyer Dynamic DT-770 Pro X LE's and wanted to tune them just a bit to remove some of the harsh hi frequencies that the headphones naturally boost. I plan on doing that thru your tutorial here. however my question is. when picking the device. am i going to EQ my audio interface? my headphones or both? cant seem to find the info anywhere online. THANK YOU! im also running a Pre-Sonus Audio Box i Two.
Super useful! Thanks a bunch.
Thank you for such an informative video.
Holy your mic is so good...
For graphic equaliser on Android I use Equaliser Pro because it works with TH-cam and probably any streaming service. Which a graphic equaliser you can often get something pretty close to great.
Oh, there's one which actually works with TH-cam?!? Finally, that is usually the Aquiles' heel of all EQs (even AutoEQ doesn't work with TH-cam).
@@phazonlord0098 it's only a graphic EQ but it gets you 80% of the way. It has a bug where you have to quit within the app to save that particular profile. There's an APK file you can download if you want to take the risk.
What i do is i just use the auto eq and then dial it in from there, usually if there are any peaks i notice then i just reduce them by ear. Everyone's ear cavities will have slightly difference resonances
Are there any options to eq an iPhone to reduce IEM sibilance? I have been looking for an app with a parametric equalizer, but they all seem to be very basic EQs with fixed frequency bands and no single decibel or half decibel increments, with names like "Bass Boost" or "Volume Boost", which means they are probably of questionable quality. Also, most of the apps for iPhone are focused on streaming and won't let me import local files for offline listening. Radsone looks like a good app, but it won't let me import local files.
I do not have audiophile headphones, but I still respect your knowledge and expertise in the field.
That being said, what I do have is the Bose QC Ultra. Unfortunately, Bose’s app only allows me to EQ the bass, mids, and treble, and I can only do up to ten stops into negative or up to ten stops positive.
With that being said, what would you recommend?
Hi Resolve. What Windows Music Player programs do you use that work with Equalizer APO? I've not done much with music on laptops/PCs yet so the players I do know have horrible interfaces, don't support new hi-res formats or are bad at finding and organizing all my music from various sources. As I research new programs those that look good seem to not work with Equalizer APO. Thank you.
exactly the video I wanted
i am not sure how many people are here who will read this or even people who have some very good ears and systems.. Speackers... or clear headphones.... and the Most IMPORTENT part is how sound works.. How to modyfy it or cange it according to your way... As he mention in the video you can be on any side of the group... Understanding the Sound is the Major part of the system and your ears... lol what if you have the best headphones or speckers and sound perfect to you.... How you make sound different ?... Thats the ART and it dose not comes by coping the Preset files from someones or some systems you have to work with it.. and your group will love the sound.. BTW i come in a More Clear and Balanced sound.. Using Technics very OLD school lol... But the point here is... IF you make adjusttemnts the frequescy will blow your ears... Headackes or heavy eyes after listning to those kind a sound can happen.. THAT IS A BAD Modification of a sound... this is the Reasion you need to know What is hitting me hard and lets lower down that volume... EQ is a ART it has its own Technics also but if you are into this and you know what you are doing... then welcome to the WORd of SOUND... My Techincs Speackers Sound like someone is present in the ROOM.. If you play a good recordings.. Some Times freinds of mine listen to it and say someone is at the door or something.. This never happen from the Stock Technics Speackers but it sound now better then it was made for... I am not sure if someone get this idea what i am tring to explain.. coz not everyone can understand this... and blessed with the system i have... Hope you Unlock your Knowladge and get this hobby to understand... PLS dont copy paste presets lol My experince tells you IT WILL NEver ever WORK for anything... God bless it was a good video.. I needed some other solution for my MIC lol so i came across to it... ty
Equalizer APO installs but at last > Configurator < doesn’t pop up or show anything I checked inside installed folder also there is nothing… I tried installing-uninstalling, restarting, watching multiple videos and articles but couldn’t find the solution please help (Windows 11 Home x64)
"The Configurator wasn't found. Run the installer of Equalizer AOI to get it properly installed on Windows" I have already downloaded it
Thanks Resolve, you're the man
Very interesting but you can't do that with WASAPI exclusive output. And if I'm not mistaken that output is required to let the DAC decode itself the files (like DSD files).
Is there a way to EQ while using WASAPI exclusive output?
Nice video.
I prefer the configuration editor without PEACE, it's quite easy to use.
that was me (i mostly prefered the regular one for the 31 band eq), but imo you can do a lot more with peace.
@@snow15243
No, you can do everything with the Editor. I'm using filters which is basically the same as PEACE, just in another layout.
It would be awesome to have a similar tool for LINUX users.
Would be cool if one could EQ individualy for left and right channel to compensate for an imbalance in hearing. My right hearing has a dip between 6 - 8k of 4db.
Damn I didnt think about that, thats a good Idea bro cuz my left ear is clogged or something. I hear less out of the left ear. I found out accidently too one day I was panning my kick in a beat and noticed something was off. So then I panned the kick 100% to the left and panned a clone of the same kick 100% to the right and thats how I tested my hearing.
Great video and thanks. Just wondering if you might have any pointers (or URL's) for EQ'ing for folks with some hearing loss. I guess there's nothing stopping the manual approach of listening and manually adjusting but I'd love to understand a few of the guideposts a bit better before I jump into that end of the pool.
Thanks for sharing 🙏
After cliclinon the boxes it appears a window telling me that the devices checked FAILED, what should I do😅😢
Is it possible to make tube amplifiers obsolete by being so good at EQ’ing? I get that there’s an element to this question where you would need to be able to translate what a specific tube amp does to the sound, but if you get where I’m going at. I would absolutely *deep* dive if that was the case.
What do you think of analog eq like the Schiit Lokius or any other external EQ?
My EQ is an Audiosource EQ one and me and Ferris Bueller both consider it the Ferrari of EQ's
After watching this video and adjusting my headphones on Equalizer APO, I realized that I can not stand to what most people do like. Most people are probably half deaf or I'm doing something wrong :)
I actually installed Equalizer bc of ear inflammation it produced in 7 days so much wax my left ear is completely clogged.
But "party preset" is really good, Like this kind of sounding.
what I dont understand about eq is everytime I look up neutral eqs for e.g. my m40x, they boost the bass. but on all measurements I can find, the bass is already beyond the harman curve.
That means they further increase the bass, making the sound muddy, which is the exact opposite of what you'd normaly want when going for neutral
does the costumize we've had done is stick to the audio device, or it stick on our computer device ?
i am a DSP guy and i don’t like EQing (at least digitally). because if the headphones could sound better,the manufacturers would have made them in that away. i don’t think the EQ app creates a magic that the manufacturers couldn’t.
moreover, the 24 bit or 16 bit 96 KHz or 44.1KHz lossless bit perfect audio will not be bit perfect anymore and will be corrupted by the DSP filtering(convolution). so making the cd quality audio meaningless and worthless.
But, But, if anyone feels EQing sounds better. i think it would be a happy ending. just forget about the technicality and enjoy that musicality.
I am slapping the Ifi Zen Can Xbass button and additional +6db low shelf so I can enjoy the bass of my Hifiman Edition XS headphones. I don't even know what kind of bass you are getting with dialing up the lower frequencies with only +4 db. That must sound boring lol
I don't quite understand why equal loudness is bad?
In the video, you stated it's because some frequencies aren't meant to be heard equally loud. But isn't that addressed when the recording artist produces the track? For example, artist A may be producing music that tends to emphasize >10k.. that's just a purposeful decision from the artist (due to their own listening devices and intentions).
If I were to "equalize", say a 12k peak as you did in the video, that I identified via sine sweep or listening to music to ear (as you did), all I did was get rid of a peak on my output (the headphones). The higher frequencies will still be emphasized when I listen to artist A (because they produced it that way)... But now, I won't have any additional emphasis from my headphones.
I guess a rebuttal would be that the engineers who produced the headphones had intentionally left those peaks/dips in the treble because that's "suppose" to be natural (or sounds "good"). But then I'd say that a lot of engineers who make really expensive headphones don't always tune well (hence why we make a video on how to EQ). Plus, our ears are so different that a peak you find at 12k may be at 13k for me and 9k for someone else. IDK, there are so many variables involved that I wouldn't just discount equal loudness without trying it. It's personalized, and I never find that I make a headphone sound "wrong." In my experience, every time I EQ via sine sweep (looking for peaks and dips), the result sounds like I'm listening to music versus listening to a source; it's always better IMO. Perhaps it's just the unique process I use to EQ via equal loudness that makes it sound better to me (or my own biases since I'm the one creating them).
EDIT: Side note. The recently released IE600's FR is fairly similar to the equal loudness curve, and I got that impression when watching DMS's interview with Jermo. For Sennheiser, their curves are fairly neutral; whereas most of the audio community thinks (from looking at the graph) it's V/U-shaped. Sennheiser focuses more on how it sounds (I think Jermo referenced the difference in FR from the output device; a speaker won't need as much of a bass shelf as an IEM) whereas the audio community likes to focus on adherence to a target response (+10 dB bass boost, must be trash!). I don't own an IE600, though, but from reviews, the subjective reviews have been solid so far--the only con is that people like to call out the higher bass/treble from the graph, but they may just be fooling themselves.
It's actually less about how things are recorded, and more about how things naturally sound in real life (and I suppose as they're recorded within given bounds of 'normal'). If you listen for consonant tones for example, those don't come across as equal loudness, neither in real life nor in recordings - at least not for all the fine-grained frequencies. Generally you want 'smoothness' of a kind, like no major perceptual peaks/dips things like that, but if you use slow sweeps to adjust everything to be the same volume (and you can try this with REW by having the cursor track the frequency tone), it's bound to cause naturally occurring tones to sound quite strange. Now, to be clear I'm not saying don't try to get closer to your HRTF, merely that achieving perfectly equal loudness for test tones isn't the way to do that.
@@ResolveReviews That would make sense (you don't want 10-12k to be the same volume as 2-4k). I agree that the goal with EQing with tones is moreso to achieve "smoothness" over having every frequency being the same volume--that's probably where my misunderstanding comes from (I confused the two). Overall, I think a mix between EQing to a target curve (as shown in the video), using a sine sweep to smoothen out peaks/dips (versus trying to make all frequencies have the same volume), and listening to music will produce the best result. Luckily, we can experiment with EQ to figure out what produces the best sound.
Thanks for this tutorial! Just a thought, why not do subtractive eqing from the start to not risk clipping at all?
There's no risk of clipping if your pre-amp slider is set or the "prevent clipping" checkbox is set. And it's easier to think in terms of "this needs to go up" and "this needs to go down".
This method is only valid when you are using the computer right? What about if you wanna listen it through your phone or DAP?
I would get a physical Equaliser so that you can use Exclusive mode in windows. Non exclusive audio is not great. Use an audio program like Tidal where you can enable and disable exclusive audio quickly (Bypass the windows audio Mix) and you will hear the difference. Speakers will make it more evident.
Edit: Equaliser APO may have its own driver mix handing all streams without any processing bypassing the windows mix. But Id be surprised if it does and that its not sending just sending the modified streams into the windows mix.
This is absolute BS
Nah, false, so long as you bypass the CAudioLimiter and replace the original APOs, the result is essentially bit-perfect. No one is going to hear distortion components below -150 dB, lol. That shit is hard to hear even at -80 dB.
@@tdg176 No it is not. Windows recently introduced a way to bypass the processing within the windows Mix but most programs have not implemented it yet. You can in chrome using the flag 'Raw audio capture'
Enable/Disable the usage of WASAPI raw audio capture. When enabled, the audio stream is a 'raw' stream that bypasses all signal processing except for endpoint specific, always-on processing in the Audio Processing Object (APO), driver, and hardware. MPC-HC also recently added the option 'ignore system channel mixer'. Test it yourself. With speakers is really easy to hear the difference.
@@KaneAmaroq I only EQ in games not for anything else. So I dont need to keep an EQ running. Compared to though the windows audio mix. Exclusive is night and day. The Mix sounds compressed, missing detail. Going through APO's drivers might disable the audio mix or processing, though disabling processing on an audio stream has only recently been introduced. So maybe it handles all of the incoming streams itself? I assumed it would still be within the windows mix but It must go through its own. Not sure. All I know is the windows audio mix sounds terrible.
@@Valla451 I repeat this is BS stop spreading miss information please
Eq with streaming services for lossless?
Hey question, certain headphones, often ones that still sound good, will give me a "singe" or slight "burning" sensation on my eardrums if I wear them too long. Can EQ help with this? I always feel like it is because of too much treble or subbass. Or would this be a factor of the airpressure released by the drivers?
i think it's your own heat that get trapped and accumulates in the headphones cups material. Also I think the prolonged pressure on some points could feel like heat. Did you feel the same on some open back headphones ?
I'm stuck in the part where you go to Settings and click on Equalizer APO's Configurator under Debugging and Testing. It pops up an error message saying: "The Configurator wasn't found. Run the installer of Equalizer APO to get it properly installed on Windows."
I tried reinstalling EQ APO and Peace several times, even as admin, it doesn't work.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Were you able to fix it having same issue
Does the free Version of the Mac software listed drop the resolution/bit rate of the music?
Nice video. I know Roon already has this built in, but will it work together with Roon on the specific outfit you use it on?
why is it that no matter what i do to the eq it wont change the sound at all... yet audio its going through the app and shows that its working?
I use apo and peace ui and audio input over voicemeeter it make huge differents especially not natural sounds
very informative ! Question: If i just want to EQ my headphones but leave my speakers to their default sound, how do i tell EQ APO to use my new custom profile for my headphones but to ignore it when i s witch to my speakers from windows ?
Just select your headphones from the devices list at the right of the equalizer part and then save the eq config so your eq remains "attached" to your headphones when loading.
Doesn't "Prevent clipping" suffice to prevent the distortion? Why is adjusting the pre-amp necessary?
General question: I'm initially interested in EQ'ing my Sundara's. I'd be referencing Oratory's preset. However, it looks like along with my Sundara's, I'll be EQ'ing my powered speakers as well since they're sharing the DAC & Pre-amp of my Atom stack, right? Does that mean I need to make & then switch to 2 different EQ settings?
Curious if you ever figured that out?
@@casedistorted Yeah. I could make a different profile for the powered monitors. Or, what I normally do, is just hit the 'off' switch at the top right. It disables the current profile (In this case, the one I made for my Sundara's).
Do you have any measurements on the Hifiman Deva Pro with Bluemini?
lower the treble instead of increasing the bass if you find your system to be thin/too bright/harsh drum cymbals
Thoughts on using a klark teknik 370 or 360 as an analog EQ? For those of use they don’t use a pc as a source and don’t want an RME ADI Dac nor do not want a basis schiit tone control.
Sound Source is a great paid option for Mac - they have a nice trial mode which you can try out and decide if it's right for you. It's got built in integration with Headphones Auto EQ which is a game changer - you can quickly find EQs for your headphones - crinicle oratory whatever you can see
Yes it's great ! With sound source you can also use the parametric EQ of your mac (AUNBand EQ, 16 bands) or add any plugin you like (ToneBosters, Pro-Q 3 from Fabfilter, etc.).
Great video and very informative!
I have an question:
Is EQ something that we should consider in general when we are choosing to buy an iem/headphone? I mean let's say we want to buy an iem that costs 200-300eu and the tuning is not good and there is another iem that cost 50eu with a great tuning. That means that the first one in not a good iem and we should avoid it and buy the second one? Or if the expensive one has good technicalities then we can buy it and then EQ it. Is tuning something that should play important role to our decision (no matter the rest elements of the iem) or is it something that we should consider less as it is very easy to change tuning by EQ?
Well, the problem is that you can have good and bad IEMs at all price tags. But IMO there's stuff you can't fully EQ in, like aspects to the experience that show up with some that don't show up with others. There's a LOT that you can influence by EQ, but just because you can make the adjustments, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily SOUND better in the end. This might be too fine-grained to be able to identify reliably, but also because of that, there's no real indicator for good or bad when it comes to many aspects of sound quality that aren't uniquely related to a headphone's tonal balance/tuning. To be clear, I'm not saying the additional subjectively desirable stuff is not there somewhere in the FR, merely that it's not obvious what 'good' is in an analysis of FR in terms of these qualities.
Depends on your use case IMO, many mobile devices cant use EQ, so if you cant use the transducer without it that's a limitation to consider.
I've essentially lost interest in the stock sound of headphones (IEMs less so since EQ can get trickier with portable sources and they are easier to tune to begin with) so in testing I always move quickly to slapping a Harman EQ on it to see if it can handle it. If it an then I'm sure it'll EQ to whatever I desire. HD800s, Clear MG and Arya for example don't do Harman well so I went with the LCD-X that did. Now I'm slowely trying develop my own EQ with what I've learned from Crinacle's and Oluv's tunings and I should check Andrew's as well to see if there is something different there. Then just several months of arduous trial and error and hopefully I'll find a breathtaking sound before I find an asylum.
Try to find one that doesn’t need EQ. Because the need of good EQ will limit what audio equipments you can use. Especially in portable audio. If it will be always connected to a PC, then maybe it’s okay ignore the tonality and go straight with one that has high technical capabilities.
Awesome video! I was really into the AutoEQ side of things, but taking a more toned down approach feels really good. I just got my Sundara, and especially a -3.0 dB high-pass filter from 5k onwards really helped take the heat out of the treble. Is 3.0 dB a large amount?
I also heard burn-in of the Sundara should lower the treble intensity somewhat. Is this true? Some suggest that burn-in is not a real thing but simply your brain getting used to the headphone...
Probably just the pad wear
Regardless of burn in being real or not, it certainly doesn't affect frequency.
I just want to use the EQ on my RME 2/4 DAC AMP. Wouldn't that be better than software. There are several present EQ's that I want to set up for the different headphones. The main one that needs eq is LCD-5's. I'm trying to get better punch, attack in the low end.
I have a sennheiser gsp300 I didn't find its graphic could you help me?
I use a Lokius 6 band physical EQ, how can I measure my headphones? What software do I need to do so?
The one tutorial noone would admit the need of despite nearly everybody secretely craving it :D
Idk if I'm doing something wrong but it's not working for me. I got the app up and running but i literally hear no difference.
Gotta enable your DAC in EQAPO and then restart your computer