DCC Archive Steve, how about some general fixes for us

Pretty hard to answer. It's like asking to be taught how to drive, just a little.

Well, in general, the first thing one should do, is find out how accurate their stereo is to begin with. In my college radio station days, we used to use pink noise, feed it through the speakers and then use a 12 band 1/3 octave graphic EQ to make it sound "flat" to the ears. How did we get the pink noise? Well, we patched in an FM Radio, usually a McIntosh or Marantz, and turned off the AFC. This meant that, when you detuned a station you got that nice static; a poor man's pink noise generator. Then we would EQ, so our (Los Angeles TV Station hand-me down) speakers sounded as best as they could. Try it. You can also use the Stereophile Magazine Test CD. It has pink noise and a bunch of other helpful stuff. The "I don't have an FM and I don't want to buy a Stereophile CD" way to do this, is to put a record on your turntable, and EQ so that the surface noise sounds accurate, and not too "pingy", or "bassy". Stupid, but it usually works!

Don't be too shocked at how your system sounds playing back pink noise. This pink noise can show off major flaws in your playback that you didn't even know about. Also notice how just a "touch" of graphic EQ in or out can radically change the sound....

So, we use graphic EQ's to tailor the sound of our playback systems, and we use Parametric EQ's to tailor the sound of our music. Right?

Now, you have a good point in which to start. Download (if you can) some parametric EQ programs. A real live Sontec or Massenberg Parametric EQ unit can set you back 9 grand....

Parametric theories in actual english.

The first one is "everything in moderation". Just a touch will do.

The second one is "never add, just subtract what is there already". Most of the CD's you will be trying to fix (especially the new post 1998 "remasters") will need to have stuff removed for them to sound acceptable to your new Audiophile Ears. Some of the DCC Gold CD's might be the exception to this rule, though. You might wish to add a touch of something if you like it a bit "crisper". It's a free country.

EQ pressure points, as originally taught to be by Kevin Gray: Ignoring Bass fixing for the moment, they are....

Lower mid (1000 cycles)
Mid (3400 cycles)
Upper mid (6000 cycles)
Lower treble (8000 cycles)
top (10,000 cycles)
Air (to kill all flying insects (14,000 cycles)

By just using these "EQ pressure points" and a wide curve to subtract some points, one can pretty much fix almost any bad sounding music.) These are pretty much the points that naughty mastering (and mixing) engineers tweak the sound with to give you a headache. Simply by reducing any combination of these points by 1/2 db or so, can fix up many CD's.

Bass EQ points:

Low (40 cycles)
Mid (80 cycles)
Lower cloud (150 cycles)
Upper cloud (250 cycles)

The lower and upper cloud areas are usuall shaved off by most mastering engineers to give everything that modern "synth bass" sound. It also robs the music of warmth, and the singer (male and female) of "balls".

Well class, any questions so far? I can write more if anyone is interested...

There will be a test on this later.

 

In response to many private Emails in the past hour, I must mention here that what a Parametric EQ does (as invented by George Massenberg) is to be able to dial in certain frequencies, and deal with just them. But, you have to know what to dial in. If you use the "pressure points" I mentioned in my earlier post as a starting place, and simply tweak in and out a little EQ at that point, you will be able to sense right away if it is helping or hurting your sound. Remember, only a db at most!

One db is measured as the LEAST amount of "change" in sound that the human ear can detect. Of course, many of us can notice much smaller changes, 1/4 and 1/2db and so on, but the "decibel" is the starting place for measuring. Get it? So, if I say that on John Fogerty's song "Centerfield" you might need to dial in 10,000 cycles on your Parametric with a broad slope (marked as "1") and:

"take out 3 db at 10k",

you will know what I mean...

Have fun fixing stuff!

 

Patrick,

'wooly', 'wiry', 'grey', 'grainy' are words I would never use, but I'll give it a shot.

Wooly: The sound of a sheet thrown over your speaker while listening. Usually in ref. to the bass. For example, the bass sound on some of the "Pet Sounds" recordings are wooly, thick, overblown (lacking definition).

Grainy: The sound of a bad digital recording, kind of like a grainy photograph, using too fast film. Overloaded, harsh, unmusical, thin, etched, etc.

Wiry: Not a clue.

Grey: Bleached, no lifelike qualities, cold, non-musical. My original CD version of Springsteen's "Born To Run"....