More EQ bands needed

Support questions for Neutron Player only.
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blaubär
Posts: 3313
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:57 am

Neutron doesn't have knobs or sliders simply for "bass" and "treble". But it sports a very configurable equalizer. That can be accessed via the left of the three screens ( equalizer screen, main playing screen, track list ). After first installation it looks like this :

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If you miss the bass- and treble-knobs just take the left and right slider. You can switch the equalizer on and off with the "EQ" button below.

When you read about eqs you find the terms "graphic" and "parametric". A graphic eq is a set of sliders for the different frequencies, just like the one you see here. Shift the sliders, and you'll see the effect in the graphics above.

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Now, what's a parametric eq ? That's an eq where you can control not just the gain for given set of eq bands, but the number of bands, their frequency and a lot of other things. You can access that by a long press on the eq button below.

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Here you see all the parameters for each band and can edit them via the buttons to the right.

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What's the "Preamp" for ? If you increase the gain for eq bands then the level of the music might exceed the highest possible value. If you want to make sure that this doesn't happen you can decrease the preamp which results in an overall decrease in volume.

Okay, so why only 4 bands ? You'll find another edit-button below, pressing this gives you further options for customization, including the number of bands.

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"Bode Plot" refers to the graphical representation of the eq curve. You can switch it permanently on ( otherwise it stays for some seconds and then vanishes ) and can opt for a cumulative curve instead of single curves for each band.

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And can I create and store presets ? You can, the list of all presets is available under Settings > Playback > Equalizer Presets. If you want to access that from the main playing screen you can add it to the top panel there via Settings > User Interface > Panel: Top.

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Here you'll find loads of presets with 4 to 60 bands. Long press on an entry ( aim to its middle, no too far to the left, because there you tap to shift it up or down the list ) and you can edit, rename, copy or lock the preset.

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If you want to change the number of the bands enter "Edit" and then the edit-button on the bottom.

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blaubär
Posts: 3313
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:33 pm

Which leaves the question: what do we need an equalizer for ? Some people use it to improve the sound, some use it to mitigate the shortcomings of their headphones and loudspeakers/living rooms. If you belong to the latter and want to build eq presets to get a neutral sound from your headphones you might want to have a look at Autoeq, there you'll find a list of proposals for most headphones.
EDIT: Which has in the meantime been implemented into Neutron, read more below .

blaubär
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Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:04 pm

And should you while editing an eq band wonder what "BW" and "Q" means

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have a look at Peak EQ and BW vs Q

blaubär
Posts: 3313
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:16 pm

If your eq has more bands than the gui can show then a horizontal slider appears below the vertical eq-band-sliders. Give it a long press for activation, then you can shift the band sliders as you need them.

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blaubär
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Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:19 am

The equalizer presets are stored in an xml-file in Neutron's directory. You can use the file to copy the presets from one Neutron installation to another. Make sure to shut down Neutron and all its processes ( on Android kill any notifications ) on the target platform.

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blaubär
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Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:04 am

In version 2.16.0 the equalizer usage has been extended do to this request :
hhasert wrote:
Sun Oct 11, 2020 4:32 pm
[...] Have a look at https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq which is the base for wavelet to get the eq settings. I read there is a include that might do some tricks, hopefully easy to integrate :lol:
dmitrykos wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:22 pm
2.16.0:
* New:
- Frequency Response Correction DSP (Playback - DSP Effect): to correct FR of the output device, collection of 5000+ AutoEq presets for 2500+ headphones for flattening their FR.
[...]
In "Settings > Playback > DSP Effect > Frequency Response Correction"

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you can now choose from the existing eq presets and a list of 5000 additional ones

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If you do this and activate the feature then the preset chosen here will become active but NOT shown on the eq screen.

Why that ? And what are these 5000 additional presets for ? Why are they named after headphones ?

The additional presets have been created as corrections for the frequency response curves of headphones. Activating one of them should transform the headphone's curve into a neutral one, whatever the creators of the preset thought "neutral" might mean.

The idea is that now that you've transformed your headphones into ones with a neutral frequency response curve you can add sound-improving eq settings on the eq screen, and when you switch the headphones you switch the correctional curve and can keep your predelections on the eq screen as they are.

Btw : as usual you can long press on this additional presets and work with them.

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Please note: there is nothing like a "true frequency curve" for headphones ! So take all this with a grain of salt. For some headphones you'll find several distinct presets, like the following three for the AKG K702 :

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The AKG K702 are my favourite headphones, I got used to the sound and don't need any eq, whatever these recommendations tell. EDIT: I'll give it a try, switch off my eq and choose the most plausible preset for headphone correction.
[...] it is the last effect right before the output. Because it is for the frequency response correction it should not be affecting Spectrum Analyzer nor interfere with the effect chain.
Think of this new eq usage as a correctional part of the headphones, not a part of the music player, then that makes perfect sense.

Please note: you won't see the preamp-settings of the frequency response correction in the spectrum analyzer, as these are applied together with the master software volume after the spectrum analyzer got its data.

blaubär
Posts: 3313
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:47 am

Here in short form: how to use the equalizer(s) ?

if you want to correct your headphones :
- open Settings > Playback > DSP Effect > Frequency Response Correction
- add correctional presets from AutoEq for all your headphones
- activate the one for the headphones you're using and activate the effect

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if you want to correct the music:
- open Settings > Playback > Equalizer Presets and choose a preset
- open the equalizer screen and adjust according to your needs

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hrishi1379
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:56 pm

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by hrishi1379 » Mon May 17, 2021 4:03 pm

My two headphones are recognized as the same output device in Neutron. So how do I apply their respective EQ presets with ease when I'm switching headphones? Every time right now, I have to open the list of EQ presets and turn off one preset and turn on the other. Is there a faster way to just tap and change the preset?

blaubär
Posts: 3313
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by blaubär » Mon May 17, 2021 5:04 pm

hrishi1379 wrote:
Mon May 17, 2021 4:03 pm
My two headphones are recognized as the same output device in Neutron. So how do I apply their respective EQ presets with ease when I'm switching headphones? Every time right now, I have to open the list of EQ presets and turn off one preset and turn on the other. Is there a faster way to just tap and change the preset?
If Neutron can distinguish the headphones by their name, e.g. if they are bluetooth-devices, then you can bind the presets to the devices, and once the bug is fixed then Neutron should switch automatically.
If Neutron doesn't know the device, e.g. because it is connected to the line-out plug, then you have to manually switch the preset. You can invoke the presets via Settings > Playback > Equalizer Presets, and/or you can configure the top panel ( Settings > User Interface > Panel: Top ) or the DSP Buttons ( Settings > User Interface > DSP Effect: Button ).

hrishi1379
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:56 pm

Re: How to work with the equalizer

Post by hrishi1379 » Mon May 17, 2021 9:56 pm

Thank you so much!
Trying to configure the presets for quick access led me to the easiest way to switch EQ profiles. Enable the FRC DSP Button in Settings>User Interface and long press the FRC button to quickly change between EQ Presets. I just need to make sure that EQ presets that I have created are added to the FRC section beforehand.

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