Headphone eq consistency

Contribute Feature Requests
#1

Well, I don’t know if it can be called a feature request… anyway:

I found headphones signal eq to be rather different from outputs eq.

  1. I built my first pedalboard listening through headphones (AKG K171MKii) and I found a satisfatory eq.
    When I plugged output to my amp (Markbass AC101, for acoustic instruments, quite balanced tone) I had to cut almost all bass and add much treble to obtain the sound I was looking for.

  2. I shared my pedalboard here after I did some corrections to balance tones, I recorded a sample. Listening to the shared sample (via PC, no eq, same headphones) I found the sample quite good but still containing more bass and little less treble than what I can hear with headphones plugged to Mod Duo.

  3. I tried to plug headphones to one of the outputs and, even if I was (obviously) obliged to listen with just one ear, sound eq coming from output 1 or 2 is different (more bass) than sound eq coming from headphone output.

Does anybody notices that?
If I’m not wrong, would it be possible for manufaturer to check for eq consistency, and eventually make eq similar to each other if not the same?

Cheers to all.

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#2

I’ve noticed this too. I wonder if it’s an output impedance problem because if you plug the headphone output into a headphone amp (!) or a normal pre-amp with a headphone output it sounds much better.

Can anyone from Mod Devices clarify this?

Thanks for posting Nicola - I’ve been meaning to say something for ages.

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#3

I’ve found exactly the same issue. There’s always waaay more bass when going into an pa system than when I’m tweaking at home. I’d always assumed it was just an issue with my headphones eq response.

I usually work round this with an eq on the pedalboard that I can tweak to the final output, but that’s kind of annoying when you’re switching presets.

I haven’t tried with a headphone preamp though, so maybe I’ll give that a go and see if the difference goes away.

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#4

Hi @Nicola,
I’m sorry to hear you are not satisfied with this aspect of your Duo.
By design, the reference outputs are output 1 and 2. It is It’s known that the headphone output cuts bass, but unfortunately there is no feasible way to change the frequency response the way it is implemented in hardware.
A workaround would be to plug the main outputs into a dedicated headphone amp. as @ianr suggested.
Best regards
Jakob

#5

Well, not a huge issue once you get used to it and you can guess what will be the sound from 1+2 if you are setting an eq using headphones.

A little bit destabilizing anyway.

“It’s known that the headphone output cuts bass”
I didn’t know and I would like to understand why it’s known. :slight_smile: