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Is Audyssey Dynamic EQ worth it? - Page 2

post #31 of 55
9/15/10 at 6:27pm
A dissenting opinion here: I absolutely love Dynamic EQ. I had an Onkyo with it for a short time, so when I went to a different brand I found myself constantly missing it. Now that I have upgraded to a second hand Denon 3808 I just love it once again. The only thing that I don't like is that it makes my side surrounds too loud (which is partly my fault since they are direct firing into my ears instead of dipoles or whatever) but other than that I simply never turn it off. It wonderfully fills in the sound in a way that is very satisfying to me. Low level details come alive like never before. I can't recommend it enough, and it may prevent me from buying a Pioneer ever again.. (or Yamaha)

IBJamon
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post #32 of 55
9/15/10 at 6:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mastermaybe View Post

I told everyone from the get-go that Dyn EQ was blasting my surrounds with bass and I was promptly told where to go by the very vocal and rabid Audyssey jim jones crew.

Well, circa September 2010, it DOES just that below -0dbs and it is of course annoying. Overall bass bloat seems to also be a common complaint that is also readily dismissed by the quasi-experts on the Aud thread who will simply explain that you do not understand a myriad of factors/goals of the technology.

Ok, then.

The very purpose of it is debatable to begin with IMO. You generally have the volume DOWN significantly to not disturb others or because those watching do not particularly enjoy more "full-bodied" volume levels, no? I'm sure that's wrong, lol.

So, what does DYN EQ do? It BOOSTS the most bothersome (to those on the opposite side of your walls) freqs (lower end), so sure it may sound "better" to you at lower volumes, but ask your neighbors, spouse, roommates in opposing rooms what THEY think, lol. And you may say you don't care, but if that's the case why lower the volume to begin with?

Doesn't make a lot sense to me.

Ditto for Dyn Vol. The idea of it is fine, but last time I checked, most of us spend all of our money of this to crap expressedly to HEAR the dynamics of the audio, and while I understand loud commercials are undesireable, you pretty much are choosing one of two evils here: loss of program dynamics, or loud commercials/troublesome night-time dynamics.

Simple as that. Since both are defeatable I don't really lose much sleep over them.

MultEQ XT of course is phenomenal.

So:
MultEQ XT: 9.5/10
Dyn EQ: 5/10
Dyn Vol: 4/10

I know this will pull the audyssey apologists out of the woodwork, but, whatever.

James

Is someone holding a gun to your head and telling you to use it? If you don't like it, don't use it! Does not get any simpler than that! I just don't get the hate...
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post #33 of 55
9/15/10 at 8:20pm
^ perhaps actually reading my post would save yourself some keystrokes. Couple of key points within it you obviously didn't absorb...one of which included: "seeing both are both defeatable, I don't lose much sleep over it".

Otherwise, the thread's ABOUT folk's opinion on Dyn Eq, if you wish not to read them, I'd suggest not clicking on the topic.

James
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post #34 of 55
9/15/10 at 8:39pm
People need to remember DynEQ was designed for movies that have a known standard/reference for mixing. TV programming and music does not, but there are some tricks to adjust the level of impact if your receiver so allows.

DynEQ is outstanding in my room.
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post #35 of 55
11/1/10 at 5:10pm
Strange as this may sound.....DynEQ was fantastic with my previous speaker setup, but with my new speakers/sub I'm not liking it too much. I find that it way over exaggerates lfe now.

I may need to investigate further...
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post #36 of 55
11/1/10 at 10:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BRAC View Post

Strange as this may sound.....DynEQ was fantastic with my previous speaker setup, but with my new speakers/sub I'm not liking it too much. I find that it way over exaggerates lfe now.

I may need to investigate further...

Agreed. I think it's a great option for bass shy setups. But if your setup is already capable of powerful lows at high db's I do feel dynamic eq tends to exaggerate these lows to abrasive levels.
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post #37 of 55
11/1/10 at 11:13pm
On some units (i.e. Denon's) this can be tamed by reference level offset (or whatever it's called).s
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post #38 of 55
11/1/10 at 11:15pm
Really, this seems to vary person to person.

I played around a lot with different configurations, and found for my taste, not only do I prefer DynamicEQ off, I prefer Audyssey MultEQ XT off as well (so essentially running with a flat EQ).

Audyssey did do great with setting up distances and levels, and I just turn the rest of it off. I can see some cases where I might use it (ie. a "bad" source where the voices are much too soft), but I tend to like it au natural as it were.

Your mileage may vary. Experiment - find something you know and listen to it with each. Spend a bit of time on each setting. It will take some time, but you'll figure out what you prefer.
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post #39 of 55
11/2/10 at 3:35am
My mileage did vary, because dynamic EQ transformed my system with full rich sounds at lower volume levels. I only use dynamic volume if others are bothered by the rattling dishes upstairs!
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post #40 of 55
11/2/10 at 12:12pm
As others have said, DynEQ was designed primarily for recordings with a known reference level, but I find even with movies that my current setup is way to bassy.

BUT there are adjustment you can make to tame the Dynamic EQ aggressiveness. On the Onkyo 1007, you can set it between 0dB(most aggressive) and 15dB(least) in 5dB increments. So if 0dB is way too bassy at your normal listening level, back it off some until you find one that works with the material you are listening to. Sadly I have found that there really is not one setting that works with everything the user listens to. IOW, 10dB is great for some recordings and 5dB or 15dB for other recordings. Even Onkyo's manual suggests what to set the DynamicEQ parameter depending on the type of recording. I think they suggest the 15dB setting for recordings where the dynamic headroom was compressed.

So while DynamicEQ is not a simple set it and forget parameter for discerning listerners, I have found that THX Loudness Plus is a great alternative especially for movie watching (Loudness Plus was designed to solve the same problem). I agree that the 0dB is way too agressive for most recordings. I could barely discern any dialog in the opening of Sherlock Holmes because the bass was overpowering everything. Sure I like bass, but I like it as an enhancement not the ruler of the recording.

The Denons I have seen I believe also have setting to adjust the agressiveness of the DynamicEQ curve.
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post #41 of 55
11/17/10 at 12:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toknowshita View Post

As others have said, DynEQ was designed primarily for recordings with a known reference level, but I find even with movies that my current setup is way to bassy.

BUT there are adjustment you can make to tame the Dynamic EQ aggressiveness. On the Onkyo 1007, you can set it between 0dB(most aggressive) and 15dB(least) in 5dB increments. So if 0dB is way too bassy at your normal listening level, back it off some until you find one that works with the material you are listening to. Sadly I have found that there really is not one setting that works with everything the user listens to. IOW, 10dB is great for some recordings and 5dB or 15dB for other recordings. Even Onkyo's manual suggests what to set the DynamicEQ parameter depending on the type of recording. I think they suggest the 15dB setting for recordings where the dynamic headroom was compressed.

So while DynamicEQ is not a simple set it and forget parameter for discerning listerners, I have found that THX Loudness Plus is a great alternative especially for movie watching (Loudness Plus was designed to solve the same problem). I agree that the 0dB is way too agressive for most recordings. I could barely discern any dialog in the opening of Sherlock Holmes because the bass was overpowering everything. Sure I like bass, but I like it as an enhancement not the ruler of the recording.

The Denons I have seen I believe also have setting to adjust the agressiveness of the DynamicEQ curve.

Thank you Toknowshita for your valued input in this matter.
Like i wrote in another thread.
Intellivolume fixed my extreme bass problem!
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post19500682

For me it was a huge difference to alter intellivolume to -12 (maybe il raise it in the future) The reference offset though il mostly keep at 0.
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post #42 of 55
11/22/10 at 6:03pm
So I wanted to follow up with this since I said before I turn this off for listening.

After recalibrating a while back, I've changed my tune, and I'm currently using Audyssey + Dynamic EQ for most listening (though I still leave Dynamic Volume off). I think for me it was a matter of not liking a change as I was used to a totally flat EQ on my old receiver (as there really wasn't an option), but now that I've adjusted, I actually do prefer it this way. It *does* matter to get a good, multi-position initial calibration to work with from the getgo.
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post #43 of 55
11/22/10 at 7:44pm
My wife was on the treadmill last night after the kids were in bed, watching The Hurt Locker. I hadn't changed any of the settings from my full-throttle Iron Man 2 viewing earlier that day. The first bomb blast shook the walls!

I came in and turned Audyssey's dynamic volume to midnight mode and it worked beautifully. However, my wife was not too pleased.
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post #44 of 55
11/30/10 at 7:47pm
I have a 3808 for 2 years now and I recall having paid $100 for getting the updates that included Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume when I bought the unit. However I see that both these show they are turned OFF in my audyssey settings and I cannot turn these two options to ON. Any idea on what I am may be doing wrong? when I select Audyssey settings from the menu I see three options
1. Room EQ which has two options (i) Manual or (ii) OFF
2. Dynamic EQ - shows as OFF and does not allow me to turn it ON. In fact does not allow me to even select it (pressing the down arrow on my remote to select it does not work
3. Dynamic Volume - same thing, cannot select this to turn it ON

I did use Audyssey (the set up at six locations using the mic) and saved it and remember using Dynamic EQ/Volume options but now I cannot even access these options . I did a firmware update today (lasted 30 mins) to see if that helps but it did not. Appreciate any help I can get
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post #45 of 55
1/8/11 at 3:05pm
I am increasingly becoming more and more disappointed with Audyssey's dynamic eq. Time after time I keep getting bloated, overinflated bass on movies unless I dial it down to 15db which then sounds somewhat flat.

It also seems to actually decrease the signal to my fronts while blowing up the signal to my surrounds. The front soundstage suffers while the surrounds sound clearer but overpowering with inflated lowend.

I'm wondering if the newer version of Audysseey on the Onkyo 3008 is any better. If not, I might be switching to a pioneer elite or yamaha in the near future.

Or I might go back to external eq for better results though it takes much longer.
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post #46 of 55
1/9/11 at 9:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by diamonddelts View Post

I am increasingly becoming more and more disappointed with Audyssey's dynamic eq. Time after time I keep getting bloated, overinflated bass on movies unless I dial it down to 15db which then sounds somewhat flat.

It also seems to actually decrease the signal to my fronts while blowing up the signal to my surrounds. The front soundstage suffers while the surrounds sound clearer but overpowering with inflated lowend.

That's dynamic EQ for ya. If you just run Multi XT EQ on your receiver without dynamic EQ (if it's an option... it is on my Onk 876) the increased surrounds/decreased center stage is removed.
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post #47 of 55
1/9/11 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mastermaybe View Post

MultEQ XT: 9.5/10
Dyn EQ: 5/10
Dyn Vol: 4/10

Can't agree more.
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post #48 of 55
1/31/11 at 8:25am
i have 2 denon one 1610 and one 1910 , both with audessey multiq and i can honestly tell u , u wil hear the difference. by difference i mean u will get more deeper lows ands more louder highs . but heres what i dont like. i want to tweak the eq bands so i can get more bass from my center speaker but it wont let me tweak it after audessy has calibrated, in order for me to tweak the eq bands i have to exit audessey and go to manual set up which is where u guys are , so yes u will like the auddesey but be warned u might do some changes even after u have done ur audesy calibration . but then again its urs ears not mine so u will have the final word. i hope this helped u on ur decision
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post #49 of 55
1/31/11 at 8:40am
i have a beautiful center speaker acusetech pl 26 its supposed to sound rich clear deep voices in other words voices will sound natural and in some case ie : optimus primes voice, very deep with bass . but anywho when i turn on multiq audessey the voice sounds very low i have to turn up the volume to hear his voice and by the time i hear his voice the action starts u know **** blowing up so now his voice dissapears and now im eft with boom , compao , so now im wondering if i was better of with a small center speaker or the same speaker with auddesy turned off. my front stage suffers as well but my rears wow feels like someones yelling at me from behind isnt the the sound supposed to sound louder when its infront of you?
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post #50 of 55
1/31/11 at 9:21am
When I listen to my system late at night with the volume low, my sub is still balanced and I can hear the surrounds. If I turn audyssey off, it sounds more like an a.m. radio.

It's wonderful!
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post #51 of 55
1/31/11 at 12:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jorgejovel View Post

...when i turn on multiq audessey the voice sounds very low i have to turn up the volume to hear his voice and by the time i hear his voice the action starts u know **** blowing up so now his voice dissapears and now im eft with boom ...

try turning up the level of only the center speaker
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post #52 of 55
1/31/11 at 10:17pm
I am really liking dynamic eq on my denon 3311.

I have tamed it down to 10db. I agree with all the complaints people have with it, but that is at the max setting. At 10db I find it lifts my surrounds a bit while not overpowering the front.

This may also be more ideal for my setup because my surrounds are a bit to far back then i would like. My room is very long and narrow. I typically used to find my fronts overpower everything since I sit a little closer to the fronts then the surrounds, and my fronts are also more powerful.

I think it depends on how loud you play movies at and how close you are to your surrounds which will tell wether you need dynamic eq or not.

If I sat further back and closer to the surrounds i would probably turn it off. Or scale it back even further.
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post #53 of 55
9/20/11 at 2:53pm
I'd normally not praise such a sound corruption system, but DEQ works really well. I compared a very appropriate dynamic TV source full of sound effects and voices in both modes (raised volume for OFF mode to make DEQ fail more easily). The mids and highs showed up very well, and the overall sounds wasn't brute anymore for a night time. I didn't notice extra bass, but even if so, it could add more drama to the content while not being disturbing. It's the mid highs which wake your neighbours. Folks here who shake their room with this setting must be woofer addicts. Or they use the function on high volumes.

Tested on:
- AVR Marantz NR1602
- 4.1 Acoustic Energy Radiance

Pros:
- no more brutal sound during watching TV
- not only dialogs but also effects more clear while maintaining low volume
- the device remembers setting of DEQ and DV per source

Cons:
- too much dependency on DV and cant be switched separately on remote control

Recommended use:
- for night watching of any video source

Rating:
********/10
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post #54 of 55
9/20/11 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danielson99 View Post

I really dislike Audyssey dynamic volume. The artificial 'phasing in and out' sound it creates is not worth the benefit of the actual sound 'levelling' it does. I watch almost all my movies at the same volume level that I set as the movie starts, I don't need that to be changed at any time. Sure I hate when commercials come on TV because it gets loud...but at least I know it's coming, sometimes I turn it down...it's just part of living with it to me. I'd rather put up with commercials being a bit loud than listening to the sound during a movie 'phase' in and out...it's terrible.

As far as Audyssey MultEQ XT, it does make things 'easy' but it also doesn't give me the sound I'm looking for. In the end I just tweak it or just turn it off and do it all manually....the results are just better doing it myself.

I do agree that Audyssey can be a great tool for many people, I'm just not one of them. I would definitely recommend it to alot of people....but those tweakers and fussy people out there will most likely end up not even using it....or adjusting it far from what it set itself to originally.

The "phasing in and out" happens when I change channels (on cable TV) with the mode set to "midnight" on my Denon 3310. i.e the volume will go up when I change the channel and then stabilize. The volume stays constant in the evening or day mode. So I never use the midnight mode unless I am going to watch just one channel for a while.

To others who find the bass boomy with Dynamic Eq: have you tried adjusting the offset. You can cut it by as much as 15db. On my Denon 3310 there are 4 options: 0, 5, 10, 15 db. I would have preferred in 1db increments. But cutting by 5db is good enough especially for the Music Choice, R&B channel. Some DVD's do have too much bass. So for those also I cut by 5 or 10 db and also adjust the sub level from the receiver.

I doubt if dynamic eq makes it clear at low volume. It just makes things louder as I still have trouble getting the dialog. I can follow every word in the news or sitcoms or other TV programs but dialog in many movies is just not clear. May be it is due to the useless background music in movies. Anyway I am not going to debate on this as I have already posted a lot about this. I have tried many speakers. I know my system well :-) I mostly watch action movies so dialog doesnt matter :-) I can hear the explosions loud and clear :-)
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post #55 of 55
5/23/12 at 4:40pm
I've become a huge fan of both Audyssey and Dynamic EQ.

I'm using a Marantz AV7005 pre/pro with three KRK Rokit 10-3 powered midfield studio monitors at the front, two KRK Rokit 5 studio monitors at the rear and two Infinity ES250 as side surrounds (dipole mode). No subwoofer.

So long as Audyssey is set to FLAT, Dynamic EQ is doing a brilliant job of maintaining channel levels and EQs below Reference level.

I've only used the 0dB setting, which is intended for movie watching.
I might try -10dB and see how it compares...

(Dynamic Volume, on the other hand, is a different beast, and best avoided in my setup)
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