What to change in Onkyo NR7100 after using Dirac Live? Disappointing sound from subwoofer

[thefirehairman]

Hey everyone. So in the last week I changed a few pieces of my home cinema. This is what I used to have

Onkyo TX-SR373
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-FS52-LR
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-C22
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
Andrew Jones Pioneer SW-8MK2

I always knew the center and the sub were the weak spots of my kit, so I changed them. Also changed the receiver because I wanted Dirac Live to correct my room since it's not ideal (no rugs & no acoustic panels). Now this is what I have

Onkyo NR7100
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-FS52-LR
JBL Studio 665C
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
SVS SB2000 Pro

First thing I did when installing the new receiver was running Dirac Live. I've checked a few tutorials here & there to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid. Made sure the mic was picking up the speakers at around -21DB. The sub for some reason was much lower than that...No clue if it had any impact?

When I was done I also imported the Harman Target curve. I imported the +6DB & +8DB in the NR7100, along with the default curve Dirac made after calibration. Now I must say if I remove Dirac from the Onkyo, it sounds terrible. So Dirac made a good job, I guess. I prefer the Harman curves than the default one from Dirac though.

Slowly getting to my main question... What do I need to change in the Onkyo settings after running Dirac? For starter, the volume for my Sub was at minus -14DB... I just couldn't hear it, so I put it at -6DB but I don't really like manually adjusting levels like that, I was expecting the calibration to do everything for me! Also the fact that the SVS Sub has it's own app with it's own settings makes me really confused...Do I also need to change settings in it?

To be fair my question also comes from a concern that...I wasn't amazed as much as I was supposed to be? Sure, the switch from SP-C22 to the 665C is pretty clear, and I think I love it. But the SW-8MK2 to the SB2000 ... not amazed. And I think this is not normal because looking at the specs between these 2, the SBS is miles better. So something must be wrong with my settings, but what?

By the way my tests so far were with Plex. Music in FLAC & some movies in remux files (like 85GB a movie) so...bad audio compression shouldn't be an issue. Using an Apple TV 4K 3rd gen.

 

[Johnp]

-14dB is the max negative trim setting for the sub and means the sub was too loud during your initial calibration. There is a sub level bug in some of the Onkyo and Pioneer Dirac units. A workaround is to set your sub level equal to your loudest speaker using an SPL meter prior to Dirac measurement. Once your sub level is at the same level as your loudest speaker, set the sub to match the loudest speaker's level in the Dirac volume setting panel, ignoring the sub's test tone. The sub's trim level will likely be between -1 and -10 when the calibration is completed.

 

[dogmamann]

Buy a Denon AVR.

 

[Flak]

Hey everyone. So in the last week I changed a few pieces of my home cinema. This is what I used to have

Onkyo TX-SR373
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-FS52-LR
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-C22
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
Andrew Jones Pioneer SW-8MK2

I always knew the center and the sub were the weak spots of my kit, so I changed them. Also changed the receiver because I wanted Dirac Live to correct my room since it's not ideal (no rugs & no acoustic panels). Now this is what I have

Onkyo NR7100
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-FS52-LR
JBL Studio 665C
Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
SVS SB2000 Pro

First thing I did when installing the new receiver was running Dirac Live. I've checked a few tutorials here & there to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid. Made sure the mic was picking up the speakers at around -21DB. The sub for some reason was much lower than that...No clue if it had any impact?

When I was done I also imported the Harman Target curve. I imported the +6DB & +8DB in the NR7100, along with the default curve Dirac made after calibration. Now I must say if I remove Dirac from the Onkyo, it sounds terrible. So Dirac made a good job, I guess. I prefer the Harman curves than the default one from Dirac though.

Slowly getting to my main question... What do I need to change in the Onkyo settings after running Dirac? For starter, the volume for my Sub was at minus -14DB... I just couldn't hear it, so I put it at -6DB but I don't really like manually adjusting levels like that, I was expecting the calibration to do everything for me! Also the fact that the SVS Sub has it's own app with it's own settings makes me really confused...Do I also need to change settings in it?

To be fair my question also comes from a concern that...I wasn't amazed as much as I was supposed to be? Sure, the switch from SP-C22 to the 665C is pretty clear, and I think I love it. But the SW-8MK2 to the SB2000 ... not amazed. And I think this is not normal because looking at the specs between these 2, the SBS is miles better. So something must be wrong with my settings, but what?

By the way my tests so far were with Plex. Music in FLAC & some movies in remux files (like 85GB a movie) so...bad audio compression shouldn't be an issue. Using an Apple TV 4K 3rd gen.

You may check this post... click "See more"

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/2021-onkyo-tx-rz50-owners-thread-nr7100-owners-welcome.3227263/#post-61244181

 

[thefirehairman]

-14dB is the max negative trim setting for the sub and means the sub was too loud during your initial calibration. There is a sub level bug in some of the Onkyo and Pioneer Dirac units. A workaround is to set your sub level equal to your loudest speaker using an SPL meter prior to Dirac measurement. Once your sub level is at the same level as your loudest speaker, set the sub to match the loudest speaker's level in the Dirac volume setting panel, ignoring the sub's test tone. The sub's trim level will likely be between -1 and -10 when the calibration is completed.

Thank you Johnp, this is the kind of answer I was looking for. I'll try these steps and let you know!

 

[thefirehairman]

So I tried setting all my speakers to around the same DBs in volume calibration. However, during measure, I get the clipping detected error when it's time to test the subwoofer.

However, reading back your message Johnp, you wrote to ignore the test tone during volume calibration ... How do I set the volume correctly without using the test tone? Or do I simply put the sub 10db less than the rest? Confused at this part . . .

 

[Johnp]

You should reset Dirac by changing speaker configuration. This will reset the trims. Then, either using REW or an SPL meter, set your sub to the same level as your center channel using the gain knob on the sub before starting Dirac. Then set your sub to +2.5 in Dirac, and all should be fine. Since the Dirac volume setting is broken for the sub, you have to use another speaker as a reference for the sub.

if you did already set the sub to match a speaker, then set the sub to match the reference speaker in Dirac. Based on your screen shot, it would be +2.5 for center or +5.5 for left.

 

[Johnp]

As an example, I matched my sub with the center prior to running Dirac, and they're both set at +6.0:

 

[radry]

I have exactly the same problem. After Dirac calibration the subwoofer level is set to -15dB and it sounds like it's not even active. During calibration I was able to hear the sweeps. I have to set the level always to -5dB to have any kind of acceptable bass.

During calibration (with the Android app) the first step is to set the levels for each speaker. I had to repeat that several times because it always complained that (during the sweep) that the subwoofer level is too loud. So I adjusted the subwoofer level down slightly until it would complete the sweep during calibration.

The result was as I described in the beginnig.
So I don't understand what the point of matching the sub level manually is. The result will be the same. Either the level is too high and it doesn't complete the calibration or it's too low and the result is unusable.

edit: I ran the calibration again after matching the sub to the loudest speaker as instructed but the result is the same. Dirac set the sub level to -9dB and sound is very thin. When I manually set the sub level to -2dB it sounds about right.