5121cdd@houxm.UUCP (C.DORY) (05/10/84)
Equalizers are very audible in the system -- even with the controls set to
"flat". I've had experience with several graphics (of much higher quality
than you'll ever see in home hi-fi) and the were quite audible -- even
when I was monitoring with JBL studio monitors (lousy loudspeakers
although they play quite loudly). What I heard (in most cases) was
a defocused (blurred) stereo image, more noise, and less dynamic impact.
Don't get me wrong, however, equalizers are very useful devices. In
recording, the engineer can change the sound of the violin section to suite
his personal tastes -- of course, Antonio Stradivari didn't know what
a violin should sound like. As well, discos (and home discos too) can
boost the low end 10-12dB with an equalizer so that the sound of the
bass drum can alter your heart beat and crack plaster.
In all seriousness folks, equalizers are more often abused than used
properly. Many stereo systems (do to room acoustics, etc.) really need
some form of equalization -- my only point is to use the equalizer ONLY
to fix the room/loudspeaker match problem. There will be, in some cases
an audible price to pay for the use of the equalizer, however. I think
that the salespeople in audio stores have made a killing on selling
equalizers to hi-fi enthusiasts who are made to believe they have a
need for a equalizer.
Craig Dory
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Holmdel, NJ
P.S. You don't need to be a "super-human" to hear these or many other
phenomenon discussed on this net -- a little careful listening, call
it "training", is sufficient.pmr@drutx.UUCP (Rastocny) (05/10/84)
I agree with C. Dory. I also hear degradation when looping the signal through the tape recorder and back to the preamp. Careful (but expensive) cable selection makes this effect less audible but you can still tell that it's there by the sound stage collapsing or compressing. Tone control circuits in better systems have a defeat mode that bypass the tone, filtering, and loudness circuits. Even when these circuits are off and set "flat", I hear differences when defeating (bypassing) them. The better the playback system, the more revealing it is to this and other types of sonic degradation. It's a mixed blessing. Attentive listening on any system reveals much. Casual listening ignores everything. In the end, trust your ears. If you like the way your system sounds with an EQ, fine. If you don't, sell it to someone who does. Yours for higher fidelity, Phil Rastocny AT&T-ISL ..!drutx!pmr
ron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (05/11/84)
I don't know what the previous author means by defocussing stereo. A good Equalizer should not have any effect on the channel to channel qualities (unless it is causing an uneven phase shift between the channels). Bypassing the equalization either tone controls or an equalizer is going to give you a different result than setting them flat that has nothing to do with the cables or the amplifier. Each tone control or equalizer is a filter. When set flat that filter is still sitting there having your music running through it, precariously balanced such that the filter tries to keep the average level in that band constant. I have an equalizer and most of the time it is switched flat (so that the equalier may be powered off and nothing happens). I can't hear any problems with the cables, but my preamp also has a switch to bypass the EQ jacks on the back before the sound ever gets out of the box too. Mostly it was around to let my roommate set up the NAACP equalization curves properly while listening to his Chic albums. -Ron
brent@itm.UUCP (Brent) (05/14/84)
X
I don't even use tone controls. Equalizers usually do more harm
than good in inexperienced hands. Where most eqs go +- 10 dB, I think
they should probably only be allowed to work on a +- 5dB range.
A friend of mine, who used to be head engineer at Capricorn Records,
when showing a new engineer around, wouldn't tell him about equalization.
If the trainee would point to the eq section and ask "What's that?",
my friend would reply, "Do you have your equalizer's license?"
"Well, no . . .", "Then you can't touch that, sorry."
My feelings exactly.
--
Brent Laminack (akgua!itm!brent)rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (05/15/84)
[] Your attitude seems to assume that you or someone besides the person who asked the question is going to have to listen to what the uninformed eq user does with his eq. Certainly he is intitled to trust his own ears, measuring equipment, or whatever. People with your attitude (like the chief engineer with the eq license) assume that since <they> have an eq license, everyone is going to think their choice of eq (including no eq) is just super. Look at the generation of record listeners who think that exaggerated stereo [(L-R) > (L+R)] is normal. If it wasn't for Bob Carver we still wouldn't know what the knob twiddlers in the cutting houses had done to us. If it wasn't for Julian Hirsch we wouldn't know what Mark Levinson considers flat response in his $5K+ amplifiers. Practice what you preach and keepa da fingers offa da knobs - except at home where you won't hurt anybody but yourselves. hound!rfg