Windows EQ

[dragoodan]

Hi!

I have setup an audio monitoring system in a room inside my house, where I have my Home Studio, yet the room's acoustics are not the best nor the most precise. I can compensate with some equalization, but I wonder: how can I add an equalizer so that the audio output from my audio card passes before through this EQ?

I do not want to equalize within SAW or any audio editing software since by doing so I would be actually equalizing the tracks, and I am aware that while I could be listening a fine, clear, rich sound, in reality I might be doing a frequency disastrous master.

I hope I posted my issue clearly enough


Regards!


Dan.

[Mark Stebbeds]

You can route the audio so one of the outputs sends to your monitors only, and put an EQ on the insert.

However, I recommend against it. Using commercially available acoustical room treatments is a better method to smooth out the peaks and nulls of your room.

Mark

[Bill Park]

If what you suggest worked, everyone would be doing it, including professional rooms that have spent piles and piles of money on acoustical treatment. I suggest going to ethanwiner.com and realtraps.com, where there is tons of information for free. It is a lot of reading, but it will help you to understand and maybe solve some of your room issues.

[Craig Allen]

I completely agree with Mark and Bill, but if you want to try it, that would be a good fit for SAC.

[dragoodan]

You are right, that is the way to go.
It's just that since the audio cards control panels have a lot of times EQs in them (this one does), but really basic ones, I thought maybe if I found one with shell and more precise options, I could manage to make it sound more acute.. I guess it was just wishful thinking...

[Bob L]

If you did go with SAC, you could setup the master out to your control room with my EQ plugin... and that would be very high quality room eq.

Bob L

[RBIngraham]

Obviously fixing the acoustics is the best way, but if you just need some EQ on the studio monitors then you could just use two separate outputs in SAW. Have 1 of them set with an instance of corrective EQ. Set one of them with no EQ. When you're working on your mix, unmute the one with EQ. When it's time to render your audio files, just mute the one with EQ and unmute the one without. Assign all your input tracks to both outputs.

So for example, set up output 1 without any EQ. Route it to your studio monitors. Set up Output 2 to route to Output 1, and set your EQ on output 2. Set up Output 3 to route to Output 1, and leave it with no EQ. Now route all your tracks to both output 2 and 3. When you want the EQ, turn on output 2, when you don't turn on output 3.

[DavidandMary]

Here is what I have done to treat my mix room cheaply and easily. I wrote this out to share in case someone else wants to try it out...

Cheap and Easy 30 Minute Broadband Trap Recipe

Parts List

· 54 2x4 sheets of 2” 3.0 PCF fiberglass; plain @ around $1.00 per sf: $432.00
· 1 bag of large plastic tie wraps: $ 14.00
· 1 roll of duct tape: $ 10.00
· Cardboard of any type: $ 20.00
· Painter’s plastic drop cloth: $ 40.00
· Thirty-two wall hooks: $ 10.00
· Box of wall anchors: $ 10.00
· Box of 5 ½” nails: $ 10.00
· Garden weed fabric (6 foot wide type): $ 54.00

Total cost for eighteen traps: $ 600.00


DIY: Eighteen 6" Broadband Traps for $600.00:
1. Lay three of the fiberglass boards on top of one another. Do these layouts eighteen times for eighteen traps. I got mine at SPI for 0.85 cents. Their site is http://www.spi-co.com/index.html

2. Wrap two stripes of tape vertically and horizontally to secure them together. Pay attention to where the stripes intersect. This is where you will puncture a hole to thread your anchor.

3. Wrap the panels in thin painters plastic drop cloth wrap (similar to saran wrap). No need to get too exact here; the idea is to seal the fiberglass fibers so they can’t escape and float around your room. I just used small pieces of duct tape to secure the plastic wrap.

4. Now you will want to make your anchors. Take a screwdriver and puncture two holes where the duct tape intersections meet.

5. Now you will make your cardboard washers. Cut out 3 to 4” diameter cardboard circle pieces. Tape two of them together, completely wrapping them a few times with the duct tape. Puncture a hole in the center with a screwdriver. Take a plastic tie-wrap and put one through the hole in the cardboard washers. Pull the non-knot side back through the hole and through the tie-wrap receptor; forming a loop. Put the loop through the hole punctured in the fiber panels.

6. Wrap the panels in the garden weed fabric. Use the nails to secure the fabric to the fiberglass.

7. Make a small hole to pull the plastic tie-wrap loop through.

8. Simply use the wall anchors and screw the hooks into them.

9. Then use the rest of your tie-wraps to install them. Don’t use picture frame wire, that’s old technology. Use multiple tie-wraps and simply tighten as needed. Done!

[Fabio Ramon]

DavidandMary,

please could send picture of absorbers?

thanks

[Mark Stebbeds]

You can buy professionally made "kits" that do an excellent job of calming down room reflections at very affordable prices ...and they look great. They come out of the box ready to go.

You hang them as simple as hanging a picture. This kit starts at $542.

http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_room_kits.html

There is also an "education" section that is very helpful, and they will help you decide what is best for your room and budget. As Bill, suggested, Ethan Winer is also an excellent source of information and off the shelf products.

Mark