New toy - not quite what you'd expect (graphic equaliser)

[Mr_Sukebe]

Yep, you read that right, I'm having a play with a graphic equaliser at the moment.
Having said that, not the usual 80s stuff. Here's a pic:

and a link:
http://www.behringer.com/DEQ2496/index.cfm?lang=ENG

This is a pro-audio piece of kit, usually for use in recording studios. The side effect is that it doesn't get anything like the markup that's on most decent stereo kit, and the RRP is just £225. Mine was s/h, making it cheaper than most of my cables.

As a unit, well it's got a lot of functionality that'll I'll probably never use, but also has the ability to do parametric equalisation. In english, it can complete frequency range adjustments similar to an old graphic equaliser, which can be useful for dealing with troublesome room acoustics.
In hi-terms, graphics are usually bad news as they tend to screw over the sound quality along the way.
This unit can be put between a CD transport and DAC (or run as a DAC) and then completed ALL normalisation in the digital realm, meaning that the impact should be fairly minimal. The bad news is that whilst I'm waiting for a set of decent XLR leads to be made up, that I'm using optical cables. The result is a slight softening to the normal presentation along with a minor loss of definition. I'm hoping that the XLR replacement leads will resolve that, meaning that it'll be fairly benign in operation.

The next step will be to optimise it for my room, which I'm not too sure about yet, but am reading around options.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Yep, it's a 19" rack mount.
Pro-audio kit is not something I'd usually play with, but it came well recommended, and I can probably sell if for close to what I paid for it if I don't like it.
The build quality is actually a bit cheap and nasty when compared to say my amp, but then it costs peanuts in relative terms.

I know what you mean by "can't tell the difference". My mother tells me that when she listens to my system after her own £200 Denon midi unit. Maybe I should have bought a PEP instead.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

If it is parametric, USE IT! Dont use the graphic part of it!

Do you have a way of generating slow sine sweeps? This is the only real way to go about doing it properly - doing it with music is a bad idea

Err, could you translate that into non-techie speak please. I am interested.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

My thoughts were to use a test disk that I have to conduct some frequency sweeps and try to do it by ear.
The 2496 does have parametric equalisation and can set itself up if you plug a mic in. Having said that, I've heard that it's better to do the job yourself.
From what I remember the frequency range that you can play with is variable.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

9, what's next post the Keltiks? Didn't quite gel with them I guess.

Ref the Behringer. I'm using it between my transport and DAC via optical cables and it is NOT completely benign. Does't really "rob the life", but does defocus the sound a little.
Later this week a set of XLR terminated cables will be arriving from Zanash and I'll be trying those as my transport and the 2496 have appropriate XLR connectors for the digital side of things. I'll also be giving it a try as a DAC directly into my amp via balanced XLR connections. I don't expect it to outperform my BC DAC, but thought it would be interesting to give it a go.

Strikes me that it's a question of balance, i.e. whether the detrimental effect that it has upon the sound is made up for by the reduced bass bloom at room nodes. Right now, simply can't answer that, but I'll keep you posted.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Since getting the unit, I've also got some much better interconnects, so that I can use XLRs for AES/EBU digital input and balanced output to my stereo amp.
It certainly doesn't sound rubbish, though it's not as good as my normal dac. For the price however, it's good value (bear in mind that the RRP for my DAC was 6 times that of the 2496, and my DAC has none of the additional functionality).

I've just moved, so haven't had much more time to play with it, hope to be able to do so in the next couple of weeks.