What's the difference of frequency sets for 10 band equalizers?

Question

I'm making a player and now I'm trying to implment simple 10 band graphic equalizer.

I found that there are two kind of major frequency sets for 10 band equalizer.

• 31.25Hz, 62.5Hz, 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 4kHz, 8kHz, 16kHz
• 60Hz, 170Hz, 310Hz, 600Hz, 1kHz, 3kHz, 6kHz, 12kHz, 14kHz, 16kHz

As far as I know, the first one is the ISO standard 10 band equalizer. But, some players like VLC or Clementine support second one.

What's the point of two different freq. sets? For instance, which one is more popular? Or, are they designed for different purpose?

Answer 1

That first one is octave-based, whereas the second is set up with more bands towards either end of the frequency spectrum.

What this means is the first one will appear to have the bands evenly spread across the audio range, to the human ear. So tweaking frequencies is relatively straightforward. General home audio often uses this - allowing general boost and cut of frequencies so the consumer can alter the sound to their preferences.

The second one gives you more flexibility to cut/boost bass or treble frequencies, which is where the shape of a boost/cut curve is potentially more important (eg a steep cut after 12kHz after a flat middle section can roll off high frequencies very well) - often more suited to prosumer / recording / sound design.