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Post by board on Jul 20, 2016 15:49:57 GMT
Can you recommend me a stand alone digital equalizer for my stereo system (not for recording)? I want to find an equalizer that I can plug my turntable into and boost or lower certain frequencies. I have a separate phono preamp, so I can run the phono preamp into the equalizer and then the equalizer into my amplifier. If possible, I would prefer an equalizer that behaves like in the picture I have attached from the programme Wavelab (bulge up, rather than just boost one frequency), but maybe all digital equalizers work like that nowadays. If possible, being able to programme any one frequency boost into it would be great too (e.g. boost or reduce 2 dB around 3007 Hz), and if possible being able to boost or reduce more than one area would also be great, but might not be necessary. I know you're always the one to ask for decent priced quality products, but one "request" is that the equalizer should preferably be from a fairly well-known brand, as I live in Denmark, so we can't buy all brands here, but we do get most of the well-known ones (Behringer, Scarletrite, etc.). If I have to order something from outside the European Union I would have to pay VAT (25 %), toll charges and fees as well. But just suggest an equalizer you know and like, and then I'll look into it :-). I know this goes against your work with acoustic panels, but if you happen to know a component that can do the above and also "correct" your room that would be great too. I know this type of gear only halfway fixes the problems and only where you place the mic, but at the moment I'm moving around from country to country, and therefore a digital correction for rooms is simply more practical than acoustic panels, although I'm perfectly aware that panels are by far the best solution. If you can't recommend a component like that, then a regular equalizer is perfectly fine :-). Thanks for your help.
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 20, 2016 20:36:21 GMT
I'm not opposed to using an equalizer to make music more enjoyable. I have many recordings, and some are very old and in need of improvement. Now, as long as you understand that EQ is limited for what it can do for rooms, I'm not opposed to people doing that either. Most audio devices are very good quality these days, so you might as well shop by price. If you can get a Behringer parametric equalizer without paying import fees I imagine that will be quite fine. But really, any other brand is probably fine too. I assume you're familiar with using a parametric EQ? That really is the only type of EQ that can target narrow peaks as found in a room. --Ethan
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Post by board on Jul 20, 2016 21:13:44 GMT
I have added the picture from Wavelab to my original post, as I forgot to include it earlier. The reason I ask for a specific recommendation is also because the Equalizers I have seen around look like this: BehringerWould an equalizer like that actually do the "bulge" around the certain frequency/ies I want to boost like in the picture in my original post? That's why I'm a bit confused, as I figured an equalizer like the Behringer one in the link above would only boost that one certain frequency, where I push the bar up (e.g. 1 kHz). But maybe that's only how it was in the old days with analogue equalizers. Can you recommend any equalizers with phono in- and outputs? That would make life a bit easier for me, as I use phono connectors throughout my stereo system. I looked at the Behringer Ultra-Curve Pro DSP8024, and it also had jack in- and outputs (most seem to only have XLRs), which I suppose I could make do with as well. As for room correction, that is less important than the above, and I wanted one of those units where you just connect a mic, press a button and wait 30 seconds, and then it corrects your room. I've looked at a couple of those, and I can probably find one.
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Post by board on Jul 21, 2016 21:41:25 GMT
About the jack connections, I've just realized that I can just buy phono to jack adapters. That never occured to me until now. As for the equalizer, you're welcome to suggest certain brands and models, no matter the price. I'm quite confused about them, and I mostly find graphic equalizers and/or very basic parametric ones that don't really suit my needs. Actually, all I want to do at the moment is boost 5 kHz by 1 dB, or alternatively, if I buy a different cartridge in the future, lower the same frequency. In the attached picture from Wavelab above I can also set the Q value, which I find useful as well. Thanks again :-).
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 22, 2016 19:37:52 GMT
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Post by board on Jul 22, 2016 21:29:13 GMT
Thank you very much for these suggestions :-) I can actually buy the Behringer in a local shop, so that was easy, and I can ask them for help as well :-). There is one thing I'm still confused about: If I run my turntable through the equalizer, which is a stereo signal, will the output from equalizer that goes into my amp be turned into mono, meaning with records with two very different channels, I will now be listening to them in mono? As for the Wavelab EQ, then I just loaded a preset, but you can put in whatever value you like in all three columns, as shown in the attached picture. You can also put in, say, 1257 Hz if you like. But when you hit "process" it will use the same Q value for all three columns. I don't know if I understood you correctly on this matter.
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Post by board on Jul 22, 2016 22:04:14 GMT
Another note: Do you find Behringer's products to be transparent (if you have tried them)? I know there's the usual snobbery with equalizers as well, but I read people say Behringer's equalizers are noisy, grainy, etc., and that I would be better off buying a second hand Yahama YDP2006.
Edit: Have you heard the Rolls one, and if so do you find it transparent? From looking at the connections on the back it appears to me to be mono, but I might be mistaken about that.
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 25, 2016 20:14:05 GMT
The Behringer EQ seems to be a stereo model, though I missed that the Rolls unit is mono. I can't vouch for the Behringer's quality, though I'd be surprised if it's not perfectly fine. Since you're buying it locally, you can always return if it you're not satisfied. If you connect a turntable you'll need to first go through a photo preamp, unless your turntable outputs a line level signal.
Only the midrange in that Wavelab EQ is parametric. The low and high bands are shelving.
--Ethan
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Post by board on Jul 26, 2016 7:38:35 GMT
Alright, I think I got everything sorted then :-). Thank you very much for your help. I feel wiser now. When I first started this thread I was very confused. I also see what you mean about the shelving EQ in Wavelab. I misunderstood that. The Yamaha one can also do shelving EQ. I'll ask in the shop if the Behringer unit can do that as well. They might also know the answer to this question, but I'll ask you as well: Can I just use phono to XLR adapters on the cable running from my phono stage (which is a separate unit) into the equalizer, as well as from the equalizer into my amp (like this) (alternatively cables that are phono in one end and XLR in the other end)?
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 26, 2016 17:59:03 GMT
A turntable needs a special RIAA preamp. If that's what your "photo stage" is then it should work.
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Post by board on Jul 27, 2016 14:59:22 GMT
Yes, that's what my phono stage is, so it should work fine by mixing phono and XLR cables? I've never used XLR's, so I was a bit worried about mixing balanced and unbalanced cables/products.
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 29, 2016 20:53:59 GMT
I'm sure the dealer who sells you the EQ can also sell you suitable RCA to XLR adapters or wires.
--Ethan
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Post by board on Jul 30, 2016 7:50:15 GMT
Yeah, I'm sure he can. I just thought maybe phono to XLR would be "incompatible", but if it's all okay, then no problem :-). Again, thank you very much for your help. I know that some of these questions I might have been able to find out on my own, so I appreciate you taking the time. I'll change the subject now completely. If you prefer we switch to e-mail, I can do that, and then you can delete/edit this post. 1: On a different forum I saw that you once wrote that Stereophile had sent you recordings of the LP/CD demagnitizer. Do you still have these soundclips, and are you able to send them to me? I searched around the web and couldn't find them. I know it's a scam - I just would like to hear it :-). 2: In your old MusicPlayer forum you quoted your book and said that you had dropped off some acoustic products at the house of a reviewer from Stereophile, and he had just blown up an amp. Would that happen to be John Atkinson? You probably don't remember the amp, but after reading your story, I found this review, which I found quite hilarious, and I figured that might have been it: www.stereophile.com/content/dartzeel-nhb-108-model-one-power-amplifier-measurements3: Lastly, you might have already read this, as I also found this in another forum (I think HeadFi), where you commented in the discussion, but I thought I would just tell you anyway. Michael Fremer reviewed a $43,000 CD player and basically called it the best digital product he had ever heard, but then came the measurements from John Atkinson... Ha ha ha! www.stereophile.com/content/zanden-5000-mkivsignature-da-converter-2000-premium-cd-transport(also check out "JA takes a listen")
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Post by rock on Jul 30, 2016 15:39:07 GMT
Regarding unbalanced (phono) to balanced (XLR), there are a couple (or 3 or more?) ways to go about it. 1. From unbal, you can usually just send the signal conductor to the hot (usually pin 2 of the XLR) and the shield conductor to XLR pin1. Ground pin 3 (Cold or inverted signal) to ground (pin 1). I imagine you might find a pre-wired adapter but I don't believe I've seen one. 2. If you want to get fancy, you can use a passive inline transformer, doing this can eliminate ground loop hum you might otherwise have. OR 3. There are active level converters you can buy too. Here is but one example: www.parts-express.com/art-cleanboxpro-stereo-balanced-unbalanced-converter--245-868 Cheers, Rock
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Post by Ethan Winer on Jul 30, 2016 17:06:23 GMT
1: On a different forum I saw that you once wrote that Stereophile had sent you recordings of the LP/CD demagnitizer. Do you still have these soundclips, and are you able to send them to me? I searched around the web and couldn't find them. I know it's a scam - I just would like to hear it :-). I don't have those files anymore, but they sounded identical to me. It's possible they were slightly different, but not because of the demagnetizer. When a vinyl record is played its grooves are pushed around, and it can take a while for them to relax again. So if you play the same part of a record twice in a row the sound could be different because of that. LP records are such a terrible medium! They were great for 1950, but when analog tape came out it was much better. Of course, tape recorders (players) cost a lot more than turntables, so records stuck around for a few more decades. I don't think that's the same amp. The amp in this review blew fuses, the amp I saw blew itself up. LOL, yes, of course. This is a great example of my frequent claim: often the really expensive stuff is inferior to regular consumer grade products. --Ethan
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