Your EQ settings for listening to music trying to figure out what the bass does?
 

Did anybody go through the trouble of "optimizing" EQ or other settings for when you listen to music and you want to know what the bass does?

Using a 15-band EQ I ended up with +7 db for everything 220 Hz and under (as in flat for everything under it, not just using a "bass" control).

That's usually with Shure SHR840 headphones.

I use more EQ cut than boost for that. For me its easier to pick out bass in a "thinned out" mix than to pick it out of an overly bassy one. I also cut the lowest of lows, 40hz and down. Its just kind of a rumble mud noise that interferes with the "tightness".



*Results may vary

Well, to prevent clipping I implement my "+7 db on 220 Hz and lower" by actually lowering the 311 Hz range and up. Same thing, really.

When I first started, I also used to listen to music through a crappy 51/4" car speaker.
Nothing like Blap Blap Ba Blap Blap to give you the feeling of a song:D

Ever put the stereo on and go into another room to hear the bass better?? Sometimes I can pick out a tough to hear bass part by just going into another room and for some reason, sometimes I can pick it out easier that way. Call me nuts.

No, you're not nuts. Bass frequencies penetrate solid objects better than higher frequencies. It's like when cars with expensive stereo systems drive by with their windows up and their stereos playing at full blast. All you hear is the "BOOM BOOM BOOM" of the songs they're playing! ;)

I do the same. If you turn up the lowest frequencies, it sounds very muddy, and actually makes the bass harder to hear. If you're trying to pick a bass line, usually turning down the mids will help the most.

Call me nuts but I play back the recording at double speed and 1 octave up. Fantastic for revealing the architecture of something like a Phil Lesh line. :)

I have a Tascam MP-BT1 that I load MP3's on. It has a feature which enhances the low end (through some EQ filtering I'm sure) to make the bass more audible. I use it with some Westone custom molds and it works great. It also has a cut feature which is aboslutely critical for playing along with tracks as it removes all the low end so you can hear what your playing without clashing with the recorded bass. The Tascam is the single most used piece of gear I've ever owned going on several years now.

+1 to going in a different room, bass cuts through walls well, we hear a little differently than each other, I find a +3 boost at 350, a -4 cut below 60, and a small cut at 500-1000 brings the bass out for me, but it depends a lot on the tone of the recording, and the music does not sound good at all with those eq settings, I just hear the bass better.

I've got a Tascam recorder, and I've been using it for a few years to record rehearsals. They make some nice stuff.

When you load it with songs, does it just pretend to be a USB mass storage device or does not need fancy drivers on Windows?