iXtreme Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 Silly question here I guess, but is any question really silly if it needed to be asked. I want to dial in my HT set up so I can see if there are any differences. Here are them in question: What is pink noise? How does one achive pink noise? Is the test tone on my HT reciever pink noise? My volume control is not read in dB so how would I know when I am at 0 to effectively dial in? Any help would be appreciated. I await with baited breath. ------------------ System specs: PIII 500 o/c to 627 256MB PC 100 SB Live 4.1 retail TnT2 Ultra o/c'd to the max. HP Scanjet 2200c HP Deskjet 692c Many, many cooling fans n'stuff Pro Media 4.1's Monster cable power/speaker wire and connects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 If you are going to be a tweaking audiophile, you need a test CD and these have pink noises and much more - The traditional stand-by test CDs are the ones in the Stereophile series. They are not expensive. The last in the series, number three, has the cleanest recordings. It has a good selection of different Jazz recordings (from Chesky, Reference and others) and the standard test tone tracks. The disc was made in 1995 (time for another one, Stereophile?). Go to http://www.stereophile.com. You can use the pink noise from AM radio station by dailing the tuner between channels ------------------ big old horns, tube amps, tube pre-amp, British CD player, two subs, double wire, pipe insulation, paving stones, rubber mats & curtains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesteel Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 White-Noise = All audible frequencies being reproduced at the same level (radio static). This sounds heavily wieghted toward the higher frequencies (I guess because there are so many more of them). Pink-Noise = White-Noise wieghted with more boost to the lower frequencies. Brown-Noise = ??? but I'm pretty sure it exists (may be the result of lactose intolerance by the sound engineer) 8) Many Receivers produce a Pink-Noise to adjust the balance between all the channels. But for precision, you'll need a decible (dB) meter to get a number on the loudness from each channel and balance them accordingly. There are cheap sound level meters from Radio Shack (selling on eBay for 1/2 price), but they only measure a limited range of audible sound (30-10,000 Hz as opposed to the 20-20,000 Hz range of human hearing). Want more range? Then you'll pay. Another use for Pink-Noise is to balance the level of most of the audible frequencies with an equalizer and a spectrum analyzer, or with a sound level meter and a test-tone CD, as the wise Colon suggests. The spectrum analyzer uses a microphone to listen to your system and show you a graphical display of the Pink-Noise it hears, (all across the sound "spectrum"). In theory, to reproduce the same sound your favorite artists intend you to hear, all the frequencies should be at the same level across the spectrum, a.k.a. a flat-sound. If its not flat, and NO real-life sound system reproduces a flat Pink-Noise spectrum, then you can adjust some of the frequencies up or down as needed with the graphic equalizer. This I have done. And for what its worth, flat or close to flat SUX!!! I like bass, lot of bass, even largemouth bass (ooops, sorry, wrong bass), but it is after all, a salt-to-taste thing. Its just that with a spectrum analizer and a pink noise generator, its easy to see where you're at, then go from there. You can use your tone controls on your Receiver if you have them. But the bass control is centered at 100 Hz or so and the treble is centered at 10,000 Hz or so. And who knows what the bandwidth is? So its a much coarser adjustment than you can get with a graphic or even a parametric equalizer. "Don't Bi-Wire, buy speakers!!!" This message has been edited by Bluesteel on 09-03-2001 at 10:21 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iXtreme Posted September 3, 2001 Author Share Posted September 3, 2001 Thank you for the responses. I am off to RatShack to get me one of those digital dB meters and try the between AM station noise to tweak. So, should each speaker read 75dB from what I read here? Where should I stand to get these measurements? Any advice on where to go from here... now that I understand pink noise. ------------------ Why do you like playing around with my little scope of reality? I can feel it all start slipping away..... See but I don't get it, don't you think maybe we can put it on credit? I get stupified. It's all the same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake2 Posted September 4, 2001 Share Posted September 4, 2001 iXtreme - I'd suggest you get the Analog Radio Shack sound level meter, not the digital one. The analog is easier to read while you are calibrating, and I believe it is said to be more accurate... DD2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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