Equalizer settings

I've been playing around with my equalizer settings for a few days now (listen primarily to rock) as I had read a thread a while back saying that presets are not always the way to go with your system and to play around with the settings themselves.

I found this to be an interesting read while I was doing some research:
http://recordingwebsite.com/articles/eqprimer.php

What I have discovered is that you can very quickly muddy up sound or make it too harsh / give people near deafening lisps on the "s" sound if you play around with dB gains too much on the low / high ends. Does anyone have a certain equilizer setting they prefer? I'd like to see pics of everyone's equalizers to see where everyone eventually settled on as the "perfect" sound.



I'm currently just playing around with this setting...found that my lower frequencies were set way too high but the adjusted the 1k and 2.5k's because of something I read to account for that "s" sound and so far it seems to have toned that down but I'm going to see at what cost I've elimated those sounds and adjust them up again this afternoon to compare what I've lost to what I've gained.

 

I was wondering too...I have the same CD player n have messed with em some but not enough to find my perfect sound

 

A lot of this depends on the speaker set up that you have too. i.e. What subs are equipped, what kind of door speakers you have, if you have metal or silk tweeters, etc. Also depends on how the amps (If available) are set up (gain, cutoff). I dont have a picture of what mine is set at now but typically its more of a "V" styled EQ. I listen to mostly rock, so you want good tight bass but not too much to overpower the guitars and vocals. Then you lower the mids to help keep the guitars and vocals clean but not harsh. If you have trouble finding a happy medium try going a little lower on the EQ and then increasing the gain slightly. That seems to help the most with me. Then typically I have the highs (2.5k and above) slightly higher then the mids just to give you a little more "in-your-face" sound. Keep in mind I have silk tweeters that are a little more mellow. This helps a lot with the harsh "s" sounds you were talking about. Hope this makes sense... haha

 

bass boosters such as the "loud" setting I leave off, adds too much distortion. I have basically the same deck (2300) and the "natural" setting gives me the cleanest sound on volume 30 (about as loud as ill ever listen to it)

but ya it really depends on the setup, speakers sound like garbage without proper crossover settings. using an external amp is much, much better

 

I have the kenwood party pack from Crutchfield 10" installed in my truck not a building rattler but gives me the amount of bass I like to have my music sounding a bit more "live" sounding

 

My perfect setting includes a lot of bass

 

One thing that kinda confuses me is that my amp (class D mono) has a built in crossover, but so does my head unit. Do I just match the crossover settings on my head unit to the settings I have on my amp, or what?

Also, how the hell do you adjust the "slope"? What does it do?

 

I listen to mostly rebelution iration expendables pepper tribal seeds. N mostly rock

 

You should probably only use one. But if one or the other can't be turned off, make one really high, and the other one set to the place you want.

Slope has to do with how "fast" the sound drops off from some frequency, 6, 12, 18, 24 dB per octave are typical values.

To avoid any confusion my words would introduce, I suggest you go to BCAE.com and scroll using the bar on the right side to find frequency and crossover slope basics, etc. http://www.bcae1.com/

 

I can't really turn either one off. I have the amp set up accordindly to the sub. If I just turn all the dials down it will just sound like shit. I'm just gonna play around with the head unit crossover and see what I come up with.

Thanks for explaining the slope.

 

Yeah I have the same issue with my amp / HU. I just set my HU to 125 Hz (highest setting) and then set the cross over on my amp to the frequency I wanted, for some reason Pioneer didn't give you the option to remove the crossover from the subwoofer preouts.

 

Depends on the Pioneer model you have, the last 3 I've had have the ability to set the sub out RCAs to either FULL or SUB output. When set to FULL, the LP crossover is not an option that can be set, can only set the crossover if it's set to SUB.

 

*REMOVED DUE TO BRAIN FART!*

Anyways, my opinion on EQ's.... EQ's are there to correct your stereo. A perfect stereo would not need an EQ, because you have the perfect balance of bass, treble, and sub-bass in your equipment. This is what I tried to achieve in my stereo of my tacoma. As it sits right now, my tweeters and door speakers do 75% of the sound, they are the perfect volume and cover everything right down to 100hz. My 10" sub covers the rest. My EQ is flat. Its still a bright sound and will easily pound the louder I go, and best yet, it will not distort at higher volume levels, where some people typically have the bass too high.

The only spot on my EQ that I ever touch, is the low end, simply because some songs don't have alot of bass, particularly older rock, and I use it to fill in the sound.

 

You wrote that down backwards. If one was to set the headunit at 40Hz, then amp crossover at 80 or 90, the amp is only "seeing" 40 and down and the 80-90 setting is wasted. Unless of course you only wanted the sub to play 40 and down.

Either the headunit gets set as high as possible (say 125Hz), and the amp gets set at the desired frequency (say 80-90Hz); or the headunit is set at 80-90Hz and the amp would be set as high as possible (maybe 500Hz, at least mine will go that high).

 

Ahhh shit your right. Brain fart. Had it all backwards cuz I just wired up my 4 channel, HPF mode

 

The link you provided is a guide for recording engineers. Assuming they have done their job this guide does not apply to you in attempting to tune your audio system. What you're going for is faithful reproduction of the recording they have already made these adjustments to.

This being the case, you're not going to be able to get an idea about where your EQ settings "should" be based on what others have theirs set at since you are tuning your particular listening environment and setup. This means the equalization you apply is simply for tuning out abnormal qualities caused by the acoustics in your car and/or audio equipment. Ideally, you don't want to have to apply any equalization, but we know this just isn't feasible.

In all of my years of tuning sound systems though, I'd like to just throw out these bits of advice:

- I find you get better results if you cut rather than boost.

-It's important to try and avoid multiple crossovers, so if possible, use the HP/LP filters on your head unit OR amplifier and not both, as this introduces phasing complications.

- If you don't have access to an RTA what I would do is crank it up to a moderate level and cut what hurts.

- A higher LP setting will move your lower end sound stage to the rear or wherever your sub is, so you want to go as low as you can get away with generally.

- Don't EQ using content you are unfamiliar with, and use good quality recordings.

The frequency response of my truck is fairly flat from 200Hz up. 160Hz and down are about 10dB above flat. I have found this to sound the best when listening to a variety of genres of music and different inputs. I never have to mess with my EQ or boost/cut any bass when putting something different in. Keep in mind that this is what works for me and my sound system though. Your results may vary, but take your time and enjoy the process.

 

any good links for eq setting?

 

EQ is personal preference! Stock stereos I usually crank a few up on the treble and maybe two clicks up on bass, leave the midrange. Ultimately its what you like, theres no 'proper' way to do it so to speak.

 

I could be wrong, and frequently am, but that model Pioneer is claimed to support using the external Pioneer microphone for equalization. Their automated analysis might not suit your desires, but it will make for a good starting point.

 

I had the p3200bt and felt like I could never get it sounding just right. I just installed an x930bt and the sound is amazing. I wish I knew what they did different with this one.