Tone controls - old school liability, or sonic salvation?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by wwright, Jul 4, 2015.

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  1. That's what I've got on my preamp. Signal path purity is the argument against tone controls & I get that, but it's not how I prefer to roll.
    :cheers:
     
  2. Mister Charlie

    Mister Charlie "Music Is The Doctor Of My Soul " - Doobie Bros.

    Location:
    Aromas, CA USA
    Old school tone controls? Either muffled (bass) or hiss (treble), little inbetween. Useless. Never used the old controls, nowadays one has much more control over it with amps, sources, etc.
     
  3. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    I do love my EQ. Rockbox FTW.
     
  4. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I had that Audio Control. I'd heard it was pretty transparent, but it really wasn't. Even set at flat it messed with detail. But it's a nice looking unit. I honestly think a bass and treble knob are just a better choice. Less to screw up. My vintage Marantz also has a mid knob, but I don't use that much.

    Man, this definitely ranks at a top five Hoffman discussion. I'm too tired to get into again, but when you finally get ahold of some prized bootleg or South American pressing with zero bass, you'll be really happy to have some tone controls around. It's not an OCD thing, it's giving the old bass knob a crank!
     
    2channelforever likes this.
  5. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Bypass is perfect for when you get a top notch recording, say like a great MOFI record or an audiophile disc, then you WANT to hear it purely as possible. But that's why audiophile recordings are so coveted and chased after here ... because they're so RARE.
     
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  6. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    My Rega has none, my Sansui has and I rarely use them. My Pioneer has a small eq and it is essential being tied to a mongrel Bose AM5 speaker "system".
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  7. Ya man, just last night I was diggin' on an old REM album called 'Reckoning'. This LP was sounding fantastic so I went over to crank it up a little & sure enough my tone controls were defeated, so there was no need to use them. It seems I only use them sparingly, if at all, but it's nice to have them there just in case...
    :cheers:
     
    2channelforever likes this.
  8. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Reckoning sounds good on vinyl? I'll have to get a copy. I've been meaning a return to REM
     
  9. The plain-jane Canuck LP I've got sounds fantastic, with unreal drums. Long live Bill Berry!

    http://www.discogs.com/REM-Reckoning/release/2922348
     
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  10. new world man

    new world man Member

    Location:
    UK
    Better options now than ever before IMO (equalizers apart). Best I ever saw was the one on the Onkyo HF Music App. Very tweakable and oh to have that flexibility with full size gear.
     
  11. rhubarb9999

    rhubarb9999 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    My only source is a PC .. I use a VST parametric EQ with Foobar (when needed).
     
  12. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer

    Using tone controls is like trying to do brain surgery with a butter knife- you'll cut out the tumor, but take a lot of healthy tissue with it.
     
  13. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Stupid dub music!
     
    sunrayjack likes this.
  14. sunrayjack

    sunrayjack Forum Resident

    Why would you give your life ,ears and listening enjoyment over to another person to decide what is good and acceptable?
    tone controls on a system is your right, we are still free people for now and should be able to decide how the sound coming out of our speakers sounds to us as individuals.
    After all, we do not get a discount for letting the designer of the system dictate what we should hear, although, let your feet and money do the talking for you, find another system to buy.
    I like my vintage gear because , I decide how I want the sound to be and I can easily adjust the controls to my liking.
    I guess I am just to much of a rebel for this conformist world we have now,don't question , just accept what you are told is wonderful.
    Death and taxes, not much you can do about those, but all things in between I will do my best to decide the out come, just saying.
     
    zebop, ArpMoog, Gumboo and 3 others like this.
  15. sunrayjack

    sunrayjack Forum Resident

    The way I look at bass is their is no realistic bass in a recording, it has from the very beginning of the recording section been manipulated to what the sound engineer thinks it should be.
    When the strings are played without the amp, that is the natural bass of that string, the moment it leaves the sting and is picked up by the pickup, it becomes unnatural and manipulated , from there on out. I just don't get the whole mega bass thing, I heard a song the other day changing stations and decided to give a listen , I normally don't listen to the bass stuff, it was a great love song clear and crisp with just enough tone to not be tiny and have a pleasing sound.
    Then the bass came in below the song, washed out the voice and all clarity of the song, what a waste of a good song.
     
  16. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    sunrayjack, amen, brother, amen. I will not have anyone tell me how the piece should sound to me and that includes the musicians, recording engineer, and various members of websites. I want to hear what I want to hear.
     
    Old Rusty likes this.
  17. fogalu

    fogalu There is only one Beethoven

    Location:
    Killarney, Ireland
    However, you might spread the sound a little better. :hide:
     
    2channelforever and Raylinds like this.
  18. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    There is always a phase and ringing price to be paid with EQ, particularly non pro units when it comes to music playback.
    Don't like tone controls myself. I even take them out of my guitar.
     
  19. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Of course this is so with any plucked string, even on an acoustic instrument,not just an electric pickup one; the sound waves emanating from the string are amplified or reinforced. Good microphones capture the pressure waves that are generated from the instrument itself or the speaker. The mastering engineers job is to balance it all out!
     
  20. konut

    konut Prodigious Member. Thank you.

    Location:
    Whatcom County, WA
    The operation was a success...........but the patient died.
     
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  21. Jane Scranton

    Jane Scranton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Calif.
    So right on the mark! When the younger generation drive my apartment complex with their dumbed-down bass over-dub car systems, it makes me wonder why HOW could they really enjoy all that loud bass and the car rattles, who are they kidding and why have they not discovered the beauty of warm/soft tones at low volumes also!?:whistle:
     
    sunrayjack and Dave like this.
  22. Jane Scranton

    Jane Scranton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Calif.
    There's something to be said about what you just said:pleased:
     
  23. Jane Scranton

    Jane Scranton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Calif.
    Dont feel the need to educate yourself on the new thing...when what we needed was/is and ...there seemes to be gems of vintage gear pieces out there,so...knock yerself outskeez:pineapple:
     
  24. hesson11

    hesson11 Forum Resident

    No there isn't.
    -Bob
     
  25. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Might want to google how an EQ works .
     
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