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Posted By: exlabdriver Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 06:22 PM
I've been reading a lot lately on this calibration system as it is somewhat confusing to me & everyone seems to have their own method of running the calibration process. I came across a very informative & extensive article over at Home Theater Shack (a site that is a cut above the others out there IMO) that seems to use a radically different approach to mic positioning (link below) from others.

I've always run my calibration using 6 positions that start in front of my center seat & basically circle my rectangular coffee table in front of my 3 seat viewing couch.

As an experiment, yesterday I tried the mic positioning detailed in Section 7, Pattern 101 (minus positions 7 & 8). This calls for the mic to be moved only 3" at a time from Position #1. Unfortunately I did it in a hurry with my tripod on the floor in front of the center seat instead of actually on the couch center cushion.

I played 'Blackhawk Down' & found that the sound was quite different from before but the 'Image Clarity' was indeed greatly improved. I could hear distant gunfire in well placed separate channels that I hadn't noticed before.

I'm going to run another sequence this afternoon with the tripod on the center of the couch cushion to see how that turns out.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/a...html#post622330

Interesting exercise....

TAM
Posted By: J. B. Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 06:36 PM
i also used setup 101, without # 7-8 a few months ago, as i'm the only one in the house.

this gave me the best sound i've ever had and, as you say, image clarity and instrument placement in the soundstage was much better than before.
the main effect was center stage clarity, but i think the whole imaging was improved.

if you take care about positioning the mic, you should get excellent results.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 06:54 PM
JB:

Thanks for the confirmation that this might indeed work.

I'll be much more fastidious this time (that is difficult for me at my advancing age!)...

TAM
Posted By: tomtuttle Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 07:21 PM
+1. I don't like to fiddle with this stuff, and I understand and respect those who prefer not to use room correction software.

But - after an initial setup using an older AVS method - I used the HTS procedure and got what I perceived as "better" results.
Posted By: Ken.C Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 07:25 PM
Hmm. Now I want to try it. Need to recalibrate everything anyway and get the sub back into the mix. The next time the house is empty. You know, in 20 years.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/24/14 07:40 PM
Steps to emptying the house - send the wife to work, put the cats outside, turn off the furnace & hope that the phone doesn't ring half way through, ha!

I just had my wife, on her way to work of course, measure the distance from my butt on the couch to my ear - FWIW, 26".

Off to the pub for lunch then I'll get at it...

TAM
Posted By: brwsaw Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 12:54 AM
Its only been 2 weeks but I already miss my Mondays off.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 01:18 AM
Well, I managed to get the house nice & quiet except for a Medevac Helo that threatened to spoil things, but I certainly won't complain about that.

After adjusting my tripod quite a bit shorter, I proceeded to run the Pattern 101 on the center couch cushion. It was much less of a PITA than wrestling with a widely splayed tripod on the floor, ha!

Anyway it went really well & it came up with the following parameters that I think are quite accurate:

Cross Over (Speakers All Small):

Front (M22s): 40 Hz (I manually set it to 60 Hz)

Center (VP100): 90 Hz

Surrounds (QS4s): 90 Hz

Levels:

FL: -3.5
FR: -3.5

C: -0.5

Subs: -6.5

SL: -1.0
SR: 0.0

Distances:

FL: 12.2'
FR: 12.1'

C: 12.1'

Subs: 13.9'

SL: 7.7'
SR: 13.4' (accurate as the back wall is not centered on the couch)

Now to test the results...

TAM
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 07:09 AM
I played 'The Green Hornet' Blu-Ray with the new settings tonight at -10 Db with the Dynamic Vol & Dynamic EQ OFF.

Crazy but entertaining movie with a great, dynamic soundtrack. My wife who was upstairs at the other end of the house asked if I had done something different to the sound as it was really reaching (annoyingly) into our bedroom up there, ha!

The results of Pattern 101 were very impressive in my room with the sound being as advertised in the article. I also tried it on the other couch cushions & laying down without detrimental effects so it seems quite forgiving.

I only wish that I had done it far sooner - highly recommended IMO...

TAM
Posted By: J. B. Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 11:32 AM
this way of calibrating we're talking about here has had another effect that surprised me.
very often, when listening to well recorded acoustic music, i get the impression that i'm listening through Sennheiser surround headphones, at least for a good part of the spectrum, above the low frequencies.
i've never tried those headphones, but i'm tempted to say it must be a similar experience.

although Pattern 101 is very tight in the region around the head, i also find that i can move my head quite a lot without disturbing sound quality; it is much more forgiving than on my previous audio system.
Posted By: SirQuack Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 03:04 PM
Looks like a nice article, may have to rerun Audyssey setup, been awhile since I followed the AVSforum doc. I have two rows of seating so would have to decide which one to follow. The problem is I usually sit in the back far right seat and my kids jump around, lol
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 06:19 PM
As I found out, it is very forgiving for the different listening positions that I tried although they are not really far from the center cushion.

Again it saw my M22s at 40 Hz so obviously they like my room. For this run I turned down the volume of my 10" Velo subs even more to 2 from 2.5 (out of 10) & it still set the level to -6.5. I can only assume that my room is bass friendly but thankfully without muddiness.

The clarity of the whole system has improved overall & the surrounds seem to be a little more apparent than they were. I really like this setup & I don't think that it is placebo effect at all.

I don't know why Audyssey didn't come up with these methods that the author at HTS painstakingly developed. They certainly would enhance the performance of their calibration tool...

TAM
Posted By: Gr8_White_North Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/25/14 08:18 PM
just skimming through the HTS article now. Already have some thoughts about how I conducted my original calibration. I calibrated with my recliner in the upright position, but I usually lean back during a movie. He makes a good point that typically there is only one critical listener in the room . LOL
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/26/14 12:20 AM
Perhaps Audyssey is vehemently not liked by some users because they calibrated it by using sort of random mic positions (like I basically did) that generated less than ideal results - although it sounded OK to me. It is a step up now.

During most movies I often change positions on my couch from sitting up to laying down so I'm not getting the 'optimum' surround experience I guess; however, it doesn't diminish my enjoyment.

We've rented 'Captain Philips' Blu-Ray tonight so we'll see how that goes...

TAM
Posted By: JohnK Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/26/14 02:32 AM
Yeah Tom, if I understand what your previous measurements were, even the key first position(which determines the calibration of levels and distances)wasn't taken where your ears were. Then following the calibration measurement the next positions(which provided data for room eq rather than calibration)were likewise not at ear level and a significant distance in front. It may be that many users are taking some claims about equalizing the entire room too literally and spreading the microphone positions far apart, thinking that this gives better data.

In the past here I've commented that the measurements should be in a close cluster around the central listening position. I didn't use as close as the 3" separation which Wayne suggests for his basic measurements in that thread, but a still relatively close 1' or so. I note that some of the discussions there describe findings that a 6" or 12" separation was better in their experience. This may vary somewhat with different room acoustics, and I think that the main point probably is that 3" isn't necessarily optimal, but that wide separations significantly differing from ear level don't give best results.
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/26/14 07:59 PM
For those who haven't seen it, 'Captain Phillips' was a great movie with a stellar performance by Tom Hanks. At 2.5 hours or so, there have been complaints that it is too long, but both my wife & I found it to be riveting throughout.

My new Audyssey parameters acquitted themselves nicely throughout this very realistic & dynamic soundtrack. I normally listen at -10 DB but I backed it off to -13 Db which was still plenty. The new setup seems somewhat crisper & more coherent than before. There were a few scenes where dialogue was difficult but mostly because of the heavy accents of the pirates.

I'm glad that I took the time to set it up 'properly' & kudos to HTS for publishing their extensive Audyssey article...

TAM
Posted By: exlabdriver Re: Audyssey - Again - 01/27/14 06:18 PM
I watched 'The Green Lantern' last night - now that is a house shaker of a sound track & unrelenting at times.

I don't know if it is the particular movies that I've chosen since my new calibration, but I've had to decrease my volume from -10 Db that I almost always previously used, to -13 to -15 Db to keep the levels more sane & comfortable. At -15 Db, this one was still almost too much...

TAM
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