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I like the increased bass of my Campfire Honeydews, but the Teas fit better. So I just bass boost the Teas, problem solved.
Absolutist statements about how you shouldnât EQ or whatever arenât useful.
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Please tell me here where I said and absolutist statement that you shouldnât EQ. On the contrary. I said, I personally donât, but couldnât care less if someone needs it to enjoy their set. If they need, by all means, go ahead. What I said is, if you need to EQ something that has a different tuning than 90% of the market, itâs because you got the wrong IEM for your preferences. Please prove me wrong, Iâm all ears.
If you canât understand why you should get the closest to your target, even if you EQ them after, then I canât help you. If there were no drawbacks, everyone and their mother would be getting Mele for 50 bucks and target it to their curve. Think about that.
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The one question I have had about the Teas is the bass response looking at graph. I do not think eq is a great alternative as you will influence other parts of the spectrum. There is another set that better fit your preference curve but yes eq if you like it that way they are all yours
I think the Teas benefit greatly from a bit of EQ. The dip in the treble is extremely noticeable once you take it out. Unfortunately the Blessing 2 did not fit me, otherwise the B2 Dusk is probably exactly what I was looking for and wouldnât need EQ for my personal taste.
With that said, many high end headphones need EQ to really bring them to life. Audeze is notorious for this with their LCD headphones.
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EQ does not negatively effect the curve if you know what youâre doing. Adding Bass or a sub-bass shelf will not effect the mids or treble.
If done improperly, it can cause issues. With that said, EQ is EXTREMEY easy to A/B test. You can turn it on and off with the click of a button.
Does it sound better with it or with out? Simply choose the correct answer for you and stick with that.
EQ is quite possibly one of the easiest ways to improve the sound of a headphone because it can be so easily applied, adjusted, or removed. Literally the click of a button if youâre on a desktop.
There is no downside to using EQ as itâs instantly reversible if your system has the capability. If you donât, the answer is easy, you donât use it.
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I also feel the Harmon curve is a way to tune the iems. It ISN not a holy grail with all kinds of scientific research. It is a few people surveyed to find the ideal curve. There are other ways that are just as valid to tune. The headphone graphs with a bass shelf and pinna curve a shock. Speakers were tuned to a huge extent especially monitors to be flat plus /minus 2 db from flat. Many tighter than that.
Depends on the transducer, some respond very well to EQ will some are quite bad with it. Some can handle 20 db low-shelf sub-bass boost without a problem, some already loses a lot of quality with 3-5dbâŠ
Headphones are harder to tune than iems, and sub-bass for open-backs is especially hard to get right.
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The Audeze are a great example of headphones that greatly improve with eq. I agree with that. There are other headphones though that would be better fit to a preferred curve than the Audeze. I do not claim no one should eq. I put a bass shelf on my Sundaras that improved that part of the spectrum with little or no compromise. The question is are they better or just different? Your gear as I said eq if your happy with results.
Not all headphones need it, and if youâre happy with the sound, no need for it.
But many headphones greatly improve with it, including the Teas.
All EQ is, is adjusting volume levels at different frequencies. Yes, if the driver/transducer has high levels of distortion and you listen to volume levels that will cause it to distort, there are limitations.
But again, 0 downside as itâs a digital change that can be instantly reversed.
0 Downside does not mean it is needed, it simply means it can be tested without any risk and instantly removed.
Care to elaborate?
Sure!
âŠis not a true statement.
You definitely can damage the quality of the recording with EQ.
I hear it constantly working on EQ for my headphones when I have pushed the EQ too far for the transducer.
If you do not know how to properly use EQ or if you are using transducers that canât properly reproduce what you want them to through EQ, you will be degrading the source signal and hearing a compromised source, not an improved one. Pretty big downside.
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Except the second you hear it sounds off, you click a button, and itâs gone.
Again. No down side risk as itâs instantly and easily reversible. No financial loss, no changing of the headphone itself, itâs literally a volume change on specific parts of the frequency.
There is still an obvious downside to using EQ.
Yes, compromising the source integrity before the transducer.
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Sorry, this is my fault for not being more specific. I meant there is no downside risk.
You are correct, the downside can be if you incorrectly EQ it can make it sound worse than without it.
Having no downside Risk means itâs instantly reversible and there is no cost involved other than the time you spent applying the EQ. So long as you are hooked up to a source that has it, especially a desktop, you can use free software to apply or remove instantly any changes you make.
Sharing EQ profiles makes a lot of sense due to this. Itâs different than testing tips where a purchase is required. I can instantly apply your EQ settings, see if I like it or not, and then turn it off instantly if I decide I donât like it.
With the Mangird Tea, I highly recommend people test out a bit of EQ as I think it really helps them a lot. A lot of the âmissingâ detail compared to the Blessing 2 in my opinion is simply due to tuning and was instantly noticeable, especially with distorted guitars, when I turn my EQ profile on vs. off.
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Thank you.
I use EQ usually only with over ear headphones and I always feel there is something lost with EQ, but with over ears, itâs usually necessary and is not too damaging to the source depending on the headphone, but itâs always a case by case situation and I have to weigh the positives and the negatives of using EQ on every headphone I own. Some are simply not worth it such as the Aeolus.
I do not. Iâd suggest anyone unhappy with their IEM FR to do better at finding their personal FR preferences and find an IEM that is tuned to their preferences.
With IEMs, they are sometimes tuned right on the edge of the drivers performance. This is the case with the Mangird Tea and why itâs treble is tuned not to go past a certain treble amount. Itâs because the BA drivers will quickly move into poor BA timbre territory.
If youâre not happy with the way your IEM sounds, itâs always better to find one that better suits your preferences. Feel free to use EQ if you must but just know you are probably compromising the integrity of the music by doing so and you will not be judging the IEM by what itâs truly capable of by itself.
Remember, your IEM is designed to sound the way it sounds, especially any hybrid because it is made up of multiple drivers specifically catering to its FR.
You just hit the reason I rec the Mangird Tea ahead of the Blessing 2 in my tier 1 category and also exactly why I am completely against EQ for the reason youâre attempting to do it. If the tuning on the Mangird Tea is adjusted and boosted in itâs treble, youâre pushing the BA drivers into the territory of the Blessing 2 which suffers from poor BA timbre. The Tea is specifically tuned under that threshold so the BA timbre is not as obvious and annoying as on the Blessing 2.
This is exactly why the Tea is my #1 rec and NOT the Blessing 2.
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This is only true if your listening level brings it above the capability of the driver. Again, EQ is nothing more than volume changes.
There is 0 difference in the stress on the driver if you listen to your IEM at the same output level on your amp with or without EQ.
Let me clarify as this can be a bit confusing.
If I set my amp to 40% volume with no EQ or apply EQ but keep the amp at 40% volume there is absolute 0 difference to the max stress placed on the drivers.
The only difference is, some of the frequencies will be more quiet and end up being less stress on the driver. (This is why there is a negative pre-out on my EQ profile) The overall volume you are listening at will be less, but the volume in the frequencies that are boosted will be the same.
In terms of my experience with the Tea, the EQ greatly improves the sound at my listening levels. Itâs clear I am not maxing out the capability of the BA as I do not hear any negative effects.
Your statement is only true if someone was listening at levels that are at the max threshold of the specific transducer.
With that said, I would love to find an option that is 1. comfortable. 2. does not need EQ and 3. is at least on par with the Tea for technicalities in the same or lower price bracket.
Do you have any specific recs?
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I do not agree with the majority of what you just said. Youâre either not listening for timbre, itâs just not that important to you or itâs just not that apparent with your music library.
The point is, EQ does can have negative effects on the music and can have a negative impact on the transducers capability on properly reproducing sound the way it was intended to. Again, it is why many earphones and headphones can fall apart as soon as EQ is applied.
I think Iâve clearly made my point on this, which you even agreed with.
AnywayâŠ
I think thatâs what weâre all looking for in an IEM.
Here is my recommendation tier list⊠For you Iâd recommend going directly to the MEST MKII.
The IEM everyone should have - Blon BL03had been Tripowin Mele
My favorite IEM around $100 - Fiio FH3
Best Starter IEM - LZ A7. Find your preferred tuning.
TIER1 Best IEMs around $300 - Mangird Tea, Moondrop Blessing 2, TANCHJIM Oxygen
TIER2 Best IEMs around $500 - $700 - Safe tuned - Thieaudio Clairvoyance/Oracle, Xenns Up - Subbass tuned - Thieaudio Monarch, Moondrop Variations
TIER3 Endgame - Unique Melody MEST MKII - Authentic audiophile replay at itâs finest.
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