Tone control location

[Bill Padden]

Hi all! 

When I first clicked on the Tone Control when setting up the B2 an actual Bass & Treble control image appeared. Since then only the Equalizer appears, which I have set to approximately Utility Gain as I understand it (62%).  My ears, having lost some higher frequencies due to thirty years behind noisy aircraft engines, need the manual controls. The website Q & A says the tone controls are there. What am I missing? Any help appreciated.

[Davywhizz]

Looking back through the archives here, it seems the bass and treble controls were situated where the equaliser is now. The equaliser became an option accessed in the Advanced menu (Get EQ). Someone else will know more.

 "Unity gain" on the equaliser, where the volume is the same whether it's enabled or not, can be found by having all the sliders in a vertical line about 62% of the way up the horizontal scale, that is somewhere to the right of the mid point. 62% is an estimate, if there's any doubt, it's better to go lower. You would then work from that position to find the frequency settings you prefer, but using a mix of cutting and boosting, so as to keep the overall volume at unity when you're finished.  That's the way to avoid creating distortion whilst retaining an optimum output level.

There's no reason you can't use the equaliser in the same way as tone controls, to compensate for room acoustics, some characteristics of your speakers...or your hearing. In fact, the equaliser is a lot more versatile. Find a frequency curve you like, one that makes everything sound a bit better, check the volume is the same with the equaliser on or off and listen for any hint of distortion. You can always move all the sliders slightly to the left while keeping the shape that works for you.

[Bill Padden]

Davywhizz -   I 'm always amazed at the depth of knowledge displayed by the group members, and their readiness to help out those of us not so techy.  Your pathway to EQ setup makes it sound logical and I may have to go that route if I can't return to basic tone controls. My B2 is about four years old - it was in storage for the last three. First thing I did upon setup was web upgrade and that's when I lost the TCs. Probably it was in one of the many upgrades initially loaded. My only other alternative solution is to connect into a small power amp, most of which have tone controls. However, I worry about overloading the B2 amp by boosting it's setting to 60 or so as recommended. Open to any other ideas and I appreciate them all.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi bpadd,

I have never directly connected speakers to my B2 as I saw it as a replacement/upgrade to my HiFi's CD player which had died. I started using the "line out", analogue signal from my B2 to drive my  old, external HiFi amplifier to which the speakers were 

already connected. This was OK but a bit layer I purchased an small external DAC and switched to the B2's optical, digital output and I found this to be much better - even my old ears could hear the improvement. 

Later I added 3 Sonos One speakers to my house, two set up as a stereo pair and a single (Alexa enabled) speaker in my office. I have been VERY pleased with these and should my old HiFi die of old age I will replace it with a couple more Sonos, thereby eliminating the need for any external amplifier and any "attached" speakers.

I say this to help open your eyes to the possibilities to which you can put a B2 (even an old 2016 model like mine!)

Fred

[Davywhizz]

Just to add, if you use an external amp, you won't overload the B2 by turning the volume up to 60 or more. Assuming your speakers will then be connected to the amp, you are only adjusting the tiny "line out" signal. The volume usually needs to be set high, because the B2 has quite a low line output.

If the external amp has a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) built in, or you add a stand-alone one, you would use the B2 optical output, which is fixed. The volume control then has no effect. And you'd probably get better sound quality that way, as Fred says. 

All that said, the B2 graphic equaliser, handled with due care, is far more versatile at compensating for acoustic issues than two tone controls.

D

[Bill Padden]

I'm borrowing a friend's dig pwr/amp while he is TDY for a month. It has an optical input as well as RCA. This will hopefully test whether my ears can hear the difference, as Fred suggested. I don't know  much about the different frequency parameters on an EQ, nor am I sure I have the patience to experiment with them. But, as Davywhizz and others have stated it can make the difference for a specific room and set of ears. Maybe I should broaden my audio knowledge. I'll post results. Thanks all.
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