something is still wrong, but it doesn't make sense to think that there's anything blown in the device. right now, i'm getting a really dead signal, but it's not the same as before - so i'm still not getting consistency. if there was a blown capacitor or something, i'd expect it to consistently sound broken the same way. so, i can't shake this feeling that there's an external cause that is changing the output - whether it's interference or something else.

i've been playing with eqs to try and isolate it, and i've determined two things.

the first is that it seems like the sub-bass is floored, which has the effect of reducing the audible bass. if i cut the sub-bass and boost the audible bass, i get closer to the sound of a crisp, dynamic, fingered bass guitar, rather than this muddled synth bass sound that is coming out.

the second is that there seems to be a big cut over about 5000 hz. increasing the response from 5000 up to 10000 gives me back the tone on the guitar.

but, this is not the same problem i was dealing with a few days ago. a few days ago, the treble was just floored, making it sound like a tin can. i've also periodically been able to get it to sound the way i expect it to sound - and the way it sounds through the laptop, controlled for the decrease in quality through the laptop speakers.

again: if i blew a capacitor i would expect it to sound the same way every time. but, it's modulating between being too bassy and too trebly. so, it can't be a blown component.

the way it is right now - and it might be different in a few hours - is almost what i'd expect out of a system like beats, which is designed for hip-hop. it's basically a hip-hop frequency response. hip-hop doesn't tend to have much over 5000 hz, so it makes sense to cut it - you're cutting noise. and, it tends to use machines for low melodic parts that don't have a "live" frequency response, so you don't have to really worry about losing the harmonics - you can go ahead and floor the sub-bass.

i've never bought a hip-hop record in my life. this is certainly *not* hip-hop. it's white synth pop - somewhere between early nin and tears for fears, with a heavy psychedelic and grunge influence in the guitar parts. my guitar style is heavily influenced by jimi hendrix. but that's really the only thing close to black music as an influence in my writing. i'm a white person from canada that's spent my whole life listening to white music and has no desire but to create anything other than white music. sticking me with this hip-hop equalizer is just going to break the mix.

on the one hand, i know how to adjust to the effects as they currently exist. on the other hand, i know i'm adjusting to a false reality - because i know the frequency response i'm hearing is artificial. if i were to run the files through an eq that is designed to react to what i'm hearing, the files are going to lack any kind of definition on the bottom end.

so, i'm stuck. i don't think the device is broken - the testing is not consistent with this. i can't think of anything else i could do to resolve driver issues, and as i stated from the start: it doesn't seem like a driver issue. something has to be interfering with the output.