gmrulz4u

I have a question regarding Equalizers.

I am confused as to what the range of frequencies to be affected would be, even if just one "band" was raised or lowered.

For example, lets take a 7-band EQ for explanatory purposes.

Lets say that the following frequencies represent the 7-bands:

62Hz, 157Hz, 396Hz, 1kHz, 2.5kHz, 6.3kHz, 16kHz

Now, if I were to lower the 6.3kHz band, will this ONLY effect music at EXACTLY 6.3kHz?? Or does it effect everything in-between 2.5kHz and 16kHz??

Understand my confusion?

What if I wanted to lower the overall highs in a system, and lowered the 4-bands from 1kHz-16kHz by 3dB. Would this actually lower EVERYTHING from 1-16kHz, or would certain frequencies(that are not represented by their own "band") still play at full volume??

Am I making any sense here?

One more example: I lower all 7-bands by 6dB, and play a test-tone at 4kHz. Is this test-tone played at full volume(seeing as it doesn't have it's own "band") or is effected by the other bands and now lowered by 6dB??

I appologize if this is a stupid question, but it's something I just started to think about, and couldn't really answer myself.

Because I think the question makes sense.

In the above example, which is Sony's EQ7, the bass range jumps from 62-157Hz, so if someone bumped those up, would a 100Hz bass line also be bumped up or not?? One part of me says the logical answer is YES, but the other part of me says NO because there's no band centered exactly at 100Hz.

Anyone??

THANKS! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Pioneer Guy

Not a stupid question.

The factors that affects the neighbouring frequencies are called "Q" & "slope". It is the rolloff from the boost/cut made by the equalizer at the frequency in question.

For example, if you made an adjustment at 100Hz on an EQ with a slope of 6dB/octave and a wide "Q", the adjustment would also affect neighbouring frequencies like 90Hz & 110Hz as well. On the flip side, if your EQ had a slope of 36dB/octave & a very narrow "Q" you would likely be adjusting very nearby frquencies like 99Hz & 101Hz.

I hope this answered your question somewhat & the botton line is that the higher the slope & narrower the "Q" the more accurate the EQ will be.

As far as your Sony EQ is concerned, the slope should be at least 12dB/octave but it may not have adjustable "Q" as this would make it a parametric EQ. If it's just a graphic EQ, you will not be able to adjust "Q", only boost & cut.

Good luck!

gmrulz4u

Thanks for your reply! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I guess I understand.

But it seems to me that EQ's are almost useless. Especially ones that have very few bands. Because if what you're saying is correct, using my EQ7 example, there would be NO possible way to lower ALL the frequencies between 1kHz and 16kHz by the same number of dB's.

And I'm assuming that when uneducated people try to use their EQ as a Volume Control by upping every single band, what they are in-fact doing is destroying the music itself by severly limiting the frequencies that are NOT getting boosted, correct?

THANKS AGAIN! [img]smile.gif[/img]

strappingyounglad

If you really want to cut ALL the frequencies by the same number of dBs, you can just turn down the volume

EQs are for correcting the response inside your car. Ideally, you shouldn't have to use one, but if you feel that certain frequencies are too loud, or not loud enough, a good EQ can help you. Of course, careless use of an EQ can make your music sound like crap...

Pioneer Guy

Totally!

EQs were used as "boosters" in the early days of car audio & all these guys did was max every band to get it as loud as possible.

Realistically, an EQ is a "problem solver". Ideally, once a car's sound signature has been mapped, an EQ can fix output at frequencies that are affected by the interior of the vehicle.

In a perfect scenario, an EQ would only be used to cut & never boost.

Your EQ7 is a great tool but if you're looking for some more serious processing you could probably do better with an EQ that:

(a) has more bands

or

(b) is parametric

Not to toot my company's horn or anything but all but one of Pioneer's CD players has a three band parametric EQ in them. This really helps in isolating a problem area & fixing it.

If you're looking to cut a range of frequency, you might be better off looking into some other products like an L-Pad or something. I'm not an expert in this area so I would suggest you try the install forum for something like that.

veeman

iTrader: (3)

Always remember that if your system doesn't sound good without an eq, then there is something wrong with the set up. I personally love having an eq(usually at least 10 bands) just for my moods and music type. The truth is that i rarely use it because my system sounds the way I want it too 95% of the time with no eq involved.