# which eq is best for...



## soco (Apr 30, 2014)

Hi, can you tell me which eq device is best for my purpose? i want to use it for one sub and the center channel.
bfd 1124p or minidsp 2x4 unbalanced? i hope i managed to upload my measurment, if you can see center and sub are out of audyssey callibration(although after the autocal , it made no difference in low freq...)
i have the luck to be the owner of an older ONKYO av, and can run the cal leaving out more than one channel ...


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

You won’t be able to use an outboard equalizer for your center channel unless you are using outboard amplifiers. If you are, I’d go with the balanced miniDSP version, not unbalanced, as the unbalanced doesn’t have much headroom. You can use one channel for the center and one for the sub.

If you don’t have outboard amps you will only be able to EQ the subwoofer. In that case I’d go with the BFD. You can get the 1124 used pretty cheap. The current model if you’re buying new is FBQ1000.

Regards,
Wayne


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## soco (Apr 30, 2014)

First of all, my center is active, what do you mean headroom? it doesnt have enouph voltage to drive ?
I read your articles , and i know that it is useless so many filters per channel so i believe 6 are enouph for my case, it is not a significant reason to choose .
So FBQ , no headroom problem because of the balanced outputs?
I dindnt understand , FBQ isnt o.k. with sub-center ?
Do we have any noise-ground loop problems with any of them?
I know to many questions, in my country there is a proverb that says "Now that we found a priest lets bury 5,6"
Thank you for your time Wayne!


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Ah, didn’t know you had an active center. :T

The situation with the miniDSP is that the balanced version will accommodate a 2-volt signal (if I recall) but the unbalanced version only 1 volt or perhaps even less. So, it’s easy for just about any receiver to drive it into clipping.

The previous incarnations of the BFD were too noisy for use for the main channel speakers, so people mostly only used them for subwoofers. No one has reported anything about the newest FBQ-1000 version, so we don’t know if the noise issue has been corrected or not. We haven’t seen many inquiries about the BFD for the past few years, so it appears that since the miniDSP came on the market most people are opting for that rather than the BFD.

If your country has 120 volt, 60-cycle power you might want to consider a Yamaha YDP2006 digital parametric EQ instead of these two. First class equalizer, sells under $200 US on ebay.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

I've got a FBQ-1000, but I haven't set it up for my IB subs in my theater yet. Perhaps I'll throw it into my 2-channel system and see what it can do. Unfortunately, I've got a ton of other projects all moving along right now, so it might be a few weeks until I find the time to play with it. When I do, I'll post in my usual half-scientific idiom.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Excellent!

Here’s the test you want to do. Hook up the FBQ to one channel only. Turn your system to an unused input and turn it up all the way, put your ear to the two speakers and listen for noise. If there is no additional noise in the channel with the FBQ, then all is good. You might try the FBQ channel both bypassed and with a filter or two engaged, say with some mild boost (between 4-8 dB), somewhere between 1-8 kHz. It’ll probably be easier to make a determination if you have the two speakers sitting close together.

Be sure and turn system back down before you switch the EQ in and out, and for sure when you finish evaluating!!! 

Regards, 
Wayne


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

Sounds like a fairly easy plan. Thanks Wayne!


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## soco (Apr 30, 2014)

About the yamaha, 220~50 i have,only for 120v this model was manufactured?
Also there is another solution, to add a buffer stage in the unbalanced mini dsp model ...
But i prefer one and good, instead of a bunch of little boxes .


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## soco (Apr 30, 2014)

DqMcClain said:


> Sounds like a fairly easy plan. Thanks Wayne!


Please write your results here as soon as you have the time to test it , i am not in a hurry.
I hope the voltage is not so critical for the noise problems...


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

I think Yamaha made a 220v version of the YDP2006, but I’ve heard they can be difficult to find. Your best bet is to do a saved search on the ebay site that services your country and be patient.

Regards,
Wayne


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## soco (Apr 30, 2014)

soco said:


> First of all, my center is active, what do you mean headroom? it doesnt have enouph voltage to drive ?
> I read your articles , and i know that it is useless so many filters per channel so i believe 6 are enouph for my case, it is not a significant reason to choose .
> So FBQ , no headroom problem because of the balanced outputs?
> I dindnt understand , FBQ isnt o.k. with sub-center ?
> ...


Ι would like to explain the proverb for those that might misundertood the meaning...

And the roots of it

Once ,they existed in a place two mountain villages, seeking priest for the celebration of religious mysteries. But the Bishop did not send them, telling them they had to go to the cathedral. But for the dead think was difficult. They therefore complained to the Bishop, and because the dead were unburied, the Bishop sent to one village a priest. The people therefore of that village, warned all residents of another village to go the dead who have to bury them now the priest had gone. The residents, however, said they did not have dead, but dying (almost dead) and another village answered them: "Never mind, bring them, now we found a priest lets bury five or six.


Εxcessive exploitation at the first chance given!

Thanks for your help all !!

P.S. maybe you consider adding " like'' to the options at the end of every post in α future mαintenance.


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