Software based EQ

[EriX]

Hi guys

I hope this is a suitable place for this thread.

My Monolith arrived yesterday, looks very nice and makes lots of noise :D. To give it a quick test I watched Saving private Ryan and tried the Darla scene in Finding Nemo, both suitably loud and deep. I've set all the speakers to small and the monolith has it's gain set at about 12o'clock currently.

I received my SPL meter too (no battery though ) and plan to run some of REWs tests when I figure out how to do that.

My question is: Does anyone know of a software based solution that will provide a similar functionality to a BFD? Most of my source is from my HTPC and I don't think I'll be able to afford a BFD for quite a while, if at all.

Also, I have not had a sub for the past 3 years and before then it was a yammy YST-150, so never in the same ballpark as the monolith. How do I know if I getting boomy bass?

Thanks

Eric

[chrisgeary]

if there is one, I doubt very much that it will work over Dolby Digital and DTS streams. A BFD is very cheap for what it does.

[EriX]

That would have been the next question (DD and DTS)

I seem to remember reading a post and someone said their setup was eq'd from their HTPC.

Spose I'll have to save for a BFD. I'll run REW and look at the results and maybe try some different positions too.

Any response to the boomy bass question?

Thanks

Eric

[chrisgeary]

i didnt see that bit
boomy bass is usually very obvious. it sounds fat and a little uncomfortable to listen to. a typical living room tends to have two peaks in the frequency spectrum - often the first is between 25 and 40hz and the second is between 60 and 100hz. You are bound to run into these two fellows and your experiments with REW should help you identify them. Placement of your new sub in room will affect those peaks (aka boom) and the BFD will be able to tame them.

I'm no expert on HTPC - perhaps there is a way to EQ the LFE Channel post decoding in software.

[EriX]

I think you've identified what the problem would be with the EQ idea. I am feeding a digital stream to the AVR and not decoding it on the HTPC and using a 5.1 set of inputs. Like you said firstly it's unlikely that the EQ software could intercept, modify and re-encode the stream.

Better start saving :D

Eric

[Gregory]

A quick thought - though you feed the signal digitally right now, could you decode it on the HTPC and send the 6 channels to the AV amp separately? you might find that it does give you some EQ ability in the PC. That said, the BFD has much more precise filters than most EQ systems on PC's, and the DACS in the AV amp are probably better than those in the PC, so it might not be worth the effort!

Greg

[EriX]

I'm afraid my poor little AVR doesn't have a 5.1 set of inputs, it's a very basic piece of kit.

Thanks for the help. I think I'll run REW and see how far I get with positioning changes if need be, and then if necessary I'll save for BFD.

Eric