Atrium / Headphone EQ / Kontinum / Ulim

Kontinum Ulim EQ settings

Parametric EQ correction for the Kontinum Ulim, derived from measurements by Jaytiss. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.

How the Ulim sounds before EQ

Measured against a neutral target, the Ulim comes out bass-light. The low end sits behind neutral, so the sound is lean.

The sub-bass region, rumble and the weight under kick drums, sits about 2.3 dB behind neutral, so kick drums lose their weight. The bass region, punch and bass lines, sits about 2.1 dB behind neutral, so bass lines sound thin. The presence region, vocal clarity and attack, sits about 1.4 dB forward of neutral, so consonants and attack can turn sharp.

The deviations are moderate, topping out around 2.3 dB, which is clearly audible in a direct comparison. EQ makes a worthwhile difference.

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-light models.

The correction curve

1001k10k+80-8 full measured correction what Atrium applies

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

The biggest moves in this correction, and what they do:

The preamp of -4.1 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.

Parametric EQ settings

Preamp: -4.1 dB (prevents clipping from the boosts below)

#TypeFrequencyGainQ
1Low shelf105 Hz+1.4 dB0.70
2Peaking73 Hz+2.9 dB1.01
3Peaking4.46 kHz-2.3 dB1.02
4Peaking6.32 kHz+2.9 dB3.95
5Peaking756 Hz+0.9 dB1.80
6High shelf1 kHz-1.3 dB0.70
7Peaking233 Hz-0.5 dB1.39
8Peaking9.61 kHz+1.0 dB2.63
9Peaking121 Hz+0.4 dB2.11
10Peaking2.57 kHz-0.2 dB3.08

This is the full measured correction in AutoEq format. It pastes straight into Equalizer APO or Peace on Windows, and into most parametric EQ apps.

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 Ulim 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.

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Headphones that sound similar

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

More Kontinum EQ settings