Do you use Equalizer?

[PinoyCruger]

I didn't use the equalizer but, can you please give me a recommended equalizer for me.

[altuixde]

PinoyCruger - Your desktop picture shows that you have Windows Media Player, which I think has an equalizer.  This Google search may help you find how to activate it.  Also, if you have a portable media player or a smartphone, that may have an equalizer as well.  However, I'd recommend a parametric equalizer with multiple control points; I find them easier to use than a graphic EQ.  But since I'm not so familiar with Windows software, I can't recommend a specific parametric equalizer.  Let me know if you have a Mac in addition to your Toshiba laptop.   

[baruhara]

My iPod has an Equalizer that I always have set on "Bass Boost", which makes it easier to play along with my bass guitar, since I can pick out the timing better.

[Milwaukee12]

I don't use a software equalizer.  However I have a 10-band equalizer on my stereo system.  So everything I play sounds great!

[chikorita157]

Personally, I don't use any equalizer on my iPhone since I rather hear the music as intended and that I have good enough headphones that using it would be pointless.

[kaeru-P]

By nature most music are already have been equalized after the recording by the staff behind the music. But of course as an Audiophile I prefer enhancing the sound more, Equalizers is a double edged sword it can make your music terrible or equally good if you know what to do.

Personally I do use it, naturally the sound driver tends to do a crappy job by itself so I prefer uplifting certain instruments which can't be normally heard, its quite noticeable when your using quality Headphones

I use an AudioTechnica  ATH-SJ55 Its a Terrific Headphone with a decent soundstage and bass, a perfect all rounder headphone despite just being a monitor type of Headphone and its quite cheap (its actually still expensive but still cheaper than the rest). Imo this headphone can even give some more expensive headphones a run for the money.

I highly reccomend YOU dont use the presets, its preferrable you get familiar with what those sliders are here's a great Simple tutorial on what those 250,500,2k, etc. mean

http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/tutorials/ituneseq/

Im thinking of buying a Audiotechina's new ATH-M50 I've already head terrific reviews about it, but its damn expensive (2.5x ATH-S55's price) but you can at least expect the sound to be that good

[Cael K.]

Yeah, honestly speaking, even after a song's been fine-tuned and mastered, some speakers/headphones will accent things more than others, so it really can't be said that lack of equalizer is listening to songs as the artist intended. There are ones out there specifically targeted towards those who don't know much about headphones that are stupid overpriced - they typically have accented bass, and some of it's freaking ridiculous. Not saying that all bass-heavy headphones are bad, it's just one of the first things that people notice so some companies bloat it and it stands out, then they market it like it's the best thing ever, but it's not even good bass.

However, if cold and analytical is your style, I hear the Head Direct/HiFiMan RE-0's don't do much to color sound as it comes out (meaning that you do, in fact, hear things about exactly as mastered), though I hear lately they've been having breakage problems. Etymotic Research had an offering similar to that, and I don't think has the same problems from what I've heard... I think they were the ER-4P's.

EDIT: Messed up a company name. Geez...

[kaeru-P]

Yeah, honestly speaking, even after a song's been fine-tuned and mastered, some speakers/headphones will accent things more than others, so it really can't be said that lack of equalizer is listening to songs as the artist intended. There are ones out there specifically targeted towards those who don't know much about headphones that are stupid overpriced - they typically have accented bass, and some of it's freaking ridiculous. Not saying that all bass-heavy headphones are bad, it's just one of the first things that people notice so some companies bloat it and it stands out, then they market it like it's the best thing ever, but it's not even good bass.

However, if cold and analytical is your style, I hear the Head Direct/HiFiMan RE-0's don't do much to color sound as it comes out (meaning that you do, in fact, hear things about exactly as mastered), though I hear lately they've been having breakage problems. Etymotic Ears had an offering similar to that, and I don't think has the same problems from what I've heard... I think they were the ER-4P's.

Indeed some people think Bass=Quality, I even remember one time I went through a store the seller was advertising a headphone to me he spoke about the bass, and I inquired about the Highs the mids and the lows, the soundstage and etc. he was pretty dumbfounded xD though I just changed the subject instead I dont wanna be mean and bully uninformed people and for the fact he was simply doing his job xD

Too bad Im more of a cans person I used to be the earphones-guy but I prefer headphones now as an alternative to AudioTechnica, Seinheiser's a pretty good one.

[Elixir]

Equalizers are terrible. What is this, 2001?

[Melanpan]

Kinda bumping the topic here but,

I'm using a 12 band hardware stereo EQ, mainly to boost the bass and treble a little. Though I keep the mids fairly the same.
I'm more of a speaker guy, sadly enough, the acoustics in my room are crap. The bass in songs like Megare sound like crap in my room.

I'm really tempted to replace my current amplifier rig though that exists out of amplifiers people throw away ^^;. (The DAC in my 5.1 amplifier seems broken or just simply bad, it's distorting in the highs).

Anyway I'm drifting off -.-

[altuixde]

Recently I (re?)discovered that using EQ can make music sound really good on my Sony headphones. The problem is that an EQ that works well with one song may not work well with another. A music player that supports per-track EQ would help. I know of two music players that can do this: iTunes and Neutrino. Both apps have various weaknesses, so I'd rather not use either for playing music, at least not their current versions. So, are there any other music players out there that support per-track EQ? I've searched and I don't think there are any, at least not for Mac. But it can't hurt to ask, right?

[altuixde]

I bought Neutrino two weeks ago (I caved) and I now can say that per-track EQ and effects is indeed awesome. It's even possible to have different settings for different headphones and speakers (by cloning playlists). Also, unlike iTunes, there's no delay between when you drag the EQ sliders and when you hear the result. Neutrino hasn't been updated in a while, I'm not sure if it's ever going to have a significant update again and, at 30 bucks, it's not the cheapest; but I'm so glad I got it. The app has a 30 day trial, so if you have a Mac, you can try it for free.

I wasted my free trial more than a year ago, that's why I had to buy it in order to try out the per-track EQ again.