Does everybody here know how to read measurements /graphs?

[Pearljam5000]

Am I the only one that can't do it ?
Yeah it's a little embarrassing .

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I'm sure there are many here who can't, or can only understand a few graphs. I'm an EE and have needed to measure and create graphs of this nature for my job, so am familiar with most of them, but some require more thought, and for others I'm not sure what they are showing.

 

[tomtoo]

But amir trIes tohelp.

this and more on his yt channel.

 

[Galliardist]

I know how to read most of them. Understanding what different combinations of measurements mean in terms of what we will hear is a different matter, and you only need to read the comments on reviews to see that people differ greatly when it comes to interpreting the same results.

Don’t forget either that results for components are complicated by the need to plug them together, and the environment they sit in.

 

[sergeauckland]

I too spent much of my career in making and reading graphs, however I struggle to understand those graphs which use colour rather than position on XY co-ordinates to denote quantities. Spectrum displays and loudspeaker directional patterns particularly.

S.

 

[tom_tom]

Hi @Pearljam5000
Im not na expert , but this video help me a lot

 

[MaxwellsEq]

When I started out, test gear like Amir's AP didn't exist, so making charts was a relatively slow and painstaking task with signal generators, meters and scopes. The upside was that you would only create a graph of something if you genuinely knew it helped your understanding. Sometimes I think modern test gear gives too many choices, some of which may not tell us anything useful.

The two tests which I didn't have then, but would have found really useful are noise vs frequency and the multitone test.

 

[wwenze]

I won't say I can read it fully, because the moment I believe I can, I stop learning.

For example it was relatively recent that I learnt how to correctly interpret close-mic measurements.

 

[solderdude]

Am I the only one that can't do it ?
Yeah it's a little embarrassing .

Here is something that may help when relating measurements to sound. Note that the higher the peak or dip the more audible the effect.
The more narrow the band the less obvious it is, the broader the band the more audible as well.
Of course the shape and depth can vary but the sound descriptors should work.
Would work for speaker measurements as well but the room can change things.

To relate this to Amirs measurements look at the plots Amir makes that look like the ones below.

Best would be to listen to a song and play with EQ sliders (up and down) and listen to the effects and the descriptors to get a better feel for yourself.

Frequency response

home back to Learn back to How to interpret graphs published: Mar-18-2017, updated: Sep-6-2020 Frequency response deviations, as well as phase response, are so called ‘linear distortions&#821…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

 

[OldTimer]

It’s easier for people to have some comparisons, such as provide measurements along side with bad or unexpected result.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

It's probably best to take single tests and certain single measurements one at a time and slog through the learning process. People here will help.

(Don't ever feel embarrassed by not understanding something. I try to learn something new every day. Like Billy Joel said, "We all end up in the ocean, we all start out in the streams.")

Jim

 

[wwenze]

Doing it yourself is certainly a good way to learn.

It is also a fast way to learn who are actually experienced vs who are the armchair theorists when they criticize others' measurements.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Standard frequency spectrums I can read and interpret pretty easily really. Some of the "deeper" speaker measurements (directional stuff and reflections and so forth) are less clear, but I can figure them out ok...

 

[Deleted member 21219]

Doing it yourself is certainly a good way to learn.

Bingo!

I used to go into dealers' showrooms (back when we still had such things as dealers) with a Sony Walkman of recorded hiss. I'd play that on several models of speakers, all the while walking back and forth to try and hear the change in tonality that comes from narrowing directivity at different frequencies.

It taught me a lot. It taught me that salesmen don't like a person to do that.

Jim

 

[MattHooper]

I get the gist of speaker measurements. I can generally recognize "good measurements" in terms of using the "harman curve" type criteria.

But once you are outside a standard criteria like that, speakers measure all over the place, and then it can become a lot more ungainly trying to know exactly how any
speaker will sound just from the measurements.

I have enough familiarity with for instance frequency response to have a general idea. I use parametric EQ all the time to manipulate sound, so when I see a rise here, dip there, it does give me some information as to what to expect. But even in my work, the EQ plug ins I use tend to be more visually oriented than number oriented. If I want to cut out some hiss, or eq out a background tone caught in the recording, etc, I often have a good general guess as to where to start frequency-wise. But it takes actually going in there with the dials, and shifting them, listening very carefully until my EARS tell me the offending tone, hiss, noise or whatever has become as inaudible as I can make it. So...numbers get me somewhat close, but not perfect prediction and it's in the listening that I decide whether the frequency response changes are doing what I want.

Likewise, in my case, for loudspeakers. I can see suggestions as to what COULD be issues bad or good. But very often it's in the listening that tells me whether, all facets of the design put together, what it actually finally sounds like, and whether that peak or dip really ends up being obvious or annoying when listening to music.

 

[DonR]

Good thing ASR doesn't use Smith charts.

 

[amirm]

It’s easier for people to have some comparisons, such as provide measurements along side with bad or unexpected result.

I have done that in my latest overview of my AES paper:

It is a good suggestion/theme for future videos.

 

[AdamG]

Am I the only one that can't do it ?
Yeah it's a little embarrassing .

Here is the Mother Load of instructional videos that will help to teach you how to read almost every Graph and chart Amir uses in his reviews. Happy watching:

Master List of Instructional Teaching Video presentations (How to read and interpret/understand all the Graphs and Charts!

Collection of Amir’s instructional Videos for reference, refresher and new members: (“Behind the Curtain @ ASR University”) Welcome New and returning Members of ASR. Our Host Amir has put together a collection of comprehensive instructional videos that might help new and returning Members...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[AdamG]

It is a good suggestion/theme for future videos.

Yesss please!

We also need a Video of you doing a “Listening Test”. If only for the fun factor.

 

[sweetchaos]

Here is the Mother Load of instructional videos that will help to teach you how to read almost every Graph and chart Amir uses in his reviews. Happy watching:

Master List of Instructional Teaching Video presentations (How to read and interpret/understand all the Graphs and Charts!

Collection of Amir’s instructional Videos for reference, refresher and new members: (“Behind the Curtain @ ASR University”) Welcome New and returning Members of ASR. Our Host Amir has put together a collection of comprehensive instructional videos that might help new and returning Members...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I managed to create a ninja post, before you locked the thread. Haha.