Equalizer in a Hi Fi system


Just curious to hear everyone’s opinions on using an equalizer in a high end hi fi system. Was at work tonight and killing time and came across a Schitt Loki max $1500 Equalizer with some very good reviews. What are some of the pros / Benefits and cons in using one. Just curious. BTW. I’m talking about a top of the line. Hi end equalizer. Mostly to calm some high frequencies and some bad recordings. 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xtattooedtrackman

Another anecdote. My wife is Peruvian. We had a couple visiting from Peru and the husband was a lover of mountain folk music as well as the Mexican rock band Mana. I played some of the first by his guidance on Qobuz. He was deeply impressed by the realism and natural timbre he heard. Then played Mana MTV Unplugged. I very well recorded live acoustic set that we both knew well. He and his wife were practically in tears raving about how good it sounded. They both asked me to toggle on and off the EQ. Both said they could believe the improvement it made. The wife did finally say after 3 songs that she was ready to go outlet mall shopping with husband, as planned. She got a little upset with the husband because he refused to get up off the couch and go until the record was over. Don’t knock it til you try it. 

@tlcocks 

Your link set off my virus alarm.

Let's assume 104 bits is correct. The DEQX has a 64 bit floating point processor. Regular processors like the one that is in your Mojo can only work in integers. Floating point processors can calculate down to infinitely small fractions. This gives them much higher accuracy and with DSP a much higher dynamic range. The higher dynamic range is essential in DSP to maintain decent resolution at low volumes and to prevent boosting filters from clipping. They are also a lot more expensive and run hot, too hot for a small unit like the Mojo. Against any floating point processor the additional bits in the Mojo do not mean much as the formats it is working with are either 32, 24 or 16 bits as it can only generate a fixed number of values, whereas the floating point processor can generate an infinite number of values. 

It is difficult to describe what state of the art imaging sounds like. Obviously, we are all use to hearing our own systems and how they perform. Many of us think they sound really good. Stereo system imaging is for all intents and purposes a surrealistic characteristic and not commonly heard in live performances. Only a live acoustic performance can generate such an image under the right circumstances. Thus many of us have not experienced this type of imaging. It is something you have to experience. What does being Tasered feel like? You have to be tased to know. The problem for audiophiles is getting to that level of imaging performance is really hard. Having EQ capability is a vital part of it as no two identical speakers have the same amplitude curves and they have to be identical to generate the best image.