Eq?

[Bob Brines]

....and I'll be happy to try it. It's not so easy though, because I also have to take into account the severely screwed up curve that these headphones already have (see below)....

Have your considered that the "screwed up curve" is really the EQ necessary for a perceived flat response? With the headphones sealing off an air space coupled to a closed tube, you are going to get anything but a free air path. Try this: make up an EQ curve that is the mirror image of the headphone FR. That should give you the flat FR you are looking for. How does that sound?

Bob

 

[Bob Brines]

PS. Bob, you look almost as handsome as i do in your new avatar.

Funny thing there. While on vacation last May, my wife asked (told) me to grow a beard. So I did. Just for the two weeks. Well, it came in very nicely, so I kept it. The avatar was made from my recent passport photo!

Bob

 

[Scottmoose]

That sounds like part of a P.G. Wodehouse storyline... Jeeve's and the Feudal Spirit IIRC.

 

[Kensai]

There is alot of lousy software EQ out there. I use Winamp for music playback and ZoomPlayer with DScaler filters and FFDShow processing for DVD. There's more than one way to get EQ out of those pieces of kit, including FFDShow's ability to search out your Winamp install and copy your EQ settings from there to your video player. Unfortunately, none of those EQ methods sound good. Even if you leave the settings flat, just activating the EQ causes a steep degradation of sound.

I haven't messed with Foobar in probably 8 years now. Back then, I was just looking at interface and playing with Foobar's ability to do electronic crossover via a multichannel sound card. I didn't care for the interface and I didn't have the amplification to really use the crossover, so I left it behind at the time. Since then, I've heard of at least 3 different ways to get Foobar to provide EQ and have heard very high opinions of each, but not tried them myself.

Best option I've found lies in a pro grade sound card that allows for EQ within its drivers. I've got an E-mu 0404 which is perfect for a 2 channel playback system. There is no difference in sound between bypassing the EQ and having the EQ on but flat. And the sound quality from the thing is better than anything else I've heard (Sound Blasters, M-Audio Revo, Audiotrack Optoplay USB, various integrateds), and even back when I bought it, like 3 years ago now, I suppose, it was only $80. It seems that pro sound cards tend to have this sort of thing implemented right. This is usually at the cost of multichannel, gaming performance, etc., stuff that we're not generally to concerned with.

I worry about the extra sets of interconnects causing problems, or at the very least, the extra bits of hardware in the signal chain at the very least costing a bundle for a less than hoped for gain, at least down here at the bottom where I could afford components ;-p

Kensai

 

[sadhill]

Kensai,

Would you think that the EMU 0404 USB box would do as well as the card ?

I own one I bought for room measurements with my DEQ2496, which I no longer use.

According to Bob precepts, I intend to try playing music through my PC instead of my CD-player, in order to use a soft eq instead of BSC on my MLTL enclosure, if possible.

It looks from your experience as if the EMU might do the job...

I noticed myself that the EMU 0404 USB DAC was of really very high quality, very detailed and nice to listen to. Only to be hidden as far as external look is concerned...

 

[Kensai]

sadhill,

I don't think the 0404 USB has the Patchmix application that the PCI E-mu cards use. That's where all the EQ and whatnot is located, so if you know its using Patchmix or if you can get on E-mu's site and maybe get some updated drivers/apps, maybe it'll do what you want. I haven't heard it myself, but I've not heard anything but good about the USB unit as a DAC. I'm pretty sure that the USB uses many of the same components as the 0404, including the AD DACs.

Kensai

 

[sadhill]

Kensai,

I have found this link :

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan07/articles/emu0404.htm

which seems to wipe off my hopes about de EMU 0404 USB : it looks as if they gave up with DSP effects with this model...

Despite your forelast post, I tried it with foobar and its integrated Eq, and find it to work quite well. It allows me to use it from my laptop...

Thank you for your help

 

[BHTX]

I believe the E-MU 0404 PCI version uses a lower end DAC than the USB version, altho I think they're both AKM's.. and the USB version sounds better. Also, if I remember correctly, the PCI version had some bugs that the USB version didn't. On top of all that, the USB version sits outside and away from the PC, which is always a good thing. Get the USB version if you have a choice.

 

[Kensai]

The PCI version is 2-3 years older than the USB, so its only reasonable for them to use whatever the production model AKM chip was the drop in replacement for the original. The only bugs I ever saw myself or heard of were driver related, and its been over a year since the 1.8 version drivers came out and fixed everything. I hear that the built in headphone amp on the USB is pretty good for being part of an inexpensive package including DAC/ADC and whatnot. You can spend alot more on a similar setup and admittedly get a better amp, but not as good of a DAC and lacking all input capabilities, so the 0404 USB seems like a great deal to me.

If you're getting it to do what you want with foobar, then that's fantastic. Hmmm . . . maybe I should give it another look after all these years.

Kensai

 

[BHTX]

Agreed. For a headphone DAC + amp, or even used as just a DAC, the 0404 USB is still a fantastic buy.. especially if you get it for a really good price. I almost went for it too, but ended up going with the Presonus Central station for a whole lot more. And now, I almost wish I wouldn't have done that.