Better Tone Control / EQ / Loudness / Room correction

Answered
JG.B.

Hi all,

Creating a new post to reconfirm improved tone control or better EQ (similar to what you find in Spotify), not even talking about a dynamic loudness option or a room correction paying option would be hugely appreciated by a vast share of Bluesound users who have selected Bluesound gears for the Hi-fi / "Better than Sonos approach".

Have scrolled the forum and found no less than 15 already existing posts asking for that / something of that kind, totaling 54 votes and 116 comments probably making it one of the most requested feature by far.

Considering this for the upcoming major software update would be an awesome 2023 gift for the community. A huge thank you in advance!

Existing posts details: "ADD A BETTER EQ SECTION TO THE PLAYERS" Gregory Carriere, "MORE ADVANCED TONE CONTROLS (EQUALIZER)" Johan B, "ROOM CORRECTION" Doug Anderson, "AUDIO QUALITY REVIEW" Gregory Carriere, "EQUALISER, CONTROL BY FREQUENCY RANGE" Ricus, "EQUALIZER AND PNG SUPPORT" Patrik Bergh, "EXTERNAL DAC / EQUALIZER FOR POWERNODE" Gordon S., "DYNAMIC LOUDNESS CONTROL/COMPENSATION" Ggichon, "TONE CONTROL FREQUENCIES" Gianni Vignola, "EQUALIZER" CHOUANARD, "EQUALIZER" robot, "7-BAND PARAMETRIC EQ...." Jason Collier, "MULTI-BAND EQ" George Allen, "TONE CONTROL IMPROVEMENTS" fafa44, "ROOM CORRECTION / DIRAC LIVE" Maximilian Sprenger

14

Comments

43 comments

Date Votes
  • JG.B.

    Hi nygafre,

    Matt S. (product manager) mentioned higher in this thread that "Definition of a Fletcher-Munson feature and conversations about how we'll be able to implement any additional EQ are happening now. I don't have an exact timeframe but thought I'd update here".

    To my knowledge was the first mention of Bluesound actually discussing the topic for years (or ever) and no new communication has been made since. Can't conclude from that they are or will do anything anytime but at least the topic is not totally ignored anymore. Let's see

    1
  • Fredrik Nygaard

    @JG.B

    Thank’s! Also aware of the previous post from Matt, but I wanted to know what specific type of EQ they are planning/working on implementing.

    Cheers

    1
  • Matt S.
    Brand Manager

    We're looking at it all! :) That's not to say we can or will do everything at once, but I would say everything is on the table at this point. It's with our engineering and dev team at the moment to check the effects of different possibilities on headroom.

    It's much more likely to be a phased implementation, perhaps starting with a basic GEQ and expanding in the future to PEQ. No promises quite yet.

    What would you like to see? We very much want our community here to be part of the conversation.

    4
  • Fredrik Nygaard
    • Edited

    Thank’s for coming back on this,

    From my perspective it is already quite easy to use GEQ from music playback sources (e.g. Spotify, iTunes etc). But I would very much welcome having GEQ options integrated in the amp also to use for TV and home theatre.

    I would perhaps most welcome an addition of PEQ filters, and the equalization normalisation/Fletcher-Munson feature as you also mentioned previously.

    Especially now that we see e.g. the Wiim Amp coming with a 4 band PEQ and statements about a future upgrade to 10 bands in total, which would be awesome in my book if Bluesound also could do.

    As an example of use case, I now I find myself in a ‘clinch’; having a great amp (N330), great speakers, a subwoofer and doing room measurements.. but no easy way to add my PEQ filters and loudness equalization (to work on all sources), without looking at external devices/solutions from miniDSP, computer playback etc. There really needs to be some functionality for all of us that wants to implement some room correction imho :). The fletcher-munson sure would be a great step in that direction too.

    Of course I could go the separates route as well, but don’t really want to as the Powernode is a great aio.

    Fredrik

    2
  • JG.B.

    Many thanks Matt!

    Fully agree with nygafre: 6-10 bands PEQ would be awesome and equalization normalisation/Fletcher-Munson feature should come next.

    Would make a HUGE difference in sound given room is by far what influence it the most (proven by science, listening and all serious sources, that is so true that AVRs are sometimes recommended for music listening given they include room correction where so-called Hi-Fi equipment do not) and therefore a HUGE difference to Bluesound's value proposition vs. Sonos, WiiM and the like.

    1
  • JG.B.

    Hello all. Happy new year.

    @Matt: checking-in to ask if you had any news from the engineering team on that front? How are discussions going?

    Many thanks,

    JG

    2
  • C0mbat
    • Edited

    Too late for me. I had the Powernode N330 for 2 months but couldn't resist the temptation of parametric eq and room correction so have bought the WiiM Pro Plus and will be running it in to my Kef KC62 sub and using the high pass filter to feed two Aiyima A07 Max amps in mono mode before feeding my Kef LS50 Meta. The WiiM and two Aiyima are half the price of the Bluesound but sound better even before doing room correction. WiiM have changed the game.

    2
  • JG.B.

    Hello C0mbat,

    Totally understandable and nice set-up congrats!

    Think Bluesound has still the build quality, classy touch-screen and top-notch network connectivity on its side (how is the WiiM WiFi connectivity quality in bad signal situation by the way?) but WiiM is moving very fast and already offering awesome value for the money (WiiM Amp is 60% cheaper than the Powernode!).

    Think Bluesound is an HiFi harware company where Linkplay is a software tech company and that makes all the difference but good to hear from Matt they are eventually at least considering to offer some sound management to their units (to be fair Bass/Trebble has been implemented a long time ago) after having despised their community feedback for years...

    2
  • C0mbat

    Yeah, I think you're right JB. But apart from the different company type, I think WiiM are also working with different margins and are clearly selling really good hardware at a lower price point. The DAC in the WiiM Pro Plus is better than the Powernode for example.

    1
  • Sam
    • Edited

    Any updates on that EQ feature!?

    1
  • JG.B.

    Hi Sam,

    No news here or elsewhere on the forum yet I am afraid but would be great to have an update from Matt indeed.

    2
  • JG.B.

    Hi,

    Just a quick feedback on the WiiM Amp: did purchased one to replace my Powernode and tested it today. Build quality as good as Bluesound (binding posts are even better),incredible value package (they even provide high quality HDMI, RCA and toslink cables) but extremely poor WiFi connectivity in my busy environment.

    Amp was unable to connect to 5 Ghz and connection to 2.4 Ghz was so poor the unit was not usable where my Powernode has never failed.

    Sending the WiiM Amp back and still hoping Bluesound will bring at least some decent EQ to the package one day or another.

    2
  • Fredrik Nygaard

    @Matt S.

    Hi again,
    Any news on the direction/development of the EQ implementation? Would be great with a status.

    Cheers,
    Fred

    1

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