Really basic REW question

[VDS]

Getting back to frequency response.  In very general terms, and disregarding a house curve, when people try for a flat curve what are reasonable goals for maximum dB variation?    I seem to get to 6dB max peak to valley.  at this point is it just about “voicing” or personal preference? Generally is worth while to strive for 4db spread? 
Obviously what sounds best is best, just wondering if there much anecdotal agreement that the flatter the better?

[ClaudeJ1]

4 hours ago, Chris A said:

The Xilica does EQ, delays, and channel gains, as well as fast and slow (integrated) limiters for those applications where extreme loudspeaker SPL is regularly encountered in operation. 

 

REW can tell you a lot more than what the DSP crossover can correct in terms of the performance drivers/horns themselves, such as harmonic distortion, as well as crossover filter performance and room acoustic performance.  REW can also give you many insights as to where to place your loudspeakers in-room, and how that will affect their low frequency performance (i.e., via the "Room Sim" facility).

 

Chris

I designed my entire HT room based on Room Sim. It works very well!

[ClaudeJ1]

3 hours ago, Langston said:

 

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' - Isaac Asimov

to quote the late Bob Pease, of National Semiconductor fame (analog mostly): "If you see something funny in a circuit, measure the amount of funny."

[Chris A]

1 hour ago, VDS said:

In very general terms, and disregarding a house curve, when people try for a flat curve what are reasonable goals for maximum dB variation?    I seem to get to 6dB max peak to valley.  at this point is it just about “voicing” or personal preference? Generally is worth while to strive for 4db spread? 

Floyd Toole has written and talked about this.  The answer seems to be ±1.5 dB for detectability threshold of on-axis SPL smoothness/flatness. 

 

I've personally heard the difference using psychoacoustic smoothing between ±3 dB and ±1.5 dB (on-axis at 1m) over a large range of the audible spectrum in my listening room, i.e. where nearfield reflections are fairly well controlled.  [Note that all SPL flatness discussions presume some amount of smoothing.] It was like the difference between the living and the dead...in terms of the subjective round quality improvement.

 

Chris

[Chris A]

1 hour ago, Edgar said:

This is where I learned about psychoacoustics.

I first ran into the Haas effect in 1981 in Alton Everest's then-new book, The Master Handbook of Acoustics, 1st Ed. (It's apparently in its 6th Ed. presently.) That little book was extremely well written in terms of drawing the reader's attention to the peculiarities of the performance of the human hearing system.  I still use it from time to time to look up basic principles.

 

Chris