#equalisation

“Man Spends Years Chasing The Perfect Windows Sound Only to Find Hidden Built-In Software Sabotaging It All Along”. For me as a long-time computer audio user, this Headphonesty story is an eye-opener. It seems that there’s a simple no-purchase-necessary way to significantly upgrade the sound quality from my Windows PC. In-built Audio Processing Objects are turned off, and the output gain is…

I don’t have a Dolby Surround setup, but this 2-disc set from Delos is very useful. Disc 1 carries a selection of very dynamic, mostly classical music recordings that play well in a stereo configuration. Disc 2 hosts, among others, stereo setup and imaging tones, and the left-right frequency balance test has proven very helpful. It comprises full-range pink noise flipped from channel to…

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, we are told. We’re advised that everything ultimately has a cost and nothing is truly free. Yet, in searching for ways to enhance my music streaming experience I found the latest version of FxSound, which has been upgraded, with more features, and now it’s opensource it’s free of charge. It works really nicely on all Windows 11 PC sound and outputs to…

I’ve been involved in several discussions in recent days about tone controls for amplifiers, and I’ve also read about loudspeakers tuned to overcome room effects, and a preamplifier with a ‘presence’ control. Equalisation is in the air, at least where I’m sitting! I’m curious about that term – equalisation. It suggests making frequency response equal, and if done on a graphic equaliser it’s…

There’s an interaural attenuation at 2kHz when recordings are mixed with nearfield loudspeaker listening that is a problem even for those of us who listen across a room. Tonmeister David Mellor explains. 2kHz, and the small range of frequencies around it, is where a lot of vocal clarity comes from. The vocal may sound in close listening as if it is getting a little buried by instrumentation, so…

I’ve been using a Behringer SX3040 sound enhancement processor and an FBQ6200HD 31-band graphic equaliser for some months, and have become a fan of sensibly-priced pro gear that can be used in a home audio system. So, I was interested to see a Behringer DCX2496 loudspeaker management system modification being positively reviewed at Audio Science Review. I found that there’s also a mod for the…

For some time now, I’ve used a Behringer 30-band graphic equaliser to fine-tune the sound quality of my hi-fi system. Today, I found a perfect compliment in this visualisation of sound ‘feel’ across the audible spectrum, so now I can home in on specific component(s). I’m particularly keen to tailor the tone (weight) of percussion and space. I’ll be selectively boosting and cutting in certain…

We hear sound precisely because air pressure varies when objects move. It’s the carrier medium. And of course there’s air in the room. Ths concept “air” gets mentioned often in reviews of equipment performance and music recordings. It seems mostly to refer to the sensation of space in venues and around and between instruments. Openness and liveness, if you like. High frequency sound. In the…