Final Audio E4000 EQ settings

Parametric EQ correction for the Final Audio E4000, derived from measurements by oratory1990. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.

How the Audio E4000 sounds before EQ

Measured against a neutral target, the Audio E4000 comes out dark. The treble sits well behind neutral, so detail and air are muted.

The treble region, cymbals, sibilance and sparkle, sits about 5.0 dB behind neutral, so cymbals sound blunted. The bass region, punch and bass lines, sits about 4.2 dB forward of neutral, so bass lines carry extra weight. The presence region, vocal clarity and attack, sits about 3.4 dB behind neutral, so detail and clarity soften. The air region, openness at the very top, sits about 1.9 dB behind neutral, so the very top closes in (measurements this high up vary between test rigs, so treat the exact number loosely).

The largest single move in the correction is 5.8 dB around 9.3 kHz, on top of a broad tilt of up to 5.0 dB. That is not subtle. This model benefits clearly from correction.

These figures are read from the correction itself: whatever the EQ lifts, the headphone lacked, and whatever it cuts, the headphone had too much of. The target is the community's neutral reference, and how far above 10 kHz you can trust any measurement varies by rig. More dark models.

The correction curve

The solid line is the full measured correction (all 10 filters). The dashed line is what Atrium applies: the same shape at 65 percent strength, capped at 6 dB per band, so the headphone keeps its own character instead of being forced flat.

What the EQ fixes

Summed across every filter, these are the changes the correction actually makes, largest first:

• Around 9.3 kHz the correction lifts the treble by 5.8 dB, over a broad band about 1.9 octaves wide.
• Around 165 Hz the correction cuts the upper bass by 5.4 dB, over a broad band about 2.2 octaves wide.
• At the bottom of the range the correction lifts everything below roughly 26 Hz by up to 3.2 dB.

The preamp of -5.8 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.

The filter table below contains bigger numbers than these: its largest single filter is +13.2 dB. That is normal for an automatically fitted correction and it is not a boost of that size. Several of those filters sit on the same part of the spectrum and pull against each other, so what reaches your ears is their sum, which is the curve above. Enter every filter as listed and you get that sum. No single filter's gain is the size of any change.

Parametric EQ settings

* Rows 1 and 3 are marked because each of those gains is larger than anything this correction actually does. Those filters overlap others in the list and pull against them, so their full size never reaches your ears. Summed with the rest of the set, the largest change anywhere in this correction is 5.8 dB, around 9.3 kHz. The preamp above is set from that sum, not from any single row, which is why it is only -5.8 dB. Enter every row exactly as listed, including the marked ones and the cuts. The set is correct together and misleading apart.

This is the published correction for the Audio E4000, unaltered, in AutoEq format. It pastes straight into Equalizer APO or Peace on Windows, and into most parametric EQ apps. Enter every row, including the ones that cut. These are the values to use: the numbers are not rounded off or simplified for the page, because changing them would change the result.

How to use these settings

Manually: enter the preamp and each filter into any parametric EQ. On Windows that is usually Equalizer APO with the Peace interface. On a Mac, eqMac or SoundSource. Set the type, frequency, gain and Q exactly as listed.

With Atrium: pick your Audio E4000 in the app and it applies a tuned version of this correction: 65 percent strength with a 6 dB per-band cap, which fixes the rough spots without erasing what the headphone does well. Atrium also measures how you hear with a short listening test and layers your personal hearing profile on top. Two people with the same headphones do not hear the same sound. Headphone corrections are part of Signature Edition; the app itself is free.

Audio E4000 vs other Final models

Bass and treble are each model's average distance from the neutral target in that range. Positive means more than neutral, negative means less.

Headphones that sound similar

Closest matches across all 4,332 measured models, by distance between their deviation curves. Useful if you like how the Audio E4000 is tuned and want alternatives.

More Final EQ settings