I found this incredible app a few days ago and I just had to share my findings. It's only accessidble on on Google Play, so you'll need an Android device or an emulator to use this technique. The gist of the app is that it neutralizes the sound response of your headphones. Depending on what pair of headphones/in-ears you are using, and the shape of your ear canar, you will hear certain frequencies more intensely than others at the same amplitude. Ideally, you want a flat frequency response from your headphones while mixing.
The app contains ten frequency bands, which are all octaves of each other, starting from 32 Hz (deep sub bass) to 16,000 Hz (if you can't hear this one see a doctor, lmao). For each band, there is a volume knob. Adjust each band until you can barely hear it. You might have to increase the volume of a few. Take your time with this. When you're done, scroll through the frequencies and make sure they all sound equally loud to your ears.
You can also do some A/B testing with the equalizer with some well-produced music. If the EQ makes your music sound clearer, then you're on the right track. :D
The app will give you a frequency chart with your custom EQ curve. This is the curve that you want. Install an equalizer on your computer (not the Android device or emulator). If you're on Windows, I reccomend Peace, as that is the one I'm using for this tutorial. You might have to fidget with some settings in order to get it to work when you are installing it. When you first open Peace, select the Advanced option.
Here are some images for you to reference: (link is only visible to registered users) You can find a link to Peace here: (link is only visible to registered users) Neutralizer app: (link is only visible to registered users)
Click on the graphic EQ preset, and change the frequency bands to the ones from the Neutralizer app. (32 Hz, 63 Hz, 125 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 4000 Hz, 8000 Hz, 16000 Hz). Use the neutralizer graph as a reference to adjust the gain for each band. Look for the 'show graph' button on your console and confirm that it looks identical to the Neutralizer graph. You probably will be off by a few dBs, but this will still improve your sound quality significantly. Save the preset and enjoy your better sound response!
Shoot me a message if you have questions or complaints.
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I used this as a source to base my EQ decisions, as well as my own ears.
(link is only visible to registered users)
I used a notch filter with a Q of 8 (really narrow bandwith) just to target that 7 db spike.
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isn't a notch a little extreme?
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Thanks for the awesome feedback! I feel like I've definitely improved my mixing skills. Last year, I bought myself a pair of DT 1990 Pro headphones and a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface. My headphones are rated at 250 ohms, and the Scarlett 2i2 is recommended for headphones with a max impedance of 200 ohms, so they may not be fully driven. Regardless, my new headphones sound way better than the cheap in-ears I used to mix with. The only form of equalizing I apply on my headphones is a notch filter around 8000 hz to get rid of a treble spike, and a boost around 40 hz to compensate for the bass rolloff. (My headphones are semi open back, but I also think they're not fully driven by my audio interface)
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Note:
The changes can be really subtle. If you're not hearing a difference, test your equalizer while listening to white noise, and turn it off and on a few times.
Frequencies beyond 15 kHz are hard to hear for most people over 40. I've even seen commercial tracks capped at that frequency. Also, you have to be careful with this method because perceiving different frequencies of the same pressure level (dB SPL) as having different loudness is part of the normal human hearing response (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour). Sure you want a neutral response in your monitoring equipment (loudspeakers, headphones) meaning, all frequencies of equal pressure level are reproduced accurately. But this response is usually measured with special microphones and meters because your human loudness perception will always be irregular (and slightly different from everyone else), following the curves linked above. If you mix through such an app, you risk creating a mix that sounds good to you but where frequencies are totally out of whack for everyone else.