As far as I know, EQ purely fixes tonality issues. And tonality issues are user dependant, as its mostly preference.
I think Torq has his responses pretty nailed here. There is no missing detail being brought in with EQ.
7 Likes
I disagree again.
I hear a lot more information than before with my ‘preferred’ EQ .
I am sorry but I am in this hobby to enjoy my listening experience and not get caught up in theories.
Like I said we are never going to agree.
Yup.
If you throw out everything to do with targets, and just think about the balance between fundamental tones and their resonant harmonics, this balance alone is not the reason to get the LCD-5 in my opinion, and it is better achieved in some headphones that cost far less. I love the LCD-5, and it’s currently in my top 2 favorite headphones, but I would choose something else if I couldn’t EQ. That default FR is just too shouty for me, due to the darker treble and upper midrange forwardness - even though the treble balance itself is pretty good. Now, as to whether something is lost when you EQ, I don’t think there’s anything perceptually relevant that’s lost as long as it’s done correctly and within reason. You should ideally end up with a more desirable result. Again, it’s entirely possible that the default LCD-5 FR works for some people because that’s how they want their music to sound.
Edit: Some wording
10 Likes
I absolutely agree to this
Never have EQ’d any of my Audeze headphones. When I can order the LCD5, I think I will try to EQ it just a little, IF what I hear out of the box seems to be a bit too much mids-shouty for instance. BUT, if it sounds OK to my un-educated ears, then I would just call it good and proceed to get in many tens of thousands of pleasurable hours of listening. Maybe aural [relative] ignorance is bliss? I am pretty picky about how my setup sounds, to my ears, but in no way would I consider myself an “audiophile”. Anyway, really want to hear LCD5 someday, preferably in my own system I own.
I agree 100%…If a HP sound signature is such that I need to use EQ to enjoy it then I find a different HP…in truth I like that my many HP’s all have strengths and weaknesses and some are better at different genres of music but hey, if EQ works for people god bless
1 Like
EQ cannot add detail to a recording.
EQ can take away dynamic range and detail through digital reduction of gain. The amount it does this is usually not within our ability to perceive as humans, if the reduction is done within non-extreme levels. Some people automatically assume using EQ=distortion. This is not true, especially with digital EQ, and is an outdated audiophile idea from the days (think 1970’s) of garbage analog EQ’s. Good analog EQ=expensive.
EQ can increase your perception of “detail,” especially if boosting the high end.
EQ is a very useful tool.
EQ is non destructive, free to try, and easy to do. Use it if you like it, if you don’t, don’t. Its not a big deal 
15 Likes
EQ is not magically going to add more detail to a song BUT it will MAYBE help you hear details in certain frequencies you couldn’t hear before IF the headphones tonal balance is such that said frequency is subdued and therefore you can not hear them.
I EQ to enjoy music full stop.
Well said 
8 Likes
I’ve had a number of hours today to spend with the HSA-1b (coming from the V550), and yeah, it’s noticeably different. So much so, that I needed to readjust my low end (40hz and down) EQ settings as this amp really delivers sounds different than what I was used to. I immediately notice the low end, but the more I listen, I am finding that I’m noticing more impact from all ranges, but differently (something I need more time with to describe as I’m not a pro reviewer). I might be moving towards preferring no EQ w/ this amp…which I never imagined would be the case. With Partition - Beyoncé (Partition) for example, I didn’t enjoy the prior EQ settings (mostly in sub-bass).
I honestly didn’t know if I would hear anything at all by moving amps, and I was more than prepared for that to be the case. Money-wise, it’s about the same to me (after taxes, shipping, etc). And, the V550 has better features (with an amazing remote). I don’t know if the difference in the way sound is presented is covering up positive qualities from the other amp or not. The sum of the sound is more appealing, but I don’t know exactly why. I have a full year to return the V550, so I’ll likely hang on to it for a while and further compare. That is, if I care enough to mess w/ it all. My amp stack is getting tall as is as I have a Carbon CC sitting at the bottom taking up space as well (while I wait for CRBN’s to arrive). And, I have a DNA amp on order (which has a 12-month delay to build, so I have time).
But, I also just ordered an XLR switcher today. So, maybe once I set that up, I’ll try to do a bit more of a focused comparison.
What’s REALLY tough for me (in making any sort of decent judgment on this personally, let alone writing about it), is that I can’t swap back and forth immediately (which the switcher doesn’t fix, but helps w/ the process). And, being that I’m running HQPlayer, there’s an additional several-second delay to swap between songs (but would be more than doable for a/b testing).
All of this said, I don’t see myself keeping the V550. It’s not that it’s bad, and w/ the EQ I was running, it produced an overall amazing experience. But, there’s no question that it rolls off the bass differently. And how the sound is presented is clearly different. Because of this, I think this combo (in my chain of audio gear) can be so much more. I’d much prefer to EQ to help w/ the chain, but ideally not to fix something. And, it’s clear that I’m hearing more sub-bass than was available before.
Finally, I’m not good with explaining what I’m hearing to others as I’m struggling to even compare them in a meaningful way. Blind split testing would be ideal, and the only honest way to provide any sort of meaningful (and honest) feedback. So, I wouldn’t trust a word of feedback I’m providing and I encourage everyone to do the same. Being that I won’t be able to blind test, I don’t know how much of what I’m hearing is imagined. The bass differences were immediate, however. So I have no question about that. And, I am happy with what I’m hearing. All in all, I think it was a good move to order this amp.
3 Likes
I’m not sure either and thus my question.
We have a data point for 16 ohm being usable.
With my 29 ohm RAD-0, I prefer 3 ohm or 8 ohm with a tube amp, but can see people preferring the additional bass bloom yet not as tight of 32 ohm with a Mogwai SE.
3 Likes
The EQ wars will never end.
I hope those who jump on the EQ bandwagon (I’m one of them) realize the LCD-5, unlike any other headphone or sound equipment I’ve ever heard, changes dramatically after a couple of days. It’s really weird; it’s not like it feels like the sound waves themselves altered significantly, but somehow my brain shifted on day 3 and now I am really, really enjoying this headphone, with only a small low shelf that I appreciate for some EDM tracks but is not really necessary for most music.
Not saying you should/should not EQ! Just that several people have reported a much bigger break-in for this headphone than expected, and that may change some minds as to how much EQ they want, if any.
At a minimum don’t fully judge the headphone, or take any EQ too seriously, until at least a few days of dedicated listening. Audeze reps have stated as much, mentioning softening of the earpads (in addition to brain burn-in) as part of the reason this happens to many people.
7 Likes
Yeah that seems reasonable. The way the clamp pressure is on these it could also compress slightly differently for different people, and so there’s bound to be some variation in terms of the coupling and in turn the drum reference point frequency response result will likely be different between people as well. The other thing to consider is that there’s always the possibility of some unit variation with this stuff. I just saw Crin’s measurements of the LCD-5 and it’s slightly less dark in the treble than ours was.
5 Likes
True, especially for the first few batches of headphones they ship out. They do adjust manufacturing as time goes on, which is understandable to me. The joys of early adoption…
I don’t suppose you have any recollection of how long Audeze typically takes to release Roon presets for new headphones? I’m not really going to know the LCD-5’s true potential until they do that; I believe they’re doing more than just PEQ but have some DSP secret sauce going on that really takes them next level. At least that’s what I felt for the LCDi4/LCD-4.
1 Like
I’m not sure about when but they’re probably working on it.
Might be why I toned your EQ in the treble down a few DB too. Or just, ya know, preference.
1 Like
Yeah and I toned it down as well on mine. Also, check out Chrono’s EQ once he’s done with his review.
1 Like
Did you take measurements of the LCD-5 after your EQ? Like you did with the LCD-XC.
Be interested in seeing this.
Once Chrono sends it back I’ll do that yeah, but it’s important to recognize the nuances that come with adherence and deviation relative to a target. I’m going to echo the sentiments of a friend of mine, that headphones should be evaluated relative to the Harman target, but they shouldn’t necessarily be tuned to it. The target’s 1/2 octave smoothing alone underscores this, and I think with EQ we have to take that into consideration as well. The point being that we have to use our ears when doing EQ, not just input values that achieve the target.
7 Likes
The point being that we have to use our ears when doing EQ, not just input values that achieve the target.
All of this. Deviations in your hearing need to be accounted for and make plug & play almost a moot point.
Yes, although I do think there’s a general average/norm that’s reasonably safe to hit. But yeah of course there are situations where unique interactions with a particular ear shape or canal resonance can cause a different drum reference point result. The question is whether that’s actually experienced differently due to our individual HRTF, which would be based on those factors. This is something that leaves a lot of room for question marks haha. But yeah at a minimum the best hedge is to use your ears and dial it in as your prefer. That’s the other nice thing about EQ is that it allows you to learn about how altering different frequency ranges change your music. And maybe you prefer things a certain way that others don’t.
3 Likes