Audyssey Room EQ Review

[Chromatischism]

It looks fine. Hard to say much about it. My speakers look similar in the app before correction.

 

[Matt S]

Hmm- that makes sense, thank you! Unfortunately, I dont have REW (will have to wait for lockdown to end in India before getting a UMIK).

In the interim, could someone more knowledgeable than me comment on the 'before' frequency response?

Your before measurement looks fairly normal to me. My room isn't great for audio and has similar peaks and troughs. Remember that the corrected graph isn't an actual, measured response - just estimated.

(Assume you have a subwoofer ?)

 

[abhijitnath]

Yes, I figured out that the after is pure fiction- no way it does that amount of matching.

I don't have a subwoofer, actually (they are really exhorbitantly priced in India, have been waiting for a good used deal)- and was really quite shocked at how early my speakers rolled off in room compared to their claimed specs.

 

[rxp]

Found this info on YT:

There's the software engineer from Audyssey on it

Just finished both parts. Really good video to understand some of the engineering behind it all. One of the key points I took was that the after graph is actually pretty accurate. I also used to think it was nonsense and pure fiction (ala the review here). But more recently when I've started doing spatially averaged measurements in REW, they line up (with smoothing)! Turns out when they're doing QA for the processing they use laser aligned mics and ensure the after graphs are actually representing a real room.

They also address the room transition frequency, BBC dip, Dyn EQ etc. Well worth a watch if you're into XT32

 

[Matt S]

Great video thanks. Watched that with a coffee before work.

I currently only have the base level version. Does anyone know of any slimline pre amp processors that have XT32? I only need 2.1 channels too.

Even with the app, XT32 applies more filters right, giving a more accurate correction.

 

[rxp]

Yep - XT32 applies more resolution to correction in bass. The lower grade version doesn't do much down there.

I only know of AVR's with it - I didn't step into XT32 until the SR6011 because it was only £649 in 2016. It's amazing what you can get now. And for a £20 app you can improve the computation massively.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I currently only have the base level version. Does anyone know of any slimline pre amp processors that have XT32? I only need 2.1 channels too.

I only know of AVR's with it -

There are pre-pros with XT32 but, afaik, none slim and all with more channels.

 

[Matt S]

There are pre-pros with XT32 but, afaik, none slim and all with more channels.

I guess its a niche market. Obviously there are other options I can look at. Just quite like Audyssey. Fun trying new things though.

 

[MZKM]

There is quick target curve with the high frequency attenuation but none with bass boost which is major miss. I had to create this manually which was a major pain to do by hand on a touch screen. Still, I managed to get there with a quick and dirty one:

Can you check if you can edit the target curve for the subwoofer channel?

 

[hmt]

Not amir but this is possible. However it is like hes said a pain to draw on a mobile device. Especially when you want to apply the same curve for every speaker.

 

[FrantzM]

Yes, I figured out that the after is pure fiction- no way it does that amount of matching.

I don't have a subwoofer, actually (they are really exhorbitantly priced in India, have been waiting for a good used deal)- and was really quite shocked at how early my speakers rolled off in room compared to their claimed specs.

Hi

Not an expert, far from it.
If you have even modicum DIY skills, you should know that subwoofers are fairly easy to make. Don't take y word for it go to DiyAudio.com and search for DIY subwoofers. Decent budget too for substantial improvement in all areas.

 

[peng]

Not amir but this is possible. However it is like hes said a pain to draw on a mobile device. Especially when you want to apply the same curve for every speaker.

It is quite easy if you use Ratbuddyssey with the MultEQ Editor App, you can type in the cuts/boosts insted of drawing it with finger/stylus pen/mouse.

 

[ririt]

Does anyone know if the apple pencil can be used to tailor the target curve (instead of a finger) when using the ios app? It can make the tuning easier and more accurate...

 

[Chromatischism]

Does anyone know if the apple pencil can be used to tailor the target curve (instead of a finger) when using the ios app? It can make the tuning easier and more accurate...

If it's a pointing device and compatible with USB, it should work.

 

[ririt]

If it's a pointing device and compatible with USB, it should work.

the pencil connection is done through bluetooth with the IPad. Is it an issue with the App?

 

[MZKM]

Not amir but this is possible. However it is like hes said a pain to draw on a mobile device. Especially when you want to apply the same curve for every speaker.

Ok, cause I’m trying to help someone and he claims only the speaker curves can be edited.

 

[Chromatischism]

the pencil connection is done through bluetooth with the IPad. Is it an issue with the App?

Ahh, well Bluetooth is also supported so I would expect so. No way to know without trying it though.

 

[Chromatischism]

Ok, cause I’m trying to help someone and he claims only the speaker curves can be edited.

I just edited the subwoofer curve 2 days ago.

 

[rxp]

I did some more testing with Dynamic EQ. Equalizer APO on Windows has a loudness compensation algo that's calibrated too - it works very well.

After hearing the YT talk I understood why Dynamic EQ seems even better because it looks at the actual content playing and messes with it. It's also easier to set the offset via the phone app than always going into settings on EAPO.

I have two 7.1.4 setups. One is a small office and I sit 1m away from my center speaker (70 degree viewing angle/IMAX angle on a 65" OLED!). And the other is an actual theater/living room where I'm further from the speakers.

The office setup has side surrounds and everything is really more compact. The front heights are actually only slightly in front of the side surrounds. In the theater the side surrounds are at about a 20-30 degree angle behind me and my front heights are actually right above my front floor channels. Rear height is 45 degree behind me.

So in my theater setup Dynamic EQ in the well mixed surround TV shows I watched yesterday actually works really well. I know the TV shows I watch and how loud they're mixed so I set the offset to the appropriate level. And it really does help with surround mixes at low volume. Without it you barely notice the surround activity.

In the office it's horrible - the side surrounds get so loud that you just notice them. They completely remove all other surround speakers from the mix. It also ruins upmixing in music.

So it can work really well. Again I wish there was the option of removing the surround boost. What I plan to do in my office is use the Smart Select shortcuts to assign 4 volume levels that attenuate the side surrounds depending on the volume. Then rather than using the volume control I'll be limited to 4 fixed volumes but still get to enjoy DynEQ which is more important to me.

Setting a house curve with Rat is cool - but it'll only apply to one listening volume. I like the flexibility of taking that curve to lower levels.

 

[Chromatischism]

I did some more testing with Dynamic EQ. Equalizer APO on Windows has a loudness compensation algo that's calibrated too - it works very well.

After hearing the YT talk I understood why Dynamic EQ seems even better because it looks at the actual content playing and messes with it. It's also easier to set the offset via the phone app than always going into settings on EAPO.

I have two 7.1.4 setups. One is a small office and I sit 1m away from my center speaker (70 degree viewing angle/IMAX angle on a 65" OLED!). And the other is an actual theater/living room where I'm further from the speakers.

The office setup has side surrounds and everything is really more compact. The front heights are actually only slightly in front of the side surrounds. In the theater the side surrounds are at about a 20-30 degree angle behind me and my front heights are actually right above my front floor channels. Rear height is 45 degree behind me.

So in my theater setup Dynamic EQ in the well mixed surround TV shows I watched yesterday actually works really well. I know the TV shows I watch and how loud they're mixed so I set the offset to the appropriate level. And it really does help with surround mixes at low volume. Without it you barely notice the surround activity.

In the office it's horrible - the side surrounds get so loud that you just notice them. They completely remove all other surround speakers from the mix. It also ruins upmixing in music.

So it can work really well. Again I wish there was the option of removing the surround boost. What I plan to do in my office is use the Smart Select shortcuts to assign 4 volume levels that attenuate the side surrounds depending on the volume. Then rather than using the volume control I'll be limited to 4 fixed volumes but still get to enjoy DynEQ which is more important to me.

Setting a house curve with Rat is cool - but it'll only apply to one listening volume. I like the flexibility of taking that curve to lower levels.

I like the idea. Which AVR do you have?