Speaker Calibration

pottsy123

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Hi

Looking at having a go at manually calibrating my speakers rather then using audessy and have a couple of questions:-

1) without breaking the bank what SPL do people recommend or will a basic phone app do?

2) I'm assuming I should wipe the current settings and start from scratch rather then change the current settings as measured by audessy

If I've posted this in the wrong place sorry

Cheers
 
Hi. Sorry for the cut and paste response but explains it better than i could! I followed very similar guide with great results using SPLnFFT noise meter app on my iphone. I read that this is pretty close to using a shop brought spl meter and have to say results were good. Sure plenty will say best results using a proper spl meter but my room only 4*5m so not crucial.

Home theater calibration guide: Manual speaker setup

Once you follow this guide, you will need to fiddle with the settings a bit ie levels to see what sounds best for you. Pick a movie that you like and choose your fav scene and experiment. If you do a quick google search plenty of recommendations for good movies to test subwoofers etc.

I would use the calibrated settings and then adjust using the above method

Hope this helps
 
This SPL Meter works well:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline...=1504726940&ref=plSrch&ref_=mp_s_a_1_1&sr=8-1

Audyssey XT & XT32 have usually set the distances and channel levels absolutely spot on in my systems when checked with an SPL Meter and external test disc. Crossovers tend to be set too low though so they get bumped up a bit.

You can either reset the Audyssey settings back to the defaults or just manually override them. If it's a case of not liking the EQ results then you can switch off Audyssey but retain the distances & levels etc.
 
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Are the Audyssey distances wildly off?

If they're not, then why not just stick with the Audyssey settings? What are you hoping to gain by setting the gain/distances manually?

If you just want to check that Audyssey isn't getting things wrong - I guess possible if you have a very large or an odd shaped room - then measure the distances with a tape measure and/or the SPL levels of each channel from the MLP with a phone app (which will be good enough to compare the comparative SPL levels of each channel).

As mentioned above, you may want to tweak the crossover frequency post calibration (if you think Audyssey has set it too low).

Although be aware that unless your checking the response with something like REW and averaging it out over multiple positions after tweaking you could be making things worse. My experience is that Audyssey is pretty spot on in normal shaped rooms.

Actually if you want to go down to route of checking your frequency response you might want to look at getting a calibrated USB mic like a Acoustic Measurement Tools : UMIK-1 (rather than an straight SPL meter) which will give you both accurate SPL and frequency response measurements.
 
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As others are indicating, I would trust Audyssey but not completely. It typically gets it right, but there might be things about the room that throw it off. However, you can usually examine the results to see if they make sense. In some cases, it might simply be a reflection of a coffee table or a nearby chair that is throwing it off. Cover the reflective object with a thick towel or blanket and run Setup again.

Then once the basic setting make sense, you can go back in and tweak them to your personal taste. For example, many people will bump the Center Channel up a few dB to more emphasize Dialog.

However, it is very handy to have a SPL (loudness) Meter. Radio Shack made the best (for the money) but they are no longer available. The suggested Silverline should be as good as any for general SPL measurements.

Cell Phone Apps can give you much more than simply SPL measurements, and even the paid Apps are still pretty cheap. Because there is really no way to calibrate a Cell Phone, so the accuracy is in question, but they should be consistent. That is, while it may measure 90db as 85db, it will be consistent in that measurement and very likely consistent across the spectrum.

A Smart Phone is good for making relative measurements. For example - Before and After - or this frequency vs that frequency. Rarely does a home hobbiest need absolute measurement in the sense that you need to know that the current volume is precisely 90.0000 dB. More often you are making relative measurements - this vs that - which can be done on a Smart Phone.

Plus, as I said, if you check Smart Phone Audio/SPL Apps you will see that many can do much more than simple SPL Measurements. So, the absolutely have some value.

However, depending how deeply you want to get into this, if you have £100 (more or less) to spend, then some Free Audio Analysis Software, a Calibration quality mic, perhaps a small pre-amp, and you can do very sophisticated room analysis -

Room EQ Wizard - FREE - estimated value EASILY £500 -

REW - Room EQ Wizard Room Acoustics Software

REW - Room EQ Wizard Features and Screenshots

Free for non-commercial use.

On the Room EQ Wizard website, there are hardware recommendations over on the lower right.

Dayton Microphones (XLR and USB) are reasonably priced and very popular.

You have two potential approaches - USB Mic or XLR Mic. USB is very simple to use, but a bit less flexible. An XLR microphone will likely require a small Mixer, but these are not crazy expensive.

The Focusright Scarlett is popular though not the cheapest -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Focusrite-Scarlett-Audio-Interface-Tools/dp/B01E6T50LY

You can get a very basic Behringer Mixer for a reasonable price -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-802-Input-Bus-Mixer/dp/B000J5XS3C

However, using a good USB Calibration Microphone and the Computer's Audio Out, you should be able to accomplish it for under £100.

There are several videos on YouTube about how to setup and use the Room EQ Wizard Software. Worth checking out.



Given that you can get a Smart Phone App for little or nothing, it probably makes sense to select more than one options. The Smart Phone Amp you can carry with you anywhere always at hand and ready to use. For more serious testing, a laptop and REW can get to a professional depth of detail.

You can enhance the ability of a Smart Phone App with the addition of a low cost external microphone of Calbration Quality -

"Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for Tablets iPhone iPad and Android" from www.parts-express.com!

This is a USA link, but you should be able to find Dayton products in the UK/EU. I think there are also YouTube video reviewing this Smart Phone Mic.

For the same site, here are specs and info on the most commonly used Calibration Microphones -

Measurement Microphones in the Speaker Components Department at Parts Express | 2057

All of which should be available in the UK/EU.

As to Smart Phone Amps, it depends on which Smart Phone you have.

If Android -

SPL Meters - Android Apps on Google Play

You should fine a similar selection for iPhone.

Apparently AudioTool hits a pretty high standard at US$8 -

AudioTool – Android Apps on Google Play

Bofinit Corporation

Though, as indicated, only one of many.

For iPhone, AudioTools (US$20) is pretty good -

AudioTools on the App Store

AudioTools Modules | Studio Six Digital

These are probably the top TWO Audio Analysis Tools out there for a reasonable price.

I know one person (YouTube) who bought an older iPhone (5/6) and never bothered to activate it as a Phone. He simply used it as a low cost handheld computer along with AudioTools exclusively to analyze audio. You can get iPhone 5 and 6 for very low cost today, and you can probably buy a used iPhone even cheaper.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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Just to add to BlueWizards comments, if you do want to go down the REW/Calibrated Mic route. I'd recommend just getting a UMIK-1 over a pre-amp and separate mic, it will make your life so much simpler as there is simply one lead to plug into your computer (I say that as someone who used to have a EMM-6 + Scarlett).

The UMIK-1 is basically a calibrated Dayton Audio EMM-6 measurement mic with a USB pre-amp built in. You simply plug the mic into your computer via USB, plug the computer into your AVR via HDMI. Fire up REW, download the mics calibration file and away you go.

Although that little Dayton Audio iMM-6 mic looks like a nice/cheap alternative. I'm guessing that if your using it on a phone/tablet you'd have to manually connect to each input channel (ie. L, R, C, SL, SR, Sub) on your AVR, one at a time, via a 3.5mm jack to Phono lead, to send a test signal. Whereas on a PC connected to your AVR via HDMI you can easily select which channel you want to test within the software itself. Also how do you hold it steady? For basic SPL measurements holding it in your hand is fine, but for anything else I'd be concerned that you're be throwing the measurements off, that's unless you have the ability to stand totally still and hold your breath like zen monk! Still at a fraction of the cost (of a full sized calibration mic), for something you'll probably only use a few times, it doesn't look like a bad deal.

---

Although that is all probably getting way ahead of your original question :)

I'd just get the tape measure out and check the distances Audyssey gives you and/or download a free SPL app and see how far each off each channel is from each other.

Remember your looking at comparing relative values. As BlueWizard says, if the SPL meter says 70db when Audyssey says 80db that's fine. Something is only wrong if your SPL meter is giving widely different values for each channel at the MLP (or better still an average of readings around the MLP and in the same MLP as you used the Audyssey microphone to take measurements).
 
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These are the two most popular USB Microphones, you can't go wrong with either one -

"Dayton Audio UMM-6 USB Measurement Microphone" from www.parts-express.com!

"miniDSP UMIK-1 Omni-directional USB Measurement Calibrated Microphone" from www.parts-express.com!

As pointed out, using a Smart Phone App, it doesn't matter if it is 100% accurate, rather simply that it is consistent.

Here are a few videos that compare Smart Phone SPL Apps to a calibated SPL Meter, you can get some sense of the Apps accuracy.



Steve/bluewizard
 
If audyssey has set the distances different to real life it is irrelevant anyway. The system measures for delay and equalises that between speakers. If that is different to real life distance and you change the distance setting, you're only affecting the delay in a negative way.
 
I have a question on Calibration,
Do I have to recalibrate my whole system if I upgrade my Front Left and Right Speakers in a 5.1.4 setup ?
 
If compatible with your Receiver get the Audyssey app you can do a lot with it.
 
If compatible with your Receiver get the Audyssey app you can do a lot with it.
Yes I believe it's compatible with my Denon x4500. I will check it out. Thanks
 
Another question on Calibration
After running Calibration, Audyssey has set the Rear Heights as Large and the Front Heights as Small.
Should I leave them set as such ?
 
Also under Crossovers all Speakers have been set as Full Band apart from Front Heights that has been set at 60HZ due to being set as Small.
 
Also under Crossovers all Speakers have been set as Full Band apart from Front Heights that has been set at 60HZ due to being set as Small.

I'd change them all to Small and 80hz and see how that sounds. :smashin:
 

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