MZ-NH700 EQ frequency analysis

[greenmachine]

The first picture shows a disabled EQ vs. EQ on with all bands in neutral position.

100, 630 and 4kHz lowered/raised, compared to neutral position.

Individual bands 100, 250, 630, 1.6k and 4kHz at minimum/maximum position.

All bands down/up compared to neutral position.

10kHz down/up in logarithmic/linear view vs. neutral position.

Oddities: All bands behave as expected, except for 10k, which boosts from ~10k onwards and reaches its peak at 15-16k. Raising 10k lowers the overall volume, whereas raising other bands doesn't.

If you lower all bands, you'll gain low bass below 100Hz - if you raise all bands, you'll loose the lowest frequencies. There is no proper way to boost low frequencies, like in earlier models with sound 1/2 or megabass.

Discuss.

Edited June 7, 2007 by greenmachine

[The Low Volta]

this is great stuff greenmachine... makes me rethink my eq-setting! I always presumed all flat and lowest 2 bands raised a bit would provide a bit more bass, but it seems lowering all but the last or perhaps even all bands a bit actually does more good for the bass perception

will try this immediately... (the pana's RP-JE50's are efficient enough to accept a bit of lowering...other, less efficient phones could suffer from lack of loudness with this technique...)

just a couple of quick thoughts...

- at first glance eh... hearing it seems to work very much with my NH900, just lowered all bands two notches (lowest 2 band were raised two...now flat, all the rest = now negative) and it seems to add more bass than I ever had before... still, seems a bit unclear/bloated, not sure what I prefer... might return to a near-flat eq'ing

- even though I seem to percieve this 'phenomenon' ... how realistic is it that this actually will be the same for the NH900, as it has a different amp (than the NH700 with which these test were performed)... am I in fact "placebo'ing"(=imagining) things?

[greenmachine]

Try something like (-2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2), (-1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2), (-1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1) or (0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1) instead if you want to raise the bass. I think 250Hz adds a great part of the 'bloat'. It should be lowered together with the other bands.

[The Low Volta]

I was on 0,0,-1,-2,-2,-1 (as I felt the mids/lower highs were a bit overaccentuated with the pana's) but in fact with 0,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1 it does sound less bloated and still very warm/full...thanks again ye green master !

I do have to use volume 19-20/30 now in stead of the 15-16/30 I used to...so like I said, this method could fail for less efficient phones

*edit: slight adjustment to relfect my current settings

Edited January 2, 2006 by The Low Volta

[sebastianbf]

can anyone explain me PLEASE how to read these frequency analysis. I've see a lot of them but cannot understand the significance of the levels on them. Please guys, just a brief explanation

Thanks in advance

[greenmachine]

The horizontal axis represents frequency (measured in Hz), while the vertical axis represents amplitude (measured in decibels). The higher the line, the higher the level/amplitude/volume. The frequency range goes from very low frequencies (left) to high frequencies (right). Hz is the abbrevation of Hertz, which is a unit of frequency of one cycle per second. 1000Hz = 1000 (waves) per second. 1000Hz and 1kHz are the same value. Anything below 20Hz or above 20kHz can be ignored as these are roughly the human ear's limits. A logarithmic scale fits better for analyzing low frequencies, while a linear scale is more detailed for higher frequencies. Anything below roughly 100Hz is described as 'bass', whereas frequencies from ~4kHz upwards are called 'treble'. Human voice is usually somewhere in the 500-1000Hz region.Every doubling of the frequency equals one octave. 20-20000Hz are roughly 10 octaves. Instruments are usually tuned to A440 (note 'A', 440 Hz). It's the same if you for example raise all frequencies below 100Hz or lower all frequencies above and adjust the master volume afterwards. This way you can gain real deep bass by lowering all bands equally and adjusting the volume afterwards. If you just raise the 100Hz band, you'll get no real deep bass, but just exactly 100Hz will be raised, nothing below. If you lower all bands, you'll loose some amount of the maximum volume, which should be no issue with reasonably efficient headphones though.

Edited January 3, 2006 by greenmachine

[sebastianbf]

thanks greenmachine

[pauljones52]

Really useful stuff thanks greenmachine, have set my eq lower now. Just wondered what volume level you tested it at, as it seems that the top ~3 notches before maxium volume increase the treble but not the bass (in my personal opinion). Most likely to prevent distortion due to excessive bass.

[greenmachine]

I've tested it at 25/30. This is the maximum volume before the (non-hacked european model) limiter sets in as far as i know.

[Bigmoe88]

Thanks guys, i think i might go with the MZ-RH910, would that be a pretty good upgrade from the MZ-S1?

[Sony_Fan]

Best bass on an RH1 model is with EQ set to: +3,0,-1,0+1,+2. I didn't do any frequency analysis, I just put the earphones on and listened to some bass heavy music.

[Strungup]

On my RH1 , using Yamaha Rh5ma headphones , I have to turn the bass down a bit . Dream Theater, and Symphony X are heavy enough without ADDINg to them