Equalizer settings for deep bass

I have a decent set of speakers, slightly older but still superb set. Altec Lansing MX5021 is a THX certified speaker set which outputs some very good bass. But sometimes even that just isn’t enough when you want to pump out that proper deep bass. You know, for explosions that shake up the entire room/house and doesn’t overdrive the subwoofer? Yup, this is exactly that.

After several weeks of testing in music, movies and games, I’ve come to an interesting finding.

 

The only thing that counts are the first 4 equalizer (EQ) sliders. It doesn’t matter how many sliders there are in the EQ, always focus on first four sliders. The picture above is from my Sound Blaster Z control panel, but it will work just the same in any other EQ.

Now as you can see from the image, that’s how you have to set it for a deep thumping bass.

I usually make 3 presets with different bass depth levels (going from left to right, first 4 sliders in decibel – dB) so I can quickly change the bass as needed.

Mini Bass
+1 +2 -2 -1

Medium Bass
+2 +4 -4 -2

Deep Bass
+4 +8 -8 -4

Be aware that using very high levels like the Deep Bass preset, will take away tiny part of the sound presence and will make it sound slightly different (compared to Flat preset), but the outcome will be a spectacular deep bass. Result will also vary depending on the speakers you’re using, so don’t expect too much from some generic 2.0 speakers with 5000W of PMPO power…

These settings can also be applied to hardware devices if they support equalizer like the one found on computers. I remember seeing it on some DVD players and LCD TV’s and even portable MP3/MP4 players, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to test it out yet. If you do have such device, give it a try and let me know how it works.

Update 2016.10.16

Created new EQ preset that focuses on entire audio spectrum. Check it out here.