Hello and welcome to the complete guide to headphone equalizers – how & why.

In this article we enlighten the topic around headphone equalizers. We begin by discussing what problems they solve for audiophiles and audio professionals. Then we look into hardware EQ’s vs software EQ’s and finally how you can apply them manually or automatically. Let’s start out by asking the question:

We use headphone equalizers to solve a problem. Those problems may vary in accordance with the motivation you towards the music you are listening to. Here are the two main categories of people and the individual problems they face with headphones.

The Problem:

If you look at the frequency response chart for typical headphones you come to realise that they are everything but flat. There are a variety of reasons to why that is:

For once, the proximity of headphones to your ear lead to an increase in perceived high frequencies. High frequencies, while traveling through the air, lose energy faster compared to low frequencies. Consequently, the closer you are to a speaker the louder the higher frequencies. To counterbalance that phenomenon many headphone manufactures work with a high-frequency roll-off.

Another reason is the simple fact that bass sells. On headphones we don’t feel the bass as much as we do with a good set of speakers. To give a pleasant bass experience nonetheless, some headphone producers boost the bass response accordingly.

As some headphones fail to reproduce the lowest bass frequencies, the manufacturer compensates by boosting the higher bass frequencies. That too can lead to an imbalance in sound.

A flat frequency response curve means that the sound is neutral or in other words, that which you hear is as close to the actual sound as possible. As a mixing engineer or music producers working with the actual sound is essential. Would you wear coloured glasses while painting a picture? No, of course not. Similarly, you don’t want to wear coloured headphones while mixing. Imagine you mix a track on your headphones and it sounds great to your ears. Later, you go up to a local DJ and ask him to play your mix. Too your surprise it sounds horrible! The lows are too weak and the highs hurt in your ears. Why? Your headphones have a slight bass boost and a roll of at the highs. You mixed accordingly but on every other sound system it just doesn’t bite. What a bummer.

The Problem:

Most Headphones are designed to be used a wide variety of music genres. You on the other hand are only listening to your favorite genre and find that the headphones are not ideal for your genre. For example, the EDM music producer you like mixes aggressive highs. The headphones you bought recently also have a bump in the higher frequency range. Now the mix sounds too harsh for your ears.

The other reason to use a headphone EQ as an audiophile is to sculpt the frequency response according to your personal taste. You can’t get enough of that 50-100 Hz range? You want more presence in the mids? You shall have it! In the end your personal preference is what truly counts.

Lastly you might want to change the frequency curve due to personal impairments. Maybe your right ear is less responsive to high frequencies due to intensive smartphone use. Also, for many people there are age related changes in our hearing that you might want to counterbalance with a headphone eq.

We discussed the why and now look into how we can eq our headphones according to our personal needs and circumstances. Let’s make some useful distinctions to break down this problem further.

In our day and age it is generally easier and cheaper to acquire audio manipulation tools on a software level as plugins or programs. Nonetheless there are some benefits from work with hardware. The warmth of an analog signal processor is one example as to why many people are willing to invest the money. Even though digital algorithmic EQ’s improve with every generation, working with a hardware equalizer can still create a more authentic sound. Often headphone EQ’s come in combination with a headphone amp. Together they can enhance the listening quality of your headphones dramatically.

Below you see a comprehensive pro/con list about hardware headphone equalizers and below that a couple of reviewed product to give you a quick overview over the market.