How much would an equalizer actually help??

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 12:39 pm

I'm playing with a head unit at them moment that had no equalizer options, it runs through to a decent 4 channel amp & then to the front & rear speakers (both are pretty good range)

Now i notice the sound isn't as good as some other one I had before, its the same setup & same setting for everything, but just the head unit different.

Would an digital equalizer help? I had 2 different installer said different things already, so i just want to get more opinions.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 12:56 pm

An equaliser will not improve the sound quality but it will allow you to alter the existing sound more inline with your personal taste (i.e. more or less bass / mid-range / treble).

Technically, by introducing an equaliser into your setup the sound quality will decrease as each time the electric signals that make up the sound pass through another set of wires and more circuitary (especially any signal convertors or processors) there will be some loss, alteration or distortion, as to whether you'll actually notice this depends upon how good the equipment is and how good your ears are.

Personally I'd be more inclined to find a HU that you're happy with rather than trying to change the sound the HU puts out.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 1:23 pm

Well thats what one of the installer said, but if you can change the setting of the out put, (low/mid/high range ) wouldn't that also change the quality of the sound?

Ok let me make it a little bit clear, the head unit had the basic fuction of adjusting the bass & treble. I'm happy with the head unit, its does everything under the sun, but just doesn't sound the same as before, or i'm just too fussy?

I know you lose signal through crappy cable, but if i use some proper cable & a decent amp i shouldn't lose that much rite?

The equalizer isn't one of those cheap one either.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 2:02 pm

FTO338 wrote:Well thats what one of the installer said, but if you can change the setting of the out put, (low/mid/high range ) wouldn't that also change the quality of the sound?

No, it will change the tone of the sound but will not improve the quality. An EQ is a bit like the brightness, contrast and colour controls on a TV, it will allow you to alter the picture to your personal liking but it won't actually improve the quality of the picture. The quality is limited by the signal it receives from the TV tuner or head unit. (make sense?)

FTO338 wrote:Ok let me make it a little bit clear, the head unit had the basic fuction of adjusting the bass & treble. I'm happy with the head unit, its does everything under the sun, but just doesn't sound the same as before, or i'm just too fussy?

Aha! The issue may not be quality, it may simply be that of tone. In which case an EQ could help.

Assuming your working with good equipment, which in your case I'm sure you would be, then quality probably isn't the issue. What you'll find is that different manufacturers build equipment with different tonalities - i.e. the sound the equipment produces is flat or bright or heavy etc. It's a bit like getting 6 people in a room all to say / sing the same thing. They will all sound different because their bodies all have different tonalities. They may all be of a high quality and may all produce good clear notes but they will all have slightly different tones to their voice.

More often than not, when someone doesn't like the sound of a particular piece of equipment it has little to do with the quality and more to do with personal choice of the tonality of the equipment.

Technically, the flatter and more neutral the equipment is the truer the sound will be, however most people don't like that, they generally have a personal preference whether it is a "warmer" sound or one that has an emphasis on vocal or bass etc.

As an example Scracy tends to like equipment that feels warm and offers strong vocals, while I prefer equipment with tight bass and a detailed high end. This means that we would have a preference for different equipment. It doesn't mean that one of us is right and the other wrong, it just means we have different personal tastes and need different equipment to meet each of our requirements.

I would suggest that the new unit you bought has a different tonality to what you are used to and / or like. If this is the case an EQ will certainly help but it still may not be enough.

As a suggestion to anyone else looking at new equipment, always take along a CD which contains music you are VERY familiar with and REALLY like, this way when you play it on different equipment you'll be able to more clearly define whether it produces the type of sound you are after.

FTO338 wrote:I know you lose signal through crappy cable, but if i use some proper cable & a decent amp i shouldn't lose that much rite? The equalizer isn't one of those cheap one either.

Technically there will always be some sort of loss, signal alteration or distortion, but as I said above, the biggest issues will be the quality of the equipment and that of your ears. In most cases our hearing is worse than the quality of the equipment so we don't notice it. Likewise a car is a pretty lousy accoustic environment and produces more sound issues than the equipment.

Sorry for the long message but I hope it helps.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 2:51 pm

Thax Ruchi, so from what you said the EQ would help.

I just don't want more equipment in my car if they don't produce the "bang for your buck" as its more things for people to nick

Anyway thax again. So off to the workship it goes again

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 3:14 pm

it will help adjust the tone to make it more to your liking, but this still may not be enough.

As you're probably aware, going for an EQ with more "bands" (frequency ranges) will allow you to fine tune it better.

It might pay to speak to FTOluv and see if he can recommend anything to you or get it at the right price.

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:11 am

nice little handball there Ruchi

Well Kev, if i were u i would sell that deck and get somethin that has a EQ, but if u wanna keep the deck , yes it is wise to get an EQ to fine tune the system to get it sounding its best.

You would be suprised how some less costly systems that have been tune well sound a lot better than expensive systems that havent been tuned.

People just assume by throwing in expensive products there system sound 'mad'.

I must ask my mates with better knowledge with EQs which one is the best at a reasonable price.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:47 am

Yeah what can i say, i was suprise when i play some of my fav disc. I know there's a different between 24bit processor & the al cheapo 1bit, but it can't be that bad.

So who ever said all deck are the same need to be shot

Unless of course my ear are super sensitive

Anyway Milad i'm looking for one of those seprate control & main unit equalizer, so i can have the control unit located need the steering wheel, cause i already took up the double din space.

Cheers

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:01 am

thats cool then. I spoke to my friend and he asked me what sort of price range are you willing to spend on the EQ because they vary greatly in price. He might be able to get one for you at cost price.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 11:42 am

Good question, I don't have a budget at the moment, but i probably get it when i'm back from HK or i pick one up from there. I let you know. Thax Bro

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 9:56 pm

Ok I took my old digital equalizer back from my friend today & connected it up. The different was huge, there was 4 people there before & after. And they all agree that there was so much different you have to be either dumb or deaf not to notice the different.

Looks like i'm going to keep the equalizer, instead of giving it away now heheeh.

Ohhh just in case some people were wondering why i gave it away at the first, & why didn't i notice the different before. Its because i never ran an amp & cap with it before.

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:12 am

You'll definately get better sound from hooking up any type of EQ. Problem with EQs are they are fairly expensive and hard to justify the cost. They are suited for people trying to acheive outstanding SQ from their ICE setup.