I always leave my EQs flat - I can't stand artificially increased EQ's. A good audio source always helps aswell - if you're using mp3 or m4a's, they are lossy and one of the first things they do is cut the very top and very bottom ends off the waveforms as most people can't hear the difference. That's why CD's or lossless always seems be to more "punchy".
Lossless for me all the way
