Do you use Equalizer?

[Raestloz]

iM@S is all about songs, so inevitably some of us ended up with an iM@S song or 2 in our playlist.

Now, do you use equalizer to listen to the songs? Maybe Bass Boost or some profile like "Pop"?

I personally don't. I don't know, feels like I'm not listening to it the way it's supposed to be. Also, I'm too fond of the normal ones that I find equalizer and/or Bass Boost (or treble, or whatever the hell was it) kind of makes them sound worse... 

[TweenDoriru]

I don't use anything on my computer, but when I put stuff on my iPod, it's different...my iPod is set to a "Vocal Booster" setting. I don't think it really changes how the songs sound, though, because I have way more than "an iM@S song or 2" and they all still sound great

I think the best way to listen to them is to use headphones instead of earphones. Headphones make everything sound awesome.

[Cael K.]

I think the best way to listen to them is to use headphones instead of earphones. Headphones make everything sound awesome.

Yup! My Ultrasones are so awesome.

Usually, though, if I use an equalizer, which one I use is dependent on the songs I play. When in doubt, just browse your settings.

[Raestloz]

I need to try that headphone thing. I've been using earphones for 2 months (one with a plug to block outside sounds, great sound but can't do karaoke with it ) and my PC speaker sounds so lousy compared to it.

I have around 50 (or more? I never count them) songs in my cellphone, and more in my PC. I constantly listen to them (been half a year or more already) and, well... equalizer sucks.

Don't get me wrong, I know someone out there loves equalizer (hence its creation), but I can't stand it.

[Magenta Galaxy]

Yeah, I'm not an equalizer fan personally. :w I prefer my music au naturalle.

[Scotty]

I prefer my equalizer settings like my women.

Bass boost.

[SalemJeanette]

The iPod "rock" setting is horrible for every song iM@S or not, i usually have it on Lounge or Pop.

[Cien Laguoire]

I prefer my equalizer settings like my women.

Bass boost.

Yea, gotta love dat bass...
Other than that, I don't really use sound equalizers.

[Cael K.]

Hmm... I just got my travelling pair of Nuforce earbuds in today and I was reminded of this thread. Why?

... I had to turn down the bass on these things. Some people might dig the bass these things put out, but to me it was a little overpowering. I had to mess with some EQ settings before I got something that sounded good to me.

So, as a more detailed answer to the question posed: any listening environment you got is going to sound different. Certain headphones will accent certain things that other headphones won't, and more over, every person has something they like to accent in their music more than another person might. My friend's JVC/Victors I think are more echoy than my Ultrasones. I know some people love their bass, but I prefer mine on the lighter side. Of course, this goes for earbuds and speakers, too. Even the room you're in can make a difference. Compare your bedroom to your bathroom.

So, just don't worry about what other people think. Find something that sounds right to you. If it's something you're not used to, or if you find yourself wishing that you could hear that background instrument better, try your EQ out. It might help.

[Scotty]

Bass can only sound horrid if the music you're playing is low quality....or if you're listening to it MUCH too loudly.

[Raestloz]

Bass can only sound horrid if the music you're playing is low quality....or if you're listening to it MUCH too loudly.

I listen to Shinku with 50% WMP volume, 100% Windows Master Volume, and 20% volume on my 2:1 speaker (pretty mild, actually) for 1 hour and a half straight. Without Bass Boost I find the "s" to be hurting my ear

Don't bass kinda obscure the vocals (vocal is treble, right? Or is it? I am under the impression treble = vocal)?

I tried vocal boost the other day. The voice is awesome (so freaking clear) but then I miss the BGM and switched back to normal XD

[Cael K.]

Don't bass kinda obscure the vocals (vocal is treble, right? Or is it? I am under the impression treble = vocal)?

Vocal is mainly mid-range... but you should look here since this guy looks like he knows what he's talking about. He actually recommends toning it down for more vocal clarity.

http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0400/OctaveEQ.htm

I'll have to give this stuff a whirl, I'm glad I found it.

For a bit of extra information, most singers and musicians know A-440 (a 440Hz sound wave). Adding octaves will boost this to 880Hz (around the max for really good sopranos) and 1760Hz, taking away octaves will lower it to 220 and 110 (in the middle of what most bass singers can produce).

However, whenever a singer makes an ear-piercing S, that's in the high range (according to the above, it's around 7kHz). Singers, don't sit too long on this sound. Please.

[Raestloz]

Vocal is mainly mid-range... but you should look here since this guy looks like he knows what he's talking about. He actually recommends toning it down for more vocal clarity.

http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0400/OctaveEQ.htm

I'll have to give this stuff a whirl, I'm glad I found it.

For a bit of extra information, most singers and musicians know A-440 (a 440Hz sound wave). Adding octaves will boost this to 880Hz (around the max for really good sopranos) and 1760Hz, taking away octaves will lower it to 220 and 110 (in the middle of what most bass singers can produce).

However, whenever a singer makes an ear-piercing S, that's in the high range (according to the above, it's around 7kHz). Singers, don't sit too long on this sound. Please.

That's a good read, so damn good I can't really follow him (too scientific for my casual brain), but he certainly knows what he's talking typing about

I guess it means my volume is way too loud, or maybe it's my ear

[Cael K.]

Just looking around right now, I found a more friendly site.

http://recording.songstuff.com/article/eq_frequencies

Simple and straight to the point. From what I gather, Lows are around 250Hz and under, Mid-Lows are up to around 500, Mids go to 2k, High-Mids seem to stop at around 6k, and Highs are anything above. When he says you can add warmth to your vocals by boosting 200-400Hz, just kick up the Mid-Lows.

Of course, as with anything, it requires a bit of self-experimentation.

[altuixde]

However, whenever a singer makes an ear-piercing S, that's in the high range (according to the above, it's around 7kHz). Singers, don't sit too long on this sound. Please.

Have you guys ever tried to find which singers have especially soft esses?  I think that Ritsuko has very little sibilance when she makes the S sound (just listen to the songs and talk tracks on Master Artist 10).  For tracks with lots of sibilance, however, a multiband compressor can really help in de-essing the sound (an actual de-esser plugin would probably help as well, but I don't have one of those).  A multiband compressor will attenuate the volume of the high frequencies (and also the other frequencies) when they get louder than a certain threshold.  I know that Macs have a multiband compressor built into the operating system; you can access it with apps like Vox, Audio Hijack Pro or one of the developer tools called AU Lab.  Here's the configuration I use:

Note that the graph is currently showing band 4, which is where all the sibilance is.

Edit: A Google search for "multiband compressor" "de ess" will yield some instructions on how to use a multiband compressor as a de-esser.  After doing this research, I have changed my de-essing settings, so some of the information in this post is old.