Everyone here listens to their music flat, right? (No eq, sub, etc.)

It all depends on what system I am using.

Living Room = Scott 299 Tube Amp---loudness on, tone controls flat to +2 bass sometimes.

Basement = Kenwood KA8300 amp ---loudness on (lesser setting of 2), tone controls flat for cd, sometimes add a little extra bass n treble for vinyl.

Car = flat all the time, even so, my car stereo has an annoying tubby upper-bass range.

I have never used or owned a subwoofer.....except on computer speaker system, which doesn't really count, IMO.

 

Same here.

 

Parkertown, flat for me except when playing Celine Dion. That's when I boost the mid-range so I can really groove on her vocals!

 

What about when you guys are in your car? I find no eq sounds terrible. I usually go for lots of treble and a little bass.

 

I used a graphic equaliser, but gave it up because it wasn't a very good one, and I improved my speakers and didn't need it any longer. I do use the bass control a lot, and turn the treble down on many CD's.

 

I use eq less than 5% of the time. It usually collapses the soundstage cues.

 

I hate EQ....but even more than that I hate the natural frequency response of so many garbage systems out there. The bass boost is ridiculous. Its outrageous....but oh well...they wont be able to hear at all soon so it should work its way out.

My theory in audio is to let your gear faitlfully represent the recording. If the recording is crap...it doesnt get played. Period. Garbage in, garbage out.....EQ might cover the stench a little, but its still garbage.

I try to let my choice/combination of components provide flat frequency response....though I have to admit, my speakers do miss some of the lowest bass. But thats what? 1% of the audible frequency range or something? And I wont add a sub to muddy up everything and ruin the great bass and midrange resolution they DO have....that has been my experience with subs anyway.

So, in short, if you have to use an EQ, either your system is lacking, or you are trying to get too much out of lousy recordings. IMO

 

My Linn integrated amp has no tone controls. I never used the tone controls on my A&R Cambridge A60 that I had for 20+ years before that, either.

Cheers,
Chris

 

I tend to think the latter is what most here are trying to do...you get spoiled with SH and other excellent masterings and want it all the time.

Dale

 

all flat

wouldn't have it any other way

 

Rarely use the tone controls, but I have them, and a subwoofer which I use often. The subwoofer is integrated with the main speakers for approximately flat in-room response as low as I can measure. There is no such thing as flat in-room response with loudspeakers, although with much effort and perhaps room treatment and/or equalization you can get reasonably close.

I don't use the sub when I'm listening to radio broadcasts, which mostly contain just human speech nowadays for me, rather than music.

 

Okay, Jamie gets credit for the "treble-whore" term. I was still just a lurker here when I saw Jamie write that in a post.

Jamie, I used to do the Dolby on for record, off for playback thing too...

People talkin' like that: I knew I had found a place with kindred spirits...

Yeah, no eq for me unless I don't like the way a cd/record sounds. I like to hear what the cd/record actually sounds like.

 

No tone controls on my preamp, so can't adjust, but wouldn't want to anyway. I have a 10-band graphic eq to adjust vinyl b**tlegs though.

 

Sean,

I love just about everything you write...

Are you a writer?

You should be...you have a really neat perspective on things...

 

So many CD's are NR'd, or are compressed or maximised....this is why I use EQ.


Evan

 

I would have thought that with all the complaints about CDs being too bright, more people would be turning their treble down.

 

Yeah, I'll only use EQ to cut treble...

Sometime a little boost in the mids and bass though...

But only if the recording needs it, and only if I care enough at that exact moment...

 

You're very kind. Thank you. I'm not a writer, but I have written a lot of jokes which I'm pretty proud of.

 

EQ, case by case, w/out apology!

 

I listened to everything flat for decades, but in the last year or so have been using an equalizer to boost the bass a bit and cut the treble slightly, if needed. (I previously only used EQ for bootlegs.) I may need some new gear. My speakers are over twenty years old already.

Steve

 

This is an interesting statement. (Not bad, not good, just interesting) I would never dump music because it sounded different from how I want it to be. A signficant part of my collection has problems that stem from the time it was mixed or cut.

One thing I believe is that what's heard by the artist / producer / whatever in a studio or control room (when finishing the music) isn't necessarily whats being heard by me with different equipment in a different environment. I cannot believe for a minute that one can ever truly understand what the original artist 'intended' the listener to hear. Listening to music is too personal of an experience.

The problem I've found with playing things 'flat' is that every room or space is different - the materials its composed of, the draping, carpeting, windows, corners, furniture, the shape, ad nauseum. The same system playing the same track in two places can sound WAY different. Sometimes just by fiddling with component placements - not to mention moving the whole rig to a new place or room.

I trust my ears after all these years - that why I may use a little EQ to adjust the sound of the recording to what I want. Yup - what 'I' want. I know most of the music I listen to pretty well. Rock music has lots of loud deep bass. Granted, many early recordings don't have that - and you can't put in what ain't there - but that doesn't mean you can't adjust some frequencies to compensate a bit to make the recording closer to your likes. If money were unlimited I suppose I could get a massive system to compensate for it all, but thats really just a bigger fancier EQ or tone control system. A flat setting on my current tube system doesn't sound ANYTHING like the same flat setting on my old solid state rig. Two different sounds completely.

 

If it's an actual album (that is, it's already been mastered) I'll listen flat. Someone went to the trouble of figuring out how the thing should sound; as an act of respect, I should honor those decisions. Of course, I don't listen to much "modern music," so my choice is made simpler by the fact that much of my catalogue was properly mastered - or at least more closely so than is common in today's world - beforehand.

If I am listening to a lost/unknown, damaged or poorly archived source, yes, I'll futz with it. But I won't necessarily limit myself to EQ, or even start there. In my "early days" I specialized in restoring damaged audio, so I'll do a manual cleanup of any annoyances before subjecting the source to anything more drastic. All in the digital domain these days (good tape is expensive, dammit!), but I'm generally pleased with the results.

- M.

 

I start out with the tone control defeat position and adjust it if I feel a particular CD/LP/Mix needs it.

 

no tone or eq but the sub is always on and reproduces 40hz-5hz only, because my mains roll off @ 40, the sub keeps it flat-matching with the mains.

 

Tone controls? Do they still make those? I don't have any. There is a switch on the back of my speakers though. I can choose a -2 db in the midrange or leave it flat in the midrange. I've always had them set to -2 db since the day I bought them.