Shure E4c EQ settings

[HarpDoc]

Just got some Shure E4c canal earphones. They're great, but the bass needs to be pumped up. Just wondering if anyone out there has discovered the perfect EQ settings in Rockbox for the E4. Thanks.

[andrewmel]

On my Shures I prefer to have a flat eq. That way I get the music the way it was intended.

a

[Danfried]

Originally Posted by andrewmel

On my Shures I prefer to have a flat eq. That way I get the music the way it was intended.

a

To listen to the music the way it was intended, you'd probably have to listen with flat signature, studio monitor-type phones, like the Sony MDR-V6 -- because that's what the recording engineer probably used.

Come to think of it, the H100/H300 series has its own sound signature, thanks to its DAC and amp, so even if you used similar-sounding headphones as the sound engineer, you still wouldn't necessarily be listening to what the engineer or recording artist heard when the album was first mixed.

This is why I've never been swayed by the "No EQ" purists. Their argument just doesn't make any sense. I mean, even within the Shure line, there are big differences in sound. The base is stronger with my e4g's than it is with my brother's e3c's. If neither of us used EQ, could my brother and I both claim to be listening to the music "as originally intended"? At least one of us would logically NOT be listening to the music "as originally intended" -- and in all probability, neither of us would, because of all the variables involved in getting the original studio recording to our ears. I mean, producing the CD, ripping and encoding, the choice of DAP -- you get the idea.

[DD]

I don't understand why people think using EQ is bad either - I guess the whole idea why they were invented in the first place (hence the name equaliser) was to adjust frequencies to get a flat output from the varying frequency responses of different headphones, so "allowing you to hear it as it was meant to be heard". The real purists go for "flat frequency response", rather than "flat EQ".

But then again, what harm is there from deviating from its intended original use and using EQ to make the music sound how you would like it? Surely its more enjoyable if it sounds how you would like it to sound, which may very well be different to the well-trained ear of the engineer but why should they decide for you?

[andrewmel]

Yep you are right. I try to minimize the impact of those things by using good heaphones, and ripping at -v2.

<offtopic>
What are you doing in China?
</offtopic>

a

[Arj]

Another point: not everyone hears things the same. Some folks have near perfect hearing, but many do not. And as you age, you are almost certainly going to fall into the later category. EQ can help compensate for some of this.