Equalizer Basics, to get started Options

[prateek88]

I don't know how to configure the equalizer settings so would like to have quick tips to get started. I heard people saying that it could bring some weak tones to life or make them better.
May be some useful link for the quick start.

[mjb2006]

BE CAREFUL. The foobar EQ can boost things by 20 dB, which is 4X as loud as the original... you can damage your speakers and your ears!

But to start, just play with it, while listening to your music and gear, and see what you think. EQ can help compensate for things like...

• your hearing loss (everyone has it)
• the limitations of your headphones and speakers
• the noise in your listening environment (computer fans, etc.)
• the room's acoustics, if using speakers
• the volume level you listen at
• the kind of music you listen to
• audio "tone" decisions made when the music was recorded and mastered
• similar decisions made when the music was encoded e.g. as MP3

...and more. Some people go to great lengths to measure the frequency response of their system and get the EQ set to "flatten" the sound, as measured with test equipment (usually not taking into account their own hearing). Others simply aim for what is to them a "pleasant" and "warm" sound.

However, you'll also find that you become accustomed to whatever EQ (or lack thereof) you are using, making it very difficult to say that one setting is "better" than the other. And then you may get some new music that you think sounds terrible with settings that make everything else sound good.

foobar2000's built-in Equalizer DSP doesn't have a pre-amp to cut the input volume, so you need to be careful to keep the bass frequencies at or below +0dB. If you boost the bass, it's likely that any already-bass-heavy music will clip and be audibly distorted. When listening at low levels with a lot of background noise in an office, I used to set my foobar EQ to a smiley face curve, like this:



I no longer bother with this, though; in fact it sounds weird to me now. Way too bass-heavy at any volume, at least at home.

If you listen to lossy sources like MP3, be aware that playing with the EQ may accentuate encoding artifacts.

Remember you can't boost something that's not there... if there's nothing above 16 KHz, or nothing but hiss, you're not going to make the sound any better by boosting the high end.

[BenB]

May be some useful link for the quick start.

Straightforward (and oversimplified) information can be found here.

I suggest reading up on the subject though to get a better understanding.

[prateek88]

Thanks mjb2006 and BenB, that helped a lot to understand the requirement of the eq. I haven't used it so far since my perception about it that it should be left flat to make the music sound real as intended, but thats not totally correct i think as it depends on various other factors too, like the source and what output device is capable of.

I think my other questions which are out of curiosity are more related to audio topics so.......

Now what i am thinking of is to get preset eq settings for foobar to understand better how it should be dealt with.

Thanks again.

[dhromed]

my perception about it that it should be left flat to make the music sound real as intended, but thats not totally correct i think as it depends on various other factors too, like the source and what output device is capable of.

Your reasoning is sound for ideal situations, but more often than not, speakers placed in a room may benefit from a few small corrections, depending on their characteristics, placement in the room, and the room itself.

My own speakers in my work room, for example, produce some nasty amplification around 80 and 160HZ. So I use EQ to slightly reduce that frequency area.

Now what i am thinking of is to get preset eq settings for foobar to understand better how it should be dealt with.

You could try, but I guarantee that within a year you'll be back to either flat (disabled), or a few slight corrections.

[prateek88]

@dhromed

Yeah I have given enough time to it, but i think i am used to the flat settings or no eq settings. I really like the default sound coming without any eq settings, so i am already back to my flat settings
But its never bad to know about certain things which sometimes could be useful.

Thanks for the info