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First Experience with Audyssey Calibration (not quite what I expected)


Youthman

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I have a few programs in my receiver that I utilize 

1= THX surround, YPAO on, normal dynamics 

2 = Stereo sound, full range front L+R only YPAO, no subs (for stereo listening) 

 

3 THX, YPAO, SUBS - 3 db, Min dynamics for late night listening

4 THX, YPAO, Subs +6, MAX dynamics for demo and really loud stuff. 

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So basically you have a circuit in the pre-amp that's turning ALL your speakers down. I don't understand that at all.

Yep, and I agree, but it's also the reason the circuit allows +12 dB on the volume knob, which would typically make no sense either, except that it's not referencing maximum power.

 

I should think that any good program should attempt to attain net average 0 gain.

Unity. Sage advice from the pro-sound guy. :emotion-21::emotion-22: The software might not, but the owners certainly can. ;)

Edited by Quiet_Hollow
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What Auddyssey is trying do  is have all the speaker at 0, or reference level output 85 db with 20 db of headroom to hit 105.  The sub channel  get's an extra 10 db and 115 max before the redirected bass is added.  This will in theory be the THX criteria for HT.  Youthman is in good shape now for his movies. :)   MCACC also does this for Pioneer.

 

Scrappydue does not turn his subs up because he has a wall of bass coming at him, he, he. :P

Edited by derrickdj1
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Yamaha is very different than audyssey. But in all reality they have the same goal. No need to add to the confusion.

Youth, dynamic volume is crap. Dynamic eq is great if you never get crazy with the volume. I used to hate it but love it now. Try dynamic eq on, run subs 4-6 db hot and see where that get you. I run mine that way with music. But leave subs flat for movies.

Edited by Scrappydue
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Yamaha is very different than audyssey. But in all reality they have the same goal. No need to add to the confusion.

Youth, dynamic volume is crap. Dynamic eq is great if you never get crazy with the volume. I used to hate it but love it now. Try dynamic volume on, run subs 4-6 db hot and see where that get you. I run mine that way with music. But leave subs flat for movies.

 

In the fourth sentence of your second paragraph, don't you mean "dynamic eq," rather than "dynamic volume?"  I think we agree, as you put it, that "dynamic volume is crap."

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Yamaha is very different than audyssey. But in all reality they have the same goal. No need to add to the confusion.

Youth, dynamic volume is crap. Dynamic eq is great if you never get crazy with the volume. I used to hate it but love it now. Try dynamic volume on, run subs 4-6 db hot and see where that get you. I run mine that way with music. But leave subs flat for movies.

In the fourth sentence of your second paragraph, don't you mean "dynamic eq," rather than "dynamic volume?" I think we agree, as you put it, that "dynamic volume is crap."

yep good catch. Edited it
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Well...the wife was out with a friend so I told the kids that I needed 20 minutes of quiet to calibrate again "the proper way" and right in the middle of calibration, my wife comes in the house not so quietly.  LOL  Oh well, guess I'll have to wait till everyone is out of the house.

 

While I'm waiting for that day to come, I do have another question....

 

At the beginning, Audyssey asks to set the subs at 75db.  When I did it the first time, I had to turn the gain down on each sub to 1/4 on the volume knob.  I can tell you this isn't correct at all since after calibration, bass was pretty much lifeless and completely unimpressive.

 

So my question is do I try and increase the bass to say at least 85db or does it really matter during calibration?  Whether I do it before or after calibration, I know that I will be turning up the volume on the subs to around 1/2 on the knob.

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I would have asked the Danley guys when you were at Infocom what they set to and / or how they go about it.

 

Asked them how they get consistently good bass (good enough for people to pay to hear it), venue to venue, spending only a couple hours instead of months tinkering with stuff. 

 

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Edited by Quiet_Hollow
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...

At the beginning, Audyssey asks to set the subs at 75db.  When I did it the first time, I had to turn the gain down on each sub to 1/4 on the volume knob.  I can tell you this isn't correct at all since after calibration, bass was pretty much lifeless and completely unimpressive.

 

So my question is do I try and increase the bass to say at least 85db or does it really matter during calibration?  Whether I do it before or after calibration, I know that I will be turning up the volume on the subs to around 1/2 on the knob.

The literature isn't as clear as I'd like it to be on this subject.  I think if you turn the sub up before calibration, Audyssey will turn it right back down. 

 

Most people turn up their sub anywhere from a few dB to as much as 8 dB after calibration.  Without that, Audyssey tends to sound light in the bass.  That being said, with the sub boosted post calibration, Audyssey can sound great.  I love it in my room with my Khorns/Belle center/ HII surrounds/RSW15 sub.  The in-AVR sub trim shouldn't be more than +3 (after calibration) to avoid clipping, according to some people, so if you need it boosted more than that, turn the knob on the side of your sub up (after calibration) until an AVR sub trim of +3 gives you the sub SPL you want.

 

The (Harmon?) research indicates that most listeners do not rate truly flat or near flat sound as being flat!  What sounds "real" (i.e., "flat") to most people is a curve with the bass end high and the treble end a bit low.

 

It's partly a matter of taste, and what you're used to.  My Khorns, in my room, had a nice, juicy little peak from about 100 to 175 Hz.  Initially, Audyssey took it out, and there was less impact.  After calibration, I used the bass tone control (not the graphic, which won't work with Audyssey) to put some of that peak back, then turned up the sub to match, plus a little.  Now, not only does the bass sound good, but the midrange and treble sound much better, smoother and clearer than without Audyssey.

Edited by garyrc
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Most people turn up their sub anywhere from a few dB to as much as 8 dB after calibration. Without that, Audyssey tends to sound light in the bass.

That's definitely my limited experience with Audyssey.  It was VERY light in the bass.  Almost unnatural.

 

The in-AVR sub trim shouldn't be more than +3 (after calibration) to avoid clipping, according to some people, so if you need it boosted more than that, turn the knob on the side of your sub up (after calibration) until an AVR sub trim of +3 gives you the sub SPL you want.

I agree with that as well.  I would rather have my trims close to zero or even in the negative rather than in the positive. 

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My wife went for a 6 mile run and the kids are asleep so I thought I would rerun Audyssey "the correct way".

I set my subs to 75db before calibration, used the "correct" 8 Audyssey positions and reclined my seats.

Finishing calibration now

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Oh it gets worse....my alarm went off at 8:15am.  I restarted calibration and my wife an my mother-n-law ring the doorbell at 8:20am.  LOL  Oh well...guess I will have to do it when everyone is gone and I know they are going to be gone for maybe an hour.

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Oh it gets worse....my alarm went off at 8:15am.  I restarted calibration and my wife an my mother-n-law ring the doorbell at 8:20am.  LOL  Oh well...guess I will have to do it when everyone is gone and I know they are going to be gone for maybe an hour.

 

Or you could ask them to go out for an hour, not arriving back home before _____, and turn off your phone.  I turn off the refrigerator and the airconditioner/heater.

 

I once contemplated creating a sculpture of a telephone with a fire axe embedded in it.

Edited by garyrc
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Youthman.....

When I was running Klipsch Reference speakers in the HT, Audyssey did an outstanding job. But, when I went to an all Heritage HT, I ran Audyssey ad naseum to no good result....it bottomEd most of my 11 channels down to -12db and things sounded terrible.

So, I got a respectable SPL meter for the all Heritage HT, leveled all channels, and never looked back....all to an excellent result.

So, Youth, looks like you are back to this solution too?

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