Hi Bob,
It is certainly possible to overdo the DEQX calibrations/corrections, resulting in unnatural sound. But as my dealer advised me (Nyal Mellor of AcousticFrontiers.com, who is wonderful), corrections should be applied conservatively. Especially with respect to the natural upper treble rolloff that most speaker/room combinations tend to have at the listening position.
My Daedalus speakers are rightly known for having a very natural sonic character, and that was only improved as a result my use of the DEQX. Most notably in the case of recordings having sound quality that is mediocre or worse, especially in terms of harshness or excessive brightness in the treble region. As I said in one of my posts in the DEQX thread:
Best regards,
-- Al
It is certainly possible to overdo the DEQX calibrations/corrections, resulting in unnatural sound. But as my dealer advised me (Nyal Mellor of AcousticFrontiers.com, who is wonderful), corrections should be applied conservatively. Especially with respect to the natural upper treble rolloff that most speaker/room combinations tend to have at the listening position.
My Daedalus speakers are rightly known for having a very natural sonic character, and that was only improved as a result my use of the DEQX. Most notably in the case of recordings having sound quality that is mediocre or worse, especially in terms of harshness or excessive brightness in the treble region. As I said in one of my posts in the DEQX thread:
Perhaps most notable among the differences that I and my wife perceived were on some recordings having overly bright string sound, including some string quartets as well as symphonic recordings. Those became much more enjoyable with the filters engaged. Not because the sound was dulled down, but because there seemed to be increased detail and improved definition in the upper midrange and lower treble, as opposed to a more homogenized presentation of those notes, which in turn resulted in the brightness being less objectionable.I can say also, in the case of my HDP-5 and as Ozzy and numerous others in the DEQX thread have attested to in the case of other models, that with the corrections bypassed the unit is amazingly transparent. Even when an analog source is being used (via unbalanced connections, at least; I haven’t used its balanced analog interfaces), and is therefore processed through the unit’s A/D and D/A converters. I can’t say that there is zero effect on the signal, but it is remarkably small, and easily outweighed by the benefits the processing provides.
Best regards,
-- Al