My Yamaha Center PEQ

[Lord Nikon]

I have a HTR-5760 with built in 5 bad Center PEQ. It seems YPAO always leaves this flat, or in the +-0 range. So today I decided to mess around with it a little. It definitely does sound better than the +-0 range. All I really am trying to do is bring the voices out more and avoid having a unnatural sound in the voices. I'm aiming for a more singing in the room sound thne singing in studio with no depth. What frequencies should I mess with more. I have my 100hz and 300hz close to +5.5, and every other setting lower. Whats your settings and what do you recommend for me?

[kexodusc]

Really impossible to make any suggestions without knowing first:
1) The frequency response characteristics (ie: tonality) of your speakers and equipment
2) The effects the listening environment has on frequencies at your listening position.

However, most singing except for very deep bass or baritone occurs above 100 Hz and 500 Hz, with female vocals getting up to 1000 Hz. Some very high Sarah Brightman stuff can exceed 2000 Hz, but I'm not sure you want to start tweaking the EQ there, or you'll drag instrument frequencies with it...and therein lies the problem. If you start messing around too much with the EQ, you'll end up misrepresenting just about every musical instruement as well. 100 - 2000 Hz accounts for all but the lowest 1/2 octave on a guitar. Your attempts at bringing vocals forward will also bring most instruements forward, and hence have no net effect because the recording levels of these frequencies is constant. What you will do is wash away the extremes and lose bass and high end detail...not desireable in my opinion.

[Lord Nikon]

My center channel is http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...c/cmt340c.html

My L/R Mains are

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...70/cbm170.html

[Lord Nikon]

Really impossible to make any suggestions without knowing first:
1) The frequency response characteristics (ie: tonality) of your speakers and equipment
2) The effects the listening environment has on frequencies at your listening position.

However, most singing except for very deep bass or baritone occurs above 100 Hz and 500 Hz, with female vocals getting up to 1000 Hz. Some very high Sarah Brightman stuff can exceed 2000 Hz, but I'm not sure you want to start tweaking the EQ there, or you'll drag instrument frequencies with it...and therein lies the problem. If you start messing around too much with the EQ, you'll end up misrepresenting just about every musical instruement as well. 100 - 2000 Hz accounts for all but the lowest 1/2 octave on a guitar. Your attempts at bringing vocals forward will also bring most instruements forward, and hence have no net effect because the recording levels of these frequencies is constant. What you will do is wash away the extremes and lose bass and high end detail...not desireable in my opinion.

I just want the voices to sound more realistic then a flat EQ.

[kexodusc]

You must understand that the flat EQ is the ideal setting, providing your speakers accurately reproduce the source. If your room acoustics are affecting certain midrange frequencies then you can try to manipulat the EQ to compensate...otherwise, concentrate between 100 Hz and 2000 Hz, depending on your settings...
To be blunt, without having heard your system, I would suggest that if you feel you need EQing to correct, or improve the sound, then perhaps the speakers themselves aren't what you wanted, or the speaker placement can be improved upon? Maybe it's just the source itself.
Play around with the EQ, it's fun, and doesn't hurt anything...let us know what you come up with.