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08-27-2013, 10:32 PM | #1 |
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Best EQ Setting
Whatsup guys, I've searched through countless posts about the best EQ setting you can have on the 1, but I have not really found a straight forward answer. Please share what you think would be the best equalizer setting for the best sound. I mostly listen to Hip-Hop and occasionally some house music. I have a 2011 135i with the Harmon Kardon upgraded speakers. Thanks in advance
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09-10-2013, 06:42 PM | #2 |
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Funny because I was just going to start a thread about this. I need to know what has been tried and tested. It seems that I can't balance it properly. I'm a musician and I have no issues on stage with sound, but for some reason, this car is impossible! Any song recommendations as a good song to set your EQ to? Thanks!
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09-10-2013, 06:54 PM | #3 | |
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09-11-2013, 01:52 PM | #4 | |
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09-12-2013, 01:51 AM | #5 |
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Let me start by saying that I'm a bit of a wannabe audiophile. I have spent a few years getting my home hi-fi together and as such, I am a compressed music snob that treasures vinyl and a minimum of CD quality. Hell, we've all got to be a PITA about something - right?
IMHO the HK system is a good upgrade compared to what you get standard, but that isn't saying much. There are some that will say it is a good setup with nice clarity but it really does depend on what you are comparing it to. My previous car was a Golf R and I had an aftermarket setup installed: original head unit, sub in the back, Alpine amps, top of the range Focal 6" splits etc. It was tuned by a local legend in the car hi-fi scene here. It was a system that constantly amazed me and all who heard it. Maybe a little unfair to compare the HK to it but I do miss it badly! A better example is probably when I had a Volvo when living in Sweden. The premium system in that was Dynaudio and it was better than the HK. So that disproves the old "you get what you pay for" adage, because you get more in the music dept with a Volvo In fairness to the HK, the clarity is pretty good but it is missing that punchy tight mid bass. Even the Dynaudio system gave you that punch to the chest feeling at higher volumes, I find the mid & lower bass with the HK to be bloated particularly at mid to higher volumes. The problem is that it needs a little more mid bass in particular, but if it is not quality sound, I think it just makes it sound worse. In my searching on this subject, I found a lot of people really ramping up the bass frequencies but I think it sounds awful when you do that. So, why am I putting up with the HK setup? Because to put in a decent aftermarket system will require a lot of cutting and I'm not sure I want to do that.....not yet anyway. It would have been nice if BMW found a way to get 6" speakers in there, I don't think the 4" HKs are very good and I really don't like the sound coming from the under seat subs. The tweeters however sound pretty good to me. So, on to the equalizer settings. I have spent a lot of time on this including doing a spectrum analysis and here is what I am using at the moment, that I consider passable: 100Hz........ -3 200Hz........ -6 500Hz........ -8 1kHz.......... -7 2kHz.......... -3 5kHz.......... +3 10kHz........ -5 Treble....... neutral Bass......... +1 Surround... OFF Maybe you can start with these and then fine tune to your ear? FYI, I listen to a fairly broad range of music but not hip hop & rap. Some examples would be Interpol, Massive Attack, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Cure, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel, CCR, Metric, Beck, Bat for Lashes and some soundtrack stuff. As far as music to use for equalizing, I've always believed that most jazz will test a system's bass capability. I'm not a jazz fan myself but I specifically bought a Dianna Krall CD to audition my speakers for home. It was amazing how many hopefuls fell by the wayside with bloated bass when it got that low. Enya's Caribbean Blue is a good song for bass and anything from my Mezzanine album by Massive Attack will suffice as well. I agree with Greg, the live version of Hotel California is a good all rounder. Edgar Winter's Frankenstein is a cool one and don't laugh, but Axel F is also a good one to use - there is a constant clicking type noise in the background right through the track, I don't know what instrument is playing it but make sure you can hear it clearly. Cheers Last edited by cat-like; 09-12-2013 at 02:09 AM.. |
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09-12-2013, 03:16 PM | #6 | |
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I will try them out right now (in 2 minutes when I drive home from school). I like jazz so I will run some albums and see what they sound like. I also love rock and metal and all of the above. Thanks again! |
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09-25-2013, 04:52 PM | #7 | |
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Thank you sir!!
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10-09-2013, 08:11 PM | #8 | |
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I'd also like to add to the "test tracks" list - anything from the newly remastered Fleetwood Mac "Rumors", and the track Game Of Love from the newest Daft Punk album.
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10-13-2013, 05:41 PM | #9 |
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cat-like,
I tried your settings in my 1M with HK system and I'm very pleased. Like you said, it's passable, which is much more than can be said for the various settings I tried. Thank you so much for your thoughtful post. Rock on!! |
10-13-2013, 11:14 PM | #10 | |
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Just remember, the settings I suggested are a good place to start as they are much closer to ideal than starting with a flat eq. You should still be prepared to adjust if needed to suit your ear or your type of music from there. I'd actually be very happy to try anyone's variations on this. |
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10-14-2013, 12:12 AM | #11 | ||
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10-14-2013, 03:40 AM | #12 |
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...and there lies the dilemma, the mid bass is the biggest issue. I'd be keen to see your settings once you've done something.
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10-14-2013, 09:19 AM | #13 |
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Yeah not having a mid setting is a real pain. Will report back soon.
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11-08-2013, 12:53 PM | #14 |
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Bumping this - Here are my current settings. A slight improvement for me on what was already posted earlier:
Bass +1 Treble 0 Balance 0 Fade +1 rear Logic7 OFF 80hz -3 200hz +3 500hz -1 1khz -2 2khz 0 5khz +3 10khz -5
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11-08-2013, 01:00 PM | #15 | |
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Granted I don't have mine in front of me but am pretty sure mine looks like: Treble +3 Bass +2 Balance 0 Fade 0 Surround On Then not sure if your frequencies are in the order they appear but mine is a simple, symmetrical arc that is something like +2, +2, +1, 0, +1, +2, +2, although it's possible I only have +2s on the two ends and one in from the end is only +1, to get all technical. =P My settings, at least for me, sound amazing, crisp and clear, with good bass (but not too much). I might try yours out, see what I think, too and may post a picture of mine as well. |
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11-08-2013, 01:25 PM | #16 | |
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Edit: I have to say that fading the sound one click to the rear made a pretty significant difference.
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11-08-2013, 01:28 PM | #17 | |
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I'll also try one click on the fade to the rear on the way home as several people have suggested that which I never considered cause it seems counter-intuitive since I'm in the front and wanted a balanced sound. |
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11-08-2013, 06:02 PM | #18 |
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Got pics now! And tried one click fade to the rear which did seem to add a bit of bass+maybe some extra mid-range, but it actually bothered my ears, so I moved it back to neutral.
Here's both what my settings are and how it looks on my screen which shows there's a subtle difference since yours shows 80 Hz and mine shows 100 Hz as the first one, which is weird, but mine's at: 100 Hz +2 200 Hz +2 500 Hz +1 1 kHz 0 2 kHz +1 5 kHz +2 10 kHz +2 |
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11-08-2013, 07:14 PM | #19 |
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My favorite song to dial a system in is Donald Fagan's I.G.Y from his album The Nightfly. Back when I was doing rock and roll touring, I kept a CD with just that song on it, and looped it while I walked around the arena to hear it everywhere. I started using it initially doing studio recordings and getting my head and ears calibrated to the monitors in the control room. The reason I use this song is the range of sound, and the amazing clarity of each instrument in the recording.
It opens up with a light cymbal roll and a light keyboard pad, with a keyboard staccato blip, and an arpeggio effect on a different keyboard, really highlighting how well the tweeters are doing their job, and letting you know if there's any comb filtering going on due to poor placement or flying of the rig. The kick is solid and makes a nice thump everywhere in the arena if you got it right. It's married to the bass guitar perfectly extending the range of the bottom end. Then the full drum kit kicks in with a light guitar accompanied by more keys, still distinct although in the same frequency range. Then the horns. Ooooh the horns. A beautiful blend of just the right attack and sustain. To they resonate in the room, or are they as clear as you remember? Then Donald comes in with his nicely shaped tenor voice, cutting right through the middle of it all, and amazingly not stepping on the trailing note of the horns. You can hear the resonance in his nasal cavity when he says "the future looks bright." The backup singers with their lilting voices spread left to right seamlessly, drawing you in, just in time to be graced by the horns again. Then the electric piano shimmers above it all. Mind you this is from memory. I may be a little off on some of the progression, but I think I got it right. When the kick in this song feels like it's in the middle of your chest, you got the bottom end right. When the electric piano and keyboards come across like silk, with the horns and voice filling the space between them perfectly down to the the amazingly lyrical bass, you have done the rest right. As for the settings, honestly, it's all about what sounds good to you. I recommend playing with the settings and going deliberately completely awful, then tuning in each frequency you have control over. I'd start with everything all the way down and the treble and bass at the center position. It's going to sound like you covered your speakers with pillows. Then bring the bottom end up so the kick drum sounds round and full, but you won't have the attack. Then I'd look in the 5kHz range to find the attack of the beater on the kick. This will start to bring the snap of the snare drum in and the lower end of the cymbals. Then go for the 10kHz range and let the cymbals gain clarity and feel the "pop" of the snare. Now start on the voice with the 500 and 1k settings. Fill out the voice with 2k to get the "presence" of the vocal (which is usually between 2.5 and 3.5, but we work with the tools we have, not what we want sometimes). Now go to the 200 range and let the bass guitar and the top end of the kick make itself known. Mark the settings somehow. Pick a different song. Work the same magic on that one. See where the differences are. Rinse, repeat. Now you have some good data, and can find a nice sweet spot where all the songs you really know well sound great, and the rest should be fantastic, too.
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11-08-2013, 09:47 PM | #20 | |
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11-24-2013, 01:25 AM | #21 |
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i dont have EQ in my car , i want to upgrade the sound system to harmon carden , i remember that there was a thread but i didn't find because i am browsing from a mobile , can any one tell me which parts should i buy and how to install ? there will be a code needed to get the EQ ??
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