Equalizer selection

[mikebse2a3]

For anyone interested in the Behringer DEQ2496 equalizer I noticed Parts Express has them for $299 and I bought the Behringer ECM8000 measuring MIC for $40 at the Guitar Center not sure what Parts Express gets for it.

www.partsexpress.com

The Behringer would be great for creating a few general tone curves and stored into memory so they could be recalled as needed to compensate for recordings or if more precise tonal compensation is desired it definitely has that capability.

This unit has definitly not added any noise or hum in my system with Khorns.

mike

[homemade]

My homemade khorns are very weak in the lower octave bass without some boost of some kind. I was using a Radio Shack 10band eq from about 20 yrs ago and worked great. I boosted the 30hz range 10db and reduced the 125hz range 4 db. Now, I'm running without an eq on everything except cd's and dvd's in which I use a little Radio Shack bass booster. I usually punch in 6db at 40hz. The Radio Shack 10 badn eq is too big and bulky where I moved my equipment. Neither eq has added any noise or noticable distortion. The khorns can definitely benefit from some eq!!!

[minn_male42]

no intent to start any sort of flame war here but.....

over the years i have tried equalizers from numark, sae, rane, alesis, A.R.T., behringer, dbx, and peavey

even with some less than stellar amplifiers and receivers, they ALL added unacceptable noise to the sound coming out of my KLF-30's.....

with a scope and flat measuring microphone - you could see the added distortion that is there.... i have seen the noise floor raised on a scope's display... it varies with frequency, 1 db to 6 db on certain equalizers...

in the analog domain - when you add another set of interconnects, four more RCA connections, and all the electronic circuitry inside the equalizer - noise WILL be added....

in your enviroments, with your equipment, if you don't hear any noise added - then good for you!...... unfortunately (or fortunately) i CAN hear the noise added and i will not degrade the signal in my system....

[colterphoto1]

Frz, JUST Missed it, read your post about 6 tonight. Are there any other model of that line that you'd recommend? I don't know the difference. 3BX is the old 70's model, there is a 4BX and lots of 3BX with letters, roman, etc after.

Thanks,

Michael

[Mighty Favog]

That was probably something like a 3BX Series II, etc...

I've been using a dbx 1231 1/3 octive eq for about two years now. I have put my ear less than two inches from the drivers with no program playing and cannot hear a single difference, no hum or hiss at all through the speakers. What it does do, however, is make a light hum from the unit itself from the transformers but I think I found a way quiet them down a bit. Granted I only use it on the bass end under 600Hz with only about 1db of boost or under.

I picked it up from a store in town that sells studio recording equipment call www.icbaudio.com for about $400. Now this is the new dbx and not when BSR ran them. The only thing you'll have to deal with is that this thing does not have unbalanced connections, only 1/4" and XLR balanced (I use the latter).

Go here:

http://www.dbxpro.com/1231.htm

The only hiss I hear is coming from the loundess circuit on my McIntosh C33. Now if I had the room and could find a nice SAE 2800 parametric that would be different.

[heresy2guy]

Audio Control and AudioSource made some good EQs back in the 1980s. Audio Control had their famed C-101 and AudioSource had their EQ-ONE. Both were pretty highly regarded and pretty expensive if memory serves.

Don't know much about today's EQs - sorry.

Some people don't like EQs. True, some cheap ones might add some noise, but the better ones (like the C-101 above) don't add any noise that *my* ear can detect. Maybe if I hooked my system up to a scope I'd "see" it. But regardless, I still can't "hear" it so I don't care what a scope might say.

I think people get brainwashed on negative ideas about EQs, i.e. all the so-called noise, or that they're just not "pure." Sounds kind of like those who honestly believe that your tone controls have to be set at "flat" or else...or else...or else what? Or else you're not a "true" audiophile because that's what audiophiles believe???

Gimme a break. I think tone controls are meant to be used and I think they're meant to be used to:

a) help adjust for the differences in recordings (i.e. "good" recordings vs. "bad" recordings.

help adjust the sound for differences in varying room harmonics.

c) help adjust the sound for differences in the speakers you might be using.

AND last but not least...

d) allow you to tailor the sound more to your own individual liking.

And an EQ just enables you to do all of the above with a lot more precision then basic tone controls.

To me, to believe in something like "All tone controls should be flat," or "EQs just add noise - if it doesn't sound right flat then start chucking equipment and replacing it with new pieces..." is crazy.

It's the same type of thinking that leads so-called audiophiles to parrot nonsense like "All horns are colored."

If you want an EQ, try and get a good one. But EQ or not, use the tone controls at will.

The above is just my opinion, of course. I'm not an "expert" or an "audiophile."

[maxg]

H2G,

All good points. If you have the controls and want to use them by all means do - your system, your ears etc. etc.

I dont think too many on here worry about what "true audiophiles" say - each just tries to find their own path to Audio Nirvana.

Personally I have neither - but that is just because they are not on this pre-amp - not becuase I made a active decision over their inclusion. My previous amp had both tone controls (defeatable) and bass boost for listening at low levels (addressing that pesky Fletcher Mun-something curve).

I would say, however, that with my limited experience of tone controls I could not adjust a bad recording into a good one. I could merely change the presentation of a bad recording to be different - I am not even sure I would go as far as to say it was better.

It may be different with an equalizer - I dont know - I havent had one since the 80's - it was built into a Sony Receiver and the sound was dreadful with or without it. Of course at 5 bands it wasnt exactly cutting edge.

[Frzninvt]

Colter, the only DBX Range Controller that I would recommend that is reasonably priced would be the 3BX-DS, do not get any of the older versions like the 3BX, 3BX-II, or 3BX-III the 3BX-DS is the cleanest sounding unit of the bunch. There are still a couple more on eBay, I woud pay easily $150-$225 for one, more if it were complete with original cartons and in mint condition.

As I previously stated if you don't like I'll buy it from you, you can't loose. You could also put it right back up for sale and get your money back and maybe more.

The only unit superior to the 3BX-DS was the extremely rare 5BX-DS which was a 5 band model and these units will typically sell for $1250 and up.

I had a purist audiophile friend that I talked into trying one, after fiddling with it for a few days and seeing the capabilities that it had he did not give it back. I sold it to him for what I purchased it for.

I have an article written by an audio purist who had an extreme dislike for these types of processors but he actually gave his blessing on the 3BX-DS. I'll scan it Monday and post it. I use mine for improving the audio signals from my Sat Dish receiver primarily, and what a difference it makes!

[dubai2000]

Of course listening is a very personel experience, so something that is endorsed by one individual might be completely unacceptable to somebody else. Bearing that in in mind I still believe that the (relatively small) sum I spent on the Behringer DSP 8024 (the previous model to the one mentioned above) was one of the best audio investments ever. Defeating it is always like putting cotton into my ears. That one can add clarity to Khorns (which alteady have had their crossovers replaced, squawker horn and tweeter changed) was not something I really expected, but the Behringer has really done that (of course in my room, to my ears etc.). Just remember that if you consider such a unit, you will need to buy a suitable mic as well (the Behringer works fine for me) - and no, I am not affiliated to the company.

Wolfram

[Colin]

I had the Audio Control c-101? at some point, maybe it a was a roomate's, I don't remember buying it, I do remember that you could tell when it was in the circuit, even w/o big ole horns, even when it was set to flat -

of course I did not have a test CD and a SPL meter back then either, so I am sure the curve was wrong, the problem with those EQ was that it was easy to muddy up the surrounding frequencies and apply too much attenuation, like a sub, it was easy to overdo it-

the nice thing about the Behringer 2496 is that it can be finely adjusted to boost only those frequencies that show they need boosting to obtain a flat response, which is a good starting point anyway, many recodings do over compensate, so the flat room response sometimes has to be tamed (usually too bright, often too boomy in the mid-bass)to make the sound better -

either way, the bypass or the EQ button on my pre-amp doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference in noise, not when compared to the obviously better shaping the EQ applies -

every speaker, and especially with tube amps, has less than perfect frequency response, the 2496 allows the tweaking audiophile the oppourtunity to bring their in-room response closer to the ideal, as such it effects every aspect of the sound, bass, soundstage, etc.