[redbook]

 Has anyone employed  a good equalizer to control excess bass. A Bryston member (rmurray) has a problem with too much  bass since he moved to a different location. Speakers have to be against the wall due to limited space. The room is about 10 x 14 but without corner influence. No one seems to want to comment on equalizers these days but it seems this may be the  only solution to controlling the overall acoustics in this case . There is no room for bass traps so that is not an option. Does anyone have thoughts or experience using a good quality graphic equalizer such as a dbx 2215 or other pro machines? Thanks...

[*Scotty*]

If you play back from computer the music player software may have a parametric equalizer built into it.
Scotty

[Phil A]

It's a graphic equalizer.  You want to determine where your problems are (what frequencies).  If you don't have an RTA then a computer program (e.g. Room EQ Wizard).  After you determine what the problems are then you may need to try a parametric equalizer.  I have rooms that size with secondary systems and do have some treatments.

[redbook]

This dbx eq may be a better model  if a graphic is desired.......

[Phil A]

It looks like a one third octave.  With a parametric, one can set the frequency and over what octave range.  Obviously, it depends on where the problems are and what options one has for moving/positioning the speakers.  Many moons ago, I owned one of these:

[Phil A]

I had a little bass boost at certain frequencies in one secondary system in a small room and I added some minor treatments and moved the Rel Strata II sub slightly away from the corner.  It took care of most of the problem.

[Phil A]

There's also stuff like - http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/20-dual-core.shtml

[Syrah]

I have GR Research LS-9 (big line source speakers) that produced way too much bass for my room.  I have them biamped.

What Danny (from GR Research) did was he made me an line level filter, which is just a single capacitor in the signal path on the RCAs going into my bass amps.

It needs to be a good cap.  It will roll off the bass.

In my room, I find that it does not do so in a perfect manner.  So I use a pair of subwoofers which are fed via a DBX Driverack PA.  The subs are only taking care of a few frequency nulls.

It sounds great.

Can your friend biamp and just drop the gain in the bass amps with a resistor or pot?  I mean a volume pot.  He could drop his personal gain with pot too I suppose...

[JLM]

Best way to control excess bass is to disperse the source of bass and turn it down (via use of multiple powered subwoofers).  Floyd Toole in his book "Sound Reproduction" explains the concept.  Search for 'swarm' here on Audio Circle.

Being into audio for 40+ years.  Have had big 3-ways, single driver designs, room treatments, and equalizers.  Having a well designed (proportioned) room and appropriately "sized" speakers for the room is the best advice I can give.  I do currently run a DSPeaker that I use as DAC, preamp, and DSP (below 250 Hz) as a more practical solution for low frequency equalization than 4 subs.  I have high quality absorption panels and bookcases on side walls (homemade diffusion panels) but their benefit are minimal here with my Cardas Golden Cuboid shaped room and near-field setup. 

[redbook]

There's also stuff like - http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/20-dual-core.shtml

  Now that's a thing I haven't heard of ( where  have I been  lol)  Thanks, but now I need to find a dealer in Vancouver....... Seems like a good approach to the issue ....

[Phil A]

Good luck - I know how annoying set-up can be.  Many moons ago for about 6 years I had a friend who worked at a high end shop and I did virtually every set-up/delivery with him.  Here's some other info too - http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/2013111room-and-sub-eq-101-how-to-use-parametric-eq-to-flatten-your-html/

[redbook]

 Thanks again Phil for that info....my knowledge is getting more complete.... I am seeking a good parametric unit. Hopefully  Long and Mcquade will have something.

[rmurray]

 Wow , this has been a trip into the  aspects of what I can do about my bass issue. Thank you all for the input.  Seems this API 5500 may be the ticket, any thoughts on this ?

[JLM]

EQ/DSP only corrects for a single room location so should only be used once you have a proper room, setup, and treatments.

[rmurray]

 This is fine for me and room treatments are not possible in my case ( that's why the equalizer ) . I am only interested in a single  sweet spot and the API 5500  has a straight wire by pass if , on some music, it's not needed

[Phil A]

Thanks again Phil for that info....my knowledge is getting more complete.... I am seeking a good parametric unit. Hopefully  Long and Mcquade will have something.

I don't know anything about budget or other stuff (so forgive me if this is out of line).  I believe Rane (need to find in a pro audio store vs. hifi shop) no longer makes parametric equalizers.  Musician's Friend may have a few online.  Marchand is another line to find in a pro audio store.  I've heard of some people who figure out via measurement of specific problems and use stuff they sell at Parts Express (meant for car audio but can be used with home audio) for inline rca attenuation and high pass filters.  There is also broadcast supply houses like Markertek (http://audio-video-supply.markertek.com/search?w=parametric&sitepref=1).   I still think the dspeaker solution is likely better.

[redbook]

  Going further into pro sound gear I found this parametric unit that is currently available.....but at a very high price . The harmonic distortion , S/N ratio and dynamic range specs are up there with our Bryston amps and supposed to be hand made . It runs about 5,000. bucks.

[JLM]

I had a Behringer DEQ2496 for years.  Cheap but build quality is iffy.  Full featured but extremely hard to use.  Has 31 band EQ, parametric EQ, and Redbook DAC.  Sound quality of the stock DAC was poor, so I had mine modified.

[Hipper]

I've used a Behringer DEQ2496 for over ten years with no issues.

I use it between a CD Transport and DAC, so I don't use its ADC or DAC. When I played vinyl in the past I did use the ADC/DAC and didn't have a problem with it - I assumed that that was because the improvements it gave in frequency changes were better then any negatives from the ADC/DAC. It has to be said that many comments, like the one above, say the ADC/DAC are not that good. I chose the DEQ2496 because I had no experience of this type of equipment and it is remarkably cheap. The idea was to learn about it and then look at the TacT (no longer produced) or DEQX but I was so pleased with the Behringer that I've not gone any further.

I should say I use the DEQ2496 to refine the sound after room treatment and positioning. I use REW to measure the room and implement the results manually on the Behringer.

You may be better off with something like this:

https://www.minidsp.com/products/dirac-series/ddrc-22a

You may note that if you look under 'Products' there are various options. The one linked is analogue in and out. Others are digital in and out, and digital in analogue out.

If you are looking at $5,000 region you might consider some form of DEQX:

http://www.deqx.com/

[Escott1377]

  Now that's a thing I haven't heard of ( where  have I been  lol)  Thanks, but now I need to find a dealer in Vancouver....... Seems like a good approach to the issue ....

I use a DSpeaker out of my pre amp, feeds 2 x powered subs and then my amps - I have 4 total mono blocs set in a bi amp configuration.

I run mine up to 500 Hz since my room is very tricky.

It works really well, better than what I thought it would.

Reasonably priced, you can order from Underwood Hifi.  Both Underwood and the manufacturer offer great customer service.

I replaced the wall wart with a linear power supply from DX Engineering.