Will try to figure out how and will post asap.
Are we too obsessed with "Flat" tone controls?
- Thread starter Hari Iyer
- Start date
Will try to figure out how and will post asap.
keith_correa
Well-Known Member
Actually some of us don't even have the luxury of that obsession - we take what comes out of the amp without fiddling with anything - we don't have "tone" controls so nothing to fiddle with. 
My system have only volume control.
And it stripped of the NAD C320 with full bass and treble
@jmascreen
I have uploaded youtube video in link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyilrBGND0s&feature=youtu.be
This is recorded with Asus zenfone 6 mobile phone. Please use a good quality headphone for comparing.
The first 2 min 30 sec is with +4dB bass boost and flat trebles, the next 2 min 30 sec is flat bass and treble.
Thanks Hari for uploading it. yes i could figure out the difference in both the segments.
Fantastic
Well-Known Member
All tone controls affect a range of frequencies . For example if they say +/- 6 dB at 50 Hz , it means that depending on boost or cut position on the knob , it will boost (or cut ) 6dB max at 50 Hz. At lower setting the boost ( or cut) will correspondingly be less. But you need to remember that the bass boost starts earlier. Possibly at 100 Hz or so. I picked up an example to show how it affects other frequencies also. the graph shows treble and bass controls at different settings and their resultant response.
However if you use a graphic or parametric equaliser you can control the boos/cut over a narrower range around the frequency of interest.
The subject is too big to discuss in a forum post. Google it , there is lots of info.
A simple one is at :
EQUALISERS EXPLAINED
Last edited:
keith_correa
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I really should have googled and read more about this. I just did and if what I understand is correct, a range of frequencies are boosted/cut by the controls. So what Hari is hearing is a boost of that range which is why he's hearing what he does.
Yes, i intentionally want to boost the freq below 70Hz by atleast +2dB to +4dB so that they are flattter with the rest of the bandwidth. That way i am not suffering from deficient bass while listening to music. Its much easier to do that than looking for a subwoofer for this support at the lower end.
Due to the narrow footprint of this particular speaker i am enjoying more in the near field listening than the far field. In the near field there is no major loss of bass and we can still listen with flat response (till 4 feet). When i move to far field (10 feet) then i need to boost the bass. Its more to do with the size of the driver as the throw is comparatively less than a larger dia driver.
Due to the narrow footprint of this particular speaker i am enjoying more in the near field listening than the far field. In the near field there is no major loss of bass and we can still listen with flat response (till 4 feet). When i move to far field (10 feet) then i need to boost the bass. Its more to do with the size of the driver as the throw is comparatively less than a larger dia driver.
Hi Fantastic, as far as i remember some of the top end amps from Pioneer had a bass roll over which allowed you to choose 100, 200 or 400 hz as the cut off point. And if i remember correctly, the bass control were in steps of 2db and operated below the bass roll over point. So if you chose 100hz and boosted bass by 2db, only frequencies below 100hz got affected. Maybe different amps had different approaches. Almost all amps before 80s had loudness and tone controls to primarily compensate for deficiencies in the vinyl. Many times the lower frequencies were a bit rolled off in the vinyl mastering so as to accommodate more songs. To compensate for this bass boost feature was added in amps
Fantastic
Well-Known Member
The actual circuit variation to change the start frequency of the bass control is as simple as two additional capacitors and the switch ! Low cost function but not many companies offered that. Far more offered the graphic equaliser !
As far as possible it would be better to try and 'fix' the sound without resorting to any sort of tone control . But some poor recordings would benefit from them.
If the music is very good could one manage with the reduced quality and no tone controls ?
As far as possible it would be better to try and 'fix' the sound without resorting to any sort of tone control . But some poor recordings would benefit from them.
If the music is very good could one manage with the reduced quality and no tone controls ?
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