I'm a little confused about the way the 'EQ parameter' settings work
when editing (creating) user customized instrument voices in 'Sound
Creator': effects/eq page (page 90 of PSR2000 owner's manual).

There appears to be a separate gain setting for Low Frequency and
High Frequency. You first choose a specific low & high frequency
value, and then a select a gain (+-) amount. I'm hoping to get some
clarification about how this works:

Suppose I set the Low Frequency to 125Hz and its' corresponding gain
to +3db. Does this boost all frequencies at 125Hz and below by 3db,
or does it only boost the 125Hz frequency itself? The same question
applies to the High Frequency. If I set the High Frequency to 4.5kHz
and set its' associated gain setting to +3db, does this boost 'all'
the frequencies equal to and greater than 4.5khz or just the specific 4.5khz frequency?

Thanks, - Scott

Scott,
when an equalizer lets you set a frequency usually it works like a parametric equalizer and this means that it will boost (or decrease) the chosen frequency and other frequencies around that one in a "bell shaped" way. In other words, the chosen frequency is the center of a bell shaped curve; in a true parametric equalizer you would be able to determine the width of the curve, but in this case I think that the width is predetermined and rather narrow, to prevent the equalization to interfere with unwanted frequencies.
I hope that what I am saying doesn't sound too confusing.
Enjoy your PSR 2000
Andrea

hi Andrea. I think I understand what you are saying about it being a parametric type of EQ, but I wonder if the PSR2000 is actually using the 'bell type curve' approach as you described. I tend to think it might be more of a two band EQ system. That is: the gain (db) is applied to ALL frequencies below the selected 'Low Frequency' setting, and the gain (db) is applied to ALL frequencies above the selected 'High Frequency' setting.

Andrea, I agree that a parametric EQ (bell curve around a specific frequency is preferred), but it's funny that no frequency range is given (at least it's not covered in the manual, or am I blind), and also that there is no paramter value setting to set the range either. hmmm.

I hope other PSR2000 owners will try this out on their keyboard and report back their findings.

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 12-06-2001).]

Hi Scottyee. Good answer in the preceding message by "Dreamer". I'm only want to add that the opposite to a parametric equalizer is a graphic equalizer.
In a graphic equalizer the "bell shaped response curve" is optimized but static for every frequency band. With a parametric EQ it's possible to get a more exactly and dynamically resulting sound. The PSR2000 it's a wonderful dynamic instrument. I think that the PSR2000 has ordinary/standard parametric EQ in the same way as an effect box. To me it sounds like that, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it sounds really good ...
I never before had such a userfriendly keyboard with so much possibilities to tweak the EQ. Both overall (Master) and for each inividual voice :-).

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MB

[This message has been edited by Joysound (edited 12-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Joysound (edited 12-06-2001).]

Joysound: Thanks for your input. Can you please elaborate. You say ordinary/standard parametric EQ. What exactly does that mean? Is there a specific set frequency 'range' around the selected frequency which is affected? If so, 'what' is this frequency range? Thiis is not given in the PSR2000 Owner's Manual.

Scott,
my VA 7 has the same kind of Eq; when I increase its frequency at a given value only a narrow zone around that value is affected. You can check that by yourself: if you raise your low Eq at -say- 120 Hz, if you were raising ALL the frequency below that one you will hear the bass drum jump out of the speakers (like in techno music). To get that effect, you need to center the Eq around 50 Hz. Similarly, when you raise your high frequency around 3000 Hz, if you were raising ALL the frequencies above that one you should be able to hear a well definite hiss. In my VA 7 neither of these things happens, so I think that just a narrow zone around the chosen frequency is affected.
Since in these keyboards the equalizer is nothing more than a welcome plus, I think that Yamaha can be justified for not clarifying its specs more in depth.
Regards,
Andrea

Hi Andrea: What you say makes sense. So I guess that (on the PSR2000 & VA7) you can only boost/lower 'two' selected frequencies (and the narrow bell curve range around them), right? One specified frequency in the Low Frequency parameter box and one specified frequency in the High Frequency parameter box. This essentially makes this a '2 band' equalizer. But like you said, I guess this is still pretty good for an arranger keyboard. Maybe 'next year' Yamaha will come out with a 20 band parametric EQ.

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 12-06-2001).]

Well, I don't have an exact answer yet, but what I meant was that I think the PSR2000 has a parametric EQ like todays effect boxes according to the industrial standard of today. (Sorry about my english. I don't know how many errors I have done, but I'll try ...).
I think the parametric EQ has a default "bell shaped curve" that is as good as the standard of todays "ordinary or medium priced" effect boxes. I'm very happy that the PSR2000 sounds much better than I thought of. I had never before bought a keyboard unheard, but in some way I was sure that I couldn't be dissapointed by the sound of the PSR2000, so I bought it unheard :-). (I have heard the PSR9000 and similar "top of the line" from other manufacturers before.) Heard = Listen ? :-)
To summarize: I don't think the parametric EQ of the PSR2000 is a weak point of the keyboard. I'm surprised that it has so many EQ options. I'll try to investigate this further ...



------------------
MB

Joysound & Andrea: Thanks to both of you for your excellent explanations. Of course I was just kidding about wanting 20 bands of EQ. How about 50?

"I guess this is still pretty good for an arranger keyboard."
Scott: No other keyboard, even a synth, except the MOTIF, gives you track and sound level EQ. We have this feature only in High End PSR keyboards.

This is to clarify the way the PSR2000's 'sound sample' (voice edit) EQ feature works. After performing some further tests, I have determined (on the PSR2000), that the bell curve area which Andrea refered to above, is approximately an octave and a half below and above the selected frequency. To test this out, I first set the 'low frequency' to 450hz (which is fairly close to concert 'A' pitch 440 hz, the note A above middle C). I then set the gain to +12db. When I play the note 'A' and compare it to the orginal (gain set to: 0), I clearly hear the difference. This difference is noticeable for about an octave below & above the 'A' note. Below this point, there is no noticable difference in gain. I performed the same test setting the high frequency parameter to a give value and boosting it 12 dbs as well and got the same results.

Effectively, the PSR2000 'sound sample' equalizer is essentially a 2 band type which affects specific frequencies (and a relatively narrow band around that frequency). It IMPORTANT to remember that this EQ function only affects the given sample.

There is a 'separate' 5 band equalizer used for customizing the sound of the entire keyboard output, located in the PSR2000's 'Mixing Console' page. This Equalizer lets you determine the frequencies (five total) and gain levels, as well as set the band width. VERY cool!

Here's a link to an excellent chart which shows the hz (cycle per second) for all the notes (pitches) of a piano. You will notice that 'hz' doubles when you go up an octave and is halved an octave lower. This should provide an easy way to determine what range of notes you are actually boosting/lowering when you select a given frequency on the PSR2000's Equalizer. In fact, this chart should be useful for all synth/arranger keyboard owners: http://www.pianoworld.com/pitch.htm