![Boss PQ4 Parametric Equalizer - angled](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Boss_PQ4_Parametric_Equalizer_-_angled.jpg)
Equalization, or simply EQ, in
sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
is the process of adjusting the volume of different frequency bands within an
audio signal
An audio signal is a representation of sound, typically using either a changing level of electrical voltage for analog signals, or a series of binary numbers for digital signals. Audio signals have frequencies in the audio frequency range of r ...
. The circuit or equipment used to achieve this is called an equalizer.
Most
hi-fi equipment uses relatively simple filters to make
bass and
treble
Treble may refer to:
In music:
*Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass
*Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range
*Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands
*T ...
adjustments. Graphic and parametric equalizers have much more flexibility in tailoring the frequency content of an audio signal. Broadcast and recording studios use sophisticated equalizers capable of much more detailed adjustments, such as eliminating unwanted sounds or making certain instruments or voices more prominent. Since equalizers "adjust the amplitude of audio signals at particular frequencies" they are, "in other words, frequency-specific volume knobs."
Equalizers are used in
recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s,
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s and
production control room
The production control room (PCR) or studio control room (SCR) is the place in a television studio in which the composition of the outgoing program takes place.
The production control room is occasionally also called an SCR or a gallerythe latte ...
s, and live
sound reinforcement
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds ...
and in
instrument amplifier
An instrument amplifier is an electronic device that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal of a musical instrument into a larger electronic signal to feed to a loudspeaker. An instrument amplifier is used with musical ins ...
s, such as
guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which a ...
s, to correct or adjust the response of
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
s,
instrument pick-ups,
loudspeakers
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an Acoustical engineering#Electroacoustics, electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often ...
, and
hall acoustics.
Equalization may also be used to eliminate or reduce unwanted sounds (e.g., low-frequency hum coming from a guitar amplifier), make certain instruments or voices more (or less) prominent, enhance particular aspects of an instrument's tone, or combat
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
(howling) in a
public address
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
system.
Equalizers are also used in
music production
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
to adjust the
timbre
In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
of individual instruments and voices by adjusting their frequency content and to fit individual instruments within the overall frequency spectrum of the
mix
Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to:
Persons & places
* Mix (surname)
** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star
* nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player
* Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia
* Mix ...
.
Terminology
The concept of equalization was first applied in correcting the
frequency response
In signal processing and electronics, the frequency response of a system is the quantitative measure of the magnitude and phase of the output as a function of input frequency. The frequency response is widely used in the design and analysis of sy ...
of
telephone lines using
passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of on ...
networks; this was prior to the invention of electronic amplification. Initially, equalization was used to "compensate for" (i.e., correct) the uneven frequency response of an electric system by applying a filter having the opposite response, thus restoring the
fidelity
Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London f ...
of the
transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
. A plot of the system's net frequency response would be a flat line, as its response at any frequency would be equal to its response at any other frequency. Hence the term "equalization."
Much later the concept was applied in
audio engineering
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
* Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
* Digital audio, representation of sou ...
to adjust the frequency response in recording, reproduction, and live
sound reinforcement system
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds ...
s. Sound engineers correct the frequency response of a sound system so that the frequency balance of the music as heard through speakers better matches the original performance picked up by a
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
.
Audio amplifiers
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
have long had filters or controls to modify their frequency response. These are most often in the form of variable
bass and
treble
Treble may refer to:
In music:
*Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass
*Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range
*Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands
*T ...
controls (shelving filters), and switches to apply low-cut or high-cut filters for elimination of low frequency "rumble" and high frequency "hiss" respectively.
Graphic equalizers and other equipment developed for improving fidelity have since been used by
recording engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
s to modify frequency responses for aesthetic reasons. Hence in the field of audio electronics the term "equalization" is now broadly used to describe the application of such filters regardless of intent. This broad definition therefore includes all
linear filter
Linear filters process time-varying input signals to produce output signals, subject to the constraint of linearity. In most cases these linear filters are also time invariant (or shift invariant) in which case they can be analyzed exactly using ...
s at the disposal of a listener or engineer.
A British EQ or British style equalizer is one with similar properties to those on consoles made in the UK by companies such as Amek,
Neve and
Soundcraft
Soundcraft is a British designer and importer (formerly a manufacturer) of mixing consoles and other professional audio equipment. It is a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, which is owned by South Korean company Samsung Electronics. ...
from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Later on, as other manufacturers started to market their products, these British companies began touting their equalizers as being a cut above the rest. Today, many non-British companies such as
Behringer
Behringer is an audio equipment company founded by the Swiss engineer Uli Behringer on 25 January 1989, in Willich, Germany. Behringer was the 14th largest manufacturer of music products in 2007. Behringer is a worldwide, multinational grou ...
and
Mackie
Mackie is an American professional audio products brand. Founded in Seattle in 1988 by Greg Mackie as a manufacturer of affordable and versatile compact pro audio mixers, Mackie is the primary product line of LOUD Technologies.
History
Mackie ...
advertise British EQ on their equipment. A British style EQ seeks to replicate the qualities of the expensive British
mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...
s.
History
Filtering audio frequencies dates back at least to
acoustic telegraphy
Acoustic telegraphy (also known as harmonic telegraphy) was a name for various methods of multiplexing (transmitting more than one) telegraph messages simultaneously over a single telegraph wire by using different audio frequencies or channels for ...
and
multiplexing
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
in general. Audio electronic equipment evolved to incorporate filtering elements as consoles in radio stations began to be used for recording as much as broadcast. Early filters included basic bass and treble controls featuring fixed frequency centers, and fixed levels of cut or boost. These filters worked over broad frequency ranges. Variable equalization in audio reproduction was first used by
John Volkman
John E. Volkmann (1905 in Chicago – July 9, 1980 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a sound engineer and architect.
Volkmann received a BS degree in 1927 and an MS in 1928. He worked his entire professional career at RCA, working on acoustics, large ...
working at
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
in the 1920s. That system was used to equalize a motion picture theater sound playback system.
The
Langevin Model EQ-251A was the first equalizer to use slide controls. It featured two passive equalization sections, a bass shelving filter, and a pass band filter. Each filter had switchable frequencies and used a 15-position slide switch to adjust cut or boost. The first true graphic equalizer was the type 7080 developed by
Art Davis
Arthur David Davis (December 6, 1934 – July 29, 2007) was a double-bassist, known for his work with Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner and Max Roach.
Biography
Davis was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United State ...
's
Cinema Engineering. It featured 6 bands with a boost or cut range of 8
dB. It used a slide switch to adjust each band in 1 dB steps. Davis's second graphic equalizer was the
Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing, Inc. is a U.S. audio electronics company founded in 1927.
Their primary products are loudspeakers and associated audio electronics for professional, home, automotive and multimedia applications.
Engineers at Western Electric, wh ...
Model 9062A EQ. In 1967 Davis developed the first 1/3 octave variable notch filter set, the Altec-Lansing "Acousta-Voice" system.
In 1966, Burgess Macneal and
George Massenburg
George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper to ...
began work on a new recording console. Macneal and Massenburg, who was still a teenager, conceptualized an idea for a sweep-tunable EQ that would avoid inductors and switches. Soon after, Bob Meushaw, a friend of Massenburg, built a three-band, frequency adjustable, fixed-Q equalizer. When asked who invented the parametric equalizer, Massenburg stated “four people could possibly lay claim to the modern concept: Bob Meushaw, Burgess Macneal, Daniel Flickinger, and myself… Our (Bob’s, Burgess’ and my) sweep-tunable EQ was borne, more or less, out of an idea that Burgess and I had around 1966 or 1967 for an EQ… three controls adjusting, independently, the parameters for each of three bands for a recording console… I wrote and delivered the AES paper on Parametrics at the Los Angeles show in 1972… It’s the first mention of `Parametric’ associated with sweep-tunable EQ.”
Daniel N. Flickinger introduced the first parametric equalizer in early 1971. His design leveraged the high performance op-amp of his own design, the 535 series (USPTO #3727896) to achieve filtering circuits that were before impossible. Flickinger's patent (USPTO #3752928) from early in 1971 showed the circuit topology that would come to dominate audio equalization until the present day, as well as the theoretical underpinnings of the elegant circuit. Instead of slide potentiometers working on individual bands of frequency, or rotary switches, Flickinger's circuit allowed completely arbitrary selection of frequency and cut/boost level in three overlapping bands over the entire audio spectrum. Six knobs on his early EQ's would control these sweepable filters. Up to six switches were incorporated to select shelving on the high and low bands, and bypassing for any unused band for the purest signal path. His original model boasts specifications that are seldom met today.
Other similar designs appeared soon thereafter from
George Massenburg
George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper to ...
(in 1972) and Burgess McNeal from ITI corp. In May 1972 Massenburg introduced the term ''parametric equalization'' in a paper presented at the 42nd convention of the
Audio Engineering Society
The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products ...
. Most channel equalization on
mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...
s made from 1971 to the present day rely upon the designs of Flickinger, Massenburg and McNeal in either semi or fully parametric topology. In the late 1990s and in the 2000s, parametric equalizers became increasingly available as
digital signal processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...
(DSP) equipment, usually in the form of plug-ins for various digital audio workstations. Standalone
outboard gear
Musical outboard equipment or outboard gear is used to process or alter a sound signal separately from functionality provided within a mixing console or a digital audio workstation. Outboard effects units can be used either during a live performanc ...
versions of DSP parametric equalizers were also quickly introduced after the software versions and are typically called Digital Parametric Equalizers.
Filter types
![Peaking-eq](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Peaking-eq.svg)
Although the range of equalization functions is governed by the theory of
linear filter
Linear filters process time-varying input signals to produce output signals, subject to the constraint of linearity. In most cases these linear filters are also time invariant (or shift invariant) in which case they can be analyzed exactly using ...
s, the adjustment of those functions and the flexibility with which they can be adjusted varies according to the topology of the circuitry and controls presented to the user. Shelving controls are usually simple first-order filter functions which alter the relative gains between frequencies much higher and much lower than the
cutoff frequencies
In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced ( attenuated or reflected) rather tha ...
. A ''low shelf'', such as the bass control on most
hi-fi equipment, is adjusted to affect the gain of lower frequencies while having no effect well above its cutoff frequency. A ''high shelf'', such as a treble control, adjusts the gain of higher frequencies only. These are broad adjustments designed more to increase the listener's satisfaction than to provide actual equalization in the strict sense of the term.
A parametric equalizer, on the other hand, has one or more sections each of which implements a second-order filter function. This involves three adjustments: selection of the center frequency (in
Hz), adjustment of the
Q which determines the sharpness of the
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
, and the level or gain control which determines how much those frequencies are boosted or cut relative to frequencies much above or below the center frequency selected. In a ''semi-parametric'' equalizer there is no control for the bandwidth (it is preset by the designer) or is only selected between two presets using a switch. In a ''quasi-parametric'' equalizer, the bandwidth is depending on the gain level. With rising gain, the bandwidth gets wider.
A graphic equalizer also implements second-order filter functions in a more user-friendly manner, but with somewhat less flexibility. This equipment is based on a bank of
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
covering the audio spectrum in up to 31 frequency bands. Each second-order filter has a fixed center frequency and
Q, but an adjustable level. The user can raise or lower each slider in order to visually approximate a "graph" of the intended frequency response.
Since "equalization" in the context of audio reproduction is not used strictly to compensate for the deficiency of equipment and transmission channels, the use of high-pass and low-pass filters may be mentioned. A
high-pass filter
A high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency. The amount of attenuation for each frequency d ...
modifies a signal by eliminating only lower frequencies. An example of this is a low-cut or
rumble filter
A high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency. The amount of attenuation for each frequency de ...
, which is used to remove
infrasonic
Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
energy from a program that may consume undue amplifier power and cause excessive diaphragm excursions in (or even damage to) loudspeakers. A
low-pass filter
A low-pass filter is a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a selected cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency. The exact frequency response of the filter depends on the filter des ...
only modifies the audio signal by removing high frequencies. An example of this is a high-cut or
hiss filter, which is used to remove annoying white noise at the expense of the crispness of the program material.
A first-order low-pass or high-pass filter has a standard response curve that reduces the unwanted frequencies well above or below the cutoff frequency with a slope of 6 dB per octave. A second-order filter will reduce those frequencies with a slope of 12 dB per octave and moreover may be designed with a higher Q or finite
zeros in order to effect an even steeper response around the
cutoff frequency
In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced ( attenuated or reflected) rather than ...
. For instance, a second-order ''low-pass notch'' filter section only reduces (rather than eliminates) very high frequencies, but has a steep response falling to zero at a specific frequency (the so-called ''notch frequency''). Such a filter might be ideal, for instance, in completely removing the 19 kHz
FM stereo subcarrier pilot signal
In telecommunications, a pilot signal is a signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for supervisory, control, equalization, continuity, synchronization, or reference purposes.
Uses in different communication ...
while helping to cut even higher frequency subcarrier components remaining from the stereo
demultiplexer
In electronics, a multiplexer (or mux; spelled sometimes as multiplexor), also known as a data selector, is a device that selects between several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input to a single output line. The sel ...
.
In addition to adjusting the relative amplitude of frequency bands, an audio equalizer usually alters the relative
phase
Phase or phases may refer to:
Science
*State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
*Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
* Phase space, a mathematic ...
s of those frequencies. While the human ear is not as sensitive to the phase of audio frequencies (involving delays of less than 1/30 second), music professionals may favor certain equalizers because of how they affect the timbre of the musical content by way of audible phase artifacts.
High-pass and low-pass filters
A
high-pass filter
A high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency. The amount of attenuation for each frequency d ...
is a filter, an electronic circuit or device, that passes higher
frequencies
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
well but
attenuates (cuts or decreases) lower-frequency components. A
low-pass filter
A low-pass filter is a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a selected cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency. The exact frequency response of the filter depends on the filter des ...
passes low-frequency components of signals while attenuating higher frequencies. Some audiophiles use a low-pass filter in the signal chain before their
subwoofer
A subwoofer (or sub) is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-pitched audio frequencies known as bass and sub-bass, lower in frequency than those which can be (optimally) generated by a woofer. The typical frequency range for a subwoofer is ...
speaker enclosure
A loudspeaker enclosure or loudspeaker cabinet is an enclosure (often rectangular box-shaped) in which speaker drivers (e.g., loudspeakers and tweeters) and associated electronic hardware, such as crossover circuits and, in some cases, power ...
, to ensure that only deep bass frequencies reach the subwoofer. In audio applications these high-pass and low-pass filters are frequently termed "low cut" and "high cut", respectively, to emphasize their effect on the original signal. For instance, sometimes audio equipment will include a switch labeled "high cut" or described as a "hiss filter" (hiss being high-frequency noise). In the
phonograph
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
era, many stereos would include a switch to introduce a high-pass (low cut) filter, often called a "rumble filter", to eliminate
infrasonic
Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
frequencies.
Shelving filter
While high-pass and low-pass filters are useful for removing unwanted signal above or below a set frequency, shelving filters can be used to reduce or increase signals above or below a set frequency. Shelving filters are used as common tone controls (bass and treble) found in consumer audio equipment such as home stereos, and on
guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which a ...
s and
bass amplifier
A bass amplifier (also abbreviated to bass amp) is a musical instrument electronic device that uses electrical power to make lower-pitched instruments such as the bass guitar or double bass loud enough to be heard by the performers and audien ...
s. These implement a first-order response and provide an adjustable boost or cut to frequencies above or below a certain point.
A ''high shelf'' or "treble control" will have a frequency response , ''H''(''f''), whose square is given by:
:
where ''f
p'' and ''f
z'' are called the pole and zero frequencies, respectively. Turning down the treble control increases ''f
z'' and decreases ''f
p'' so that frequences higher than ''f
p'' are attenuated. Turning up the treble control increases ''f
p'' and decreases ''f
z'' so that frequencies higher than ''f
z'' are boosted. Setting the treble control at the center sets ''f
z'' = ''f
p'' so that , ''H''(''f''),
2 = 1 and the circuit has no effect. At most, the slope of the filter response in the transition region will be 6 dB per octave (thus a doubling of signal voltage and a consequent quadrupling of signal power for every doubling of frequency).
Similarly the response of a ''low shelf'' (or "low shelving or "bass control") can be represented as
:
In this case, the inclusion of the leading factor simply indicates that the response at frequencies much higher than ''f
z'' or ''f
p'' is unity and that only bass frequencies are affected.
A high shelving control in which ''f
z'' is set to infinity, or a low shelving response in which ''f
z'' is set to zero, implements a first-order low-pass or high-pass filter, respectively. However, the usual tone controls have a more limited range, since their purpose is not to eliminate any frequencies but only to achieve a greater balance when, for instance, the treble is lacking and the sound is not crisp. Since the range of possible responses from shelving filters is so limited, some audio engineers considered shelving controls inadequate for equalization tasks.
On some bass amps and
DI box
A DI unit (direct input or direct inject) is an electronic device typically used in recording studios and in sound reinforcement systems to connect a high-output impedance, line level, unbalanced output signal to a low-impedance, microphone level ...
es, the units provide both low and high shelving controls and additional equalization controls.
Graphic equalizer
In the ''graphic equalizer'', the input signal is sent to a bank of
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
. Each filter passes the portion of the signal present in its own frequency range or ''band''. The amplitude passed by each filter is adjusted using a slide control to boost or cut frequency components passed by that filter. The vertical position of each slider thus indicates the gain applied to that frequency band, so that the knobs resemble a ''graph'' of the equalizer's response plotted versus frequency.
![OldSchoolRack](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/OldSchoolRack.jpeg)
The number of frequency channels (and therefore each one's bandwidth) affects the cost of production and may be matched to the requirements of the intended application. A
car audio
Vehicle audio is equipment installed in a car or other vehicle to provide in-car entertainment and information for the vehicle occupants. Until the 1950s it consisted of a simple AM radio. Additions since then have included FM radio (1952), 8 ...
equalizer might have one set of controls applying the same gain to both stereo channels for convenience, with a total of five to ten frequency bands. On the other hand, an equalizer for professional
live sound reinforcement typically has some 25 to 31 bands, for more precise control of feedback problems and equalization of
room modes
Room modes are the collection of resonances that exist in a room when the room is excited by an acoustic source such as a loudspeaker. Most rooms have their fundamental resonances in the 20 Hz to 200 Hz region, each frequency being rel ...
. Such an equalizer (as shown above) is called a 1/3-octave equalizer (spoken informally as "''third-octave'' EQ") because the center frequencies of its filters are spaced one third of an
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
apart, three filters to an octave. Equalizers with half as many filters per octave are common where less precise control is required—this design is called a 2/3-octave equalizer.
Parametric equalizer
Parametric equalizers are multi-band variable equalizers that allow users to control the three primary parameters:
amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of amplit ...
,
center frequency
In electrical engineering and telecommunications, the center frequency of a filter or channel is a measure of a central frequency between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies. It is usually defined as either the arithmetic mean or the geometr ...
and
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
. The amplitude of each band can be controlled, and the center frequency can be shifted, and the bandwidth (which is inversely related to "
Q") can be widened or narrowed. Parametric equalizers are capable of making much more precise adjustments to the sound than other equalizers, and are commonly used in sound recording and
live sound reinforcement. Parametric equalizers are also sold as standalone
outboard gear
Musical outboard equipment or outboard gear is used to process or alter a sound signal separately from functionality provided within a mixing console or a digital audio workstation. Outboard effects units can be used either during a live performanc ...
units.
A variant of the parametric equalizer is the semi-parametric equalizer, which is also known as a sweepable filter. It allows users to control the amplitude and frequency, but uses a pre-set bandwidth of the center frequency. In some cases, semi-parametric equalizers allow the user to select between a wide and a narrow preset bandwidth.
Filter functions
![RC Series Filter (with V&I Labels)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/RC_Series_Filter_%28with_V%26I_Labels%29.svg)
The responses of
linear filter
Linear filters process time-varying input signals to produce output signals, subject to the constraint of linearity. In most cases these linear filters are also time invariant (or shift invariant) in which case they can be analyzed exactly using ...
s are mathematically described in terms of their
transfer function
In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a function (mathematics), mathematical function that mathematical model, theoretically models the system's output for ...
or, in layman's terms,
frequency response
In signal processing and electronics, the frequency response of a system is the quantitative measure of the magnitude and phase of the output as a function of input frequency. The frequency response is widely used in the design and analysis of sy ...
. A transfer function can be decomposed as a combination of ''first-order'' responses and ''second-order'' responses (implemented as so-called biquad sections). These can be described according to their so-called
pole
Pole may refer to:
Astronomy
*Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets
*Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
and
zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation
Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...
frequencies, which are
complex numbers
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the form a ...
in the case of second-order responses.
First-order filters
A first-order filter can alter the response of frequencies above and below a point. In the transition region the filter response will have a slope of up to 6
dB per
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
. The bass and treble controls in a hi-fi system are each a first-order filter in which the balance of frequencies above and below a point are varied using a single knob. A special case of first-order filters is a first-order high-pass or low-pass filter in which the 6 dB per octave cut of low or high frequencies extends indefinitely. These are the simplest of all filters to implement individually, requiring only a capacitor and resistor.
Second-order filters
Second-order filters are capable of
resonance
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
(or anti-resonance) around a particular frequency. The response of a second-order filter is specified not only by its frequency but also its
Q; a higher Q corresponds to a sharper response (smaller bandwidth) around a particular center frequency. For instance, the red response in the accompanying image cuts frequencies around 100 Hz with a higher Q than the blue response which boosts frequencies around 1000 Hz. Higher Q's correspond to
resonant
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
behaviour in which the half-power or −3 dB bandwidth, ''BW'', is given by:
:
where ''F''
0 is the
resonant
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
frequency of the second-order filter. ''BW'' is the bandwidth expressed in the same frequency unit that ''F''
0 is. Low Q filter responses (where ''Q'' < ) are not said to be resonant and the above formula for bandwidth does not apply.
It is also possible to define the Q of a band-pass function as:
:
where ''N'' is the bandwidth in octaves. The reverse mapping is:
:
A second-order filter response with ''Q'' of less than 1/2 can be decomposed into two first-order filter functions, a low-cut and a high-cut (or boost). Of more interest are
resonant
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
filter functions which can boost (or cut) a narrow range of frequencies. In addition to specifying the center frequency ''F''
0 and the Q, the specification of the filter's
zeros determines how much that frequency band will be boosted (or cut). Thus a
parametric equalizer
Equalization, or simply EQ, in sound recording and reproduction is the process of adjusting the volume of different frequency bands within an audio signal. The circuit or equipment used to achieve this is called an equalizer.
Most hi-fi eq ...
section will have three controls for its center frequency ''F''
0, bandwidth or Q, and the amount of boost or cut usually expressed in
dB.
The range of second-order filter functions is important because any analog filter function can be decomposed into a (usually small) number of these (plus, perhaps, simpler first-order responses). These are implemented directly by each section of a parametric equalizer where they are explicitly adjusted. And each element of a graphic equalizer based on a
filter bank
In signal processing, a filter bank (or filterbank) is an array of bandpass filters that separates the input signal into multiple components, each one carrying a single frequency Sub-band coding, sub-band of the original signal. One application of ...
includes one such element whose Q is not adjustable by the user.
Uses
In
sound recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
, equalization may be used to adjust frequency responses for practical or aesthetic reasons, where the end result typically is ''unequal'' volume levels for the different frequencies. For example, equalization is used to modify an instrument's sound or make certain instruments and sounds more prominent. A
recording engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
may use an equalizer to make some high-pitches in a vocal part louder while making low-pitches in a drum part quieter.
Equalization is commonly used to increase the ''depth'' of a mix, creating the impression that some sounds in a mono or stereo mix are farther away or closer than others.
Equalization is also commonly used to give tracks with similar frequency components complementary spectral contours, known as . Selected components of parts that would otherwise compete, such as bass guitar and kick drum, are boosted in one part and cut in the other, and vice versa, so that they both stand out.
Equalizers can correct problems posed by a room's
acoustics
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
, as an auditorium will generally have an uneven frequency response especially due to
standing waves
In physics, a standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a wave that oscillates in time but whose peak amplitude profile does not move in space. The peak amplitude of the wave oscillations at any point in space is constant with respect ...
and
acoustic dampening Acoustic quieting is the process of making machinery quieter by damping vibrations to prevent them from reaching the observer. Machinery vibrates, causing sound waves in air, hydroacoustic waves in water, and mechanical stresses in solid matter. Qu ...
. For instance, the
frequency response
In signal processing and electronics, the frequency response of a system is the quantitative measure of the magnitude and phase of the output as a function of input frequency. The frequency response is widely used in the design and analysis of sy ...
of a room may be analyzed using a
spectrum analyzer
A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals. The input signal that most co ...
and a
pink noise
Pink noise or noise is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum such that the power spectral density (power per frequency interval) is inversely proportional to the frequency of the signal. In pink noise, each octave interval (halving ...
generator. Then a graphic equalizer can be easily adjusted to compensate for the room's acoustics. Such compensation can also be applied to tweak the sound quality of a
recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
in addition to its use in live
sound reinforcement system
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds ...
s and even home
hi-fi systems.
During live events where signals from microphones are amplified and sent to
speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
systems, equalization is not only used to "flatten" the frequency response but may also be useful in eliminating
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
. When the sound produced by the speakers is picked up by a microphone, it is further reamplified; this recirculation of sound can lead to "howling", requiring the sound technician to reduce the
gain
Gain or GAIN may refer to:
Science and technology
* Gain (electronics), an electronics and signal processing term
* Antenna gain
* Gain (laser), the amplification involved in laser emission
* Gain (projection screens)
* Information gain in de ...
for that microphone, perhaps sacrificing the contribution of a singer's voice, for instance. Even at a slightly reduced gain, the feedback will still cause an unpleasant resonant sound around the frequency at which it would howl. But because the feedback is troublesome at a particular frequency, it is possible to cut the gain only around that frequency while preserving the gain at most other frequencies. This can best be done using a parametric equalizer tuned to that very frequency with its amplitude control sharply reduced. By adjusting the equalizer for a narrow bandwidth (high Q), most other frequency components will not be affected. The extreme case when the signal at the filter's center frequency is completely eliminated is known as a
notch filter
In signal processing, a band-stop filter or band-rejection filter is a filter that passes most frequencies unaltered, but attenuates those in a specific range to very low levels. It is the opposite of a band-pass filter. A notch filter is a ba ...
.
An equalizer can be used to correct or modify the frequency response of a loudspeaker system rather than designing the speaker itself to have the desired response. For instance, the Bose 901 speaker system does not use separate larger and smaller drivers to cover the bass and treble frequencies. Instead it uses nine drivers all of the same four-inch diameter, more akin to what one would find in a table radio. However, this speaker system is sold with an active equalizer. That equalizer must be inserted into the amplifier system so that the amplified signal that is finally sent to the speakers has its response increased at the frequencies where the response of these drivers falls off, and vice versa, producing the response intended by the manufacturer.
Stereophile
''Stereophile'' is a monthly American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, such as loudspeakers and amplifiers, and audio-related news.
History
Founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt. ''Stereophile'' is the highest-circulation ...
magazine
Bose 901 Loudspeaker Review
1995.
Tone control
Tone control is a type of equalization used to make specific pitches or "frequencies" in an audio signal softer or louder. It allows a listener to adjust the tone of the sound produced by an audio system to their liking, for example to compensat ...
s (usually designated "bass" and "treble") are simple shelving filters included in most
hi-fi equipment for gross adjustment of the frequency balance. The bass control may be used, for instance, to increase the drum and bass parts at a dance party, or to reduce annoying bass sounds when listening to a person speaking. The treble control might be used to give the percussion a sharper or more "brilliant" sound, or can be used to cut such high frequencies when they have been overemphasized in the program material or simply to accommodate a listener's preference.
A "rumble filter" is a high-pass (low cut) filter with a cutoff typically in the 20 to 40 Hz range; this is the low frequency end of
human hearing
Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory ...
. "Rumble" is a type of low-frequency noise produced in record players and turntables, particularly older or low quality models. The rumble filter prevents this noise from being amplified and sent to the loudspeakers. Some cassette decks have a switchable "subsonic filter" feature that does the same thing for recordings.
A
crossover network is a system of filters designed to direct electrical energy separately to the
woofer
A woofer or bass speaker is a technical term for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from 50 Hz up to 1000 Hz. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's bark, " woof" (in contrast to th ...
and
tweeter
A tweeter or treble speaker is a special type of loudspeaker (usually dome, inverse dome or horn-type) that is designed to produce high audio frequencies, typically deliver high frequencies up to 100 kHz. The name is derived from the high ...
of a
2-way speaker
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...
system (and also to the
mid-range speaker
A mid-range speaker is a loudspeaker driver that reproduces sound in the frequency range from 250 to 2000 Hz. It is also known as a squawker.
Mid-range drivers are usually cone types or, less commonly, dome types, or compression horn drivers. T ...
of a 3-way system). This is most often built into the speaker enclosure and hidden from the user. However, in
bi-amplification
Bi-amping and tri-amping is the practice of using two or three audio amplifiers to amplify different audio frequency ranges, with the amplified signals being routed to different speaker drivers, such as woofers, subwoofers and tweeters. Biampin ...
, these filters operate on the low level audio signals, sending the low-frequency and high-frequency signal components to separate amplifiers, which connect to the woofers and tweeters, respectively.
Equalization is used in a reciprocal manner in certain communication channels and recording technologies. The original music is passed through a particular filter to alter its frequency balance, followed by the channel or recording process. At the end of the channel or when the recording is played, a complementary filter is inserted which precisely compensates for the original filter and recovers the original waveform. For instance, FM broadcasting uses a
pre-emphasis
Typically, prior to some process, such as transmission over cable, or recording to phonograph record or tape, the input frequency range most susceptible to noise is boosted. This is referred to as "pre-emphasis"before the process the signal will u ...
filter to boost the high frequencies before transmission, and every receiver includes a matching
de-emphasis
Typically, prior to some process, such as transmission over cable, or recording to phonograph record or tape, the input frequency range most susceptible to noise is boosted. This is referred to as "pre-emphasis"before the process the signal will u ...
filter to restore it. The
white noise
In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...
that is introduced by the radio is then also de-emphasized at the higher frequencies (where it is most noticeable) along with the pre-emphasized program, making the noise less audible.
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...
s used the same approach to reduce "
tape hiss
Tape or Tapes may refer to:
Material
A long, narrow, thin strip of material (see also Ribbon (disambiguation):
Adhesive tapes
* Adhesive tape, any of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive
*Athletic tape, pressure-sensitiv ...
" while maintaining fidelity. On the other hand, in the production of
vinyl records
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...
, a filter is used to reduce the amplitude of low frequencies which otherwise produce large amplitudes on the tracks of a record. Then the groove can take up less physical space, fitting more music on the record. The preamplifier attached to the
phono cartridge
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
has a complementary filter boosting those low frequencies, following the standard
RIAA equalization
RIAA equalization is a specification for the recording and playback of phonograph records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The purposes of the equalization are to permit greater recording times (by decreasi ...
curve.
See also
*
Electronic filter
Electronic filters are a type of signal processing filter in the form of electrical circuits. This article covers those filters consisting of lumped electronic components, as opposed to distributed-element filters. That is, using components ...
*
Loudness compensation
Loudness compensation, or simply loudness, is a setting found on some hi-fi equipment that increases the level of the high and low frequencies. This is intended to be used while listening at low-volume levels, to compensate for the fact that as ...
*
Weighting filter
A weighting filter is used to emphasize or suppress some aspects of a phenomenon compared to others, for measurement or other purposes.
Audio applications
In each field of audio measurement, special units are used to indicate a weighted measure ...
Citations
General sources
* Glen Ballou, "Filters and equalizers", ''Handbook for Sound Engineers'', Fourth edition, Focal Press, 2008 .
External links
* Playback equalization for 78rpm shellacs and early LPs (EQ curves, index of record labels)
Audacity WikiDiscriminating EQ frequencies by ear*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110721132848/http://www.idc.ul.ie/idcwiki/index.php/Equalisation EQ Condensed OverviewAudio EQ CookbookPreSonus Equalizer Terms and TipsWikiRecording's Guide to Equalization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Equalization (audio)
Audio effects
Effects units
Linear filters
Sound recording
Tone, EQ and filter