Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 502

In my case, after reinstalling 1.2.2 and tried to use the measured file via 1.2.4, 1.2.2 could not recognize the file. I had to do a remeasure using 1.2.2. The Bass was just horrible, it can damage the sub or speaker involved. I am at -18 dB on the volume scale and the sound was severely distorted.

I first noticed it when the FM interstation noise after the upload, it was full of bass energy. Then toggling between Music, auto lfe and movie triggered the bass boost. Turning EQ off lowered the bass to normal levels again.

Have any of you guys with the ARC V1.2.4 issue managed to speak to Anthem tech support yet?

This sounds very similar to the bug in the original ARC V1.0 that was quashed in ARC V1.1.
--Bob

ohmigod ohmigod my ARC came today, only 9 days after ordering it! Whoo hoo!

Unfortunately, now I have to wait for my Keyspan adaptor to come, I figured it was better to get it than use my Ratshack one even though it worked in the past.

For those few AVM 20-HD users out there, it appears that we are out of luck w/ regards to ARC. I e-mailed Nick and here is his reply:

Sorry, the AVM 20-HD has a different core on which ARC doesn't work. ARC wasn't planned for any AVM but the response in the last few months changed that...

I have a D2 also and have been amazed at the difference and was hoping that it would be available for the AVM 20-HD as well, but it looks like that is not the case...

Buddy

Bob
Thanks for the reminder to Save User and/or Installer Settings after you Upload ARC results-I recently moved speakers & forget to save the ARC settings after reloading.

Uploaded ARC twice to confirm the target settings & the speaker configurations are the same. Yet, I noticed the front L/R speakers were not highlighted in the recommended/basic install portions on my computer screen as I started the ARC process.
Any insights on why the front L/R speakers were not highlighted?
Thanks again for all you advice!

The Front L/R speakers are required -- you don't have the option to disable them for ARC -- so they are shown but grayed out to indicate you can't change that setting.
--Bob

Did you by any chance ask about the AVM-30 (not AVM-30HD)? Since the AVM-30 is to the AVM-50 as the D1 is to the D2 I would think an ARC upgrade for the AVM-30 might be possible.
--Bob

Boy do I hope you are right!! I am really looking forward to this. I hope it does what a good calibration does for a picture.

Bob,

I didn't ask about the AVM 30, but Nick mentioned that the kits became available on 7/16 for the other AVM models mentioned in the ARC 1.2.4 notes as you had mentioned a few days ago.

Buddy

Yes, Bob, Nick got me to answer a few questions about the other equipment in my system, trying to nail down source of the fault. Told him finally that turning off the EQ brought the bass back to normal - that should settle any doubt that the D2 is causing the problem. It's weekend now, so don't expect to hear from him till Monday at the earliest.

Oh, I brought the bass level down to -15dB to match the other channels for the time being.
-Ben

This disc has very prominent low pipe organ notes. That probably caused the problem to magnify itself. Other SACD discs also exhibit distorted bass actually, but less noticeably loud, so may largely escape one's notice. At first I thought my disc had gone bad, but turning the EQ off brought everything back to normal.

I should say that if you enter Speaker Calibration in your Setup Menu with your SPL meter and find that the sub has normal output matching that of the other speakers in the system, then you are alright. If you have the problem, then you should experience something of an earthquake proportion upon reaching the sub.
-Ben

If this is a a recurrence of the "Bass rumble" bug in the original ARC V1.0, then it ought to be pretty simple for Anthem to confirm. I presume Nick had you email your ARC results file to him.

That bug also affected only some users.

Odds are we'll have an answer on this early next week.
--Bob

Just noticed that the test file on the tech page has both ARC files, the 1.2.2 and 1.2.4
Is this going to be a problem for AVM users if the only file they can use is the one with problems or is it a D2 specific problem?
John

Yes, he has his Tech boys looking into it. Keeping my fingers crossed.
-Ben

Stay tuned, John. Even the original ARC V1.0 bug only affected some users.

The ARC V1.2.2 that just appeared on the password protected download page is identical to the version publicly released as the "official" ARC version (which means it does not include AVM support for example). Also, what's on there right now is just the application itself -- i.e., the folder is not set up with the rest of the stuff to install it and remove a prior installation.

Clearly Anthem is working the issue. I think we'll have the answers soon.
--Bob

Bob,
I've been meaning to ask this for sometime. What's the check box for "Force" found under the Room Gain window in the ARC Target page for. No, I never fiddle with that, if that's what you're thinking.
-Ben

will do Bob, T-3 days and counting.

The Target window displays the Room Gain that was found in your room during the Measurements. (Doing an "Auto Detect" causes ARC to look at the Measurements data again and reset any values you might have changed back to what ARC thinks is right.)

You can tell ARC to adjust its Calculations to "Force" a DIFFERENT Room Gain upon your room -- one that doesn't match your room's natural characteristics (as Measured by ARC). Put a new value in that field and leave the Force box checked. If the Force box is not checked, any change you make to the Room Gain field is ignored during the Calculation. I suspect a more intuitive user interface design choice could have been made here.
--Bob

Thanks for the explanation. Like I said before, Anthem should engage you to write their manual. They just leave the user to guess and learn by trial and error. Not very user friendly indeed.

I wish they could buy the code (based on opensource and free actually) of the RoomEQWizard software.
That's what I call a full featured acoustic measurement software, adapted to our world (pre-pros, home-theaters and online upload/download of measurements from the pre/pro).
Not that I whine about ARC, it does the job, and does it well.
But for the freaks amongst us, it could use one or two of the features from RoomEQWizard.
Have a visit at _http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

Well, my ARC finally showed up today.

It doesn't surprise me that it's making a lot of correction to my surrounds, they're closer to the wall than optimal. But I am amazed at how poorly my center channel measures, it's only slightly closer to the wall than my right and left front.

Is there anything special I should be doing as I use 5 full-range speakers and no subwoofer? (Other than buy a sub, I mean). Obviously I've unchecked the subwoofer measurement box, but the target page still wants me to use a 40Hz crossover.

I'm not sure what the interaction is between the NO subwoofer setting and the advanced cross overs that ARC sets up for you. Normally when you specify that you have NO subwoofer the Front L/R speakers are forced to be "Large" (which means no cross over).

In any event, a low cross over like 40Hz may be perfectly reasonable even for full range main speakers, as the cross over is not a sharp cutoff.

Check the Target and Calculated curves ARC shows you in Advanced mode to see how much it is targeting and calculating as the actual roll off for your Front L/R speakers. The actual roll off will be a combo of the cross over, the room correction parameters and the room response as measured by ARC. If it is predicting only a modest roll off from 40Hz down to 20Hz for those 2 speakers you are probably fine.

Center speaker response is often affected by things near the speaker such as the screen itself or an equipment console. But do make sure you have followed the guidelines for ARC mic positioning during the Measurement pass.

The mic must be pointed straight up and positioned at seated ear height. The #1 position must be dead center. Then you must alternate to either side of center for subsequent measurements with no position closer than 24" to the positions on either side of it.
--Bob

Looking forward to ordering the ARC-1 for my AVM 50. Thus far, I've been uprading the software using a serial cable connected to a desk top. I plan on using a laptop with no serial connection when I get the ARC-1.

What is the recommended serial adapter to buy? Is it the Keyspan USA 19HS?

Help!
Just lost OSD capability. Holding down the setup button on the remote does not work on my TV screen, but, it displays on the D2.

I tried trouble shooting by trying the following with no luck.
1. powering down the D2 from the rear
2. unplugging the HDMI cable
3. turned the D2 back on
4. saved user settings
5. loaded factory defaults
6. turned the D2 off again & plugged in the HDMI cable
7. turned it back on & loaded saved user settings

After doing all this, I still can not get the OSD to function. I hope that using a radio shack serial adapter to load v1.33 isn't causing this problem.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Yes. Make sure you go to the Keyspan web site and nab the latest driver specific to your laptop's operating system.
--Bob

I'm not sure why, but this appears to happen sometimes the first time people install the V1.3x firmware.

Don't panic. If your previous install completed without error messages then it is not the adapter you are using.

Do a re-install of V1.33 using the same setup you used to install it originally. Don't skip any steps. I.e., make sure you Reload Factory Defaults prior to the install and that you have removed power from all of your HDMI source devices and display so that you have no powered HDMI connections to the D2 while doing the install.

Also make sure you have no other applications running on your Windows computer while doing the install.

It is safe to install V1.33 on top of itself. If you have a good set of V1.33 settings previously saved in Saved User Settings prior to this install, you can use them to restore things after the install. This includes Video Source Adjust menu settings -- i.e., you only need to save and restore those via a PC file (with Live Video Settings Editor) when upgrading from V1.29j or older.

-----------------------------------

If a re-install of V1.33 doesn't fix your on-screen display issue, try downloading another copy of the V1.33 install kit from the Anthem public download page and doing the install again. It is possible the copy you have been using got corrupted somehow.
--Bob

Thanks Bob, will be ordering it ASAP.

Hello,

For obvious reasons I cannot displace my center channel. Nevertheless my ARC's measurements (see attached screeshot) show a very bad response from 500kHz up. It is to b noted that the other speakers are not showing a similar curve. They behave better.
Now my question is:
- can the cause be the quality of my center (Linn 5120)?
- if so, I suppose I can benefit from a center change. What would you recommend? (for this question I shall specify that my fronts are GamuT L5, my rears and surrounds are Dynaudio Audience 40 and my sub is Velodyne DD-18)

Thanks

Are you sure you just don't have Richard Syndrome -- a bad tweeter, or even a bad mid-range driver, in your Center speaker?
--Bob

In fact, I think I do. (BTW, what's Richard syndrome? a joke?)
So what kind of centers would you recommend that suits my setup?
I am not expecting brandnames or models, just something I could start selecting with.
A friend of mine strongly believe his system sounds better without a center (phantom). He uses a pair of wilson watt/puppys 8.
He tried to push me off my convictions that a center is necessary.
I would like to know what you think about that.

Thanks