Differences in speakers and room acoustics make it nearly impossible to produce a recording that will sound the same everywhere it is played. Thankfully, equalizers allow us to fine-tune playback according to our environment and personal taste. Correctly configuring your home stereo's equalizer is an essential step in getting the most out of your music collection.
Instructions
1. Set all sliders on the equalizer to zero. This is known as a flat setting and will produce the same sound as if the equalizer were not connected.
2. Play the piece of music you want to hear, move to a place in the room where you're likely to listen to it, and note the sound. After the following steps, you simply may wish to come back to a flat response if it sounds best this way.
3. Think about which frequency adjustments would improve the listening experience. This will change depending on the type of music you're listening to. A techno DJ mix might sound better with a low-end boost, while a recording that features vocals prominently could benefit from a raised midrange.
4. Adjust the sliders, one by one, in order to emphasize or reduce certain frequencies. Bass frequencies are represented by the sliders on the left side of the equalizer and move into midrange and treble sounds with the sliders on the right. Reducing the level of one frequency can be just as effective as increasing the amount of another. For example, if you would like to hear more bass, try shaving off a bit of the middle and high frequencies before increasing the lower ones.
5. Step away from the stereo and review your changes by listening to the recording again from the position where you listened to it previously. As there is no single correct equalizer setting for any piece of music, personal taste plays a key role here. If you like what you hear, sit back and enjoy the tunes. If not, consider which sounds need to be raised and which need to fall back, then readjust your equalizer accordingly. If you're uncertain and still unhappy with the sound, you can always bring everything back to a flat setting and try again.
Tags: back flat, flat setting, personal taste, piece music, recording that
