Equalizers - Graphiic, Parametric & Channel Balance

Ok, I got the 2496 and when you said, ZD, that it has every imaginable feature, that's almost an understatement. In reading the manual I agree with all of you who say that this unit should be what I need to resolve the issues that I named, and then some. I put it in the system but haven't fiddled much with it yet because I'm still trying to digest the information, especially some of the new terminology. I realize, of course, that much of the control capability and related language is related to recording processes.

Anyway, I'm dedicating much of tomorrow to learning its use which I'm sure will inspire more requests for help.

I've been using the 2496 now for 2 days now and am amazed at its control capabilities. However, as a new EQ user I found the owner's manual nearly worthless and was only able to get a good start after reading an article by Mike Anderson (Audio Review). He agrees that the supplied manual is pretty much inadequate and its use became more clear to me after I switched to dual mono mode as he suggested.

Anyway, earlier in this thread I stated that I preferred the parametric EQ for control but liked the simplicity of the graphic units. How could it be any better, then, to have the capabilities of both; this thing is almost magical. I especially like the fact that along with the graph display there is also a numerical display presented in 0.5 dB increments.

I don't mean this as a critical review of the DEQ 2496; I'm not qualified. I just wanted to express my appreciation for its performance and the advice that got me here. I don't see any downside to its addition and except for those who are fortunate enough to have no hearing issues and a ground up designed dedicated listening room, and maybe even for them, I'm convinced that a good quality equalizer is an important addition to consider.

I'm very happy with the adjustments made so far but I will continue to experiment. Do you who are familiar with its operation suggest that I by the setup microphone?

"I'm very happy with the adjustments made so far but I will continue to experiment. Do you who are familiar with its operation suggest that I by the setup microphone?"

I never used the microphone, but given your issue, you're probably going to have to do everything by ear. As far as ease of use goes, the main thing is to focus on the menus. If you think about what's going on, everything seems to flow in an orderly direction. I'm somewhat of a minimalist, myself, so when I first started using my EQ, I thought it was going to be a nightmare. I hate having to figure out how to use complicated devices like that, but its really not too bad if you give it some time.

"Anyway, earlier in this thread I stated that I preferred the parametric EQ for control but liked the simplicity of the graphic units. How could it be any better, then, to have the capabilities of both; this thing is almost magical. I especially like the fact that along with the graph display there is also a numerical display presented in 0.5 dB increments."

I suspected as much. I started with the graphic myself, but experimented with the parametric and quickly found that I preferred it. Its a very powerful tool. You'll definitely want to learn how to save presets. They save so much time, and allow for such easy comparisons, that its probably the most useful feature the EQ has.

I may be getting ahead, but with this EQ being digital, it allows you to keep a high end sound without spending a lot of money. You don't have to use the built in dac. You can keep the signal digital and send it to a re-clocker or standalone dac. You shouldn't have to take much of a performance hit, if any, with options like this available.

The plot thickens. Even though I expressed my positive impression of its extensive number of features, I'm now having some problems. I may have "lucked" into the first adjustments that gave me the impression that at least the GEQ feature was fairly easy to use. Now, even though displays are clearly showing my input, I cannot hear any changes in the output using either the graphic or parametric settings; its like its in by-pass mode.

I'm using RCA out from the preamp to XLR connections in on the 2496 and XLR out to RCA in to the amp using purchased RCA to XLR adapters. The whole issue of balanced to unbalanced is something I don't have a good grasp of but does this setup violate any connection rules? BTW, this is the same setup I used with the DBX1531 which worked but had other issues.

I've read the manual and other discussions that I've found online and hope I'm missing something simple and am wondering whether it might be a good idea to try using the optical connection. Although probably not an issue, I bought this from a reputable dealer as a new "open box" component.

CORRECTION! It's working fine connected the way I described. I simply hadn't made adjustments significant enough to be able to tell the difference between by-pass and new settings.