What's the best all-purpose equalizer setting on iTunes?

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I changed it to manual at some point, and now I have to change it every time the song changes. What's the best all-around equalizer setting to put it on so everything sounds okay?

― Leon Neyfakh (Leon Neyfakh), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"off"

(seriously)

(especially if you have all kinds of music)

― arch Ibog (arch Ibog), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

My equalizer looks like this:

http://www.truckworld.com/Shows-Events/01-Truxpo-Daytona/equalizer-02-600.jpg

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I use "Electronic", sort of equal on the highs and lows, but it's got a dip and a peak in the middle. However, the computer goes through my amp which has both bass and treble knobs set rather high. This works fantastically with my speakers, which sound a tad empty when the amp's on the mid settings.

― astropatty (adr), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I will second "off", unless you are compensating for really awful speakers...in which case, take something you know really well, and change the eq until it sounds right.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I used Full Bass & Full Treble

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Hm, I definitely wouldn't put my speakers in the "awful" bracket, although they can be a little bass heavy sometimes for the rickety old shelves they sit on. Perhaps it's my sound card that's at fault, because my turntable and TV don't need any EQing on the amp whatsoever.

― astropatty (adr), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Are they stuck down with blu-tack or anything?

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually - ignore that, since you say they sound fine with your turntable.

Someone else was saying they hated the sound iTunes made, compared with other mp3 players. I can't say I've ever had any cause to complain, though.

I always have my equaliser turned off.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh - try taking that 'sound enhancer' thing off too, if you haven't already. That makes some tracks sound awful.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

(in the 'Audio' section of Settings)

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Someone else was saying they hated the sound iTunes made, compared with other mp3 players.

That could well have been me.

I really don't understand what it is I'm hearing, but to put it as simply as possible, the codec seems to emphasise the wrong parts of music that I'm familiar with (compared to the playback from CD/mp3 in other programs or even minidisc copies of things). To the extent that it distracts & infuriates.

I never did find a setting that compensated really, although some helped it still never really approached 'right'-ness. I use nothing or full bass/treble usually in Winamp depending on if it's amped up or through headphones (fwiw).

That's a different discussion anyway. I found most of the iTunes preset EQ settings a little extreme tbh, but maybe they are like that to demonstrate it's flexibility?

― fandango (fandango), Thursday, 26 May 2005 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

The Volume Logic Plug-in is fantastic. It's a little pricey at $20, but the sound improvement is very noticeable. If you get this plug-in, you shut off the iTunes EQ.

Also, your EQ settings are fairly relevant to your output source (i.e. speakers, stereo, tin can, etc.)

― don weiner, Thursday, 26 May 2005 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

treble booster

it makes everything sound nice

― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Thursday, 26 May 2005 22:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh! I thought you'd hit the nail on the head then, but when I went into "preferences" the sound enhancer was already off! I put it on, and sure enough the quality dropped dramatically. Is it some kind of stereo effect booster, seperating different frequencies to different channels?

I think the problem's probably just that when I'm sitting here fiddling with the EQ the sudden change in sound shocks me. If someone were to turn it off while I'm out, I doubt I'd notice when I got back.

xpost - fandango OTM. In a lot of things it seems to push the vocals right back into the mix, making them sound completely different to how I remember them. However, I found the EQ sorted this out enough for me. The presets are definitely on the extreme side and are the same on the iPod.

― astropatty (adr), Thursday, 26 May 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

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