Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP150 Equalizer Settings?

Exactly...you don't have any expertise in this area, John.

What you're thinking of is different.

For satellite compression, they are compressing the whole bandwith digitally. Adding a pro audio quality compressor to just a fixed bandwith (ie. just the center channel) will cause that speaker to stand out and have everything heard and decrease the dynamic monstrosities (sp?:))

Like I said, there's a few I can recommend for a couple of hundred dollars that I've been happy with in the studio. It works with my monitors, and masters I make, so I don't know why it wouldn't work with a HT center channel (same thing). And after all, any pro recording you buy at the store has used multiple compressors in the recording and mastering process anyways...

Well, anyways, that's all I'll say about this...just my 2 cents...lol...:)

-sbc

Bill...How come you went with the M22's in the rear?

I have 9' ceilings in my living room and I'll be mounting the rears behind us on the ceiling. I don't know if I should go with the QS8's or the M22's (7.1 setup like you w/QS8's on the sides).

Any comments would be appreciated...

-sbc

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How come you went with the M22's in the rear?

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Because I know me and I know if I got lesser speakers for the rears, I'd always wonder how much better the sound could have been had I put the M22's behind me.

Interestingly enough, the QS8 manual that came with the speakers says that if you use them as rear speaker(s), "You will experience a modest improvement in envelopment; on the other hand, you many not notice any difference". Of course I didn't know this before buying the speakers, but it seems Axiom is saying that the QS8's may not do much on a rear wall. This plus the fact that I've read a bunch of posts here recommending "flat" speakers for the rear walls, tells me that I made the right decision.

I've mounted them on the walls using the Axiom FMB's. Since they weigh 16 lbs. each, it was quite a task getting the mounts to grip the wall like iron before hanging the speakers!

BTW - all the speakers are hanging but I ran out of wire when hooking up the 7th speaker! So now I'm listening to my new Axioms in 5.1 sound and looking forward to my #14 stranded speaker wire being delivered next Tuesday!

- Bill

Bill - I've got a 4ES and played with the EQ settings for my VP150 for the same reason. Frankly, I didn't like the result. What I wound up doing was after calibrating the speakers using a SPL meter, I experimented with bumping up the center channel so the VP150 would "emerge" just a tad from the front sound stage (I have M60's). In my room that turned out to be 2 - 3 DB hot over the calibrated levels. That made all the difference in the world. I just think the M60s (and no doubt the M80s) just overpower the VP150 in cases where there is a lot of material coming from them.

As far as rears go, I use QS8s and am very happy with them. My mix is about 80-20 HT to music, but I found them to be great for multichannel music as well. I'm also sure your M22s will kick bootie in the back.

Cheers,

Doug

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bumping up the center channel so the VP150 would "emerge" just a tad from the front sound stage (I have M60's). In my room that turned out to be 2 - 3 DB hot over the calibrated levels.

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That's what I've done, both with the 4ES and it's predecessor, as well as with the VP150 and it's predecessors! I've never been 100% satisfied with any center channel speaker, and I've tried 1/2 dozen or so. OTOH, since my last message in this thread I was finally blown away by the Axioms! I rented "Master and Commander", and the surround effects were the best I've ever heard. Of course I still had problems with the dialog, and this was made worse by some of the harsh English accents, but the rest of the system is outta this world. Note that I also have the M22's as rears, but although they are wall mounted I ran out of wire before finishing the installation. My new wire is supposed to be delivered this Tuesday, and I'm expecting miracles when I go from 5.1 to 7.1 sound!

- Bill

MrBill-

Check it out....I found this on Denon's site. They have a mode called "D. Compressor" on some of their units:

12) WHEN AND HOW DO I USE THE "D. COMP." (OR DIGITAL COMPRESSOR) CIRCUIT? IS THAT THE SAME AS DIALOG NORMALIZATION?
Digital compression and Dialog Normalization are both part of Dolby Digital technology. Although they deal with a soundtrack’s loudness, they’re very different indeed.
You can use the digital compressor (called "D. Comp." on Denon products) whenever you’re listening to a Dolby Digital source. It’s a truly useful feature we’ve included on many of our Dolby Digital-capable products.
D. Comp. circuitry progressively reduces the dynamic range (the difference in loudness between very soft and very loud sounds) of any Dolby Digital source. Denon products give you four different D. Comp. settings (Off, Low, Mid, and High) to match specific needs. "Low" provides the least compression, Mid contributes moderate compression while "High" really stomps on dynamic range with a maximum peak reduction of 15 dB and a 10 dB upwards expansion of very soft sounds -- that’s a maximum 25 dB reduction of dynamic range. .
You’ll find D. Comp. Circuitry particularly useful while watching an action movie late at night when the kids are asleep in the next room. By compressing the sound track’s dynamic range, you’ll be able to hear soft dialog without blasting yourself out of the chair when explosive sound effects appear.
Experiment with different D. Comp levels to find the one that’s best for your needs. We recommend that you use the least amount of compression to preserve the source’s natural dynamic range but the final choice is up to you! Enjoy.
Dialog Normalization, on the other hand, helps you avoid the "this one’s too loud, this one’s too soft" level differences often encountered when changing inputs or sources. Dialog Normalization, which takes its clues from information embedded in the digital audio data stream, makes sure everything’s "just right" -- that levels are roughly the same as you switch sources.

So they DO use a compressor! lol...

-Ed

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Digital compression and Dialog Normalization are both part of Dolby Digital technology.

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Hummm, very interesting! FWIW, my Sony DA4ES has digital compression with 12 settings (Off, Std., 0.1 - 0.9, & High) - I leave it set to Std. There is no dialog compression or normalization on my receiver.

FWIW, I've been playing around with my equalizer and digital compression settings and am finding that my dialog is sounding fairly good now. OTOH, good dialog is also a function of the recording, as well as the system, and I'm also finding that not all recordings are equal as far as dialog is concerned. Now if I could just tell when the problem is a bad recording vs. a system problem with my hardware and/or software, I'd have the problem licked!

On the subject of digital compression - I find it interesting how many people prefer DTS to DD! I may be all wet on this, but to my ears there is no difference between DTS (no digital compression option on my receiver), or DD played with the digital compression off. I bet if some of those who prefer DTS were to simply turn off their DD compression, they would find the sound more to their liking!

- Bill

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Note that I also have the M22's as rears, but although they are wall mounted I ran out of wire before finishing the installation. My new wire is supposed to be delivered this Tuesday, and I'm expecting miracles when I go from 5.1 to 7.1 sound!

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I got my wire and hooked up the 2 M22's in the rear. I then aligned everything with my R.S. SPL, then watched the Blue Underground "Final Countdown" in DD 5.1 EX. The miracle happened . . . absolutely the best sound I've ever heard anywhere!!!

- MrBill

Scream it from the rooftops, man! The goosebumps don't go away for a few days.