"Official" Audyssey thread (FAQ in post #1) - Page 1753

Originally Posted by giomania

Any other comments on this section or on what Jeff said? Personally, I am a little concerned about recommending all measurements within 3 feet of the MLP, but whatever you all think is best. I decided to remove the strike-through text and just paste it in this time:

F. Most seating configurations can utilize the following microphone placement methodology:

1. The first microphone position (#1) must always be where your head is located (MLP).

2. For the remainder of the measurements, use the approximate pattern in the below diagram to surround your listening area, while ensuring you follow the guidance above.

3. After the first measurement, the order in which you make the subsequent measurements does not matter: The diagram below only serves to ensure each location is measured.

4. The distance between the measurement positions is variable, although all microphone positions should be made within approximately 3 feet from the #1 position. The basic idea is to surround the listening area with the maximum number of microphone measurements allowed by the particular Audyssey version.

5. Audyssey does not require putting the microphone in "every seat".

6. Feel free to experiment with other microphone placement patterns. Just ensure you follow the guidance in sections IV and V. The basic goal is to surround the MLP (#1) with measurements to create an acoustic bubble.

7. If you have additional microphone placement questions, visit the Official Audyssey thread on AVS Forum; please see the link at the beginning of this document.


Thanks.

Mark

Originally Posted by kbarnes701

Mark - that is surely not right is it? The mic positions should, according to Audyssey, be two to three feet apart - bit they don't say two/three freet from the No 1 mic position. That would give an extremely tight measuring area and is inconsistent with the diagram on the Audyssey website, as well as with their advice.

I know some have had good results from such a tight pattern but it surely isn't the conventional wisdom is it?

Originally Posted by pepar

Can you extrapolate from the "x" info?

Originally Posted by giomania

Keith,

I had mentioned that I don't remember who provided the input, but someone did on this thread, IIRC.

I didn't think it was right, either.

So, we should change it back, right?

Thanks.

Mark

Originally Posted by pepar

Updated - and corrected - FAQ Linky doc.

Originally Posted by kbarnes701

Remember the mic might 'hear' things you can't. Try killing the fridge and report back...

OK. Even allowing for manufacturers' specs being sometimes more imaginary than real, 150 Hz seems high then. The pics would be useful.

How does it sound?

Originally Posted by kbarnes701

This is covered fairly comprehensively in the FAQ

D. Mic & Mic Placement Issues (click here)

But for the avoidance of doubt...

First off, Audyssey specifically say not to put the mic on the couch. It is also the advice in the Setup Guide and the FAQ. If the mic is on a tripod and the tripod is on the couch, then the mic is on the couch.

A couch will usually be far more prone to external disturbance than a floor. A couch, by definition, is a big soft thing. A floor isn't. Placing a towel under the tripod gives no isolation at all from the couch to the tripod. In fact, making the coupling between the two even firmer may well cause additional problems rather than solve any.

Vibrations through a solid or concrete floor are pretty much zero.

For a suspended floor, vibrations might be an issue and in this case the use of isolators on the mic stand feet will fix it. It doesn’t matter too much that your floor bounces and squeaks when you walk on it - it is the resonant frequency of the floor that is the issue. If that coincides with any frequency in the Audyssey chirps then you will have a potential problem. Like I say, if that is the case, isolators will be what you need.

It is the advice in all of this huge thread that putting the mic on the couch is a no-no - and it is also the advice of Audyssey. It may not make much difference to the result, or it may make a big difference - it will depend on all sorts of factors - but why take the risk of doing a calibration with methods that go against all of the advice in the thread and of Audyssey themselves? It seems to me much easier to just get an inexpensive boom stand and use that - with isolator pads if needed.

Originally Posted by Huffer

I honestly didn't have much time to play with it after the test was run. I only had a short window before everyone was home.

I'm going to have to move a speaker anyway in a week or so, so I'll try to rerun it again at that time.

I post my results again and hopefully you will still be around.

Originally Posted by tandy1000rl

Classical subwoofers are supposed to induce air molecule vibration, not create direct structural vibration. If one's floor and walls are shaking when the subwoofer plays, that creates additional (unpleasant) sound not in the original signal. Similar to a cellphone set to vibrate laying on a wooden table vs. laying on a piece of foam. The later sounds like a clean buzz, while the former sounds like a rickety disaster--same source, two very different outcomes.

Originally Posted by kbarnes701


Amen to that! Don't even *think* about going near the Master List of Bass thread and venturing that opinion though... if their floor ain't shakin' and their roof ain't slippin' and their walls ain't flappin' they are most unhappy bunnies... LOL

Originally Posted by kbarnes701


Amen to that! Don't even *think* about going near the Master List of Bass thread and venturing that opinion though... if their floor ain't shakin' and their roof ain't slippin' and their walls ain't flappin' they are most unhappy bunnies... LOL

Originally Posted by pokekevin

Dang it still getting 120hz...just gonna manually lower it

Originally Posted by Gooddoc

Well the goal is to find the resonant frequency of your structure and excite it until sheetrock cracks and nails pop out of the walls, is it not?

Originally Posted by pbarach

I agree that some people like to disassemble their home with bass. But really low bass does produce structural vibration in the real world. Try listening to the pedals of a pipe organ with 32' stops in a church! Your feet will tremble.

Originally Posted by kbarnes701

Why? And to what?

Originally Posted by lou99

If you lower it then that channel wont be EQ'd...

Originally Posted by pbarach

I agree that some people like to disassemble their home with bass. But really low bass does produce structural vibration in the real world. Try listening to the pedals of a pipe organ with 32' stops in a church! Your feet will tremble.

Originally Posted by pokekevin

Sounds better at 80 than 120. Willing to lose the eq below 120

Originally Posted by pepar

Are you sure it sounds better? The reason why it received a 120Hz crossover is because that's what was measured. If you really want to know, you should measure the 2.1 frequency response. I'll bet moving to 80Hz crossover causes a dip because the mains don't cover the lost frequency range properly.

Originally Posted by pokekevin

I'm not sure...replugged in my RC-10s and got a 60hz crossover. Going to lower the 450s to 80hz

Originally Posted by pokekevin

Sounds better at 80 than 120. Willing to lose the eq below 120

Originally Posted by Gooddoc

I'm curious what the subjective improvements are to get some çorrelation to the graphs?

Originally Posted by kbarnes701

In what way does it 'sound better'?

Originally Posted by pokekevin

Watched the same scene I'm very familiar with and at 120 its sort of lacking. I'm still not sure how other 450 owners are getting audy to set it at 80

Originally Posted by pokekevin

Soundstage seems to be smaller and I'm localizing the sub pretty badly in my room at 110 or 120. Still going to try to figure out how to get audy down to 80. The 10s once again get down to 60 while the rc lcr gets 40...

Originally Posted by zheka

I am still adjusting to the sound of movies. After all this time with overemphasized bass I find myself wanting to bump sub levels when watching familiar scenes in, say, Tron: Legacy or WOTW.
The phenomenon is well addressed in the FAQs under the "Since I ran Audyssey everything sounds great - but where has my bass gone?" section. As I said before, it feels good to finally be able to relate
I will follow the FAQs recommendations and give it some time to get accustomed to the new sound.