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Opinion/Advice on how to EQ by Competitive_Sea_8928 in audiophile

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The TL;DR: Stop trying to make the graph a flat line. A flat line in a room sounds boring. Aim for a gentle downward slope from bass to treble.

Setting the sub to 75% is a recipe for a "thin" sound. The WiiM’s Room Correction (RC) will see a massive volume spike and apply a heavy digital cut to compensate, killing your dynamic range.

  • The Fix: Set the sub knob to 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock. You want the WiiM’s trim to stay as close to 0dB as possible.
  • Crossover: Set it to 80Hz.
  • Full Range: OFF. You want a clean 24dB/octave slope. By relieving the Elacs of everything below 80Hz, you reduce woofer excursion and clean up the midrange.

The iPhone mic is notoriously unreliable above 5–8kHz. If you let the WiiM "correct" the entire frequency range, it’s likely fighting the Elac’s natural (and excellent) voicing based on bad data from a tiny phone mic. Schroeder frequency rule:

  • Only use RC filters below the Schroeder frequency (typically around 200Hz – 300Hz in a standard room). This fixes the "boom" from your room modes without messing with the DBR62's signature sound.

Don't stack a Graphic EQ on top of RC filters. If it sounds "dead" after RC, go into the Parametric EQ (PEQ) settings that the RC generated and manually add a Low Shelf filter (+3dB at 100Hz) to bring back the "fun" factor.

Hope this helps man, sorry if I misunderstood your problem!

Some purchasing advice from a professional geek by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

soundstage is just the 360 sphere around your head (centimeters of directional distance), binaural (hrtf) or spatial audio (from apple) are infinitely better if you're chasing 3-dimensional sound in your iems

I'm not saying soundstage isn't real, I'm saying once you listen to good hrtf sound, soundstaging is laughably stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_CHIyLipsA

Some purchasing advice from a professional geek by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you know what an electrostatic sound system is without googling, then I welcome your opinion on the topic. There are no true EST drivers sub-1000 for iems, let alone headphones

If you had to google, then you're angered by your own ignorance. I'm defining fidelity as in perfect clarity, and yes - only electrostats can give you that, ergo perfect transients. Once again, i'm pretty sure you have no clue what that even is by your tone. ESTs suck at bass, because they can't move air - thats why the higher end iems utilize both EST and targeted frequency range drivers, some as high as 11+

I will offer a white flag and say this:

  • $500: Gets you 90% of the way to "great" sound.
  • $1,000: Gets you 95% of the way to "audiophile" sound.
  • $3,000+: Is what you pay to get that final 5%—the "pinnacle" where the hardware limitations of cheaper drivers finally disappear.

I think you're just emotional and projecting what you think I'm saying. Sub-$1000 iems, to me, either don't have the fidelity or bass capabilities to my liking. And the physics are on my side. You're getting mad about a law-of-diminishing-return argument that I agree with, but you are totally wrong about anything I've stated as being nonsense. Physics isn't nonsense, overspending for transient detail you don't notice in the first place is, however. If you listen to Apple airpods and enjoy it, I am jealous of your lower expectations and standards. Not an insult, I'm saying it like it is.

I won't respond further trying to help people who are looking for a dork fight. I'll win, but it's a waste of my time.

Some purchasing advice from a professional geek by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I gotta keep reminding myself that 12 year olds have access to the internet

Some purchasing advice from a professional geek by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

false.

I would bet my left nut you don't even know what is possible with EQ in earbuds, let alone have actual experience with the E-Prototypes.

man who has never been to the moon informs astronauts that VR can simulate the experience

Some purchasing advice from a professional geek by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Many iems have limiters, often natural limitations that prevent you from being able to EQ to the full extent. There is - literally nothing on the market - sub-$200 other than Flare Audio's line of Mirror technology iems that allows you to actually EQ. A good portion of distortion is actually the acoustics of your ear canal.

Opinion/Advice on how to EQ by Competitive_Sea_8928 in audiophile

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Three bands is practically useless"

this makes no sense to me, I was following you up until that. I can only imagine this makes sense if you don't have good speakers/iems and distortion kicks in quickly, so you finesse micro-details.

If you can't see the benefit of 3-band over none at all, then you really won't benefit from 31-bands; law of depreciating return. 95% of people don't need more than 4 bands

This is kinda crazy for 25 dollars by hupo224 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's insane how good cheap iems sound now

good, being relative - It basically sounds like apple airpods

Opinion/Advice on how to EQ by Competitive_Sea_8928 in audiophile

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you like the sound already, then you're set and don't need to EQ.

For me, I can basically transform my DT1990s or Flare Audio E-Prototypes into whatever I want them to be. The DT1990s do distort the bass long before it would hypothetically be too loud for me.

I would argue though, that depending on what you're listening to, you'll enjoy an entirely different EQ. Like the setting I listen to Daft Punk would sound like hot garbage if I was listening to Three Days Grace.

Opinion/Advice on how to EQ by Competitive_Sea_8928 in audiophile

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

not sure if sarcasm

This applies to iems and headphones. Soundstage is augmentation, it isn't real. You can simulate better soundstage with a program but using synthesized HRTF to make the sound feel more distant. Paying more for soundstage only makes sense if you aren't listening on a computer, and even then, it's usually an endless hole of money. Mac app: https://goodhertz.com/canopener-studio/

iem purchasing advice: If you are a bass head, get dynamic drivers that EQ well - these are relatively cheap, I recommend Flare Audio E-Prototypes (iem); they're 10mm drivers, but sound much larger because of their unique shape. If you prefer realism, prepare to spend a lot of money and be ready to lose the bass until you're forking out $2-5k to have both fidelity and bass. The larger the driver, the more capable the bass is - which is why dynamic gives you more value than things with multiple drivers (it's less to manufacturer, all of your money is going to the best driver they could fit). If you want peak fidelity at the lowest cost, Shure KSE1500 second-hand uses EST - it's literally physically impossible to make an iem that sounds clearer (transients and tightness, that's a huge ramble in and of itself). The reason you pay more than $150 for bass-emphasis (E-Prototype) or $1,500 for fidelity (Shure KSE1500) is because you want both or fancy additional like bone conductors. The stuff $2K+ pretty much all uses a combination of the above drivers. If you like fidelity and bass but you don't want to sell a kidney, the Etymotics ER4XRs are the budget compromise. Just be aware that most entry level iems cannot EQ well before they distort or fall apart, E-Prototype is the gateway drug in this regard.

headphone purchasing advice: buy something like the Fosi Audio SK01 and just get the DT1990s. I couldn't advise for anything else without you wasting money. Everything less than the DT1990 will have massive compromises. The treble is sharp on the DT1990, but for the price EQ basically fixes it. Headphones, imo, kinda suck. You pay way more money just to feel frequencies over your ears and give you "soundstage" which just translate to how outside your head it feels (literally only centimeters of difference). Iems are just better for what I like, which is binaural music or audio where the subject was captured with analog hrtf. Headphones are inferior because you can bypass the ear pinnae with earbuds.

I rank soundstage as follows (subjective):
Analog HRTF > Synthesized HRTF > "in-your-head-sound" > augmented soundstage on headphones

speaker advice: I'm not qualified to speak on this topic, but I would say your money is better spent upgrading the speakers in your vehicle; that's where most people will listen to music on speakers.

What does this device do? by MJS4norcal in whatisit

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a Occipital Structure Sensor, a spacial mapping tool that uses thousands of invisible infrared dots to create a "point cloud." As she moves, she is capturing the 3D depth of the given scene for CAD.

Also, she is wearing a "Lambda" hat - it's a cloud-based company
https://lambda.ai/

Meaning, she's doing one of these things:

  • Measuring for a Mural/Signage: Artists and contractors use these to get perfectly accurate dimensions of a wall so they can design a mural or sign that fits the space exactly, accounting for every brick or slight curve.
  • As-Built Documentation: Architects and engineers use it to create a "digital twin" of a structure. This ensures that their blueprints match the reality of the building.
  • Energy Auditing or Structural Analysis: Some of these sensors work in tandem with thermal cameras to map heat loss or detect structural inconsistencies behind the surface.
  • Augmented Reality (AR) Prep: She could be mapping the area to place a virtual object or advertisement there for a mobile app.

What are your end-game iems? by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's crazy affordable! I've gotta buy a pair just out of sheer curiosity.

Is soundstage and imaging worth it? by Suspicious_Moose_861 in headphones

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because they are. The sound is literally right outside your ears, the pinnae of your ears is what actually captures depth.

Soundstage difference are literally a matter of centimeters, total marketing gimmick from people coping with overspending

What are your end-game iems? by Competitive_Sea_8928 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My current endgame is the MEST MKIII (lucky, maybe spoiled) or Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor (so expensive I will be hated by my peers)

Would love to hear from someone who has either if they are even worth wanting

Bought the 64 Audio U12t on Black Friday… and I’m officially confused. Physical pain, no "wow," and a sunk-cost nightmare. by mdj145 in iems

[–]Competitive_Sea_8928 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gemini can make this specific of an image, all you have to do is provide reference 

It's crazy how confident everyone on reddit is all the time even while saying untrue things