Haylou S35 EQ settings

Parametric EQ correction for the Haylou S35, derived from measurements by Filk. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.

How the S35 sounds before EQ

Measured against a neutral target, the S35 comes out bass-heavy. The low end dominates the tuning and can mask the mids.

The air region, openness at the very top, sits about 4.7 dB forward of neutral, so the very top sounds airy and open (measurements this high up vary between test rigs, so treat the exact number loosely). The bass region, punch and bass lines, sits about 3.4 dB forward of neutral, so bass lines carry extra weight. The lower mids region, warmth and the body of voices, sits about 2.3 dB behind neutral, so voices lose body and sound hollow. The treble region, cymbals, sibilance and sparkle, sits about 2.0 dB forward of neutral, so cymbals and s-sounds can sting.

The largest single move in the correction is 5.2 dB around 86 Hz, on top of a broad tilt of up to 3.4 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 bass-heavy 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 86 Hz the correction cuts the bass punch region by 5.2 dB, over a broad band about 2.0 octaves wide.
• At the top of the range the correction cuts everything above roughly 9.8 kHz by up to 5.1 dB.
• Around 3.2 kHz the correction lifts the clarity region by 4.5 dB, over a narrow band about 0.4 octaves wide.

The preamp of -4.5 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.

The filter table below contains bigger numbers than these: its largest single filter is +9.0 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

* Row 2 is marked because its gain is larger than anything this correction actually does. That filter overlaps others in the list and pulls against them, so its full size never reaches your ears. Summed with the rest of the set, the largest change anywhere in this correction is 5.2 dB, around 86 Hz. The preamp above is set from that sum, not from any single row, which is why it is only -4.5 dB. Enter every row exactly as listed, including the marked one and the cuts. The set is correct together and misleading apart.

This is the published correction for the S35, 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 S35 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.

S35 vs other Haylou 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 S35 is tuned and want alternatives.

More Haylou EQ settings