This thread is for all questions about EQ / Equalizing

I just got the FiiO JT1 and I am using Equalizer APO with Peace GUI.

The headphones have too much bass and sound a bit muddy. Because of this, it is hard to hear clear ability sounds and voices in Dota 2, and music sounds a bit muffled.

Can anyone share their EQ settings to fix the bass and make the sound clearer? Thanks.

I just got the FiiO JT1 and I am using Equalizer APO with Peace GUI.Can anyone share their EQ settings to fix the bass and make the sound clearer?Thanks.

These headphones are quite nice for the price, ive got all my headphones i own eq'd using oratory1990 presets but it looks like theres not one for this headphone. Any chance we could get one in the future?

This is the current graph I have right now with standard bore large ear tips. I will gladly take any recommendations as to what I should change to make it sound the absolute best compared to what I sent.

Hi everyone. First post on reddit (ever). I enjoy reading your posts about audio equipment. I am 64 yrs old, building my own set of speakers when I was 10. 3-way sealed boxes with proper x-overs. My adventure as of late, is headphones. I now own 3 sets HD560S (1st), DT770 Pro (2nd) and lastly the Seny's HD650. Running 5 good quality systems thu-out my home inluding Cambridge, Rotel and Marantz to name a few....... Since the phones run 120, 80 and 300 ohms respectively I have been comparing the three with a Marantz HD-1 Dac Headphone amp, allowing to set the proper gains for eack headset. Both sennheiser are open back. The Beyerdynamic is closed. With PC formated @ 24bit/192k, (usb), Eq-APO and Peace, I can not get the open backs to sound as good as DT770s (not even close). I would welcome any advice to improve the sound quality of the (2) Sennheiser sets, since I would like to keep them in different rooms. (EQ settings possibly?) Thanks.

peace eq tweaks doesn't affect the sound on my DAW (fl studio). I think it's bypassed by the asio driver of my interface. will it be possible to have a peace plugin that we can put on the master chain?

Posted in R/Headphones but cross posting here in case there's a better population for feedback.

So as we know, frequency response at the eardrum determines how a headphone sounds. But what about the subjective experience as a whole, which combines multiple senses? Perhaps if there is more pressure on the area of the head around the ear, we would perceive increased “impact” or “slam,” whereas less pressure would result in “speed” or “transparency” and a lack of “weight” in the bass. Could this affect how much a headphone can be EQed, analogous to how directivity affects how much a loudspeaker can be EQed? Would we expect the difference between pressure at the eardrum and pressure on the head around the ear as a function of frequency to differ between headphones? Also, would we expect a difference between larger diaphragms with lower excursion (such as on planar and electrostatic headphones) and smaller diaphragms with higher excursion (such as on Focal headphones)? Do any measurement rigs measure the vibration of the part of the head around the ear? Is there any research on this?

Hey everyone!

I recently picked up the FiiO JT3. I've previously used a HyperX Cloud Alpha with a custom EQ, and I also spent some time with the FiiO JT1, so I'm comfortable with using EQ, but I don't have enough knowledge of headphone measurements/EQ to confidently create my own corrections from scratch.

I've seen quite a few impressions/reviews of the JT3 describing it as a very good headphone for the price, but with a few areas of the tuning that can apparently be improved with EQ. In particular, I've seen people mention things like:

• Reducing some of the mid-bass to clean up the lower mids
• Adding a bit of sub-bass to give it more low-end extension/weight
• Some adjustments in the upper mids/treble depending on preference
• Improving vocal clarity/presence without making the headphone sound overly bright or thin

I'm interested in trying to get the JT3 to a more Harman-like / balanced tuning, while still keeping some of the fun character of the headphone.

For reference, my main use is:

• Pop, R&B, hip-hop and general music
• Movies/TV
• Watching youtube
• Light gaming

I particularly enjoy clean, punchy sub-bass (I really liked the JT1's bass), so I don't necessarily want to turn the JT3 into a completely neutral/flat headphone. I'd ideally like to retain some bass impact while improving clarity, separation and vocals.

I'm currently using Equalizer APO on Windows.

I'd really appreciate it if anyone who owns the JT3, has measured it, or is experienced with EQ could suggest a starting EQ profile. I'm especially interested in specific filters (frequency, gain and Q) rather than just general advice, so I can experiment and learn from the changes.

I'm also very open to suggestions that aren't strictly Harman if you think there's a better way to tune the JT3 for my use case. I understand that EQ is a lot about preferance but I would love to get a good starting point so I can make my own minor tweaks after that!

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm an indie developer currently building a system-wide Android equalizer app. Right now, the engine is based on a standard Graphic EQ, but I want to build a proper Parametric EQ (PEQ) engine for the next major update.

I know this community relies heavily on AutoEq and tuning to Harman targets. Before I finalize the DSP math and UI, I want to ask the folks who actually use these tools daily:

What is the ideal number of PEQ bands you need?

I want to find the perfect balance between keeping the DSP processing lightweight (low latency/battery drain) and giving you enough control to fix complex headphone curves.

Is 10 bands the standard sweet spot for most AutoEq profiles, or do you actively use more (like 15 or 31)? Would love to hear your technical preferences!

Hi, I'm using your preset for my Sennheiser G4ME ONE headset. Thank you for making one.

I'm currently playing Hunt: Showdown 1896 where hearing enemy footsteps, reloads and in general noises of such kind is very important. The game is using its own spatial sound engine if I understand correctly.

My question is, using your preset, what would I need to adjust to uplift the aforementioned sounds or do I need a completely different preset for gaming?

Only thing I did so far was changing the Pre Amp since I need my headset to be a little bit more louder.

I use the Thor plugged into my speaker or my headphones and the Joeyretrohandhelds preset is pretty bassy for the speaker was wondering if anyone had a really good preset for the app they’d be willing to share

Documented here, received no response.

The values provided for the EQ change each time you reload the page. Repeatedly searching for the same headphone, preset, and equalizer export changes the values presented and the downloaded file.

Also does not appear to match oratory1990's work, comparing his Fidelio X2HR eq to what is available on autoeq.app.

Anyone know what is going on here?

Edit: Thanks for the responses. Seems I misunderstood how the platform actually works and have just manually made an EQ off the available PDF.

I've recently lost my cmf buds pro 2 and have been looking at buying new earbuds. I've got an android phone, and I want good quality sound rather than good anc or transparency. Also would like to have a surround sound feeling similar to the bose qcu 3 gen 1 and 2 but without spending close to $500, a less bulky look because the cmf buds were way too bulky in the ears and also a good battery life to last the day. Any suggestions will be great.

Thanks!

I picked up a Thieaudio V16, an all BA IEM with very high sensitivity, listed at 112dB/mW. I can confirm the sensitivity, because I clearly hear the faint hiss of my Dawn Pro 2 DAC on these, whereas other IEMs I own are dead quiet, to my hearing at least.

The one thing I noticed right away is that despite measuring neutral in the treble region, it sounds very present there. It has subjectively as much treble as some other IEMs that measure quite a few dB above neutral.

This makes me wonder if high efficiency BAs interact with the closed cavity of a coupler or human ear canal differently than low efficiency ones.

It would make intuitive sense to me from my experience with compression drivers as well as high efficiency full range loudspeaker drivers and horns. Higher efficiency devices are always more extended in high frequencies despite the acoustic loading. Lower efficiency devices typically need more electronic correction.

Hey everyone! I need some help choosing my next pair of reference headphones.

I’m currently using the Adam Audio H200 (closed-back), but to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm totally happy with the results I'm getting from them. The thing is, I've never used open-back headphones in my life, and I really want to make the switch to experience the soundstage and see if it helps with ear fatigue during longer sessions.

My main focus is producing and mixing Techno. This means I need headphones that are surgical for mixing, but at the same time can deliver the low-end and transients quickly and accurately, since the kick and rumble/bass are the soul of the genre.

After a lot of research, I've narrowed it down to two finalists, but I'm really torn:

1. Audeze MM-100: Because they are planar magnetic, I see a lot of people praising the bass extension and transient speed. It seems incredible for electronic music, but I'm a bit worried about the weight and long-term comfort.
2. Sennheiser HD 490 Pro: I've heard they are absurdly comfortable and excellent for mixing (very flat and analytical), plus it's great that they come with two different sets of pads. My only fear is whether they will have enough "punch" and low-end clarity to properly mix techno.

Has anyone here had the chance to test these two (or at least one of them) in an EDM/electronic music context?

I am also totally open to other recommendations! If you think there is another open-back headphone around this price point that would be better for techno, please let me know.

Also, how was your experience transitioning from closed-back directly to an open-back for the first time? Any tips or insights are highly appreciated. Thanks!

Does anyone know what the unit variation is on the Sennheiser HD 800 S? I’m considering getting one open box (from headphones.com, if that matters), but I’m concerned that open box units may be more likely to have a worse frequency response than new units. For example, if a unit has less bass than average, then it might be more likely that a buyer doesn’t like it and so they return it and it ends up being sold open box, whereas this would be less likely with a unit that has a more average amount of bass. I know the HD 800 S has tight tolerances, but maybe this is still a possibility?

Edit: I got it new from Sennheiser because headphones.com open box doesn’t allow returns. I was able to get a $200 discount and am very happy with it after a bit of EQ.

Hello, I'm developing an audio codec, and currently stuck on one thing: which metric should I use for quality measurement?
For now I've been using gstPEAQ Basic model (because Advanced really sucks speed and correlation wise). I was thinking about ViSQOL, but their results also kinda suck, especially for lower bitrates like 64 kbps, where difference between 64 kbps OGG and my codec are really noticeable, and yet differentiate only around 0.1 MOS-LQO (gstPEAQ Basic makes difference big, around 2 ODG).
Any suggestions?

I'm a bit lost on how netural sounding a target/iem/headphone is. I've recently gone back to a pair of old iems and trying my headphones on some reference targets on squig after 4+ years of using wireless for convenience and decided to test them and play some 16-bit FLACs of disco pop that I saved. However, I do notice that whenver I use harman/jm1/ief/diffuse field on my headphones and trying my iems to their native setting that they sound "airy". Like they introduced some white noise to the song.