Tips to Improve a Graphic Equalizer

Equalizer  It is important for clear voice quality regardless of the character of the speaker

Having a graphic equalizer in your sound system can help you control the sound you want in different environments. Depending on where you are playing or listening to music, sound frequencies and harmonics can change. A band playing live outdoors has a different sound than if they were playing inside in a crowded bar room. Using a graphic equalizer can add or decrease volume to the frequencies and harmonics that are lacking or overpowering the mix.

1. Flat Line Tip

   • Set your graphic equalizer levels at zero on all frequency volumes. Flat lining the graphic equalizer allows you to hear the natural mix or the sound of your music before any adjustments. Listen to the overall mix, noting any unbalance in the bass and treble of the natural sound. Note what is lacking in the mix: the vocals, the bass and the crash of cymbals.

   Adjustment Tip

   • The volume controls for each frequency level can be adjusted up or down from zero (or positive and negative). Bass sounds have a lower frequency that range between 20 hertz to about 140 hertz, and treble sounds range between 5.2 kilohertz to 20 kilohertz. The ranges between bass and treble are the midranges. Adjusting an individual frequency volume level negative or positive affects the sounds of the instruments in that frequency range. The bass guitar would be in the lower frequency and the crash of cymbals would be in the higher frequency.

   Bass Frequencies Tip

   • Adjust the bass frequency spectrum first. Bass is what drives the sound mix. Too little bass and the mix will be weak and lacking substance; too much bass will overdrive and "muddy up" the loudspeakers, amplifier speaker or the speakers in your home or vehicle. A good bass frequency volume brings out the thump of a kick drum. Although considered in the bass spectrum, the bass guitar will have a better sound and cut through any muddiness if boosted in the lower-midrange and midrange frequencies. Instruments to listen for that fall into the bass frequencies are kick drum, pipe organ, bass viola, bass cello, bass tuba and nature's own thunder.

   Treble Frequencies Tip

   • Adjust the treble frequency range second. When a sound person does a sound check before a band plays, he starts with the drums first. The drums stretch the frequency spectrum of sound, from lower (kick drum) to high (snare drum and crash cymbals). This is what you are doing when you start with bass first and move to treble second. Listen for the snare and the crash cymbals and adjust the higher frequency volume levels positive or negative until the mix is balanced. The Instruments to listen for when adjusting the treble frequency volumes are piano, crash cymbals, vocal whispers, pipe organ, flute, piccolo and handclaps.

   Midrange Frequencies Tip

   • Midrange has a wider spectrum than bass or treble, but it is limited as it is stuck between the two. The midrange spectrum includes lower-midrange, midrange and upper-midrange. Balancing midrange in the sound mix is not difficult but can be tricky. Female vocals tend to range in the upper-midrange 500 Hz to 3 KHz, whereas male vocals tend to range in the midrange 160 Hz to 900 Hz. Lead and rhythm guitars, piano and keyboards all stay in the midrange frequencies. Some instruments to listen for when adjusting midrange frequencies are female and male vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, piano, bass guitar, trombone, saxophone, keyboards and sound effects.

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Controlling feedback with a graphic EQ :
A graphic equalizer (graphic EQ) can be very helpful in controlling feedback in a sound reinforcement system. However, you must be extremely careful when trying to find and eliminate troublesome frequencies in order to prevent possible speaker component damage. Note: feedback is a roaring, howling, ringing, or squealing sound and it can occur rapidly.

Let's assume for this demonstration that the graphic EQ is connected to a single main mix output of an audio mixer. We will start with the mixer's main mix fader at a low volume setting and slowly bring the volume fader up while carefully listening for the feedback's appearance.

In this pictured example, we noticed a low-frequency roar just starting to develop. Starting with all of the graphic equalizer's frequency controls in the middle (flat) position, we will pull them way down one by one until we find and stop the feedback. NOTE: When one EQ fader does not affect the roar, return it to its center position.

Because it is a low frequency roar, we will start with the sliding controls (faders) on the left side of the EQ (with lower-numbered cycles per second). If the roar starts to get too loud during this test, we'll simply pull the mixer volume down very quickly and start over.
Lower-mid frequency pulled down

If the sound system has plenty of volume with no feedback after just one frequency control is reduced, we can stop there. Next, we'll slowly raise that one frequency fader back up a bit in order to avoid a drastic filtered sound. The goal is to get a very natural sound but without any feedback so as little frequency reduction as possible to do the job is best. It varies with the situation but over-equalizing is generally bad for sound quality.

If the sound system is still unable to reach a good volume level without feedback (and/or we hear other frequencies ringing) we'll try pulling down a few other equalizer faders (one at a time) as we hunt for the trouble frequencies.

Note: A low roar is reduced with the lower-frequency EQ faders located on the left side of the EQ and a high squeal is reduced with the faders to right side the unit. In many cases, the very lowest and very highest faders are not the frequencies causing the roaring or squealing feedback. In addition, a howling-type feedback can usually be eliminated by bringing down one or more of the mid-range faders in the center area of the unit.

We can repeat this procedure, each time increasing the mixer's volume fader very slightly if we are having problems eliminating all ringing. However, it is best to adjust as few EQ faders as possible in order to avoid destroying the sound quality. We should end up with only a few frequencies pulled down; just enough to filter out the feedback.

Of course, the audio quality and the amount of potential feedback depends on the sound system, the room's acoustic characteristics, the number of audience members, microphone placements, and a number of other factors.

Natural-sounding elimination of feedback

I hope my suggestions can help good luck