Buy a Benchmark DAC3 for synergy and be done with it! Many, many of Chord are fans but I'm not a 'filter' guy. Just give me a straight path.
Headphone Eq the hard way and the easy way.
I am not a good writer...
I felt like sharing my journey to find an easy way to do headphone eq.
Short version.
Buy SoundSource and use the native eq functions in the mac/PC as well as 5000 headphone eq found on reddit,
Long Version
Recently I have been exploring headphone eq available free on reddiit forums. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/92b08s/eq_settings_for_700_headphones/
But first I was interested in Audeze Reveal+. With this plugin you can use the specific eq for any of Audeze headphones.
SoundId from sonarworks ( the son of the 32 bit Truefi) is another app from which measures you ear structure by an app in your cell phone that then transfer to Sonarworks site where a personal eq is set up from a picture of your ear which then can be used from within the SoundId mac program.
The first problem is find an Mac audio player not to complex from my limited skills that supported plugins. I found Audirvana($96) which supports plugins. I do most of my listening via Tidal and Qubuz both of which are supported natively in Audivana. So I was able to utilize Audeze Reveal+ Plugin. It also supports all the internal eq functions used in Mac like AUNBANDEQ and AUPARAMETRICEQ. So with the info from the reddit data base I was able to use the eq settings and set them up in AUNBANDEQ. This is quite labor intensive and you are like me ,you are looking for better ways to do things, and will spend 90% of you time trying to figure out how to import the reddit file directly.
Then I found SoundSource ($39) an app for mac that has all the reddit eq file as well as many others, about 5000 in total, that you can choose from with a mouse click. For my Audeze LCD-x there are 4 as there are from my HEDDPhones. and my Focal Clears. If you stream from your mac these are fun to play with.
A word of warning. Within each for these eq files (found in the hidden library file on you Mac) is a PREAMP Gain value at the end of the file and an global gain values. For some of these the global gain was -16.7 which is quite a hit in volume so much that I could not bring my SPL PHonitor 2730b to desired ear bleeding levels.. I went in , made copies, and edited the eq files to remove the PREAMP gain by setting it to 0.0.
Just a word on the HEDD Phones...if you can find a pair audition, do it. They are amazing particularly for the $1899 price. They do have drawbacks, they are quite heavy. Because I have a bit of a peak on the top of my head the support band isn't quite up to the job. I purchased a 40 durometer(soft) piece of 1/4" thick piece of Sorbothane from Mcmaster Carr and placed it in between the band and my head. It works great, though it probably looks quite odd.
Just to be clear you only need SoundSource because it can access the MAC eq functions as well. The Audivana purchase, in hindsight, was not needed.
Also, I received my Benchmark Media's HPA4 line amp/headphone amp. It crushes my Focal Arche and my SPL Phonitor 2730. I feed it with a Chord Qutest. I also have their AHB2 amp in my main system and it can only be described as is perfect.
Provisio...I am 59 and can no longer hear anything above 11Khz
Have fun.
I felt like sharing my journey to find an easy way to do headphone eq.
Short version.
Buy SoundSource and use the native eq functions in the mac/PC as well as 5000 headphone eq found on reddit,
Long Version
Recently I have been exploring headphone eq available free on reddiit forums. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/92b08s/eq_settings_for_700_headphones/
But first I was interested in Audeze Reveal+. With this plugin you can use the specific eq for any of Audeze headphones.
SoundId from sonarworks ( the son of the 32 bit Truefi) is another app from which measures you ear structure by an app in your cell phone that then transfer to Sonarworks site where a personal eq is set up from a picture of your ear which then can be used from within the SoundId mac program.
The first problem is find an Mac audio player not to complex from my limited skills that supported plugins. I found Audirvana($96) which supports plugins. I do most of my listening via Tidal and Qubuz both of which are supported natively in Audivana. So I was able to utilize Audeze Reveal+ Plugin. It also supports all the internal eq functions used in Mac like AUNBANDEQ and AUPARAMETRICEQ. So with the info from the reddit data base I was able to use the eq settings and set them up in AUNBANDEQ. This is quite labor intensive and you are like me ,you are looking for better ways to do things, and will spend 90% of you time trying to figure out how to import the reddit file directly.
Then I found SoundSource ($39) an app for mac that has all the reddit eq file as well as many others, about 5000 in total, that you can choose from with a mouse click. For my Audeze LCD-x there are 4 as there are from my HEDDPhones. and my Focal Clears. If you stream from your mac these are fun to play with.
A word of warning. Within each for these eq files (found in the hidden library file on you Mac) is a PREAMP Gain value at the end of the file and an global gain values. For some of these the global gain was -16.7 which is quite a hit in volume so much that I could not bring my SPL PHonitor 2730b to desired ear bleeding levels.. I went in , made copies, and edited the eq files to remove the PREAMP gain by setting it to 0.0.
Just a word on the HEDD Phones...if you can find a pair audition, do it. They are amazing particularly for the $1899 price. They do have drawbacks, they are quite heavy. Because I have a bit of a peak on the top of my head the support band isn't quite up to the job. I purchased a 40 durometer(soft) piece of 1/4" thick piece of Sorbothane from Mcmaster Carr and placed it in between the band and my head. It works great, though it probably looks quite odd.
Just to be clear you only need SoundSource because it can access the MAC eq functions as well. The Audivana purchase, in hindsight, was not needed.
Also, I received my Benchmark Media's HPA4 line amp/headphone amp. It crushes my Focal Arche and my SPL Phonitor 2730. I feed it with a Chord Qutest. I also have their AHB2 amp in my main system and it can only be described as is perfect.
Provisio...I am 59 and can no longer hear anything above 11Khz
Have fun.