Music Player no EQ?

[ToddSeimer]

I actually like the Music Player app. It's simple, runs smooth and good user interface. But I do have one issue. NO EQUALIZER? Through my apple earbuds it sounds extremely flat. I haven't seen any discussions about this. Am I missing something?

[atoy74]

Agreed. Sound quality is good but flat.

[daveid]

felt the need to comment on this one, I use the default music player and my music sounds great. a couple of questions to determine why your music does not...
1. did you encode the tracks yourself? what was the source? and what format are you using/bitrate?
2. what headphones are you using?
if your answers are like mine, and you still think your music is flat, you may have a valid claim to the usefullness of an EQ.
I encoded my tracks myself, and the source was always a CD in my computer. I compress to ogg vorbis with a VBR of 80 for my phone (a good compromise of quality vs. size).
And I am listening with Sennheiser HD-280 Pro headphones.
My music has punch, good treble, and good midranges. I can tell the difference between the Ogg and the FLACS that I store and listen to on my computer, but for the convenience of carryng around 200 CDs with me, I can live with it. But in no way does my music sound flat.
My point is, if your music sounds flat, it could either be the music (try playing it on the computer with the EQ disabled - btw I don't use the EQ on my computer either, I have a good reciever and speakers which sound great as the artists intended), or the headphones.

[G-won]

Yea, this music player definitely feels lacking & bare bones without an EQ. It's a necessity I enjoyed in every other digital music player, don't see why we should be forced without one in this.

[DDM123]

Android does have some form of equalizer built-in, so some nice person just has to develop a program which lets us change it. The EQ files under /etc may just be for the speaker and/or bluetooth headsets, but I'm not sure.

[Chief Diesel]

Yeah, that would be absolutely wonderful if someone would develop an EQ. We may get a music player app with those settings built in or we could get a universal EQ for all sound aspects of the phone (which I'd rather). Regardless, I'm sure it's on its way...

[argie999]

Yeah, that would be absolutely wonderful if someone would develop an EQ. I'm sure it's on its way...

Well, Chief, your December 2008 wish remains unfulfilled, and it's almost October 2009.

The lack of an equalizer is a serious deficiency in a moder music player. Android is supposed to be a platform for the future, and even though we're talking about a phone, it should have a powerful music player.

The Google people are busy creating software trinkets, and ignoring basic, fundamental support.

Actually, I like the music player a lot, but except when used with top of the line headphones (and few people do), the bass is puny. Even a basic bass boost would make it a lot better.

Oh well, all we can do is wait. They have us by the proverbial b...s

George

[mikebeecham]

I think the proverbial b...s comment is a little over-dramatic! I would agree with Daveid post about the kind of music that you're listening to. I work PA desks and have always been of the opinion that NO music player really needs an EQ as long as you have a decent setup.

The hardware that comes with the Hero is actually not that bad, you know. I use stock headphones and think the audio is not bad at all. FLAC and post 320kb/s MP3s come out really well...no flatness there whatsoever.

If you're encoding them yourselves, then a little further understanding of the process, rather than a point-and-click option will reap serious benefits for you. If you're getting your music from itunes or amazon.com then again the music should be of decent quality.

If you're getting your music from 'other' sources (*ahem*) then you'll kinda get what you pay for!

This is, in no way, meant to flame or offend anyone, but just because the Hero player (which is actually very good) does not come with an EQ, does not mean the end of the world imho.

/endsermon!

[blueski]

how can anyone even argue that there's no need of a EQ? there's different kinds of music that need different settings. it's not an encoding issue.
also, there are different ears. like me, i've tinnitus, and actually really need to be able to take down the treble sometimes.

glad i'm not playing @ your PA station.

[Deathwish238]

Well, using an EQ changes the music. You're no longer listening to what the artist/producer intended for you to listen, you're coloring the sound with the EQ. So if possible, it's best to not have to use an EQ.

So unless you use an EQ to help make your headphone's frequency response curve flat, you're not really improving your sq.