nominal bass and treble

[peace brainerd]

Inasmuch as "flat" is only a nominal value, are the neutral settings of most audio equipment characteristically flat? What really inhibits the manufacturer from cheating a bit, for showroom value, and lifting things a bit at the "flat settings"? Should we assume that you get what you pay for here, and that better equipment would never stoop to such?

Any thoughts on the value of "loudness" controls? I've read that they, after all, compensate for the ears natural attenuation of bass and treble at lower volumes. (duzn't this seems counterintuitive from a human survival standpoint?) Anybody simply shun their use?

I like to think I can just leave the bass and treble flat on my amp for the most natural sound. My previous amp had a tone bypass switch to keep the controls out of the circuit. I liked it (mostly psychologically - gee this is almost a straight wire! ha ha), but I more often than not went back to the tone controls because some recordings just cry out for a little help.

Never did own an equalizer. Minus the addition of a full spectrum analyzer at home, I've always imagined that trying to monkey that much by ear with something that has already often been monkeyed to death in the recording studio is just asking for way more effort than enjoyment.

Just some thoughts I've often wanted to bring up in the right company. Sorry for any that have already been overwrought in
these forums.

[anatech]

Hi bluebeard,
I normally leave them flat myself. I have been known to reduce or increase bass or treble where I disagree with the recording engineer. I don't have a problem with using the loudness controll at low listening levels. That's not critical listening anway.

-Chris

[Allexx]

Hi Bluebeard,
You can find my point of view on that question here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...401#post666401
You might consider splitting up my prose into two-sentence paragraphs...for ease of digestion ...
As Mikeks suggested in his reply to my post.

[dimitri]

Holman and Kampmann
Loudness Compensation: Use and Abuse
JAES, Volume 26 Number 7/8 pp. 526-536 (July/August 1978)

[peace brainerd]

the thread that allexx referred to seems to have baked this topic pretty thoroughly. Sorry I couldn't find it previously. I wouldn't object
to the moderators killing off this topic.

I still kind of wonder just how "flat" most amps are at their nominal flat settings. I guess it's just one of those "wouldn't it be nice if" questions that cannot really be got at.

[clem_o]

You can find out if you have a decent PC and sound card; just check the frequency response...

What I've found is that there is usually a mild droop in the HF region when the main volume control is "low", and the droop flattens out as you bring up the volume control. The degree of droop varies between different brands and circuits, so from this standpoint I'm assuming its not a problem from the measuring equipment. The rest of the response is usually pretty flat, with another roll-off at the extreme LF. If your system happens to be using particularly bad potentiometers for the tone controls, you may find some deviations, in the order of 1 or 2 dB in the response...

The HF 'droop' makes a particular setup seem to have more subjective bass.

Cheers!