"OFFICIAL" Pioneer MCACC thread - Page 32

No, the MCACC in the SC-05/07/25/27 (don't know about other models) can have up to 6 presets, and each preset can be done by taking samples from either one or three mic locations.

Dan.

Can someone tell me what THX Cinema Mode does is relation to MCACC? If I run MCACC and then engage the THX Cinema mode, is it overriding what MCACC has done?

Your installer seems to be thinking of room modes, which do become less of an issue in LARGE rooms. Not sure if 6000 square foot qualifies though.

However, above the 'bass' range I(where the room itself is the main driver via modes) the performance of the loudspeakers becomes an issue that may well need correcting. Do your loudspeakers have a flat frequency response* on and off axis?


(*Technically I don't know if that's what MCACC aims for. But there certainly is some 'target curve' that it aims for, persumably with some psychoacoustic basis and to achieve it MCACC adjusts the EQ in each loudspeaker)

It doesn't override MCACC, per se, but it does do some things that may alter the sound somewhat. For example, THX will roll off the highs slightly on the assumption that movie soundtracks are generally too "hot" for a home environment. If you have THX Loudness engaged, it will alter the sound balance to compensate for changes in volume. However, it does these things using MCACC adjustments as a base, not as a replacement of MCACC.

For some reason I cannot acces the above said menue nor the home menue. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Conner,

It sounds like you have the same problem my sc-27 had when I got it. Try resetting the receiver and the menu's should come up. That is what I had to do.

On the 27 you open the front panel on the receiver and while in standby with the multi zone or channel off hold the enter button down and push and hold the standby/on button till the message comes up reset? answer yes and start from there.

Very interesting, thank you. I did notice that the THX Cinema mode made my mains sound like they had more fullness and body to them which made them blend even better with my sub.

Just out of curiosity, let's say you disengage MCACC and just apply the THX Cinema mode. Would you still benefit from the enhancements THX Cinema applies?

Yes, although, obviously, without the benefit of MCACC it would sound different.

I just got the 1019AH-K and trying to set up my 2 large tower speakers (12" drivers), normal sized surrounds, and center. (Only using 5.0 channels - no sub) I know i have to set speakers to large then run the full auto setup, but i have tried a few times now and sound has no balls to it, hardly any bass at all. Im using ps3 for blu-rays, which is my main concern. I have just got into manually adjusting things in mcacc but its really tough. Playing with the standing wave settings seem to help, but I don't fully understand it. Can anyone explain the 3 filters, Freq, Q, and ATT? or give any tricks for mcacc with no subwoofer?

MCACC is designed to create a flat frequency response at the listening position. Many people are not used to that.

If playing with the standing wave adjustments "helps", you are probably used to those resonances emphasizing certain bass frequencies in your room, and with those peaks flattened out, the bass may seem weak (although it is the way the sound engineer intended it to be heard).

My suggestion always is to listen for awhile and get used to a flat response. Most people discover nuances in the rest of the spectrum that they had not heard before because the bass was burying them.

If you don't want to do that, you could just turn the S-Wave (standing wave control) OFF. You could also manually boost the bass in each speaker's 63Hz band, use the tone control to increase bass, and/or turn on the loudness control. You could even turn MCACC off altogether. I don't recommend any of these things, but it's not my system, so tailor it to please yourself. Pioneer gives you lots of options. Another might be to use the Front Align MCACC setting, which makes no corrections to the fronts, and attempts to make the others sound like them.

There really isn't anything special about a 5.0 MCACC calibration. One of my systems is 6.0 (rears, but no center), and my MCACC calibration procedure was it just like it was with my 7.1 and 5.1 systems. None of the three is the least bit deficient in bass.

Thanks for the reply, actually I was coming back to post what it was when I seen your post. All I had to do was turn off zone 2 and 3 and it worked properly then.

Now I just need to figure out why my subwoofer outputs, at least to me, very little sound if any.

My system:
151FD
SC-05
BDP-05FD
Paradigm Monitor 11 v6
Paradigm Monotor CC290
Paradigm DSP 3100 sub
SpeakerCraft Sides and rears

^^^ Do you have your speakers set to Large?

I set them to small but when I re-run MCACC it changes them back to large. (fronts) So I changed them to THX certified I think it said. But I did not re-run MCACC and now i am getting a little thump listening to Kiss Dressed to Kill. Not sure if I should or not...

^^^ I haven't fooled with the THX certified setting, as THX speakers have unique crossover requirements which are not appropriate to non-THX speakers. The best approach would be to run MCACC, then manually change the speakers back to Small. That will keep your subs active.

You don't have to rerun MCACC again after doing that, although many of us do, "just in case." It's kind of a belts and suspenders thing for us OCD types.

The MCACC thread has been a real help to me. My system sounds so rich and full it will nearly bring tears to your eyes. I ended up bringing up the lows a little and cutting the highs just a bit and WOW!

It's curious to me how some poeople say after they run MCACC, their sub sounds too low and their system lacks bass yet other people say after they run MCACC, their system has too much bass. I wonder why this happens.

Prior to buying 2 DefTech 7006's and CLR 2300, I had some cheap Sony speakers. MCACC calibrated those speakers and my initial reaction was that the system lacked bass. I decided to leave the calibration and eventually got used to the system sounding "flat" - and I liked it. However, after I set up these DefTech speakers, I ran MCACC again to recalibrate and now there's a tremendous amount of bass - almost too overpowering. I have the speakers set to "Small" and crossed at 80hz. My sub is now really kicking and practically relocated my couch! I'm wondering why this is the case.

I am after using carma software to configure my subwoofer to the right settings for my room.

Should I now run MCACC again??

I'm not familiar with your software, but as a general rule the subwoofer should be calibrated first (with MCACC Off), then run MCACC. This will allow MCACC to more effectively integrate the sub with your other speakers.

Well, I didn't do my first sub calibration before I ran MCACC. This is the order I did things.

1. Setup subwoofer roughly to sound as good as I could.
2. Ran MCACC.
3. stayed like that for a while!!
4. Got interested in REW, CArma etc. Calibrated Sub, but didn't turn off mcacc to do it.
5. After a month or so I have got much better at using the program and have done a much better calibration, but, again, using the first MCACC run.

So, should I start again? like this

1. Turn off MCACC,
2. Calibrate subwoofer,
3. run the MCACC again

Yes, that would give you the best results.

Thanks Mac

is mcacc supposed to set my speakers at different distances even though they appear to be the same ?

Except for subwoofers, it's not common, but possible under certain room conditions. Remember, MCACC is not attempting to measure distance, per se, it measures time delay. It just translates time into distance for display, as most of us have difficulty interpreting milliseconds.

It's actually normal for MCACC to show subwoofers as being "farther" than they actually are, as there is an inherent delay in most of them.

No, mine is quite accurate actually. Even the sub is pretty close. None of my speakers give a same distance reading and that is how they are arranged vs my center/sweet spot. MCACC fixes that. Are there any obstructions between the mike and the speakers? Any background noise?

You can "tell" MCACC to keep your speakers set to small when it runs its calibration...

I'm having a little bit of a problem with the HDMI outputs on my SV-27. As you are aware there are two outputs, one for the main monitor and one for a secondary monitor or a projector. I have been experimenting using the second HDMI output fed through to another room into a second monitor (essentially as a second zone). The problem I ran into was the fact that there was no sound through the HDMI in the second zone unless I change the MCACC setting to through, this however changed zone 1 sound to also to be set as through. So in an effort to differentiate between the two zones, I thought I would set a different MCACC ID. specific to zone 2, such that I could change the MCACC setting dependent on the desired zone I was in. While I was doing so, it occurred to me that perhaps I could get the second HDMI output to be sent as through and the first HDMI output to be amplified ie. sound through zone 1 speakers. In any event, here's where the problem comes in. Now I seem to have both outputs set to through and I can't seem to get them back to amplified sound in either zone, nor can I access the MCACC settings to change them back. The display flashes HDMI THROUGH, regardless of which HDMI I set the output to.

So two questions: how do I get out of this without having to reset the receiver and two; is it possible to have one HDMI set to AMP (amplification), and the other set as through?

Any assistance in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Just kind of guessing here, as I don't have mcacc on my AVR, but they should stand for Frequency, Q or width, and Attenuation.

Frequency is self-evident. It is the number of cycles per second, or hertz, that a tone produces. In the bass range, which is what a subwoofer covers, this would usually be in the 20 through 80 hertz range. But seeing as you don't have a sub, it may run even as high as 150 to 200 hertz on your full range speakers.

Q is the width, or range of frequencies, that are affected by the adjustment. For instance, you may want to adjust a 5 hertz range from 50 to 55 hertz and could set the mcacc control to deal only with those frequencies.

Attenuation, or ATT, means to lower or turn down. Since what we are dealing with here is equalization, the standard methodology calls for attenuation of the frequency or frequencies in question, usually measured in dB or decibels. So you would lower the amplitude, or volume, of the frequencies causing a standing wave. A standing wave is caused by a frequency, or wave length, fitting into the dimensions of your room exactly, and thus not having the normal decay of amplitude that would typically happen when the frequency does not precisely fit the room's dimensions. The standing waves that mcacc deals with will be in the bass or low frequency region, as they are by far the most noticeable.

I hope that helps

Just got the AS-EQ1 and I am going to pair it with the pio 92. Has anybody paired an MCACC and the AS-EQ? If so any tips or pitfalls to watch for? I did an extensive search on this thread and others and did not find much on the two together.(lots of info individually) I read the manual for th AS-EQ1 and just wanted to save time if there was something that someone has learned along the way that may be helpful to me and others. I am running dual svs 10 inch subs with an emotiva upa-7 for power, the 92 as a pre-amp and polk lsifx 9's, c and 4 lsifx surronds in a 7.2 system. This is a dedicated 21x 11.8theater with 4inch base taps in all four corners floor to celing. A 2 foot false wall treated floor to ceiling. First reflection points and treatments evenly spcaed to the back wall. Back wall is difused. Thanks in advance!

One more thing, I have read that a tripod is helpful but it does not appear that the mic supplied with the 92 is threaded.... Any thoughts or suggestions.

I haven't used an AS-EQ1, (I have an SMS-1) but as a general rule sub EQ should be run first, then MCACC. Other than that, both should be pretty straightforward.

I don't have a 92 either, but I'd be surprised if it's mic didn't have threads. Both my older VSX-1015 mic and my newer VSX-01/SC-07 mics do. Well, maybe not threaded, but a hole that helps keep them in place on my tripod, anyway.

Good review of the Pioneer Elite VSX-23 here:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/r...nics-vsx-23txh

hey i have the Pioneer VSX-519V-K and it has "MCACC Speaker Calibration Quick Setup" where do i plug in the microphone?