BFD Review Finally!!!!!!!!!!

Apocalypse

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Due to the numerous pictures I decided to do the review on my own webspace. If you have any questions or criticisms just fire away, I'm not the type to get bitter from constructive criticism :)

REVIEW

Phil
 
Phil.
Good review mate.......nicely done.

Not sure on the bath mat though:D :D :D

Adz
 
Originally posted by Spligsey
Phil.
Good review mate.......nicely done.

Not sure on the bath mat though:D :D :D

Adz

Yeah I was wondering when that would come back to haunt me, it came free with a shower curtain and it's never been used so that's my excuse :blush: :D
 
Nice review - could you elaborate a little more on how it's connected up - I'm not sure I fully inderstood that part.
 
Originally posted by groundy
Nice review - could you elaborate a little more on how it's connected up - I'm not sure I fully inderstood that part.

Hi m8, there are 2 seperate sets of inputs because the BFD was designed for stereo. Each input consists of "Input" and "Output" and they each come in either XLR or 6.3mm jack connections. Think of it as a 2 channel power amplifier with jacks/XLR instead of RCA connectors. You can use either channel (it's called an engine on the BFD) to power a single sub or you can use both to power a dual sub setup. If like me you intend to use RCA to 6.3mm jacks all you need is the adapters and another phono lead. As I allready had spare phono leads all it cost me was £6 for the two adapters.
 
Nice review Phil, how you have the patience to photograph each step is beyond me.

An optimisation I use now after doing so many sweeps is to just sit in the listening position and watch the spl meter as I sweep the frequency. I do one overall sweep to see where the problems lie and then another sweep dealing with each peak in turn as I encounter it, it's much quicker than using the spreadsheet. Obviously if you got the sub in the best location there's no need to keep doing it, but I took the view that I wouldn't know if I had the best location for the sub unless I moved it around the room and measured it's response.

A couple of suggestions if I may be so bold.

1. Use four blobs of Blu-Tac to seperate your BFD from the surface on which it sits (much better de-coupling than a mat).

2. Avoid placing it on the sub if possible. The BFD has capacitors in it which are 'microphonic', their capacitance varies due to the mechanical vibration from the sub which in turn affects the sound. This is only a small point but if you can mount it elsewhere you might as well.
 
Phil thanks for the review & the links you provided.

I'm a little unclear on a couple of matters though :confused:

When setting the input level to your BFD do I understand correctly that you play a film with the loudest bass you have as loud as you're ever likely to play it? (me thinks the Haunting :eek: )

In your review you say
"Once you set this you can only adjust the sub's output with the volume control on the sub"
After you've adjusted the input level to your BFD to just below clipping, you have to
"adjust the output level (volume control) on your sub to equal your mains" (Sonnie Parker's guide).
Do you do this at 75dB?
If so how do you get your main speakers to this level if you can't adjust the amp volume during the calibration?

Cheers, Paul
 
Great review Phil... even I understood that! Certainly sounds like a fantastic investment for £100, although it looks as though your BFD is plumbed into the water supply! You're not doing a Comer water-cooling jobbie are you?!:D
 
Excellent post Phil, you've obviously got far too much time on your hands :D :D

Welcome to the happy world of BFD :D

Steve
 
Great review Phil.
I'm thinking of getting one myself. I have some problems also with a small room and a Godzilla. My room is 3,5*4,5m so it's a little larger than yours.

Question is, here in Norway it cost's 150£, where can i get i cheaper? And they've got to ship to Norway.
 
Apoc, I have to assume that you're using some sort of microphone to generate those graphs, but you don't mention it in your hardware list....
 
Originally posted by NicolasB
Apoc, I have to assume that you're using some sort of microphone to generate those graphs, but you don't mention it in your hardware list....

Radioshack SPL. It's in the top picture IIRC.
 
GaryG
Have you tried this company?

No, but i found it here for the same price earlier 1795NOK = 158£

If the price in the UK is under 100£ i think i'll get it from there. I have a friend which can get things from UK to Norway for free and without any papers, so there is no WAT.

Any cheap UK shops that have this?
 
Thanks.
I'll have to wait to get one until the next payday.
I'm still a little short on money after getting Godzilla in Desember.:blush:
 
Originally posted by Paden
Phil thanks for the review & the links you provided.

I'm a little unclear on a couple of matters though :confused:

When setting the input level to your BFD do I understand correctly that you play a film with the loudest bass you have as loud as you're ever likely to play it? (me thinks the Haunting :eek: )

In your review you say
"Once you set this you can only adjust the sub's output with the volume control on the sub"
After you've adjusted the input level to your BFD to just below clipping, you have to
"adjust the output level (volume control) on your sub to equal your mains" (Sonnie Parker's guide).
Do you do this at 75dB?
If so how do you get your main speakers to this level if you can't adjust the amp volume during the calibration?

Cheers, Paul

I'll try and answer everyone's questions but I'll start with yours Paul. When you set the input level of the BFD in the bypass mode you can see LEDs on the main display, there are about 10 green, 1 orange and 1 red. I used U571 chapter 15 during the depth charges to set this level, the object is to get the peak of the bass to reach the Orange LED but if the RED LED only blinks that's fine too because that's the clipping point, you do not want the Red LED to remain lit though. You use the amp/processor's LFE level adjuster to set this level and not the sub's volume control. After setting that level you then engage the BFD (turn bypass mode off) and you now have to set integrate your sub with the mains as you would normally but now you can only use the sub's volume control.

Originally posted by GaryG
Nice review Phil, how you have the patience to photograph each step is beyond me.

An optimisation I use now after doing so many sweeps is to just sit in the listening position and watch the spl meter as I sweep the frequency. I do one overall sweep to see where the problems lie and then another sweep dealing with each peak in turn as I encounter it, it's much quicker than using the spreadsheet. Obviously if you got the sub in the best location there's no need to keep doing it, but I took the view that I wouldn't know if I had the best location for the sub unless I moved it around the room and measured it's response.

A couple of suggestions if I may be so bold.

1. Use four blobs of Blu-Tac to seperate your BFD from the surface on which it sits (much better de-coupling than a mat).

2. Avoid placing it on the sub if possible. The BFD has capacitors in it which are 'microphonic', their capacitance varies due to the mechanical vibration from the sub which in turn affects the sound. This is only a small point but if you can mount it elsewhere you might as well.

I'll certainly try and reposition the BFD now after that tip, thanks for that.

Regarding the graph, if you have a copy of AVIA you can also try the sub sweep from 100-20Hz as it's counted down onscreen, just measure the output and curb any peaks, I could of easily done that and got the same results because when I turned the BFD off I got the same peaks as the graph showed and I knew exactly what frequencies were causing them :clap:

Does the blu-tac suggestion mean you too don't like my beautiful bathroom mat idea :laugh:

Originally posted by NicholasB
Apoc, I have to assume that you're using some sort of microphone to generate those graphs, but you don't mention it in your hardware list....

I used the Radio Shack Digital SPL, if you download that Excell program you will see some tables to the left of the graph, as you fill in the figures that the SPL shows the innacuracy of the SPL is taken into account and the figures to the right are the recalculated figures which go on the graph.

Originally posted by James45
Great review Phil... even I understood that! Certainly sounds like a fantastic investment for £100, although it looks as though your BFD is plumbed into the water supply! You're not doing a Comer water-cooling jobbie are you?!

As a former owner of a watercooled PC I know exactly what you mean, god only knows why the 6.3mm adaptors came in an L shape :rolleyes: ............love these new smilies :smashin:

Originally posted by Steve Bate
Excellent post Phil, you've obviously got far too much time on your hands


I did yesterday, it was a training day at work and we were allowed to go home at 12:30pm, here's to more training days I say :lesson: :)

Phew, Spanish Inquisition over with :devil:

Phil
 
Thanks for clearing that up Phil :smashin:

I'll definitely be getting myself one of these!
:clap: to the person who first thought of hooking one up to their sub!

Cheers, Paul
 
I got my BFD & here the result of my efforts (after a little more than 20 minutes :D )

mypic.gif


Bit of a difference :clap:
Previously when I'd set my sub to output 75dB's all but 50hz was way down!
My main speakers also follow a similar curve, so I've upped the crossover frequency of my amp to 100Hz to minimise these.

The couple of films I've had time to experiment with have been a lot of fun to listen to & had my trousers flapping nicely :rotfl:
Bass is far more extended & appears tighter.

Thanks for your review Phil & the links you provided :smashin:

Cheers, Paul
 
Originally posted by Paden
I got my BFD & here the result of my efforts (after a little more than 20 minutes :D )

mypic.gif


Bit of a difference :clap:
Previously when I'd set my sub to output 75dB's all but 50hz was way down!
My main speakers also follow a similar curve, so I've upped the crossover frequency of my amp to 100Hz to minimise these.

The couple of films I've had time to experiment with have been a lot of fun to listen to & had my trousers flapping nicely :rotfl:
Bass is far more extended & appears tighter.

Thanks for your review Phil & the links you provided :smashin:

Cheers, Paul

Glad to hear about your results m8, I see you tamed those peaks nicely :clap:

I'm so chuffed about my results that I no longer think about room treatments now, to anyone reading this (especially those with small rooms) this piece of equipment is the answer to all your sub irregularities.

Phil
 
The couple of films I've had time to experiment with have been a lot of fun to listen to & had my trousers flapping nicely
My I suggest that this sort of sentiment would be better expressed in the "Adult DVD" forum?
 
Originally posted by NicolasB
My I suggest that this sort of sentiment would be better expressed in the "Adult DVD" forum?

LOL, damn I'm normally the first person to latch onto innuendo, nice one Nic :smashin:
 
shouldn't it be FBD, as in FeedBack Destroyer?
Rather than BFD? :)
 
Originally posted by mjn
shouldn't it be FBD, as in FeedBack Destroyer?
Rather than BFD? :)

Behringer Feedback Destroyer = BFD

As FHM would say "That's £20 you owe us" :smoke:
 
Originally posted by Apocalypse
'm so chuffed about my results that I no longer think about room treatments now, to anyone reading this (especially those with small rooms) this piece of equipment is the answer to all your sub irregularities.

Agree with you there Phil.

I'd initially thought my mains supply was the cause of my troubles & had considered mains conditioners 3x the cost of a BFD!
Room acoustics are a funny thing.
I'd moved my main speakers & sub all over the room & the resulting curves weren't much different.
I guess it's just a problem with the shape of my room.

Anyway, sorted now!

Cheers, Paul
 

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