Graphic Equalizer Recommendation

[warrenstuart]

Hi

 

I've just been looking through the search results for "graphic equalizer" and most are a few years old and not really answering my question hence this post.

I currently have a cheap and cheerful Citronic CQ215 (1U 2 x 15 band stereo) that I have been testing and the filters are as wide as a barn door so I'm looking for something else that must be 1U and have much tighter filters.

I've seen from reading through the search results that the Behringer equipment seems to get decent ratings but I'm a little concerned that something like the Utragraph Pro FBQ1502 will not be really any better than what I already have?? There are lots of other 1U 2 x 15 units on the market but again it just concerns me that they are all the same unit but in a different case?!!

What about the Behringer Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496? Will the filters be much narrower on this digital unit?

 

What I'm aiming to do here is fill the hole in the frequency response of my EV ZX4s, they have a nasty "pot-hole" at around 2.4k which is about +/- 400khz wide... part and partial of having a 15" & 1" combination I think, I'm sure a 2" horn would be better matched to a 15" LF unit.

 

Many Thanks

 

Warren.

[MarkPAman]

What I'm aiming to do here is fill the hole in the frequency response of my EV ZX4s, they have a nasty "pot-hole" at around 2.4k which is about +/- 400khz wide...

 

400Hz wide I assume!

 

Would a parametric eq be a better tool for this job?

[Oldradiohand]

The Behringer has a parametric option which should sort you out - you can choose the centre frequency, the amount of lift or cut and the width of the response. Bit of a hammer to crack a nut, but if it works....

If you put a lot of lift in at one frequency it may have an effect on your headroom so watch your levels and listen out for any distortion.

[warrenstuart]

Thanks for the replies so far, the hole is actually about 1k wide if you look at the graph below and adding 3 or 4 db at 2.5khz on the Citronic CQ215 equalizer I have at the moment makes such a difference so I just wanted to do it a bit more accurately!

Once the "hole" is removed they sound quite nice for a pair of plastic boxes on sticks ** laughs out loud ** !!

 

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z474/warrenstuart/ZX4FreqResponse.jpg

[Simon Lewis]

So what's causing the dip? I appreciate that you're using eq at present, but it's entirely possible that you are pushing at about 2 and 3kHz (i.e. either side) and whatever is causing the dip (cancellation due to the crossover?) continues to cancel out.

 

You need to know if this problem is equalisable before chasing it with a better equaliser!

 

 

[warrenstuart]

So what's causing the dip? I appreciate that you're using eq at present, but it's entirely possible that you are pushing at about 2 and 3kHz (i.e. either side) and whatever is causing the dip (cancellation due to the crossover?) continues to cancel out.

 

You need to know if this problem is equalisable before chasing it with a better equaliser!

 

 

In a way finding out if the problem is equalisable is what I want to try and prove with a better quality unit. What I ultimately would like to do is reverse the dip to make the frequency response as reasonably smooth as possible around the problem area but as you've quite rightly agreed above I'm providing gain I would say at least 2-3khz either side of where I want to with the Citronic unit so not getting a clear picture of what I want to achieve.

All of this started out after swapping my old Wharfedale Pro LX-15s for the EV ZX4s and finding they sounded ok but there was something missing in the middle, especially with vocals. I downloaded the engineering data sheet from the EV website and as you can see on the graph above the problem is there for all to see. So from this out came my old equalizer and all I do is tweak the 2.5khz slider by about 4db and the vocals are back. The trouble is in reality I'm providing a lift I would say from about 1khz - 4khz so of course the vocals are going to stand out more. If I can provide the correction more or less just where I want it I will get a better picture of what these speakers can really sound like.

Any more (cost effective) suggestions appreciated or thoughts on maybe modifying the crossovers which I had also thought about, still got 3yrs EV warranty tho!

 

On a side note don't knock Wharfedale Pro LX-15s. If you can manage the weight (main reason I had to get rid of mine) they are a bloody good workhorse for the money and I pushed mine hard, VERY HARD some nights and never had a problem!

[Doug Siddons]

From what you say if its just proof your after then why not hire in a decent Graph say KT or LA audio ect for the weekend ? Is going to cost far less than purchasing a unit on a maybe.

[DurhamEvents]

if you're really after control for specific frequencies then I would suggest moving away from just using 2 x 15 graphics and consider a 30 band unit- perhaps something from DBX might be a small step up in performance but not break the bank.

 

As for correcting the 2.4k dip in your EV's I'd suggest that you need to be careful with this kind of adjustment as that's a frequency which EV have probably tactically left out of the frequency response to try and help people manage feedback and get a smooth front of house sound. Obviously I'm just guessing that this is the case, but it's not always a purely flat frequency response which will produce a nice sound for your audience.

 

Best of luck!