I have speakers placed over wood surface with decolam and the satellites sound very sharp, shrill and piercing, I've tried EQing but has no reduction in sharpness untill I turn below 12dB, at that level many others are getting obscured, is there a free de-essing or dynamic equalization software available for PC?
The frequencies I've tried reducing are between 5KHz to 13KHz, I've noticed that reducing frequencies between 1KHz to 5KHz is also having an effect on the sharpness, I'm confused why this is happening, shouldn't the shrill sounds be in treble region only, are there any sharp sounds in mid-range as well?
The frequencies I've tried reducing are between 5KHz to 13KHz, I've noticed that reducing frequencies between 1KHz to 5KHz is also having an effect on the sharpness, I'm confused why this is happening, shouldn't the shrill sounds be in treble region only, are there any sharp sounds in mid-range as well?
A little more info on the setup could help. Which speakers, description/photo's of the setup and the wood surface... my first thought was far too much high frequency (reflected) sound energy, probably the sats do spread HF quite well.
The speakers I have are Bose Companion 3. I also noticed that reducing frequencies from 390Hz to 690 took away some of the energy.
I don't know how the speaker system is configured but the some of the sharpness was taken away by reducing 390Hz to 690Hz.
I'll try what you suggested.
Hi,
About frequency and 'tuning'of loudspeakers here is something that could be of help:
Google Image Result
You have choice of freq and action to perform for a same result: sometimes boosting a range can have same effect as cuting another one.
Overall i find cut less objectionable than boost ( we are less sensitive to cut) and you'll gain headroom ( margin before distortion).
About frequency and 'tuning'of loudspeakers here is something that could be of help:
Google Image Result
You have choice of freq and action to perform for a same result: sometimes boosting a range can have same effect as cuting another one.
Overall i find cut less objectionable than boost ( we are less sensitive to cut) and you'll gain headroom ( margin before distortion).
I've tried EQing but has no reduction in sharpness untill I turn below 12dB,
Are you sure that they are not clipping?
Are you sure that they are not clipping?
Boost high Q EQ and sweep to hear which frequency range is causing annoyance the most, then reduce that range. I doubt it's above 5K.
Pretty sure it is not clipping.
I'm using them as they are, I haven't added any other amplifier.
It is definitely between lower midrange and lower treble.
I'll try it.
Thanks for that informative image, I searched for frequency classification chart and I didn't such a detailed image, what search query did you use to find that image?
Sometimes a band sounds loud because it is, and sometimes because it is not supported from below. You want to find which (or part of each). Also this is a known trouble region.
The bass dialler on the sub-woofer was dialled down, could it have caused this, but it should only effect the bass right? Why did 390Hz to 690Hz have an effect on it?
I dialled the bass down and forgot about it, because the bass was highly resonant at some frequencies.
I dialled the bass down and forgot about it, because the bass was highly resonant at some frequencies.
Reduced bass will accentuate the high frequencies. Especially in this kind of satellite setup where the main speakers probably drop off well short of 80Hz
You mean to say the perception will be like that or the DSP boosts those high frequencies? In my opinion only bass should have been effected leaving the rest alone.
It’s probably the setup with near boundaries that are acoustically very reflective. The reflections of the boundaries add a lot of coloration and they will stay, no matter how
much you EQ.
much you EQ.
Hi, this kind of scale is most used by audio engineers ( for eq range choice) so it usually come from pro field.
If you are interested into sound basis theory check for online audio engineering curse or webzine ( mix magazine), it usually come to the point (of interest) in a practical way ( not all sound engineers are physicians and schematical view as this scale are easily understood by anyone interested).
Could you describe a bit more your set up ( maybe including pictures)? I think Markbakk may be right.
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in case it is of any help.....
I’ve experienced shouty speaker drivers that could not be fixed and I sold them off. I tried different amplifiers, different rooms and even cone treatments (cure worse than disease and still not effective enough). For the first few weeks I thought the drivers were great but slowly at first I realized there was a stridency underlying their clarity until eventually I couldn’t stand them, even at lower volumes my brain knew what to listen for. There was no fixing it with mild (the only practical kind) EQ because in the case of full range drivers it was an issue with resonant modes of the driver and such nasties are excited relatively easily or through harmonics. In the case of my PMC FB1 2-way it is only an issue at high volumes, it is the nature of their metal dome tweeters and they maybe crossed over too low leading to distortions. I have moved them for HT use only but one day I’ll fix the problem for music use with better cross overs and new tweeters. I don’t know if this is relevant but just in case it is, you may need new speakers.
Amplifiers and / a source can also sound strident. For amplifiers this has been an issue mostly with my own DIY amps so I won’t expand on that.
For sources, it’s been new DAC’s & network players that have most often produced problems, indeed I have yet to find one that I can live with but interestingly I’ve had no issues with older models of CD players like YBA and Marantz. Sometimes an FM station can be edgy but generally fine and no issues with my turntable + phono.
Lastly, it could be your ears. I used a signal generator to map out my ears, there are frequencies that my ears consistently find to be strident and annoying. For me it is a bit at 2kHz and a lot at 5kHz and more-so at 9kHz. Just these three (mostly the last two) that I’d like to filter out specifically. It’s called hyperacusis and comes from damaging my ears through loud music.
I’ve experienced shouty speaker drivers that could not be fixed and I sold them off. I tried different amplifiers, different rooms and even cone treatments (cure worse than disease and still not effective enough). For the first few weeks I thought the drivers were great but slowly at first I realized there was a stridency underlying their clarity until eventually I couldn’t stand them, even at lower volumes my brain knew what to listen for. There was no fixing it with mild (the only practical kind) EQ because in the case of full range drivers it was an issue with resonant modes of the driver and such nasties are excited relatively easily or through harmonics. In the case of my PMC FB1 2-way it is only an issue at high volumes, it is the nature of their metal dome tweeters and they maybe crossed over too low leading to distortions. I have moved them for HT use only but one day I’ll fix the problem for music use with better cross overs and new tweeters. I don’t know if this is relevant but just in case it is, you may need new speakers.
Amplifiers and / a source can also sound strident. For amplifiers this has been an issue mostly with my own DIY amps so I won’t expand on that.
For sources, it’s been new DAC’s & network players that have most often produced problems, indeed I have yet to find one that I can live with but interestingly I’ve had no issues with older models of CD players like YBA and Marantz. Sometimes an FM station can be edgy but generally fine and no issues with my turntable + phono.
Lastly, it could be your ears. I used a signal generator to map out my ears, there are frequencies that my ears consistently find to be strident and annoying. For me it is a bit at 2kHz and a lot at 5kHz and more-so at 9kHz. Just these three (mostly the last two) that I’d like to filter out specifically. It’s called hyperacusis and comes from damaging my ears through loud music.
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