Trust SPL meter or Ears or what?

[admin_exported]

I am having trouble getting the correct setting for my rear speakers,

I have a Radioshack SPL meter set to C weighting and slow response.

I have the Q Acoustics 1010i speaker set, however I have the 1050i for fronts.
I am using an Onkyo 507 amp.

I sit around 3.3 metres away from the front speakers and I have the rear speakers wall mounted to the left and right of the room.

I have them facing downwards towards the listener but not firing directly at the ears, I have them shooting over.

With the Radioshack SPL set to C weighting and slow response I aim for 70 on the dial and that sets my rear speakers to -1

However if i place the SPL meter in front of me I would have to turn them up, its only that I place it further back towards the back wall and it registers the sound more.

The problem is when playing games or watching 5.1 content the rears are overpowering at this level. I play alot of Modern Warfare 2 and on that game to make the fronts sound anywhere near the rears I set the rears to -7

However -7 on my amp level calibration registers at around -6 or something on the SPL meter when I am aiming for 0

I am trying to get an accurate level due to the fact that I have no idea currently how loud certain surround effects should be .

The reason I have the rears facing downwards is they are front firing and with playing alot of games I appreciate the directional information that this gives.

I dont really understand why the SPL meter doesn't pickup the sound louder from the rears when I put it in front of me on the sofa, as when I am gaming I sit on the edge of the chair and the rears still overpower the fronts.

All my equipment aprart from Sky HD is connected via HDMI

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Andrew Everard]

Useful though SPL meters are, the answer to your question is definitely 'ears'

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:Useful though SPL meters are, the answer to your question is definitely 'ears'

Would you recommend then, just using the test tone on the amp and set each speaker by ear and forget the SPL, I can't get anywhere with it, it seems to want different levels every time. There is no way for me to hold it in the exact same position each time.

I noticed it was way out on gaming when I was playing Modern Warfare 2 and the rear effects were miles louder than the fronts.

 

[michael hoy]

Have you tried the SPL on a tripod.

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't got a tri-pod to use, however the SPL doesn't seem to pick up the volume very well from what I can tell.

As stated if I put the SPL roughly where I sit and then try to adjust the rears then they will sound way to loud when I watch movies or play games, even if I put the SPL in direct line with the rear speakers, it still wants to set them too loud.

Then when i'm playing Modern Warfare 2 for example I can just hear the stuff going on in the front three speakers and there is a big difference when I turn and hear the sound coming in from the back, its much louder.

When I set them by ear at around -6 -7 they sound qual when spinning and I can only assume the SPL is giving me the best readings.

I would like my sound to be accurate but i'm not sure I can achieve this with an SPL meter or my ears alone.

 

[michael hoy]

Does you amp let you manually enter distances, you could try using a tape measure, and measure from each speaker to your seating position.

My rear speakers are at ear hight, although alot closer to me than i would like, and the SPL when using the amps output tone does a very good job.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I'd use the meter as a guide for initial set-up, then play real material, not test-tones, and adjust levels by ear to suit your taste. That'll give you exactly the best settings for your needs.

 

[michael hoy]

Andrew Everard:I'd use the meter as a guide for initial set-up, then play real material, not test-tones, and adjust levels by ear to suit your taste. That'll give you exactly the best settings for your needs.

Andrew, that is what i meant, use the SPL as a base guidline and the adjust accordingly, rears especially, I found on my previous amp the sound was 3-4 dB too loud using the auto setup

 

[Anonymous]

I have had a play around with the settings, at the moment I have the front left and front right pointing straight out, should I move them so that they are toed in towards the main position?

I have set the rears to -9 and the fronts to +2 and the center to -1

Now it all seems to be pretty decent to me now, unfortunately my fronts dont have the same level of being able to tell where the sound is as the rears, the fronts are either side of a 50" Panasonic Plasma and they can't be moved any further out really.

Maybe I will get better positional information with the front speakers toed in.

What is funny is that even with the test tone the rears sound quieter than the fronts, however not when real world audio is playing.

One thing I haven't thought of is that when a sound is being played behind, wouldn't it be coming out of both rears to enable the positional effect, therefore making them louder? However this would still apply to the fronts also.

Its all a bit weird really

 

[Anonymous]

I used my mcacc, and I did not like it at all.

It set the sub at -15 ... LOL its now on -5.

I just play music and movies, and if I am not happy with anything I will adjust, forget the rule book, it went out the window.

 

[Anonymous]

stu_d:
I have a Radioshack SPL meter set to C weighting and slow response.

Set your meter to A weighting, that is closer to human hearing.

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately those spl meter at this price range are not correct at any given Freq. and therefor u can,t rely on them as a final result , just like andrew said , use it as a guide line and then tweak it by ears til it sound best for you.

 

[Anonymous]

I think I have them just about where I want them to be now, its still somewhat strange that when the levels play the surrounds do sound quieter than the fronts, however this is not the case when content is playing.

Maybe I am getting reflections off of the back wall or something along those lines

 

[Anonymous]

There is on more thing I would like to ask on this subject,

I have noticed that my 360 is louder than say Sky HD, my Popcorn hour also is probably quieter on content that it plays.

Everything apart from Sky connects via HDMI, if you configure your sound on one thing, Xbox 360 for example and then watch a Sky HD Dolby 5.1 programme, will all the levels still be accurate or not?

I noticed now that when I play COD MW2 the sound is fine but now when I use Pro Logic 2 on normal Stereo programmes I dont seem to hear the rears much at all, volume wise.

Thanks Stu

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, the set-up should be good for all, and a relative lack of output on the rears when using PL with stereo source material is usual, too.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:Yes, the set-up should be good for all, and a relative lack of output on the rears when using PL with stereo source material is usual, too.

I think that it might just be the fact that i'm used to having the rears too loud. The norm for me is probably being able to hear the rears louder than the fronts for the majority of the time, so when I don't hear them as much something seems wrong.

I need to test the new levels out on a film to see what it sounds like.

Got to make sure I have it correct as something doesn't quite feel right, the rears sound really low on a test tone but comparable in MW2.

I wish the SPL was more accurate and could have had a better impact on my system. I am also considering the audyssey setup, however without a proper tripod it makes it somewhat difficult to use the microphone.

Is there anything out there that I can use for more guaranteed results?

Thanks Stu

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone got any good films or dead certs for setting up a surround sound system?

Would be interested to know

Stu

 

[Anonymous]

The final battle in transformers (1st one) is fantastic. There's one bit where the chopper starts at the rear right, sweeps across to the left rear, and left rear to front left and then dead centre as it lands. Its great!

 

[Anonymous]

Nice one, I will give that a go I have it on Bluray, see if it sounds any different front to back.

 

[Anonymous]

I think I may have come across what might be my problem,

I was looking through the settings on the amp when I saw the equilizer settings, it was set to audyssey, once I put it back to manual my rear speakers were no longer totally overpowering the fronts, I have now re-configured the rears and all sounds much better, rears at -3 instead of -9.

The last thing I would like to ask is, my front speakers are basically at either end of the sofa, so if you sit on the left and right you are covered. They are not toed in however, should you always toe in front speakers or is it better to leave them pointing straight forward?

 

[professorhat]

stu_d:should you always toe in front speakers or is it better to leave them pointing straight forward?

Varies from speaker to speaker - try it and see which you prefer.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
stu_d:should you always toe in front speakers or is it better to leave them pointing straight forward?

Varies from speaker to speaker - try it and see which you prefer.

There are more people than me that listen to the system, so not sure about pointing them at the central position after looking into it further, I cant really tell a difference between the two.