Analyzer?

[Beatnik]

Out of curiosity I set everything as close to flat as possible using pink noise and with a 15 band per side eq, it made my ears fatigued. I set it by ear and I can run it it at 105db with no fatigue at all. What am I doing wrong ?

This is by ear adjusted to the recording, music playing. Is it a crap ap ? Better ap ?

 

[mashaffer]

At 105dB you should be fatigued... defense mechanism. But seriously at high SPLs your ears (if they are still working) will be rather sensitive to the high frequencies. In addition many recordings will emphasize the extremes for sizzle effect and to accommodate mediocre playback equipment so it doesn't really surprise me. Also consider that if there are some high frequency distortion products especially IMD or high order HD they will likely cause fatigue and a little roll off will help with that.

 

[Beatnik]

This is pink noise after adjusted by ear.

 

[Beatnik]

At 105dB you should be fatigued... defense mechanism. But seriously at high SPLs your ears (if they are still working) will be rather sensitive to the high frequencies. In addition many recordings will emphasize the extremes for sizzle effect and to accommodate mediocre playback equipment so it doesn't really surprise me. Also consider that if there are some high frequency distortion products especially IMD or high order HD they will likely cause fatigue and a little roll off will help with that.

Normally it's not blasting at that level, but sometimes I do like to rock out. (feel it)

When attempting to set this with pink noise do you shoot for completely flat across the board, or is it going to roll the highs down and boost some bass ? In order to get it close to flat I really had to boost the highs and lower the bass way down ? I know using a phone ap is not ideal, just working with what I have.

 

[gadget73]

How flat is the response of the microphone you are using? Without knowing that, any results are going to be very suspect.

Honestly if it sounds right, I would pay no mind to what your smartphone has to say on the matter.

 

[turnitdown]

Absolutely flat causes fatigue in most listeners. We (as humans) don't find it the most pleasing -it sounds shrill. A slight roll-off is preferred. Look up the Fletcher-Munson curve. You're probably tuning it, by ear, in accordance.

 

[ConradH]

Flat is a great target for amplifiers- you can't design without a target of some sort. Flat systems, OTOH, aren't very pleasant. The worst speakers I ever designed were also the flattest. Somewhere, usually via room characteristics or added treatments, the response needs to slope a bit if you're going to be happy long term.

 

[Beatnik]

This is really just an experiment, all the talk of these wonderful sounding flat systems, just toss on a recording and everything is perfect, got me over thinking things again. To my ear and preference I really don't think that could ever happen.

 

[drumbum]

Phone apps (using internal mic) are nothing more than a novelty.

 

[JoeESP9]

IME a true flat in room response is almost instantly fatiguing. A gentle roll off above ~12KHz and a slight boost below ~75Hz IMO/E makes for a more pleasant overall sound. The flatness is implemented between those two frequencies.

 

[Lavane]

I have a spectrum analyzer I've had for many years. Using the mic and pink sound generator to get an flat response always gave me ear fatigue. As stated in previous posts the roll off on the top end sounds better. That being said, most of my SS integrated amps and pre amps tend to have the tone controls set flat or close to it. Every one and brand seems to have it's own house sound, even with controls set flat or using the tone defeat control. None of my tube equipment has tone controls but I wouldn't call the response flat. Adding an EQ with an analyzer to try and get a flat response for the room never sounded right to my ears.

 

[Beatnik]

So, when people say "flat" they're just talking midrange and bass/treble to their liking or whatever, no hard set rules there ?

 

[lini]

Beatnik: Did you consider that "flat response" in case of pink noise would actually mean a 3 dB drop per octave? So, provided the display is linear, a flat setting would actually result in frequency response with a 3 dB/octave rise.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini


edit: I guess the above could easily be misunderstood - what I meant is: Who knows, whether the app actually does a proper sprectrum analysis over 1/3 (or whatever fraction of an) octave bands, in case of which pink noise plus flat response should result in columns of equal height. Whereas in case the columns would merely show the responses at certain frequencies, a flat response should show that 3 dB per octave drop.

 

[Beatnik]

Flat to me suggests a straight line across the board left to right on an analyzer. All frequencies as equal db as possible. Anything else would be a curve of some sort.

 

[lini]

Beatnik: I've just modified my post above to make more clear, what I actually meant to express.

And on a proper spectrum analyser fed with pink noise it would rather be "all certain fraction of an octave bands as equal dB as possible" than "all frequencies as equal dB as possible".

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Beatnik]

I need a picture of what a "flat response" would look like on a proper analyzer.

 

[teal'c]

What am I doing wrong ?

You're worrying about what's "right" instead of what sounds good.
Flat is boring. Try driving through a flat state, hard to stay awake.

 

[JoeESP9]

So, when people say "flat" they're just talking midrange and bass/treble to their liking or whatever, no hard set rules there ?

I would hardly call 75Hz to 12KHz the "midrange". Yes many equalize for flat and then apply a "house curve". In my case it's a 6dB/Octave roll off above 12KHz and an upward bass tilt that starts around 70Hz and reaches +3dB at 20Hz. Please note, once the settings are made I no longer adjust the DSP.

You're worrying about what's "right" instead of what sounds good.
Flat is boring. Try driving through a flat state, hard to stay awake.

A flat response to 20KHz isn't boring it's annoying. A flat response to 20Hz sounds a little lean.​

 

[I LIKE MUSIC]

Some general information.

Pink noise and white noise are not the same.

i

If one uses pink noise as their source and then tries to make the display on their analyzer look flat, the actual response of their system will not be flat as previously mentioned.

White noise would be the broadband noise source to use for that.

 

[JoeESP9]

pink noise
noun
Physics
noun: pink noise

1. random noise having equal energy per octave, and so having more low-frequency components than white noise.

white noise

white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density.