Analog vs digital EQ

Equalization of the sound can be accomplished both in analog and digital DSP. Which is better?

[raulgarcia]

This is probably one of the best explanations on the use of eq I’ve found so far. Very practical and non judgmental.

[ThinkingBetter]

Since audio for near 100% nowadays is already digital from the source, DSP is the way to go for most people and EQ can greatly improve the audio when used to fine tune the tonal balance.
EQ is great for room compensation in the bass, tiny tweaks, loudness compensation (Fletcher Munson) and high treble rejuvenation (compensate for your age related hearing loss). The company miniDSP is a popular option for the hardware. Dirac is a popular option for the DSP firmware.
Usually these products provide a bypass mode to allow the music to route through it 100% unchanged, if you want to A/B compare.
DSP EQ is used for precision calibration in modern active speakers and automotive audio.

[mat.b.]

I'm a big fan of EQing. I prefer analog tone controls over digital. Sure, digital has more fine tuning (and I use it for that on one system, i use both!) but analog is limited to factory set shaping; but digital is also more prone to clipping, and analog tends to be much noisier. It's a pick your poison situation. That said, I've always found analog EQing to have the best tone and sound. I have analog bass controls that always (always!) go deeper and richer than any digital EQ could do, if I did it digitally it would clip and sound muddy and not nearly reach as deep. Digital is like a scalpel and is great for minor tweaking, especially for treble since you can cut specific frequencies; but for bass and mids analog is king.

[spacemissing]

I normally run my equipment "flat", but I will Not use an amplifier or receiver that doesn't have tone controls.
There are too many reasons in favour and too few against,
including the fact that some recordings need a tweak to make them listenable.

[ericnortan]

I have an RME dac with DSP. Bass, treble, loudness and a parabolic EQ. I don't really use them, but the EQ is nice to play with. I have a terrible L shaped room and the EQ works nice to calm the bass response when we are rocking out, I can target the offending freqs and cut them.

[kishoregidwani]

Not all recordings are perfect or are suited to individual listener. Since hearing choices vary, EQ helps to customize sound as per liking.

In my case analogue EQ helped to give more weight to extra big and powerful speakers.

[karledwards]

The reason most preamps don't have bass and treble controls is that they are crude, a one size fits all solution with no adjustment other than gain with a fixed frequency response. DSP on the other hand is easily adjusted for center frequency, gain, Q, and filter type. Multiple digital filters can be used selectively and tailored to each systems needs.

[soundgebob]

True 100% 😮 also, the equipment is a part of the EQ. if it's a digital or analog, it doesn't matter

[slerched]

Analog us analog, digital use digital makes perfect sense.

In terms of using EQ, well I have to admit, I am hard of hearing and have hearing aids. I will adjust EQ to match my hearing aid curve (in much, much, much better granularity than I have in the HA itself) so that I can remove the hearing aids and still hear what the artist expected (as close as I am able to replicate that giving me crappy hearing, of course).

Parametric EQ, with L/R level EQ control is a game changer for me. But EQ, as Paul says, isn't for everyone. For me, it's great.

[stephenstevens]

When octave records records a track, that board is nothing but a huge equalizer. So, don't say that you are not a fan of eq. The recording engineer eqs the tracks as they are recorded. If your personal musical taste differs from that of the engineer, then using an equalizer is a natural choice for altering that signal more to your liking. I spent a significant part of my life playing live music, being in the studio and after my playing days, working as a live music engineer on the soundboard. Processing music of any kind is totally wrapped up in EQ. Audiophiles saying that tone controls of any kind is heresy is simply hubris.

[finscreenname]

Hi pass, low pass filters, crossovers, Bass and treble controls, balance, interconnects, pre amps, power amps, cables, room treatments, bass traps, listening chair position, speaker position, etc, etc, etc and yet an EQ is a bridge to far....

[sailormansteve]

I would like to see an EQ for people with hearing loss. It would be great if I could enter my hearing loss graph and have the EQ automatically boost the correct frequencies the correct amount so that I can hear the music the way it was recorded. There are a lot of older audiophiles who would be able to use this. This would be a lot like a hearing aid built into your stereo.

[stimpy]

Roon's Parametric Equalizer used judiciously until you get the hang of it is really wonderful and so is there algorithm for upsampling.

[andydelle]

Don't like bass and treble controls? How about we also throw an old DBX expander box into the chain! Remember those? (I have three, a 119, DBX1, and a DBX3)
EQ is a tool. As long as there is a bypass switch I see no issues at all. Like any tool, use it only as you need it.

[Wangster]

Good points sir, but I'd like to add that vinyl = eq. Speakers, such as Watt Puppies with big ole woofers are eq. If you like some chorus or flange effects to your guitar, there's that phase shift and in small amounts is almost magical. Ain't pure that's fer sure, red pill or blue pill haha.

[aceofspades]

klark teknik dn370 is what I own.. a 30 band 1/3 octave analog fully balanced EQ. I don't always use it but I put it in the chain when I want to change the frequency response of certain headphones. For example I like a +3 to +6 eq in sub bass region frequencies for HD800s.

[michaelturner]

Reading through the comments, I think the melted looking PC keyboard was a main talking point from this video.

[jimbennett]

Why don't high end pre amps have bass and treble controls? I've heard there is a phase problem when dealing with them. It would be nice to turn the bass down on MOFI records. I run Audio Research tube Amp and Pre amp and I remember back in the day when I bought them NONE of the high end equipment had them and everyone I talked to said it messed up the phase / sound. Love your channel by the way !

[frankienebula]

Do larger 18 woofers require more power then 15 woofers?

[odizcvw]

Great advice IMHO.
I use only one source which is a digital streamer/DAC with nice triode analogue output. The player software (moOde) has a parametric equalizer built in, and it works well to fix up the dips and peaks at the listening position. I see no degradation in sound quality with the dsp in the signal chain but big improvement in sounding natural with a flat response.