[philmctim]

I've got a new receiver arriving tomorrow that has audyssey multeq xt.


I'm fresh out of tripods or boom mike stands on which to stand the audyssey mic. I'm sure i'm not the only one.


What else can you use? Can you just sit it on the chair? Stand it on a shoe box? What?


Thanks in advance...

 

[67jason]

Use whatever you got. I don't have a tripod either and I used whatever I had handy to get the mic in to positions that I wanted. It sounds good to me, would it sound better with a tripod?...I cant really say, as it is the way it sounds now there is no motivating factor for me to run out and get one.


Experiment and if it comes out crappy, pick up a tripod at your local wally world or wherever and try again.

 

[primetimeguy]

The biggest issues people run into when not using a mic stand are that the mic vibrates when measuring low frequencies and placing the mic too close to the seats, mainly backs or headrests. So try and avoid those things.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Before I went legit, I used to tape the mike to a yard-stick and hold or prop it into position. That way, my body is not too close to the mic and the mic is not likely to be directly excited by other vibrations. A kludge.

 

[M Code]

The reason for the stand is to isolate the microphone and have steady, repeatable height. Just by moving the microphone position a couple of inches can/will change dramatically its final results.


Actually the higher end Harman/Kardon AVRs include a 12" spacer rod for isolation..


Just my $0.02...

 

[collin]

new tripods can be had for $20 at target, walmart, etc.


i'm sure craigslist or thrift stores would also have something that would work for this purpose for less also.

 

[Beto3645]

I use a Gorillapod and a pillow. The Gorillapod holds the mike and grabs the pillow. It works well, and I think the pillow stands in for a person's body better than a tripod.

http://joby.com/gorillapod/original/

 

[TitusTroy]

I taped the mic onto an old speaker stand that I had lying around...adjusted the stand to ear level and taped the mic on it...works great

 

[rickardl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by philmctim /forum/post/20878396


I've got a new receiver arriving tomorrow that has audyssey multeq xt.


I'm fresh out of tripods or boom mike stands on which to stand the audyssey mic. I'm sure i'm not the only one.


What else can you use? Can you just sit it on the chair? Stand it on a shoe box? What?


Thanks in advance...

Invest in a tripod with a spirit (bubble) level. It is worth it.

It is crucial that the mic levelled correctly when pointing towards the ceiling.

 

[mjpearce023]

When my brother setup MCACC, he just set the mic on top of leather ottoman. The last time I went to his house I put on a movie and it sounded terrible. The speakers all sounded thin and it was not as good as the last time I was there. I turned off MCACC and it was a huge improvement. I went out to his garage and found a tripod and ran MCACC properly. He recently got a Denon 2112 and I told him to just wait on Audyssey and I will set it up next time I come over. He seems to do more damage with Auto setup than anything. I got a tripod from Target for 15$ to run MultEQ XT. If are just going to set the mic on the couch I wouldn't even bother. You will probably do more harm than good.

 

[philmctim]

Thanks everyone.


I was just in Target today as well...

 

[noah katz]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rickardl /forum/post/20879784


It is crucial that the mic levelled correctly when pointing towards the ceiling.

Seriously? What do you base that statement on?

 

[Kilian.ca]

My Yamaha soundbar comes with two pieces of interlocking cardboard which fold out to form a tower (the shape is somewhat like the towers in some cities) with a small platform (a small round piece) on top.


I can understand the bit about steady repeatable height using a tripod, but if I rest my head on the back of the seat when listening, why shouldn't the mic mimic that same position by not being too close? Also, measuring responses on an empty seat (except tripod) doesn't seem to closely mimic the real-life scenario with a human body present.

 

[rickardl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by noah katz /forum/post/20883299


Seriously? What do you base that statement on?

Well, the mic is calibrated to be flat at exact grazing incidence of the on-axis sound from the speakers.

I experienced that after one round of measurements that the sound levels seemed off and did another one.

This time I made sure I had the tripod head correctly positioned and it made a difference;

the trim levels were actually them same but the sound seemed a lot more equal so the EQ applied must have been different which I noted down as a result of the change.

 

[noah katz]

Interesting; how far off vertical do you think the angle was?


In any case, grazing incidence also means that the height of the mike must be the same as that of the speaker.


But how many setups have L/R, C, and the surrounds at the same height?

 

[gurkey]

Discrepancies, discrepancies.

The mike should be at listeners ear height, but also on grazing incidence to the tweeters position.

In probably 98% of all cases hard to achieve...

 

[rickardl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by noah katz /forum/post/20884198


Interesting; how far off vertical do you think the angle was?

No idea, I just know I didn't pay that much attention to the angle when it sounded off.

If the the sound is overly bright or overly dull, you could suspect that the

mic is tilted towards the dull sounding speaker or tilted away from the bright sounding speaker.