A Guide to Audyssey Auto Calibration & Other Technologies

[RocShemp]

I recall reading that respons by Chris Kyriakakis. However, does he mean to set it where the dialogue seems comfortable for each individual program or set the volume once and everything (no matter if you switch discs or change the channel) falls into place?

[Movaudi]

Hi, after calibrating w/ Audyssey, my speakers crossover are : fronts = 150 Hz, centre = 80Hz & surrounds = 110 Hz. Because its sound not good to me -->the fronts sound too sharp and the bass less deep, I changed to 200 Hz (fronts), 110 Hz (centre) & 120 Hz (surrounds). LPF for LFE remain the same = 120 Hz. The audio result is better.
Are there any lost freq because the fronts crossover is far above 120 Hz.
Do you think this is still a proper setting.

Thank you & regards,
Movaudi

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Movaudi

Hi, after calibrating w/ Audyssey, my speakers crossover are : fronts = 150 Hz, centre = 80Hz & surrounds = 110 Hz. Because its sound not good to me -->the fronts sound too sharp and the bass less deep, I changed to 200 Hz (fronts), 110 Hz (centre) & 120 Hz (surrounds). LPF for LFE remain the same = 120 Hz. The audio result is better.
Are there any lost freq because the fronts crossover is far above 120 Hz.
Do you think this is still a proper setting.

Thank you & regards,
Movaudi

Let us know what type of speakers you have and high they are set up in the room. I suspect something is not right. Such high frequencies indicate that there is something wrong about your speaker setup or placement of Audyssey microphone.

When the crossovers of the speakers are set so high, the lower frequencies will be redirected to the subwoofer. In general, sending frequencies above 150Hz to the subwoofer is not a good idea. Many subwoofers cannot handle such high frequencies well.

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Let us know what type of speakers you have and high they are set up in the room. I suspect something is not right. Such high frequencies indicate that there is something wrong about your speaker setup or placement of Audyssey microphone.

When the crossovers of the speakers are set so high, the lower frequencies will be redirected to the subwoofer. In general, sending frequencies above 150Hz to the subwoofer is not a good idea. Many subwoofers cannot handle such high frequencies well.

Hi Big Daddy, thanks for your reply.

OK, my sets are KEF Coda 7 (fronts), KEF C80 (center), Jensen AVX3 (surrounds), Wharfedale SW150, Denon AVR 1610 & Sony BDP-S370.

After Audyssey calibrating, the results are fronts 150 Hz (level -5.5dB both FL & FR), center 80 Hz (level -6.5dB) & surrounds 110 Hz (SL level -5.5dB & SR level -7.0 dB ), Subs level -12 dB

I set LPF for LFE 120 Hz, Subs crossover freq max, volume position 3 o'clock.

I've tried to set the vol at 12 o'clock (standard procedure) & the vol level result is -8.0 dB but the woofer sound so light, just like there is no subs so I changed to around 3 o'clock.
Oya, in this case I turn off the Dynamic EQ, because it make my subs sound crazy, unnatural with boomy sound. I just turn on the Audyssey EQ.
I like deep bass more than treble.

So what should I do.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Movaudi

Hi Big Daddy, thanks for your reply.

OK, my sets are KEF Coda 7 (fronts), KEF C80 (center), Jensen AVX3 (surrounds), Wharfedale SW150, Denon AVR 1610 & Sony BDP-S370.

After Audyssey calibrating, the results are fronts 150 Hz (level -5.5dB both FL & FR), center 80 Hz (level -6.5dB) & surrounds 110 Hz (SL level -5.5dB & SR level -7.0 dB ), Subs level -12 dB

I set LPF for LFE 120 Hz, Subs crossover freq max, volume position 3 o'clock.

I've tried to set the vol at 12 o'clock (standard procedure) & the vol level result is -8.0 dB but the woofer sound so light, just like there is no subs so I changed to around 3 o'clock.
Oya, in this case I turn off the Dynamic EQ, because it make my subs sound crazy, unnatural with boomy sound. I just turn on the Audyssey EQ.
I like deep bass more than treble.

So what should I do.

Make sure the front speakers are about the 30CM away from the walls. The distance between them should be approximately equal to the distance of your main seat from them.

Although you can adjust the output of the subwoofer by increasing or decreasing the volume level on its back or the gain in the receiver, the location of the subwoofer in the room plays a very important role in its output. Subwoofers basically love walls. A subwoofer in the corner of the room sounds the loudest. However, make sure it is about 30 cm to 40 cm away from the side walls so as it is not too boomy. Also, the location of your seat in the room can determine how much bass you hear. If you are sitting exactly in the middle of the room, the low frequency waves will cancel each other and you will hear no bass. It is best that you sit in a nonsymmetrical location from the walls.

Adjust the location of the front speakers, your subwoofer, and your listening seat and run Audyssey again. Put the Audyssey microphone on a tripod at your listening level when you are sitting down. Make sure you run Audyssey for as many positions as it suggests. The distance between the positions should not be longer than one meter. Check post #1 for the diagram.

Close all doors and turn off the air conditioning when you are running Audyssey.

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Make sure the front speakers are about the 30CM away from the walls. The distance between them should be approximately equal to the distance of your main seat from them.

Although you can adjust the output of the subwoofer by increasing or decreasing the volume level on its back or the gain in the receiver, the location of the subwoofer in the room plays a very important role in its output. Subwoofers basically love walls. A subwoofer in the corner of the room sounds the loudest. However, make sure it is about 30 cm to 40 cm away from the side walls so as it is not too boomy. Also, the location of your seat in the room can determine how much bass you hear. If you are sitting exactly in the middle of the room, the low frequency waves will cancel each other and you will hear no bass. It is best that you sit in a nonsymmetrical location from the walls.

Adjust the location of the front speakers, your subwoofer, and your listening seat and run Audyssey again. Put the Audyssey microphone on a tripod at your listening level when you are sitting down. Make sure you run Audyssey for as many positions as it suggests. The distance between the positions should not be longer than one meter. Check post #1 for the diagram.

Close all doors and turn off the air conditioning when you are running Audyssey.

Thanks BD for your quick reply.

Ok, I'll reposition the speakers, woofer & listening seat & rerun Audyssey again.
I'll info you then.

Thanks & regards,
Movaudi.

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by Movaudi

Thanks BD for your quick reply.

Ok, I'll reposition the speakers, woofer & listening seat & rerun Audyssey again.
I'll info you then.

Thanks & regards,
Movaudi.

Hi Big Daddy,

After reposition the subs (around 40cm from the wall), my audio sounds much much better. Thank you very much for the advise.

BTW, I just want to know about subs that has 2 inputs, LFE input & L/R input. Normally we use a single LFE input which bypassed the subs filter & automatically disabled the crossover freq. If we use the L/R input and set the crossover freq at max point (that said would bypassed the subs filter), is the subs sound equally or not? Because IMHO there are many subs that only has a L/R input and if the LFE input is much much better than the L/R input, how comes the subs has only the L/R input still exist in the market?

Another one, because the subs sound is a omni-directional, can we place it facing to the right or left or any position instead of always place it facing towards to the listening seat?

Again, thank you BD

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Movaudi

Hi Big Daddy,

After reposition the subs (around 40cm from the wall), my audio sounds much much better. Thank you very much for the advise.

BTW, I just want to know about subs that has 2 inputs, LFE input & L/R input. Normally we use a single LFE input which bypassed the subs filter & automatically disabled the crossover freq. If we use the L/R input and set the crossover freq at max point (that said would bypassed the subs filter), is the subs sound equally or not? Because IMHO there are many subs that only has a L/R input and if the LFE input is much much better than the L/R input, how comes the subs has only the L/R input still exist in the market?

Another one, because the subs sound is a omni-directional, can we place it facing to the right or left or any position instead of always place it facing towards to the listening seat?

Again, thank you BD

The LFE input is for Home Theater applications. The other L/R inputs are for other applications such as two-channel use where there is no LFE, but you still want to use a subwoofer.

On most subwoofers, you need to connect the sub cable to the left channel input on the back of the subwoofer. However, if you uses a Y adapter (one female, two male) and connect the sub cable to both the left and right channel inputs, you may get 3dBs of additional output. This is explained in the bottom of post #1 in A Guide to Bass Management (Part I).

A subwoofer's location in the room with respect to your listening seat is very important. For that same reason, the position of your listening seat with respect to the location of the subwoofer determines how much bass you will hear.

The orientation of the subwoofer is not important. You can turn it to the right or left without any significant change in the level of bass.

You may consider buying a second subwoofer. The benefits of multiple subwoofers are explained in A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves & Room Modes.

[JOMV]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The LFE input is for Home Theater applications. The other L/R inputs are for other applications such as two-channel use where there is no LFE, but you still want to use a subwoofer.

On most subwoofers, you need to connect the sub cable to the left channel input on the back of the subwoofer. However, if you uses a Y adapter (one female, two male) and connect the sub cable to both the left and right channel inputs, you may get 3dBs of additional output. This is explained in the bottom of post #1 in A Guide to Bass Management (Part I).

A subwoofer's location in the room with respect to your listening seat is very important. For that same reason, the position of your listening seat with respect to the location of the subwoofer determines how much bass you will hear.

The orientation of the subwoofer is not important. You can turn it to the right or left without any significant change in the level of bass.

You may consider buying a second subwoofer. The benefits of multiple subwoofers are explained in A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves & Room Modes.

+1. Just to say hi, BD!...

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The LFE input is for Home Theater applications. The other L/R inputs are for other applications such as two-channel use where there is no LFE, but you still want to use a subwoofer.

On most subwoofers, you need to connect the sub cable to the left channel input on the back of the subwoofer. However, if you uses a Y adapter (one female, two male) and connect the sub cable to both the left and right channel inputs, you may get 3dBs of additional output. This is explained in the bottom of post #1 in A Guide to Bass Management (Part I).

A subwoofer's location in the room with respect to your listening seat is very important. For that same reason, the position of your listening seat with respect to the location of the subwoofer determines how much bass you will hear.

The orientation of the subwoofer is not important. You can turn it to the right or left without any significant change in the level of bass.

You may consider buying a second subwoofer. The benefits of multiple subwoofers are explained in A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves & Room Modes.

Thank you Big Daddy...

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Yes, if you want to use two subs, attach a good quality Y adapter (1 male and 2 female) to LFE (sub) out of your receiver. Then attach the two subs with subwoofer cables (RG6 double or quad shielded) to the female side of the Y adapter. This is the recommended method for multiple subs.

I have my two subwoofers connected this way with excellent results. Additionaly, I also have the two built-in 15" subwoofers in my Def Tech fronts attached to right and left pre-outs of the receiver. Of course, it takes a little bit of tweaking and moving the subs around and adjusting their levels to get perfect sound for all areas of the room. Remember that good bass sound for the entire room is different than boomy and loud sound. My intention is not to shake the room or vibrate the furniture although I can easily do it.

EDIT: I don't understand why you have your subwoofer connected to high level and low level outputs. I assume by high level you mean front speakers or pre-outs on the receiver and by low level you mean LFE (sub) out on the receiver. That may create a problem when you set the crossover frequency or when you are trying to calibrate the speaker levels.

Hi Big Daddy,

I read this post that said "My intention is not to shake the room or vibrate the furniture although I can easily do it".
Which is the proper setting, the one that shake the room/vibrate the furniture or the one that doesn't.
Also "although I can easily do it", could you tell me how to do it, it's simple or not.

Thank you BD.

[JOMV]

Originally Posted by Movaudi

Hi Big Daddy,

I read this post that said "My intention is not to shake the room or vibrate the furniture although I can easily do it".
Which is the proper setting, the one that shake the room/vibrate the furniture or the one that doesn't.
Also "although I can easily do it", could you tell me how to do it, it's simple or not.

Thank you BD.

I think that it is mostly a matter of taste. What Is important is what you like to hear as there are no guidelines (unless you are looking for a Reference level experience). Just don't set them higher than 75% (even that is a bit high) on the gain as it may damage or shorten the life of yous sub(s). Some use an SPL and some just rely on the calibration system process on many receivers. But usually 75dB on each speaker is the goal in order to get reference level playback. But then again, it is just a matter of personal taste.

[Movaudi]

Originally Posted by JOMV

I think that it is mostly a matter of taste. What Is important is what you like to hear as there are no guidelines (unless you are looking for a Reference level experience). Just don't set them higher than 75% (even that is a bit high) on the gain as it may damage or shorten the life of yous sub(s). Some use an SPL and some just rely on the calibration system process on many receivers. But usually 75dB on each speaker is the goal in order to get reference level playback. But then again, it is just a matter of personal taste.

Thanks JOMV.

[timcat4843]

I like watching movies in the THX Cinema setting.
Should I disable THX Re-EQ, if I have Dynamic EQ switched on?

[timcat4843]

Hello out there...I can hear you breathing!

[ROSS.T.G.]

If you are using THX Mode, Dynamic EQ should be dissabled. You should be using flat. If you use Audussey movie and THX at the same time you will have a double high frequency roll off.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by timcat4843

I like watching movies in the THX Cinema setting.
Should I disable THX Re-EQ, if I have Dynamic EQ switched on?

I am not familiar with Onkyo receivers, but the following is the response by Chris Kyriakakis of Audyssey to a question about Re-EQ. You may find it useful. There is additional information in posts #2 and #3 on Audyssey.

http://ask.audyssey.com/entries/9346...re-interaction

Audyssey MultEQ creates room correction filters to two specific target curves. One is the Audyssey Reference curve that has a slight roll off in the high frequencies above 10 kHz that has to do with the translation required from a large movie theater to a smaller home listening room. The other is Flat that has no roll off. Some AVR makers decide to give the user a manual choice and others, like Onkyo, make the switch automatically.

Re-EQ is not an Onkyo function, it is part of THX. We recommend using the Flat room correction curve so that the intent of THX Re-EQ is preserved. Onkyo allows you to switch Re-EQ on and off separately from the other THX functions and so you could listen to Audyssey Flat if you turn off Re-EQ.

There is no interaction between the Re-EQ button and Audyssey. If you are in THX mode then you are listening to Audyssey Flat regardless of whether you have Re-EQ engaged. Of course, if you do have it engaged it applies a high frequency adjustment that takes you away from Flat. I recommend using Re-EQ with Audyssey Flat for movie listening.

There is no way to have Audyssey Flat in Onkyo products without having the THX mode engaged.

In Onkyo receivers with THX, if you turn on Re-EQ and you are not in THX mode, then you will be using the Audyssey Reference curve plus Re-EQ.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by ROSS.T.G.

If you are using THX Mode, Dynamic EQ should be dissabled. You should be using flat. If you use Audussey movie and THX at the same time you will have a double high frequency roll off.

I use the Audyssey Music (flat) Curve for everything, including the THX setting.

So you can have both THX Re-EQ and Dynamic EQ on at the same time.

In Onkyo receivers, you can choose between the Audyssey Movie Curve, or the
Audyssey Music (flat) Curve, when you've selected the THX Cinema setting.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I am not familiar with Onkyo receivers, but the following is the response by Chris Kyriakakis of Audyssey to a question about Re-EQ. You may find it useful. There is additional information in posts #2 and #3 on Audyssey.

Thanks for the info Big Daddy.

I find that THX Re-EQ muffles the sound when I have it engaged.
Everything sounds much more natural and open when it's switched off.

Audyssey Music (flat) Curve, Dynamic EQ, THX Cinema (with THX Re-EQ off) is the only way to go!

[JOMV]

I always use Multi EQ for movies and I'm happy with it. For tv, I use Neo. But that's just me ;-)