[2018] More BASS for Your PC Speakers!

[Update 2018] Now works with all sound coming out of your PC!
Want more thumping bass? You came to the right place. Don't worry, you're not alone - not everyone are using bassy PC speakers / headphones. This instructables will teach you to add more bass without destroying the rest of the sound.

/**Updated on 07 Sep 2018**/
- Uses EqualizerAPO platform instead of foobar2000

8 years ago when I started this instructables, I'm only using foobar2000 with VST equalizer that works only with music files. Now, you can enjoy more bass on everything, including popular platform such as YouTube and Spotify.

What is bass?
Bass is low-frequency sound we associate with thumping (boom boom). Bass frequencies start at 20-200Hz, while human ears perceive frequencies from 20-20,000Hz. That is approximately just 1% in number, but we can 'hear' and distinguish lower frequencies (bass) easily such we often want good thumping bass.

How to add more bass?
Well, perhaps the easiest way to add bass is to do the opposite: keep the bass at 0 and the reduce the others. That seems easy but trust me, not alot of software especially free ones are capable of doing that properly.

What you need:

- PC running Windows Vista OS / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10

- Equalizer APO32 for Windows 32bit (x86)or
- Equalizer APO64 for Windows 64bit (x64)

- Peace Equalizer for EqualizerAPO

- Working built-in / external sound device

- PC speakers preferably with a subwoofer (or headphones)

Step 1: Let's Get Started!

First we have to install EqualizerAPO and Peace EQ. These softwares are free, and is a very powerful tool, even more powerful than what you find on typical consumer soundcard such as Creative X-Fi or Asus Xonar. During installation, please select the device you are using in conjunction with EqualizerAPO.

Now open up Peace EQ and select "Full Interface" on the right if prompted.

1. Set the toggle to ON position

2. Reduce pre-amp value by -6.00 first. You will have to reduce more if you're planning to add so much bass.

3. Now, raise the first 4 bands to 5.00 [See Pic 2]
The reason why I raise it to 5.00 instead of 6.00 is to leave headroom in case there is little distortion.

The default frequencies for the first 4 bands are 10Hz, 21Hz, 42Hz, 83Hz. Of course with different subwoofer size you can go lower to reduce "muddy" bass. I am using a big subwoofer so I set it at 13Hz, 20Hz, 34Hz, 56Hz instead.

Adjust until you find the setting to your liking. Do not raise the bar beyond what we minus on the pre-amp.
If you're adding 10dB, then you'll have to at least minus -11dB on the pre-amp setting. This is to prevent distortion.

4. You can also save a profile for the EQ you just created

5. For advanced analysis and measurement, you can click the "Graph" button to display the Graph [See Pic 3]
Now you can understand, despite we adding the bass for only 5dB, the final result is higher.
If you check the box "Adjust frequency in graph" you can use the mouse to slide the EQ.

_________________________________________________________
WARNING: I am not responsible for your subwoofer / headphone / ear damage if you set too much bass or allow too much clipping. You have been warned!

Step 2: Done!

Thanks to EqualizerAPO and PeaceEQ my speakers sounds just like I want it. Everywhere: watching YouTube video, streaming Netflix, listening to Spotify and etc.

There are no discernible difference in CPU usage with Peace running. Even when playing games. If you're using headphones, you may want to check out HeSuVi for the "virtual surround" package on top of EQ-APO.

Now if you're using a subwoofer:
There is a thing called sweet-spot for subwoofer. A subwoofer can sound better in certain place depending on the room, so it may be better to find a spot that will allow your subwoofer to sound much better before we continue. You can place it under the table, facing the wall, behind a cupboard etc to find out where your subwoofer sounds best. I have a downfiring subwoofer (Megaworks 550) that sounds better if I tilt it 90-degree. So I put a thick rubber feet on the left side of the subwoofer where the port is located and it sounds better below my old desk.

Also: Maxed Bass knob is not best! For PC Speakers, most bass knob only act as either attenuation knob or fixed equalizer knob. Maxing this knob doesn't help you get more optimal bass. Find out which position gives you the smoothest bass. And then use the EqualizerAPO to add more bass.

Please Leave a Comment if you liked this instructables!
I have been using many PC Speakers in 2.1 and 5.1 setup from Altec Lansing, Cambridge Soundworks, Edifier, Logitech, Klipsch, Audiobox and many more. I am currently using custom 5.1 setup with Pioneer VSX521.

Special thanks to:
- Peter Verbeek (EqualizerAPO)
- Jonas Thedering (PeaceEQ)

Comments

[mestapho]

YES! Klipsch is the first commercial manufacturer... They do sound sweet. I have the old Pro Media 5.1 with dual 8's and it's pretty sweet. However, the Polk 12 is mBA

[usbdevice]

They make really good speakers, too bad they pair it with short-lived amps. The iFi I mentioned above died on me few years ago. it was easily the best 2.1 computer speakers available 400$ can buy until today.

[jaf77]

I have the Klipsch promedia 4.1's which were purchased around 1999 and still use them today. There are a few reasons they died on people prematurely. Once plugged in, the amp was always on (bad idea) So I drilled a small hole in the amp back-plate and connected a toggle switch to kill power when not in use.

Because they were always on, a few resistors and a diode would overheat a section of the pcb turning it black and it would ruin those components and possibly the circuit pathway. The trick was to remove those components, replace them w/ higher capacity components of the same value, and elevate them off or away from the board during replacement.

Then I tapped into the AC power feed, connected a step-down DC transformer (12 volt wall wort), and used a 12 cm computer fan to direct airflow to that region on the amp.

The promedia 5.1's suffered the same overheating design flaw and the fix is slightly more extensive but essentially the same. You can see the board turning black from overheating on the upper right side in the pic.

[usbdevice]

yeah, it's a pity those great PC speakers didn't make it. they don't make them like they used to. my cambridge soundworks 550 also died by itself when I arrived home from a month vacation.

i have opened the iFi and even send it to a few technician to no avail. i even replaced all the caps and found out the amps are TDA8924 and TDA8920. there are no burnt components at all. well they're digital so without a manual i am completely clueless.

finally decided to save and go for proper receiver with bookshelf setup. there are days i would miss having simple good-sounding 2.1 like the iFi where I can just plug an iPod and use the RF remote to play some music. but those days are just gone.

i am happy for the fact that your promedia 4.1 is still kicking ass! a friend bought my altec lansing ada885 which was once a cheaper alternative to the promedia 4.1 back in 2000 and he is still using it today.

[jaf77]

There is a guy who advertises on fleabay named Stpeteshepherd who offers his services for the old Klipsch 4.1 & 5.1 systems. Some people won't easily give up on those systems because they sound phenomenal. Klipsch refused to disclose a schematic for those Bash amps so he mapped out them out himself. I did my own repair but he pointed me in the right direction. I also have a set of the Z-5500's and they're louder but the sound isn't quite as nice as the Klipsch.

[JonteS]

Thanks it worked like a charm on my Cambridge CSW130 but I have a question and that's how do you decrease the amount of clipping?

[usbdevice]

You will have to reduce the input volume in the SH-1 Equalizer (knob on the left bottom corner) so you will have to turn up the main volume in the end. If it still clips, try to reduce the bass knob, small subwoofer distorts easily.

[yho1]

KLIPSCH.....one of the greatest speaker that i've ever heard..lol...

[atejchman]

i cant figure out how to get to step 1

[usbdevice]

hi, in foobar2000, navigate to "View" on top of the window, click it and select "Equalizer".

Once the equalizer is ticked (enabled), you can increase and 55hz bar to get more bass, but remember to click auto-level each time you increase it.

hope this helps, good luck!

[power]

haha sweet
I was reading and I see papertube mod on Edifier MP300? :P
was happy to hear you still remember this mod :D

[usbdevice]

lol. of course i should. it's one great trick i found few years back. anyone using Edifier MP300 / MP300+ should use it.

[karossii]

Why do you consider SRS Audio Sandbox and Dolby Prologic IIx to be "creepy"?

[power]

SRS makes the sound quality very fake.
trebles sounded like plastic bag lol
and sometimes there's too much trebles and you can't reduce it :(

that dolby thing...I dunno lol

[usbdevice]

The SRS, i found both the Sandbox and TruSurround that comes with my logitech z cinema are overrated. using couple of freeware such as foobar2000 above it makes things sounds better. the only SRS I used is the windows mobile version.

and for the DPLIIx, my laptop has it embedded. Doesn't sound good at all, perhaps they just reverse the matrix of front speakers for the rear channels. However, I turn them on so they upmix things from internet like youtube.

[DeusXMachina]

0_0 It has a spectrogram!? SO COOL!! I can see phasing!

Is there any way to wire this so that it displays the spectrogram of a real-time line in or microphone? Or do you know of any other freeware real-time spectrum analyzers? I don't have a good way to visually monitor things in high detail when I'm mastering in Reason (the vocoder trick works, but it's not a large display).

[usbdevice]

Regarding the spectrogram, i'm not really certain. However, you could check at the official forums at www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/

Compared to WMP, of course foobar2000's EQ sounds much better. I have not touch WMP for music playback since i use foobar2000. lol

thanks and enjoy...

[DeusXMachina]

Yeah, I just found a bunch of stuff. This website has lots of downloads and you can filter by freeware etc: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/

[DeusXMachina]

Thank you!!!!! This is wonderful! Two things were really starting to piss me off about WMP:
1) Single-band compression causing ducking of my low-end when the high end peaked, giving that obnoxious "wobbly" sound. (I'm a big audiophile)
2) It seems like it's been taking longer and longer to start up.

I use VLC, primarily for FLAC and streaming, but I don't like it's UI and lack of library support. I am giving foobar a shot and it looks like it's going to be a good match :)