Re: Equilizer

On 3 Dec 2003 16:33:14 GMT, "Ban" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>Drew Eckhardt wrote:
>|| In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Ban
>|| <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>||| Wayne, what is it that you want to improve with the EQ?
>||| My experience is you rather need better speakers, don't you?
>||| Or maybe you need some bass traps or other acoustic modification in
>||| your listening room. Equalizers usually do not help. :-(
>||
>|| They're a fine crutch for bad recordings and some listening
>|| environment problems.
>||
>|| A tilt control makes rock music recordings by tone-deaf engineers
>|| listenable on the neutral speakers you bought so that good
>|| recordings shine.
>
>How can a deaf engineer make a good recording that "shines"? Seems to be a
>contradiction in terms. What is a tilt control, BTW?

Many rock engineers have sever upper-range hearing loss, and their
control room monitors are EQ'd up the kazoo with a rising treble
response (hence 'tilt'). A normal schoolchild introduced to such a
control room will hear a *horrifically* screechy sound, but the
balance may be perfectly neutral once the recording is replayed on a
truly neutral home system. Note that this does depend on the engineer
*knowing* what his hearing is like..................

>|| Loudness contours following the Fletcher-Munson curves restore a
>|| decent tonal balance when you're forced to listen at lower levels.
>||
>So you want to fiddle the 20 sliders he is descibing each time you turn the
>volume down? Those controls only survive a maximum of a hundred operations
>before they start crackling. :-(

Not if you use Penny & Giles faders, they don't!

>|| A Linkwitz Transform will let you have the poles and Q you want.
>||
>
>Really with the graphical EQ you can do that? I have an active system and I
>do it, but with passive speakers?

Introduce the EQ into a tape loop.

>|| A shelving high pass filter can cut frequencies below a ported
>|| enclosures tune that could bottom the woofer(s), or eliminate the
>|| boom from room gain.
>||
>You cannot eliminate boom from room gain, unless you have no bass at all.
>Resonances and standing waves can only be eliminated with acoustical means
>like the ones mentioned in my first post.

Well, that's true, but EQ can help.

>|| Notch filters can eliminate peaks.
>||
>That was my mentioning better speakers. If you have peaks in the
>transmission curve, it is because of resonances in the speaker cone.

Or the room...............

> You can
>then put specific filters (tank LC) in parallel or in series with the single
>chassis, but an overall graphic EQ with fixed Qs?

Parametric equalisers have variable Q and centre frtequencies, they
can tune out response peaks and dips quite well.

>Please note, my answer was to the OP about the "high-end" 10 slider graphic
>EQ. It was also considering his apparent level of understanding. I know
>there is a hell of apps. where *appropriate* EQs *have* to be used, but this
>is not at the consumer level.

OK, but parametrics are readily available on the consumer and semi-pro
markets.
-- 

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering