"Official" Audyssey thread (FAQ in post #1) - Page 181

Originally Posted by HuskerHarley

I thought I read that the Sub's volume should be set at 1/2 of max (1-10 scale= 5 setting)

On the 1-10 what is considered just above minimum.

Also are you saying to go into the receiver and adjust the SW setting,,,Well please explain some %#s.

I thought if you monkey around with the settings audyssey set, it would disable it or screw it up ...

Please 101 me on the SW part so I can get it right this time.

HH

Originally Posted by atledreier

Another take from me:

I usually have the sub's volume at about 10%, then run the first position. Then I let Audyssey calculate, and check the settings.

If my distances are correct, and all looks good, I look at the speaker trims. If the sub is way lower than the rest, I turn it up a bit, and start over.
Do this until the subwoofer trim is at a few negative dB, and THEN leave it alone, do all measurements and let Audyssey work some magic in all your positions. Takes a little time, but leaves out the guesswork.

Originally Posted by giomania

Thanks everyone for their input thus far. I decided to re-post the draft text on this page. I have modified the subwoofer volume setting text. Please let me know what you think. I also modified the two postings on the previous page that the subwoofer volume setting text was being modified.

Audyssey Tips & Tricks

A compilation of information from AVS Forum's Official Audyssey thread and the Audyssey web site.

I. Room Setup
A. Lower the noise floor of the room (<45dBA) by turning off the HVAC system, projector, etc.

II. Microphone Setup
A. Use the microphone that came with the unit.
B. Mount the microphone on a tripod.
C. Place the microphone at seated ear height.
D. If the seat back is higher than your head, ensure the microphone is above the seat back.
1. If the seat back is a few inches behind the microphone, this will cause additional reflections.
E. Point the microphone at the ceiling.
F. Place microphone in the primary listening position for the first measurement.
G. If your seating is within 12-18 inches of a room boundary, ensure the microphone is placed at least 2 feet from the wall.

III. Subwoofer Setup
A. Determine the optimal placement of the sub within your room. (location, location, location)
B. Defeat the low-pass filter, if possible.
1. Defeating this filter will result in more accurate subwoofer distance measurements.
2. If this filter cannot be defeated, set it to the highest frequency allowed.
C. Properly set the volume level, polarization, and phase (if applicable).
1. Set the volume level just above minimum, around 10% of the adjustment range allowed.
2. Run the calibration from the first microphone position, and let Audyssey calculate.
3. If the subwoofer distance is correct, look at the subwoofer trim levels.
4. If the subwoofer trim level is a large positive number, turn up the subwoofer volume a bit and repeat step #2
5. The goal is to obtain a subwoofer trim level close to 0 decibels.
D. Ensure the sub(s) are at least 3-5 from the wall.
1. Reverberating walls may result in inaccurate subwoofer distance measurements.
E. If the sub has an EQ system, use it to tame big peaks before running Audyssey.
1. Velodyne's SMS and JL Audio's ARO are two examples of EQ software.

IV. Dual (mono) Subwoofer Setup
A. Place the subwoofers symmetrically within the room.
B. Place the subwoofers at identical distances from the primary listening position.
1. If this is not possible, enter the average of the two distance measurements.
C. Follow the steps in subwoofer setup (above) for each subwoofer.

V. Microphone Placement (Measurement Positions)
A. Use the maximum amount of measurement positions allowed by the Audyssey version.
B. When calibrating only a primary listening position with eight measurements, use the recommended placement methodology pictured below.
1. If you are not able to see the below picture, it is located at: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...7&d=1216286791




VI. During Calibration
A. Do not make any sudden noises.
B. Do not stand in between the speaker and the microphone.
C. If a phase warning is reported, check the speaker wiring, and continue with the calibration.

VII. After Calibration
A. Modify the speaker crossover settings as desired.
1. Setting the speakers to Small with a 60Hz - 80Hz crossover is a good starting point.
B. Change the crossover of the LFE subwoofer to 120Hz, if possible.
C. Modify the speaker distance settings (excluding the subwoofer) if they were not measured accurately.
D. Do not change the distance of the subwoofer, because the subwoofer / satellite speaker blend is based on the time delay of this measurement.
1. Inaccurate subwoofer distance measurements usually occur when the subwoofer's Low-Pass Filter is not turned off; some subwoofers do not have the option to turn it off.
E. Select one of the target curves created by Audyssey.
1. The Flat curve should be used when THX post-processing is on.
2. The Reference curve should be used when THX post-processing is off.

VIII. For The Tweakers
A. Check the results with an SPL meter and calibration discs.
1. The internal test tones will not be accurate because all post-processing is bypassed.

Originally Posted by audyssey

You should set the sub volume to the half-way point and the frequency knob all the way up to the highest frequency.

Chris

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

Wherever I sit.

Yup. Bass is pretty omnidirectional.

Originally Posted by Bronco70

Kal,

You are about to confuse people now.

Originally Posted by Gary J

No, it has been consistently stated sub level should be set around halfway.

Originally Posted by Gary J

No, it has been consistently stated sub level should be set around halfway.

Originally Posted by bradandbree

One thing I have learned definitively in my personal experience is that making blanket statements about sub level is unwise at best. I have a Velodyne sub, and followed the recommendation of sub level at half based on the recommendations on this board. It lead to issues with the sub (well documented on the Velodyne support thread) that nearly had me sending the sub in for unnecessary repairs. Bottom line is: Audyssey treats all subs as if they are the same, and they simply are not. This is NOT a criticism of Audyssey, nor the beginning of a flame war about sub manufacturers. It's simply a warning that telling everyone to set their sub level exactly the same before running Audyssey will lead some users down the wrong path just like it did to me.

Hope this helps somebody.

Originally Posted by bradandbree

Bottom line is: Audyssey treats all subs as if they are the same

Originally Posted by giomania

OK, so what do you think of this modification?.

1. Set the volume control on the subwoofer at the middle of the adjustment range allowed.
2. Run the calibration from the first microphone position, and let Audyssey calculate.
3. If the subwoofer distance is correct, look at the subwoofer trim levels.
a. If the subwoofer trim level is a large positive number, turn up the subwoofer volume a bit and repeat step #2. If it is a larger negative number, turn down the subwoofer volume a bit and repeat step #2. The goal (for the perfectionist) is to obtain a subwoofer trim level close to 0 decibels.

Originally Posted by giomania

Maybe I should add some kind of warning that this may not work for all subs.

Originally Posted by cavchameleon

Mark,

This looks better and is what I had to do (putting my trim level at only 1/4 the volume). Many subs out there will have such high output as compared to the mains (due to receiver output and speaker efficiency differences) creating a large difference in trim levels between the mains and the sub.

Originally Posted by Nordo

My understanding of reading virtually all of Chris's posts, is that the mic must receive grazing sound from each speaker. Chris (I believe) has tried to generalise in stating that the mic must point to the ceiling. This assumes all speakers fire horizontally, or nearly horizontally. However, if you have surround speakers mounted in the ceiling facing down, then, in theory, the mic should be swung around to receive grazing sound from them.

Originally Posted by rickardl

I can't say I have read every post here but I need clarification on a few
questions and I am sorry if this has been explained before...

1. If the seat back, any other furniture or back wall gives sound reflections
during normal playback, shouldn't you run Audyssey with the same reflections
in place and not try to avoid them?

2. During normal playback, the couch might be full of people watching/listening.
Will not these people's bodies absorb sound or dampen certain frequencies?
And therefore, shouldn't Audyssey be run with people sitting in their places
or at least try to mimic their bodies with cushions/blankets/sleeping bags?

3. Is the following correct, that the mic should need changing direction if the surround speakers are aimed downwards towards the mic?

Originally Posted by HuskerHarley

If Chris puts his seal of approval on this then I'm gonna have to get to work.

HH

Originally Posted by rickardl

I can't say I have read every post here but I need clarification on a few
questions and I am sorry if this has been explained before...

1. If the seat back, any other furniture or back wall gives sound reflections
during normal playback, shouldn't you run Audyssey with the same reflections
in place and not try to avoid them?

2. During normal playback, the couch might be full of people watching/listening.
Will not these people's bodies absorb sound or dampen certain frequencies?
And therefore, shouldn't Audyssey be run with people sitting in their places
or at least try to mimic their bodies with cushions/blankets/sleeping bags?

3. Is the following correct, that the mic should need changing direction
if the surround speakers are aimed downwards towards the mic?

Originally Posted by pers1

Hope my drawings help

Originally Posted by giomania

OK, so what do you think of this modification?.

1. Set the volume control on the subwoofer at the middle of the adjustment range allowed.
2. Run the calibration from the first microphone position, and let Audyssey calculate.
3. If the subwoofer distance is correct, look at the subwoofer trim levels.
a. If the subwoofer trim level is a large positive number, turn up the subwoofer volume a bit and repeat step #2. If it is a larger negative number, turn down the subwoofer volume a bit and repeat step #2. The goal (for the perfectionist) is to obtain a subwoofer trim level close to 0 decibels.

Originally Posted by audyssey


Regards,
Chris

Originally Posted by giomania

III. Subwoofer Setup
C. Properly set the volume level, polarization, and phase (if applicable).

Originally Posted by bradandbree

One thing I have learned definitively in my personal experience is that making blanket statements about sub level is unwise at best. I have a Velodyne sub, and followed the recommendation of sub level at half based on the recommendations on this board. It lead to issues with the sub (well documented on the Velodyne support thread) that nearly had me sending the sub in for unnecessary repairs. Bottom line is: Audyssey treats all subs as if they are the same, and they simply are not. This is NOT a criticism of Audyssey, nor the beginning of a flame war about sub manufacturers. It's simply a warning that telling everyone to set their sub level exactly the same before running Audyssey will lead some users down the wrong path just like it did to me.

Hope this helps somebody.

Originally Posted by bradandbree

One thing I have learned definitively in my personal experience is that making blanket statements about sub level is unwise at best. I have a Velodyne sub, and followed the recommendation of sub level at half based on the recommendations on this board. It lead to issues with the sub (well documented on the Velodyne support thread) that nearly had me sending the sub in for unnecessary repairs. Bottom line is: Audyssey treats all subs as if they are the same, and they simply are not. This is NOT a criticism of Audyssey, nor the beginning of a flame war about sub manufacturers. It's simply a warning that telling everyone to set their sub level exactly the same before running Audyssey will lead some users down the wrong path just like it did to me.

Hope this helps somebody.

Originally Posted by Heuristix

The above is what Chris suggested back in post 1162. This is counter to the advice below for subwoofer setup:



I have a standing wave at about 63Hz that can be considerably alleviated by setting the phase to 120 degrees. I had initially thought I should adjust the phase to address the standing wave issue the best I could before running Audyssey. However I have not done so based on Chris' advice to leave the phase control at zero. Could Chris please advise with respect to a situation such as mine?

Originally Posted by Heuristix

In my case the trim levels for the main speakers is -12 dB and the trim level for the sub is -6 db. So should the volume control on the sub be decreased to give an approximately 0 dB trim, or should they be increased to match the trims on the main speakers? In either case, why?

Originally Posted by audyssey

Phase controls on the back of subs are basically useless. They apply "delay" at one frequency rather than the needed group delay that is frequency dependent. So, it's best to just leave them at 0.

Chris

Originally Posted by streetsmart88

Chris, is this true even with 2 subs? I thought that you should blend the phase controls of the subs to achieve the flattest response, and then run Audyssey.

Originally Posted by Nuance

giomania - great writeup. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson


Yes, if the angle is pretty steep.