Cog

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to a lot of things about audio. I'm not one of those guys who fiddles with plug-ins and endlessly tweaks their EQ settings. I probably would if I actually had any competence and know-how in doing so, but I don't. So.

Anyway, title says it all, really. The Xi-Fi, in Game Mode, has a section for Bass Boost. With your speaker settings set to Headphones, there are two sliders you can ajust for the Boost feature, the "Level" and "Cutoff Frequency."

Mainly my question is about the Cutoff Frequency. The Level slider seems fairly straightforward, as sliding it farther just increases the decibel boost, and I understand that simply makes the effect louder. Unless otherwise advised, I'm just gonna leave that at the default 3.0db increase. For the Cutoff Frequency however, I have no understanding of what the deal is with that at all, and how it should be set when using headphones. Any references to it I managed to google were always in relation to using speakers and subwoofers.

So should I leave Cutoff Frequency at the default 100Hz, or set it to something more suitable for headphones?


Uh, and just in case these settings have any impact on Bass Boost tweaking: I don't use the EQ at all (disabled), I disable the CMSS-3D (good surround, but the audio itself becomes less crisp and kind of "tinny", which I don't like), and I'm presently using the 24-bit Crystalizer at 20%.

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The PROPHET, by Kahlil Gibran

Rogacz

As always with sound.

There is one simple rule:

Set it - try it.

Nobody will tell you a good split rate because of headphones and your hearing.
You have to try different values on your own and decide which one sounds best to you.

I don't use bass boost on headphones, but keep in mind that setting it too loud will cause ear fatigue and will mask other sounds (and I assume you're using CMSS HPH, so you don't want to loose detail).

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Cog

I see what you mean, but really I just want to know what exactly the Cutoff Frequency actually DOES. Otherwise, I might be influenced by imagined placebo effect when changing it around, due to my ignorance as to what its function even is.

I mean, I guess just looking at it, it's the frequency at which the bass cuts off. But problem is, even though I realize that from the context, I still don't have any idea what that actually means, in specific application.

What frequencies are typical of bass? I have no idea. Are certain bass frequencies only suitable for speakers, but not headphones? Again, I have no idea. You get the picture.

And, I think I understandably, I'd like to know that before I start messing with it. I just want to be filled in here on something that's probably common knowledge to most people in this forum.

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The PROPHET, by Kahlil Gibran

Rogacz

Bass sounds are under 200 (well, some people will argue, but I'm not giving you exact values).

Cutoff is what you said - a frequency at which bass will be cut off. Basicaly what it does is to cut all the bass from all the sound sources and route it directly to sub (all new speakers do this, but they have built in crossover frequency, and here - you can set it for taste).

And different speakers sound different on different frequencies.

You can always look into speaker manual, but as I said before - trust your ears ;-)

Set it on 60 - play some games, listen to some music, then set it to 80 and so on.

Propably you won't hear any difference untill you set bass boost (+15).

(I found that +15 @ 60 = you can feel the sound; +15 @ 120 = you can hear the sound)

And I won't be setting bass boost on smaller headphones, it can ruin your sound.

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