headphones
On Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:58:33 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):
"Audio Empire" wrote in message
...
snip
Say what you will but my experience with 1/3 octave, decade, and
parametric
equalizers is that they usually do more harm than good.
What I will say is that there is no debate over the idea that the effect of
an equalizer is highly dependent on its operator.
That goes without saying
Since no bias-controlled evaluations have been mentioned, any results given
can easily be attributed to personal bias.
Visible ringing (on a 'scope) and measurable added distortion is not the
result of personal bias. Whether or not these phenomenon are AUDIBLE in a
DBT, OTOH, is something attributable to personal bias.
I've never heard one
yet that didn't sound better switched OUT of the system than in it.
In the real world, YMMV. It is possible that an equalizer will introduce
some small variations even when its controls are centered. It is certain
that any equalizer with a gain control or non-unity gain will change levels
unless it has been set up with test equipment.
Sure, they can fix a lot of problems in the frequency domain,
In a sense you just contradicted yourself. If they fix problems, then they
make the sytsem sound better when switched in.
In another sense they can also introduce problems and make the sound worse.
In fact. if one wants to do so, one can make a great recording sound like a
telephone by attenuating everything above 4KHz and below 400 Hz. but that's
not at all what I'm talking about, as I'm sure you know 8^)
but if you want the cleanest signal path possible, I feel that
one is better off not using them at all unless the original audio signal
is
pretty bad to begin with (like EQing an old acoustic or early electrical
transcription).
If you want the cleanest path possible, you avoid the use of microphones,
speakers and other similar electroacoustic transducers and rooms.
Now you're just being silly, Arny and arguing for the sake of argument,
Since that
is practically impossible at this time, we are stuck with signal paths that
audible problems. Equalizers obviously work advantageously in some cases
such as LP and tape equalization. The rather extreme equalization that has
been used with LPs for over 60 years completely negates any claims that
equalization has to cause problems.
Since we are talking about adjustable equalizers such as 1/3 octave, decade,
and parametric devices which would contour headphone playback to make the
headphones sound "flatter" in frequency response, and we are not talking
about simple RIAA or NAB (for tape) compensation curves, mentioning them in
this context merely obfuscates the discussion in my humble opinion.
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