Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Correcting bass peaks

The more I listen to my system the more convinced I am that I have a serious room mode in the frequency range of my sub. i.e. some frequencies sound much louder than others. I have an SPL meter and found the correction values on line so I am planning to have a go at measuring my room response this weekend. My question is - then what??

Does anyone know of a cost effective (cheap!) set of hardware/software to filter bass peaks. I know AV123 are planning a product called RDES which will retail for $399 and consists of a programmable digital filter which sits in line with the sub and removes up to 3 frequency peaks or troughs. This is not available yet and is a little more than I want to spend.

Any ideas or feedback on current products?

Thanks

Well the usual answer in the Behringer Feedback Destroyer (BFD for short). It retails for $140, but can be found all over the internet for $120. It is reputed to be quite versatile and effective.

It can be a bit daunting to set up, but you seem to be technically oriented, so you may have no problems. Peruse this BFD COMPREHENSIVE SETUP GUIDE, and if you aren't terrified by it, you might give it a try.

Lots of good info here as well. This link is to Rives Audio. They recommend treating the room first and using Eq as a last resort. I have some bass peak problems in my room too. I just ordered thier "Radio Shack SPL corrected test cd" to try to find out exactly what and where my bass peaks are coming from. From there I don't really know whats next. Commercially available room treatments are very expensive. I'm thinking that some sort of inexpensive electronic eq for bass frequencies would not be too bad sonically.

I would definitely recommend the BFD as well. I didn't realize how messed up my frequency response was until I tamed it. Music and movies are so much more enjoyable to listen to now. Behringer has a mail in rebate going on right now. If I remember right it's 25 or 30 bucks. I agree with treating the room first, but with a lot of us our HT rooms are not dedicated so it's not really feasible to go that route.

I've been very interested in the BFD for a long time but I'm just worried that it is more trouble than it's worth. I've read the BFD setup guide and it looks like a real to setup. Is the BFD a one channel device?

No, it's two channel. I used to run live sound in clubs and used the BFD as a feedback killer on monitor mixes. I used an analog 31 band EQ for equalization, then used the BFD on the insert points simply as a feedback killer. For that purpose, it does the job well. Never had occasion to use the (extensive) equalization features, though.