Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Lets plan a theater space

Ok. Ready to call it. I would want one. There's a caveat.....

The DSPeaker Antimode 8033SII is a great little box. It does what it says, it does it well, and it doesn't do what you don't want it to. It doesn't alter the sound in a negative way an audiophile may object to. BUT.... here's where you might go wrong in getting one.

My current pair of sealed subwoofers (SVS SB12-NSD) were perfect for my old room @1428cu ft. They rocket it. Hard. Enter the new space built in this thread @2392cu ft. They barely load it to being tactile.

So the issue is my current subwoofers don't have the mustard to get the job done when DSP is applied to take away room support. If I had a pair of larger subs, capable of tactile experience in larger rooms without room support, it would be bass nirvana.

Here we can see the DSP is cutting the measured first order length mode energy in room by 12.5db (lower left corner in pic.) Since this mode is centered on 25hz this really hurts LFE effects in movies, but is almost never an issue in music content. Hmmm.

Frequency response of DSP corrected and DSP bypassed subwoofers(grey bypassed)


The DSPeaker really did make a meaningful change to the low bass decay energy in room. Bass really tightened up in a measurable and perceptual way. This was a great benefit as it reduced room blooming during sustained loud bass passages.

ETC plot of subwoofer decay measured in room (grey bypassed)


Lastly, the DSPeaker improved the impulse response of the subwoofers as a pair. The results aren't as striking as Dirac measured, but they don't sound as artificially dry either.

Dual Subwoofer Measured Impulse Response in room (grey bypassed)

So what does all this mean? The DSPeaker is a very capable unit and does what it claims to do. What it cannot do is give you more net output than you begin with. It cuts problem resonance frequencies, leaving you with less room support. So I know what you are saying, just turn the sub levels up you dummy with the DSP applied. Here's the rub. With lowish displacement subwoofers, like mine, tactile LFE energy is dependent on room resonance support... Turning up the gross bass levels creates an imbalance in overall frequency response to restore some tactile sensation. I was able to sneak the bass up +4db before I was at the perceived level pre-dsp. That doesn't begin to replace the 12.5db removed at the room's most kinetic frequency...

If you have a dual setup with plenty of subwoofage to spare, the DSPeaker Antimode is a great idea. If you are barely making ends meet with your subs (like me) stay put and enjoy the bass support you have. DSP means less. Less can be more if you start out with tons!!

All in all it's a great little tool if you have the right circumstances. This was a great learning experience and an awesome way to spend part of a chilly weekend. Thanks Socketman.

I went into a viewing of the new Ghostbusters movie through the eyes of my 17 year old daughter, who never saw the original. I went in with a blank slate and low expectations. There were several things (and some characters) that annoyed me, but if I blocked out all memory of the (better) original, it was at least entertaining.

On a technical note, I likes how during some scenes, on my 16:9 screen, the "streams" from the proton packs would actually go "outside" of the main movie aspect ratio and into the black bars above and below the movie image. That was actually kind of cool.

All that said, I don't plan to watch it again anytime soon.

I would rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick than have to sit through another movie with Melissa McCarthy. The produces could have had a good movie if they had not chosen her.

Can you make it only partially adjust, ie somewhat improve tightness but still leave you with some room support ? I'm kinda guessing that's the best you would get from bass trapping anyways.

Are you pretty sure that the 25 Hz peak is what is giving you the boomy / not-as-tight-as-you-would like bass ? IOW any benefit from just knocking down the 50 Hz peak ?

If you could make it avoid boosting the dip between 25 and 50 I wonder if that would give you enough headroom to make up for having 25 & 50 peaks cut down ? Looks like filling that dip could be costing you up to 5dB of headroom ?

I'll shut up now

Avoid her movie The Boss. Brutal!

Bridgman, it does have a boost 25hz and 35hz mode that I only superficially messed with. I didnt take measurements in those modes. The 25hz peak is definitely responsible for the bass grunt in my room (there is a moment in Battle for Los Angeles where a helicopter takes off that really grips the room, I measured it at 25hz right after finishing the movie to be sure, no one seemed to mind. Lol.)

I was present in the room taking these measurements with the sweeps (wearing earplugs) but I wasnt in the mlp or seating row. A slow sweep downward from 200-10hz revealed strong room vibrations at both resonant frequencies. With the DSPeaker, these vibrations were reduced considerably.

Putting energy back into 25hz with the boost function didn't restore the tactile feeling pre-dsp while testing with the Star Wars falcon scene. I will test a little more if I have time soon. Christmas season is here.... not decorated yet. Yikes!

Here is my takeaway from my use of the Antimode. I personally tend to favor exaggeration of bass especially the range that pound you in the chest, or back if your in the car. Now it takes a good amount of power and some 12s to load a midsize sedan so loading a 200sq/ft room will need much bigger drivers than the pair of 10s u have in my bedroom where I used the Antimode. What I did find was that the bass was consistently tighter and much more realistic than without it. The boomy room modes that are caused by the bass waves coming back on themselves was removed. It took a while to just accept that's the way it should sound and after that I really appreciated having it. This is a great set it and forget it device. If you need to directly attack certain frequencies then you need to measure with a good mic and software and get your self a minidsp 2x4. I will say this, room correction is great, but do it after you treat your room, and if you cant treat the room give RC a try , some likey some don't .

Actually, it was Kate McKinnon's character that annoyed the snot out of me. LOL

But yeah, Melissa McCarthy's "standard" character that she seems to always play in movies does annoy me too, just not so much in this movie.

Hmm I thought maybe I was just becoming a crotchety old man, good to know. It wasn't a horrible movie but I was there for the first one and it was Soooooooo much better, I was unable to look past the fact none of the original cast was present. I just wont watch movies cast for Millenials there something wrong with this generation, even gen x is better but not by much.

I liked Kevin and Benny the most. "I just remembered, I hate coffee." Lol.

The effects creeping into the widescreen masks was awesome. The guys with the auto masking screen setups would'a missed out. +1 for us I guess. I also really liked the aspect ratio change to 16:9 when they went into the ghost realm to save... Spoiler!

Yeah I saw the original when I was a kid and loved it too.

Also, and maybe I am reading your post wrong, but pretty much the whole original cast was there (minus Moranis who doesn't act any more, and Ramis who passed away). Although their cameos seems a bit forced for sure.