Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 421

We varied the height of the Mic in the 5 locations we used for doing sweeps. The position for the mic closest to where I usually sit was very close to the height of my head.

Yes. ARC doesn't know the difference between audio altered by the room's inherent response and by what a less than perfect speaker can produce.

However the algorithms are optimized to deal with typical room response issues. Furthermore, ARC can't replace information that has been lost by the speaker. So it is still the case that better speakers/amps with ARC will produce better results. Similarly, it will usually be the case that a properly designed acoustically treated room with ARC will produce better results. Audio AMP performance is also a factor here.

Essentially, if your audio is perfect to begin with you will likely get better results (with or without ARC) than if it has any imperfections that ARC then tries to correct.

EXAMPLE: The power amp and speakers are incapable of faithfully reproducing transients in the audio (dynamic peaks). RESULT: There will still be improper transients in the audio after ARC. If the information never makes it through the audio chain and out the speakers, ARC can't recreate it.

EXAMPLE: The subwoofer doesn't go below 30 Hz. RESULT: There will still be no bass below 30Hz after ARC. Again, if the sub can't produce it to begin with, ARC has nothing to work with.

Nevertheless, getting acoustically perfect audio components (and room setup) is beyond the budget of most folks -- not to mention the time it takes to research and fiddle with the setup. And if you don't already have audio perfection, ARC makes it A WHOLE LOT EASIER (and faster and cheaper!) to get quite a bit closer to perfection -- within the limits of what your components can do. I.e., you will get the best you CAN get from your components and room pretty much automatically. And for MOST home theater enthusiasts (and music listeners) -- folks who haven't had a professional come in and tune their room and audio -- the results should be quite dramatically superior to what they are currently listening to.

So yes, ARC can help tackle typical response curve issues from your speakers.
--Bob

When I get around to it, I'm going to see what happens when I do some sweeps at seated listening locations and other sweeps at standing head height locations behind the sofa that is the primary seating (in the middle of the room). So perhaps 5 along the sofa (the primary one being sofa center at seated ear height) and 5 more at standing ear height behind the sofa, and see what that produces.
--Bob

Thanks - that is what I was hoping for. I have a very untreated room with concrete walls, so I'm hoping the ARC will work some magic here. I was told by my dealer in NYC it should arrive early next week. Unfortunately I will be out of town until the end of the week

I just received a call from my dealer that my ARC-1 has arrived. I'm on my way to get it.

Yeah its amazing. Just ran ARC-1 again after adding some room treatments (OK, Drapes, Area Rug and Wall hanging behind the listening position do count and it's about all I can esthetically add).

Since there is no NHL Hockey on ATM to do any real critical listening I am listening to Chesky "The Worlds Greatest Audiophile Vocal Recordings" SACD.

It's so minimalist its crazy. When people talk about lossless being the absence of noise this must be what they are talking about. You can hear the silence its so noticeably dead. Every note, every plunk, strum, piano key, drum hit and vocalization are so clear, separate and distinct its hypnotic.

Hmmm, Maybe Hockey isn't the best source for critical listening... Don Cherry or no Don Cherry. Canadians play Buffalo tonight so I can double-check . Go Habs Go.

Cheers,

Richard

PS.

I just upgraded to the latest 1.31 firware, and everything seems fine. I did notice that when a SD-DVD played on my Pioneer Elite 59AVI via component switches from main menu to playing the start of a DVD, I always get a quick blue screen. Once the movie is playing, the picture is fine.....just always a quick bluescreen on the start. Anyone else experience this....wondering if it is nomal?

I think this only happens after the first running of ARC-1 (The setting of all the Room EQ's = OFF. Probably because that is the when the setting is created and it defaults to off. When I reran today I noticed that the last message on the screen ifs to go into the menus and turn it on for each source you want.

I went in to double-check and it was still ON for my sources since I had already done this after noticing I had missed a couple the first time.

Cheers,

Richard

PS. Misterdoggy, I would also suggest the mic go as close to the listening position (between the ears) as possible. In fact as someone else stated and then did, I may use my laser level tripod to rerun ARC-1 at some point because even with cushions adjusted the mic is still probably about 4-5 inches higher than my ears are when sitting.

After all, you really want the twang of the puck ringing off the post to sound just right

I don't recall seeing any video muting screens (I have my D2 set to gray not blue) between menus and movie from my 59avi with V1.31 on the D2. I'm using HDMI 480i from the 59avi.

Make sure you have Video Source Adjust / Output / Frame Lock = OFF for that input so that the D2 is not trying to resync with the video input all the time.
--Bob

I'm still on firmware 1.29k, haven't yet jumped to 1.31. I occasionaly get a flash of a blue screen when powering up a component, switching source inputs, etc... Also, on blu-ray discs, some of the previews and menus at the begining of a disc aren't in 1080p, and sometimes the blue screen flashes for a second while it switches video formats, I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's probably normal.

I seem to get video mute briefly when switching between sources with different output resolutions. Well actually since I pretty much only switch between sources with different resolutions it could be switching period.

If I switch to quickly it really gets pissed off and I get alternately flashing zillion colored pixel/snow field and attempted locks onto the picture until I restart. This actually also pisses of my TV which then in turn rarely shuts itself down.

This IS NOT NEW TO 1.31 FOR ME so don't go panicking that this is a 1.31 thing lol. Just thought it was normal.

For example in listening to some SACD's today I was switching the OPPO's output through 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and that right pissed the D2 off requiring a restart. After restarting it flickered a couple more times then settled onto the image. Is this not normal lol. Figured it for a normal HDMI handshake BS symptom and not D2 related as much.

IE. I figured that due to HDMI handshaking compounded with source resolutions changes it is just a whole heck of a lot for the D2 (Or any processor) to deal with at the same time or even worse in rapid succession (the OPPO example).

If this isn't normal I guess I should check with Anthem. Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,

Richard

PS. AGAIN, THIS WAS ALWASY THE CASE AND NOT FW 1.31 SPECIFIC.

Same symptoms I have always had and tried to describe above.

Is this normal?

Cheers,

Richard

Try going to the Video Output menu and change the mute color to anything but "Black" and save the changes. This may cure the flashing.

Any time there is a new HDMI handshake you will get at least a couple seconds of image scrambling. This is normal. You will get a new handshake each time you change input devices or input resolution from a given device. There are a few other things that can cause a new handshake as well.

But when playing SD-DVDs at HDMI 480i, I would NOT expect a new handshake to happen between the disc menus and the start of the movie. And I don't believe I'm seeing any from my Pioneer 59avi.
--Bob

No I don't get them for SD DVD menus etc. It is mostly for source switching or where the input resolution may be changing (BR menus/movie or extras/movie and not always.

Actually I guess the PS3 blinks occasionally even mid movie. Just blinked (green screen) when changing scenes in the I am Legend BD Extras "The Science Of I Am Legend"

Anyway, I figured the source switching was normal.

Cheers,

Richard

PS. Maybe I will switch to grey screen to minimize the vilual impact.

That is what I am hoping to get out of it and why I upgraded to the D2. I am hoping by this time next week I will be in audio Nirvana....at least as far as my ears have experienced so far.

Hi, i was wondering, does the USB serial adapter have to be a keyspan one. Im in edmonton Alberta, and I cant find one. I have found other brands.

Thanks

Shane

Nick recommended IOGEAR or Keyspan. Not sure which model(s) of IOGEAR are best, but I would suggest not buying the cheapest one and whichever you do get ensure that you go online and install the very latest firmware.

You can always do what I did and eMail Anthem (Nick) and ask. Send him a few Make/Models you can find and ask if he recommends any.

Alternatively you can always order the Keyspan online. If you waiting for your ARC-1 to arrive anyway you probably won't see any delay in getting to play with it.

Cheers,

Richard

You can order the USA-19HS on-line direct from Keyspan:

http://www.keyspan.com/products/usa19hs/

--Bob

The good news is that Anthem believes they are on the track of why my Video Source Adjust settings don't survive a power-cycle. It appears to be a somewhat rare timing issue as suspected. The bad news is that their first try at fixing it has not yet fixed it. I just installed V1.31a from their test software site (using Windows XP on Bootcamp on a Leopard Macbook with the Keyspan USA-19HS USB/Serial adapter).

On the other hand, the good news is that the On-Screen Display of my Setup menu is back! As is the ability to input and scale video from my Polk XM Radio receiver. Nick says they had a problem early on where some electronic parts changed value after a period of use, causing loss of S-video (including the Setup menu display). That's been fixed (although there may still be units out there that need a hardware fix). However there appears to be a new, SOFTWARE problem that is also causing loss of S-video in some cases. In any event, this version of the software seems to leave S-video working in my D2.

I'm still seeing B/W-static-hash-like flashes when output resolution changes from my Comcast/Motorola HD-DVR. But it appears to be locking in a bit faster with this latest software.

Stay tuned.

ETA: NOTE that the S-video fix mentioned above may be pure coincidence -- the luck of how program memory was left after the install. Nick did *NOT* tell me he thought V1.31a contained a fix specific to my S-video problems. The impression I got is that Anthem is still trying to nail down the cause of that. Also the problem locking into the S-video user interface from the Velodyne subwoofer remains -- but that's NEVER worked.
--Bob

For people who already have their ARC:

Do ARC settings get saved as part of a Save User Settings or a Save Installer Settings in the Setup / Save and Restore Settings menu?

And in particular, can you save two DIFFERENT sets of ARC settings in those two memories to make it easier to A/B compare two different sets of ARC results?
--Bob

Well from what I can see ARC changes Speaker Config (Cross overs Etc), Speaker Calibration (volume +/- etc). All these would get saved right?

If its changing other things I am not sure which they are and/or whether they would get saved.

I would think that playing around with room EQ ON/OFF as someone suggested would be the best way to A/B as long as Room EQ OFF = your last manual settings.

Note: I am sure your way would work also, but there would be a much longer lag for the switching between the two.

Cheers,

Richard

If you are using a USB serial adapter, the Keyspan adapter is one of the adapters Anthem recommends (DON'T use the one from "The Shack"). If you have a PCMCIA slot consider a SIIG SIngle Serial PC card. Adapters and PCMCIA cards are available at NewEgg.com.

Hey Richard,
make sure you update us on the ARC-1.2 hockey experience
After reading of more guys getting ARC this week I broke down and called my dealer. No update. Between their 2 stores they have 8 ARC kits on order.
BTW, anyone else here order through Definitive Audio?

Got my ARC-1 today. Ran a quick auto run when the kids were out today. Haven't had a change to really listen. Here are a couple quick images from the results.

Front Left Speaker Results:


Subwoofer Results:


I noticed I have the same rolloff in all my speakers above 6K. I guess this is normal?

Yes, except I want to A/B between two different ARC setups rather than between ARC and my manual, non-ARC setup.
--Bob

I received my ARC-1 today. I was able to install v1.31 without problems. However, I am unable to install the ARC-1 software on my laptop. The installation begins and then I get this message

There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact you support personnel or package vendor.

I was able to install the ARC-1 software on my desktop but it first installed Visual C++ 5 before installing the ARC-1. Everything went fine.

So I downloaded C++5 redistributable version from Microsoft.com and installed. The ARC-1 install seemed to get further (completed the blue progress bar twice) but then the same message appeared.

I have emailed support but I'm dying to give this a try and thought someone here might have a suggestion to solve this problem.

Thanks,
Randy

Randy-

Does your laptop run Xp or Vista? I am just curious as my PC connected to the HT runs Vista and I was hoping I wouldn't have to install XP on a second drive just to run ARC-1 software.

Thanks

I installed from the CD tonight. The C++5 redistributable was installed first, then the Anthem software. No errors. I am running XP.

I believe you can install from the CD manually. Simply copy the AnthemRoomCorrection.exe file from the CD to a new folder on your computer. The anthem installer puts it in C:\\Program Files\\Anthem\\AnthemStatement\\AnthemRoomCorrection

In the same directoy, copy the .cal file from the CD. It will be named ######_######.cal. Where the first 6 numbers are the anthem serial number and the second are the mic serial number.

the installer will copy some other files to the same directory and create menu shortcuts, but they aren't needed for the program.

After that, run the AnthemRoomCorrection.exe file and you should be up and going.

I received my ARC-1, and I successfully installed the software on my computer. However, when I tried to run it, it found my D2; but, it gave me an error about it could not find a valid mic. I'm thinking maybe because I was trying to run it from my desktop which has Windows 2000. Anyway, I will try it again next week because we will have company over the weekend, and the house probably will be too noisy to run it. Next week, I will try it on my laptop which is running Vista.