Hi all,
How would I go about to measure subwoofers at listening position? I have measuring gear (arta, focusrite scarlett, emm6 mic) and could use some tips for e.g. gating. Goal is to boost lowest-end response, take care of peaks and optimize transition to main speakers (both FR & phase), all with dsp from behringer nx3000D.
I'm running two Dayton-Audio-RSS390HO-4-15 in closed cabinets (45l), placed symmetrically behind open baffles against the front wall. That's because crossover frequency is quite high (125hz 2nd order).
Thanks in advance for any guidance 🙂
Cheers,
Simon
How would I go about to measure subwoofers at listening position? I have measuring gear (arta, focusrite scarlett, emm6 mic) and could use some tips for e.g. gating. Goal is to boost lowest-end response, take care of peaks and optimize transition to main speakers (both FR & phase), all with dsp from behringer nx3000D.
I'm running two Dayton-Audio-RSS390HO-4-15 in closed cabinets (45l), placed symmetrically behind open baffles against the front wall. That's because crossover frequency is quite high (125hz 2nd order).
Thanks in advance for any guidance 🙂
Cheers,
Simon
Search for Room EQ Wizard (REW), download and install and do plenty of reading. The AVS forums have a tonne of information on this subject. There is also Multi Sub Optimiser (MSO) but start with REW and research...
Thanks bjc - I was hoping arta would work too (less steep learning curve), but if I need REW to get the job done, amen.
I'll look around on AVS forum.
Much appreciated!
I'll look around on AVS forum.
Much appreciated!
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When you place mic in your listening position, you get different response based on subs position.
Neat trick is to place your sub in the listening position, and move the mic around the room till you find ideal, or best response with minimum room modes. There you place sub there.
Neat trick is to place your sub in the listening position, and move the mic around the room till you find ideal, or best response with minimum room modes. There you place sub there.
Have you come across any advice suggesting you sweep the mic and average? Measuring subs can be a little different to mains because you're measuring the room as well.
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A mic stand is very helpful. Use three locations around your head and average. One speaker or side at a time - also good to check each driver one by one.
Use reproducible volume settings.
B.
Use reproducible volume settings.
B.
Thanks for all your tips. I read about the 'crawl' method for placement, but this won't work: System Pictures & Description / Subwoofer Gallery
+ I think I need them symmetrically near main speakers because of the high crossover point. Don't want to ruin imaging.
I'll be reading up about measuring several locations around my head & sweep and average.
Cheers
Simon
+ I think I need them symmetrically near main speakers because of the high crossover point. Don't want to ruin imaging.
I'll be reading up about measuring several locations around my head & sweep and average.
Cheers
Simon
what is your crossover point?
...never mind, 125Hz, I see it now, its ok if you use steeper slope, you can place sub anywhere
read my signature post if you like
...never mind, 125Hz, I see it now, its ok if you use steeper slope, you can place sub anywhere
read my signature post if you like
Do not use time gating, because you want to include the effect of room acoustics, if you measure bass at the listening position.
The purpose of time gating is to remove the room from the measurements, so only the characteristics of the loudspeaker remain.
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Time gating is a good example of how mikes and ears ain't the same.... although, unfortunately, hard to say how ears respond to room acoustics.
Yes, you want a FR that resembles what your ear hears at your seat. So some amount of room sound counts. I think REW has gating proportional to freq or cycles which kind of makes sense. Anybody know more about it than I do?
(Having said that, I need to add that ALL mic testing iterative and so many errors and biases don't matter so long as your technique is consistent, even if you just used your laptop mic. Basically, you do an FR. Then you listen. Not enough bass in your music listening, you crank up the bass to your liking and verify with a FR to see how much cranking you did (or OK to re-do the FR before re-listening... either way is iterative.)
B.
Yes, you want a FR that resembles what your ear hears at your seat. So some amount of room sound counts. I think REW has gating proportional to freq or cycles which kind of makes sense. Anybody know more about it than I do?
(Having said that, I need to add that ALL mic testing iterative and so many errors and biases don't matter so long as your technique is consistent, even if you just used your laptop mic. Basically, you do an FR. Then you listen. Not enough bass in your music listening, you crank up the bass to your liking and verify with a FR to see how much cranking you did (or OK to re-do the FR before re-listening... either way is iterative.)
B.
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The way that works is by frequency. The room dominates at the lowest hundreds of Hz and you don't gate. For higher frequencies you want to gate. There are other factors involved but this is the way to start.
You are confusing acoustics with sensory perception. The object of testing as the listener's seat is to plot an FR that seems meaningful in terms of human perception. Why else bother?
B.
B.
Ben, If I remember correctly your view on this, it goes beyond the thread topic which is fine in the short term, except that I don't want Klimon to conflate the issue.
Your view is that the full range should be EQed to the listening position. Indeed however, perception varies across the spectrum for different reasons. You are right that my description was simplified, and I'll expand on it if and when it becomes necessary.
Your view is that the full range should be EQed to the listening position. Indeed however, perception varies across the spectrum for different reasons. You are right that my description was simplified, and I'll expand on it if and when it becomes necessary.
I've had good success measuring several spots around the listening area.
I once did a correction for just the listening spot, but ended up making some issues stand out even more than before trying to correct them.
Now I'm looking for worst peaks'n'dips that can be seen across 6-8 spots, does not take that much longer than a single sweep, less headache afterwards.
The smaller stuff sometimes straighten out after taking care of the worst bits.
I am not able to lock my head in a vice in listening position, nice to move about sometimes.
You don't want "perfect" because that does not exist, you want "good enough".
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