Eli5, how do sound equilizers work? If there is only one audio file, how do equilizers differentiate between bass, minds, and things like that and then are able to change them?
In: Technology
All sound is made-up of a waveform that represents the frequencies that are generated by the sound source, at that given moment in time. This can be simple wave (like a constant sine wave hum ) or complex. More complex sounds have harmonics, which further accent particular frequencies in the soundwave. Some examples of their visual representation here: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/95349717099292737/
The visual representations are based on low-frequencies-left/low Hz (wave cycles per second), and high-frequencies-right/high Hz, we can pinpoint certain areas if we wanted to adjust that frequency. A graphic equalizer works like this: boost/cut low frequencies by adjusting the left sliders, mids mid sliders, highs right sliders. Same concerpt for a 3-band knob eq, just less control. A paramentric EQ is similar, but focusses in on a select few frequencies. Another eq setting is q/peak, which allows you to control how ‘steep’ the cut/boost is relative to the neighboring frequencies.
A concept close to eq’ing is filtering, where you can, for example, reduce the lows by using a high-pass filter, and vice versa, and peak/q/notch to control the boost/cut type happening in the filtering.
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