EQ settings, what do they do???

Question

EQ settings, what do they do???

Hello all,
I just bought a B&W Zeppelin, and it is SO COOL! But I have a question. If you go into the EQ settings in iPod on your iPhone, you can choose bass boost, or treble boost, but not both at the same time, which I *completely don't understand*, so as a work around, there are about 20 EQ settings, with names like: rock, jazz, funk, etc. Is there one that will boost both treble and bass???? I cannot find any info on what these named settings actually do. Does anyone know? Does anyone have a Zeppelin, and could tell me what their favorite settings are?

Thanks so much!

David

iPhone G-4, MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 10, 2010 3:43 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 10, 2010 3:50 PM in response to David Jenkins5

This link may be helpful.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2618

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Answer 2

Oct 11, 2010 9:23 AM in response to Allan Sampson

Thank you for your response, but it does not explain exactly how these 22 EQ presets affect your music. For example: does "Rock" boost both the treble and bass? Does "Loudness" encrease everything, bass, mid, and treble? They just have names, but not what they actually change to the sound of the music. I also called Apple support, and they had no clue, which was strange.

Thanks in advance,
David

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2010 9:27 AM in response to David Jenkins5

With iTunes on your computer, at the iTunes menu bar go to Window and select Equalizer.

Select one of the presets to determine the settings for that preset.

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Answer 4

deggie

Level 10

167,327 points

Oct 11, 2010 3:23 PM in response to David Jenkins5

I have a Zeppelin. My favorite settings are no bass or treble boost on the Zeppelin and no EQ on the iPhone.

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Answer 5

Oct 18, 2010 4:23 PM in response to deggie

I now use: "none" on the ipod EQ settings, and +1 bass on the B&W Zeppelin speaker settings. The iPod was set at "treble booster" before, and also tried "bass booster"-REALLY BAD! And now sounds a whole lot better with *no EQ settings at all*. I cannot believe how crappy "treble booster" made the music sound. I am DONE with Apple's EQ settings! I think they all suck. Also, I never used EQ settings when importing songs, and only use Apple Lostless Compression. I do not buy music from iTunes as they don't offer Lostless Compression, as far as I know. Am I wrong? Do they?

Thanks,
David

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Answer 6

Kiwiphone4

Level 4

1,430 points

Oct 18, 2010 4:45 PM in response to David Jenkins5

David Jenkins1 wrote:
I do not buy music from iTunes as they don't offer Lostless Compression, as far as I know.

No one offers loss-less compression.
CDs are compressed too.

So what ever source you're getting your songs from is compressed.
Now you could argue forever what aac and wav compression limits are.

In the end I find that listening through a portable music device (like the iphone) has no real noticeable difference between "loss-less" CD extraction and high datarate aac; or itunes bought aac.
I find a good pair of studio headphones will let you hear the limits of the iphone or ipod as a device, rather then the audio format.
You'd be better off buying into a 10 bit extended CD player and disks if you really are worried about data-rates and audio quality.
But then you'll also need to get a great amp and speakers.

At which time you'll probably want to do research on Audio Equalizers, and complex equalization patterns. I believe there is a common set of equalization sets and Apple has included these in their idevices.

And as a poster above said, open itunes.
Open the equalizer window and choose the presets there.
You'll instantly see the effects the equalizer presets have on the different frequency ranges.

But in the end it's up to you personally if you can hear the difference between CDs and purchased aac files.

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Answer 7

Oct 19, 2010 2:24 PM in response to Kiwiphone4

TOTALLY agree, there is a difference in the sound of the iPod with Apple's "Lostless compression" and playing thru a good CD player and headphones. Not so much a difference when playing thru my Zeppelin, but thru my Grado headphones, you can hear a difference. But using Apple's "Lostless" is my only option to get as close to CD quality as I can get, supposedly.

In 60 days I am getting a Rotel amp and the least expensive B&W speakers with the diamond tweeters, not sure what the model # is, as opposed to the cheaper B&W speakers with the metal tweeters, for the living room. The Zeppelin is used in my bedroom, and is perfect for that, it sounds sooo good hooked up to my iPod, especially since I have the EQ settings turned off now. I am really getting into this high end Hi-Fi equipment, I never knew music could sound so realistic! I never was a huge music fan until I bought my NAD CD player and the Grado headphones, now I am totally hooked! Another addiction! Could be worse I guess.

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