This page introduces the basic concept of the Stereo Workstation Software Equalizer. To really see what the Software can do you should also take a look at the Disc Session Concept section.
The old Analog Graphic
Equalizers had two rows of vertical sliders, one row for the left channel and
the other for the right channel. The sliders could be independently set to
arbitrary positions creating a kind of graphic representation (the Analog
Equalization Graph) of the characteristic
that was desired.
Stereo Workstation
Software enables a continuous equalization characteristic (the Digital
Equalization Graph) to be drawn and viewed on the Monitor display screen. Almost
any conceivable Graph can be created to provide better Sonic Performance in the
normal audio range from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz. Independent left and right
Graphs can
be specified or a single Adjustment can be drawn that will be used for both channels.
It is necessary to separate
the Equalization Adjustment into a Baseline Adjustment and a Track Adjustment. The
Baseline Adjustment is the Adjustment that would exist if your CD/DVD Discs or Music files were perfect and
represents the Equalization Adjustment for Your System. The Stereo
Workstation Computer Aided Adjustment feature will
guide you in generating quick and accurate Baseline Adjustments for your system.
A Track Adjustment is the Adjustment that would exist if your System was perfect and
represents the Equalization Adjustment for a particular Track. Each
Track on every Disc and every Music file will probably need a different Track Adjustment. The Track
Adjustment
added to the Baseline Adjustment is the actual effective Total Equalization
Adjustment
that is implemented by Stereo Workstation Software.
The Baseline Adjustment will only
need to be generated once unless the system equipment changes, and this includes
changes to the room. As many Baseline Adjustments as needed can be stored on the computer hard disk and any one of them can be installed as the Current Baseline at any time.
A unique Track Adjustment can be
stored and retrieved for each Track on every Disc or every Music file. The following image shows a typical Track
Adjustment as it would appear on the Stereo Workstation Monitor display screen:
The light blue
Track
Adjustment was drawn using a Graphics Tablet. Starting at
the low frequency end of the graph it is seen that there is a slight low
frequency boost. Moving to the right the gain falls off to a small upper
bass attenuation. Continuing to the right the gain comes back up and then
drops off for an upper midrange attenuation ending in a treble frequency
boost.
The real problem with
Analog Equalizers was a user interface issue. To adjust the Analog Equalizer you
would have to listen to some Music at the normal listening position, jump up and
run over to the equalizer (which rarely could be located close by), make the
adjustment, run back to the listening position to evaluate the effect, then run
back to the equalizer to make another adjustment, and so on until the correct
equalization characteristic was realized. If You could live with the noise and
non-linear problems associated with these equalizers then eventually, after a
lot of work, an Analog Equalization Adjustment setting might be found that actually did improve
the Sonic Performance. But play something else and you would have to go through another
long adjustment process and there was no way to store and retrieve the previous
Adjustment. The net effect is that these Analog Equalizers were
essentially useless as practical Sonic Performance improvement tools. Stereo
Workstation Software allows you to remain at your normal listening position, while making
adjustments, and has the
capacity to store as many Baseline Adjustments and Track Adjustments as needed.
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