Equalizer settings for Touhou musics

[sardaukar1]

Good evening, folks,

I was wondering, is there any sound expert around here who can give some nice equalizer settings recommendations for Touhou Music?

Currently I'm using the following settings, in case anyone wants to try it out:

+7  +9   +7     +10   +8     +11   +10    +10    +8     +8

  31  62   125   250   500   1k     2k      4k       8k    16k

[shockdude]

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.
flat equalizer all the way.

I use SoundMagic E50S earphones, which are naturally gently U-shaped in their frequency response.

also Touhou music is naturally pretty loud. With so many +s, make sure you're not overdriving/clipping your sound output!

[Lebon14]

Flat.
Always.
If there's something missing, invest in sound equipment and stop using MP3s.

[Romantique Tp]

Equalizers in consumer equipment (such as your computer's sound card) are primarily meant for correcting known flaws in the frequency response of your speakers or headphones. The settings you should use depend 100% on what hardware you have, and should ideally be left at default (0 0 0 0 0) unless you know what you're doing.

If you're looking to enhance your listening experience, look into buying some decent headphones. Even sub-$100 stuff should be a big upgrade over what most people use. Note that stuff with built-in mics such as gamer headsets tend to have a poor price:quality ration and should be avoided if possible.

And yes, your settings are probably way too high!

[shockdude]

Btw what music player/equalizer are you using?

If you added a bunch of +s to the equalizer just to make music sound better, try resetting the equalizer to 0 and increase the volume instead. I guarantee it will be even better than your current settings.

Bonus advice if you're using a Windows laptop and headphones: disable all sound enhancements (dolby, dts, etc). If things are too quiet, increase the volume.

[sardaukar1]

I'm using the Razer Banshee Headset, which comes with its own equalizer.

Maybe its the Headset itself, which isn't exactly top notch quality, but for me the output always sounded more vivid with low volume + High equalizer settings rather than default equalizer settings + High volume. Specially the Bass. Default Bass is almost nonexistent.

[shockdude]

I'm using the Razer Banshee Headset, which comes with its own equalizer.

Maybe its the Headset itself, which isn't exactly top notch quality, but for me the output always sounded more vivid with low volume + High equalizer settings rather than default equalizer settings + High volume. Specially the Bass. Default Bass is almost nonexistent.

Nothing wrong with vivid sound if that's your personal taste, but there's plenty wrong with clipped/overdriven sound, which can happen when it's heavily boosted with an equalizer.

Seriously, if you're using a Windows laptop, disable the audio enhancements from Dolby/DTS/Bang&Olufsen/whatever. The "enhancements" are meant for laptop speakers, which can lead to reduced bass for headphones from my experience. Also try to minimize the number of Razer enhancements, if there are any. The best enhancement imo is simply raising the volume.

Even a headset like that should have decent bass without needing an equalizer (I hope). That being said, ZUN tends not to use a lot of bass in his music.
There are a few kinda-bassy songs though. Luna Dial, The Space Shrine Maiden Appears, The Fairy's Adventurous Tale. The bass should be there and about the same volume of the other instruments, but it shouldn't be pounding.

If you want to get technical with your sound, try http://www.onlinetonegenerator.com.
Disable all enhancements, reset your equalizer to 0, then plug in the numbers from your equalizer (starting with 500, 250, 125...then up 1000, 2000, 4000...). Each tone should be about the same volume (except for 31 and 16000, either of which may be out of your headset's range or hearing range). Equalize to your taste.

[Romantique Tp]

If you want to get technical with your sound, try http://www.onlinetonegenerator.com.
Disable all enhancements, reset your equalizer to 0, then plug in the numbers from your equalizer (starting with 500, 250, 125...then up 1000, 2000, 4000...). Each tone should be about the same volume (except for 31 and 16000, either of which may be out of your headset's range or hearing range). Equalize to your taste.

This is a bad idea. Human hearing has a naturally unbalanced frequency perception, and pretty much all music already compensates for that somewhat, so there's no benefit in trying to make all frequencies have the same subjective volume, even as a starting point. All that will usually do is make the bass sound muddy and the higher frequencies (mainly the "air" and any hiss) uncomfortably audible.

[shockdude]

This is a bad idea. Human hearing has a naturally unbalanced frequency perception, and pretty much all music already compensates for that somewhat, so there's no benefit in trying to make all frequencies have the same subjective volume, even as a starting point. All that will usually do is make the bass sound muddy and the higher frequencies (mainly the "air" and any hiss) uncomfortably audible.

yeah you're right. Retracting the recommendation.

Spoiler:

the tone generator is still ok for evaluating crap speakers. I noticed something off in my tv speakers and located a hole at 500Hz!

[sardaukar1]

Nothing wrong with vivid sound if that's your personal taste, but there's plenty wrong with clipped/overdriven sound, which can happen when it's heavily boosted with an equalizer.

Seriously, if you're using a Windows laptop, disable the audio enhancements from Dolby/DTS/Bang&Olufsen/whatever. The "enhancements" are meant for laptop speakers, which can lead to reduced bass for headphones from my experience. Also try to minimize the number of Razer enhancements, if there are any. The best enhancement imo is simply raising the volume.

Even a headset like that should have decent bass without needing an equalizer (I hope). That being said, ZUN tends not to use a lot of bass in his music.
There are a few kinda-bassy songs though. Luna Dial, The Space Shrine Maiden Appears, The Fairy's Adventurous Tale. The bass should be there and about the same volume of the other instruments, but it shouldn't be pounding.

If you want to get technical with your sound, try http://www.onlinetonegenerator.com.
Disable all enhancements, reset your equalizer to 0, then plug in the numbers from your equalizer (starting with 500, 250, 125...then up 1000, 2000, 4000...). Each tone should be about the same volume (except for 31 and 16000, either of which may be out of your headset's range or hearing range). Equalize to your taste.

Thanks for all the info. I tried what you guys recommended, disabled all sound equalizer and enhancers and just pumped up the volume. Indeed the sound output was better without the equalizer.

The problem is with the Headset itself. The headphones are not sealed/isolated (they are detachable and are put together plastic with plastic, so there is a small "window" where sound escape from), so it end up being like speakers really closed to your ear. Heck, even at low volumes other people can hear what I'm listening to. Consequently in order to utilize all the quality from the headset there is the need to use somewhat high volumes.

[shockdude]

Thanks for all the info. I tried what you guys recommended, disabled all sound equalizer and enhancers and just pumped up the volume. Indeed the sound output was better without the equalizer.

The problem is with the Headset itself. The headphones are not sealed/isolated (they are detachable and are put together plastic with plastic, so there is a small "window" where sound escape from), so it end up being like speakers really closed to your ear. Heck, even at low volumes other people can hear what I'm listening to. Consequently in order to utilize all the quality from the headset there is the need to use somewhat high volumes.

Glad it worked out. Remember to be careful with the volume; loud music is fun, but listening to loud things for hours at a time is bad for the ears.

Sorry to hear about your headset's leaky sound. Can you tighten the headset somehow?

fun fact: there's a class of high-end headphones called "open back headphones" which are intentionally designed to leak sound in order to have a wider soundstage compared to traditional "closed back headphones."

Enjoy the Touhou music!

[aUsernameIsFineToo]

The only time I apply an EQ is when I'm trying to emphasize certain parts of the music I'm listening to, like voices or a certain part within a frequency range. All other time I leave it disabled. My no-name 2.1 computer speakers are good enough as long as I don't turn the volume too loud, and setting bass boost to 6 dB at 80 Hz in the system sound settings is all I need to bump the low end up to a point where it sounds good along with the midrange and treble.