Headphone EQ Settings in SoundSource


The current gold standard seems to be the Harman Curve, and enthusiasts have gone to considerable effort to measure different headphones and create equalization curves to try to bring their “cans” more in line with that ideal. One huge repository of presets is found in the AutoEQ project. For instance, the Sennheiser PC38X headset I use at the office has multiple enthusiast-provided EQ settings:

On a Mac, the excellent application SoundSource not only allows a system-wide EQ, but it incorporates the AutoEQ database; if your headphones are in the database, a ready-to-go set of EQ parameters is a couple of clicks away.

I haven’t been able to find where SoundSource stores these presets, nor does it appear there’s any way to tweak them, but what I have been able to do is grab To create my own spin, I grabbed a copy from the AutoEQ project (e.g., the SHP9500 Parametric EQ settings), edit them in a text editor, save them locally, and import the tweaked settings into SoundSource.

Incidentally, it’s worth comparing the Rtings SHP9600 and the oratory1990 SHP9500 settings (I found the SHP9600 setting to be really thin sounding):

Rtings SHP9600
Preamp: -6.6 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 26 Hz Gain 7.2 dB Q 0.96
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 133 Hz Gain -5.5 dB Q 0.50
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1769 Hz Gain 6.2 dB Q 1.17
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 5948 Hz Gain -5.7 dB Q 7.16
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 10118 Hz Gain 2.8 dB Q 1.74
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2638 Hz Gain -2.1 dB Q 4.92
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 2981 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 1.73
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 12756 Hz Gain 0.5 dB Q 1.68
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 13257 Hz Gain 0.9 dB Q 1.41
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 19754 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 0.51

oratory1990 SHP9500
Preamp: -6.6 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 28 Hz Gain 6.4 dB Q 0.64
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 186 Hz Gain -2.1 dB Q 2.02
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 2356 Hz Gain 5.6 dB Q 1.84
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2714 Hz Gain -2.4 dB Q 2.87
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 5779 Hz Gain -7.3 dB Q 2.40
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 7224 Hz Gain 1.8 dB Q 4.34
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 10193 Hz Gain 0.9 dB Q 1.91
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 12560 Hz Gain 0.4 dB Q 1.59
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 18785 Hz Gain -3.1 dB Q 0.28
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 20012 Hz Gain -5.3 dB Q 0.45

The reviews of the SHP9600 compare it to the 9500 and note how similar the tuning is, for the most part. Headphones.com suggests the following curve:

    Low Shelf at 85hz, +2dB Q of 0.7
    Peak at 130hz, -5dB Q of 1.41
    Peak at 2000hz, 2dB Q of 1.41
    Peak at 3000hz, -1.5dB Q of 2
    Peak at 6000hz, -4.5dB Q of 3
    Peak at 8500hz, -2dB Q of 3

As a SoundSource EQ settings import file it will look like this:

Preamp: -0.0 dB
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 85 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 0.7
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -5.0 dB Q 1.41
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.41
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 2.0
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 6000 Hz Gain -4.5 dB Q 3.0
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 8500 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 3.0

SoundSource Settings

After a little more exploration, I found where SoundSource keeps its settings; they’re in a binary .plist file in ~/Library/Application Support/SoundSource/CustomPresets.plist

You can convert this to XML (and back) to more easily work with them:

% plutil -convert xml1 \
"./Library/Application Support/SoundSource/CustomPresets.plist" \
-o ~/Downloads/CustomPresets.xml.plist

The AutoEQ files are stored under ~/Library/Application Support/SoundSource/hpeq_profiles/profiles as JSON files, e.g., the Oratory1990 profile for the SHP9500 is in ~/Library/Application Support/SoundSource/hpeq_profiles/profiles/hp/229 (at least on my system), and looks like this:

{"provider": "Oratory1990", "name": "Philips SHP9500", "bands": [{"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "28", "gain": "6.4", "bw": "0.64"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "186", "gain": "-2.1", "bw": "2.02"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "2356", "gain": "5.6", "bw": "1.84"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "2714", "gain": "-2.4", "bw": "2.87"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "5779", "gain": "-7.3", "bw": "2.40"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "7224", "gain": "1.8", "bw": "4.34"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "10193", "gain": "0.9", "bw": "1.91"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "12560", "gain": "0.4", "bw": "1.59"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "18785", "gain": "-3.1", "bw": "0.28"}, {"on": true, "type": "PK", "fc": "20012", "gain": "-5.3", "bw": "0.45"}], "preamp": "-6.6"}

Which, no surprises, matches what I found in the AutoEQ Github repository. But, nice to verify.

Update: u/warmyetcalculated has been developing an EQ curve for the 9600, and suggests:

Preamp: -5.5 dB
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 50 Hz Gain 5.5 dB Q 0.99
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 55 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 1
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 120 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 1.2
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 1.3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 350 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 1.5
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 500 Hz Gain 0.5 dB Q 1
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 1000 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 1.5
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 1300 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 8
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 1500 Hz Gain 2 dB Q 2
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 2

 

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