Auddessy set up question?

[Soopafly49]

Performed the Audessy set up last night, turned evrything i could of including the fridge bare the Pj. How much will that affect my set up? I also did my best to get the speakers as paralell as possible but the Audessy reults shoe that they are out a bit. Should I go back and amd try to correct them more?

 

[Oldboy]

Hello,

My Onkyo 609 returned some rather accurate results when using the Audyssey calibration mic but what i would say is that the room needs to be as quiet as you can get it. If you are using a projector and it's rather noisy then it will affect the results with the calibration, my Onkyo displays the entire set up screens on the front of the amp so if you have a receiver that does the same then run the calibration again without the projector on as the fan noise will affect the results.

The Audyssey calibration is unlikely to be entirely accurate however so you will still need to go into the amps menu and check speaker distances when measured with a tape and you may need to adjust some of the speaker levels, i used a digital spl meter for this but it's entirely optional and you may well find you are happy enough with the Audyssey results.

Speaker placement isn't anything to worry about either, Audyssey is not entirely accurate so don't take it as gospel that the results of speaker distances is correct. As i said earlier some fine adjustment will be needed after the calibration so just measure the speaker distances for yourself and enter that into the amp after calibration, for example some of the distances returned by Audyssey after my calibration were out by some distance and needed changing manually.

What you have to remember is that Audyssey is using sound and not a tape measure to measure distance and this is never going to be as accurate as a tape measure or laser measurement, it will be close but not spot on in my experience.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have the onkyo 809 which takes 8 measurements, it took me quite a few goes to get it to something I was happy with.

My main problem was the subwoofer volume, I had to dial it down to a about a quarter power on the volume/gain level to get it to a trim level of -5.5db.

Anyway, the best advice I can give is make sure the top of the microphone is at ear heightand at least 30cm from the back of the sofa. Leave the room and close the door to ensure it is as quiet as possible, even after the audyssey peeps it is still measuring the room acoustics.

When audyssey has finished I went in and changed my fronts, centre & surrounds to 80hz (THX) crossover frequency, and boy what a difference that has made. Much more bass, and it is smoother also. I have the dali zensor 5 5.1 package, and it is a great package. I haven't gone in and adjusted the levels or the distances, but may do that soon. Also on my av I have audyssey on movie, then dynamic eq on, and dynamic volume on light. I also use this for music and am very happy with the performance. Hope this helps.

 

[Soopafly49]

thanks for the replies guys.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Word of warning. I have been told to leave speaker distances to audyssey settings. The distance measured is acoustic distance, not 'as the crow flies' distance.

And always take the full 8 measurements.

With analogue subs, I.e. pre-dsp in the sub, would set cutoff dial to max and volume to medium, then set all speaker settings to thx, then test with bassy music and change sub volume to suit.

 

[Oldboy]

Word of warning. I have been told to leave speaker distances to audyssey settings. The distance measured is acoustic distance, not 'as the crow flies' distance. And always take the full 8 measurements. With analogue subs, I.e. pre-dsp in the sub, would set cutoff dial to max and volume to medium, then set all speaker settings to thx, then test with bassy music and change sub volume to suit.

Told by whom? The whole point of the distance setting is to set the distance in cms of all the speakers to the main listening position and all advice i have come across says to measure the distances yourself as the Audyssey settings are notoriously unreliable for this as they are using sound and not the genuine distances to the listening position.

After measuring the distances manually i definately found the sound more accurate than the standard calibration settings, surround effects were steered much more accurately around the room and the whole soundstage was far more accurate so i would like to know where you got that dubious advice.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Actually, old boy, given the dismissive tone of your post, I won't do the courtesy of hunting down the article where I first read about this 5 year's ago when I first used Audyssey in my Onkyo.

However, for the benefit of understanding, what Audyssey calls speaker distance is actually from the time delay it calculates for each channel. This delay is caused by the time it takes for a sound signal to be processed in the electronics plus the fact that a sound signal has to pass through solid objects to get to listening position and not just through the air like a laser light.

And if your personal experience is different then fine, but I prefer to leave my distances as per Audyssey.

Don't know if true for newer Audyssey, but mine uses the FIRST listening position to measure "distance".

 

[The_Lhc]

plus the fact that a sound signal has to pass through solid objects to get to listening position and not just through the air like a laser light.

Why do you have solid objects between you and your speakers?

And if your personal experience is different then fine, but I prefer to leave my distances as per Audyssey.

Have you actually tried measuring the distances by hand and using those, to see if it sounds better/different?

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Sound waves do not travel "like lasers" in straight, unhindered directions, not at audible (sonic) wavelengths anyway. They bounce off (which means they travel through and get radiated off) solid objects like furniture, curtains, carpets. Hence teh need or desire for Audyssey in the first place!

Yes, I have tried different speaker distances. I have also tried different crossovers, a different number of listening positions, etc, etc.

I also have a degree in Physics and work as an IT Developer, so I pride myself in being objective when setting my system up and in understanding, based on my own knowledge and logic, what I read from various sources. Particularly when it coems to Audyssey - I find this to be the singular best upgrade to a hifi....given than you have pretty decent equipment, i.e. full size speakers with good frequency range, modern electronics, and AV receiver which features good power amps and sound codec processing algorithms.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

To clarify, audible sound waves get radiated in all directions from a point source. Which is why you can hear pretty well, teh sound from a speaker if you stand behind it despite the woofer, tweeter, and or horn facing forwards.

 

[The_Lhc]

Sound waves do not travel "like lasers" in straight, unhindered directions, not at audible (sonic) wavelengths anyway. They bounce off (which means they travel through and get radiated off) solid objects like furniture, curtains, carpets. Hence teh need or desire for Audyssey in the first place!

That's true but I'd suggest the majority of the audio energy reaching your ears is doing so via a direct route.

Yes, I have tried different speaker distances. I have also tried different crossovers, a different number of listening positions, etc, etc.

So you find the audyssey settings to sound the best, that's fine, Oldboy finds measured settings sound best to him, that's also fine, many other sources (including WHF) feel that Audyssey is just a starting point and that the sound quality can be improved upon by adjusting parameters manually. In fact I think a previous Big Question was based on that premise.

I also have a degree in Physics and work as an IT Developer, so I pride myself in being objective when setting my system up and in understanding, based on my own knowledge and logic, what I read from various sources. Particularly when it coems to Audyssey - I find this to be the singular best upgrade to a hifi....given than you have pretty decent equipment, i.e. full size speakers with good frequency range, modern electronics, and AV receiver which features good power amps and sound codec processing algorithms.

Yes, you find. Other people find something different. Neither is a definitive answer, which you should be very aware of, given your Physics degree and that.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Hang on a mo. To quote myself, "if your personal experience is different then fine, but I prefer to leave my distances as per Audyssey."

Which means I am happy for others to have different experiences to myself. I never suggested otherwise.

And if you read back on the thread, you will find that it was Oldboy that was calling my advice dubious and questioned my method, not the other way round.

So get offa my cloud.

 

[Oldboy]

Actually, old boy, given the dismissive tone of your post, I won't do the courtesy of hunting down the article where I first read about this 5 year's ago when I first used Audyssey in my Onkyo. However, for the benefit of understanding, what Audyssey calls speaker distance is actually from the time delay it calculates for each channel. This delay is caused by the time it takes for a sound signal to be processed in the electronics plus the fact that a sound signal has to pass through solid objects to get to listening position and not just through the air like a laser light. And if your personal experience is different then fine, but I prefer to leave my distances as per Audyssey. Don't know if true for newer Audyssey, but mine uses the FIRST listening position to measure "distance".

I'm sorry but the only part of my post that was dismissive was the source of your information, the rest of my post was just about my personal experience and certainly wasn't meant as dismissive or attacking so if it came across that way i apologise. All i was trying to say is that from all the research i done into the Audyssey calibration common consencous points towards it being a good starting point but that further tweaks should be made afterwards for a more accurate sound.

Of course not every room is the same so what works for one person may not work for another just due to the physical size of a room and the furniture, furnishings and acoustics so there are bound to be differences in set up but i did try the initial Audyssey results for a few weeks before tinkering with my settings.

I found the surround effect rather unconvincing with the initial results and effects wern't being steered around the room, it just sounded like sound passing from one speaker to the next and not the total 360 degree sound i was accustomed to and it was only after measuring the distances correctly and using a digital spl meter that the surround in my system gained that complete 360 degree sound.

I appreciate that your results were different from mine and i was just surprised that the initial results worked so well for you as the Audyssey system does normally require some extra tweaking.

I genuinely didn't mean to cause any offense with my last post so once again i'm sorry if it came across that way :doh:

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Thank you, and I am sorry for being over sensitive.

Anyway,I only leave the speaker settings to what Audyssey suggests, I have many other tweaks like yourself and others.

in fact, tonight, after reading an article on audioholics website from 2010, I am going to change from thx settings to full range for each speaker (crossover) setting.

 

[Oldboy]

No problem. It's easy to get the tone wrong when posting and i'm just sorry i came across that way, that's not like me atall so put it down to an off day.

Hmmm could i just ask what in that article prompted you to think about changing from the THX setting? I currently have my system set at the THX setting but was told many times from various sources to never set the speakers to full range when a sub is present but i did find the whole argument a little confusing in this regard.

I have what i regard as speakers that should be able to cope with a full range sound as they seem capable on paper but i was told many times that my speakers should be set to small with the THX setting and although it produces a lovely sound i have always remained confused as to why i should in effect reign them in. I'm no sound engineer so it did have me confused so if you could shed any light on it for me i would appreciate it but please keep it simple if you can as my knowledge here is basic at best.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

http://www.audyssey.com/audio-technology/multeq/how-to

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=159948

 

[FunkyMonkey]

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/setting-the-subwoofer-lfe-crossover-for-best-performance