Audyssey MultEQ Pro Calibration Kit

[surveyor]

Do you have opinions or experience with the Audyssey MultEQ Pro Calibration Kit? Would this be a recommended improvement for my Denon AVR-4520ci or my Denon AVR-3312ci.

 

[elwaylite]

I was on that fence. I ended up hiring Chad B to come do an audyssey pro cal. It wasn't much more and he shared a tone of knowledge about what the speakers were doing in the room. I also learned I was setting my Hsu subs a little improperly, and we found the setting on them for the bext room response. I would have never figured that out to be honest.

 

[surveyor]

Thanks!

 

[fuzz092888]

It'll provide a lot of more flexibility and customizability over any Audyssey that comes standard in an AVR, but it'll cost. Not only for the kit, but then again for the license for your AVR. Remember, any AVR or processor that is Pro ready, you have to buy an individual license for that unit, which is $150 a pop last I checked. Figure another $300+ for the kit, plus learning curve and I would say it really depends whether it will be worth it.

FWIW, you could buy a calibrated USB mic, download REW and one of these and get reasonably close to what the Pro kit offers. Plus you can use it with any AVR or receiver without the licensing costs.

 

[elwaylite]

Correct me if I am wrong, but one Pro cal advantage over REW on an Audyssey receiver is that you run Audyssey and get the benefit o the filters, and can then tweak it. If you just use REW and the manual EQ, you do not get that benefit.

I'd think that if REW was your only choice, a device with a parametric eq would be a better choice. I am waiting on cross spectrum to start selling the Umik 1 again, because I do intend on using REW to check levels, etc... after audyssey completes. I also like the idea of seeing how speaker adjustments affect the XT32 calibration.

 

[fuzz092888]

Correct me if I am wrong, but one Pro cal advantage over REW on an Audyssey receiver is that you run Audyssey and get the benefit o the filters, and can then tweak it. If you just use REW and the manual EQ, you do not get that benefit.

I'd think that if REW was your only choice, a device with a parametric eq would be a better choice. I am waiting on cross spectrum to start selling the Umik 1 again, because I do intend on using REW to check levels, etc... after audyssey completes. I also like the idea of seeing how speaker adjustments affect the XT32 calibration.

There are 2 corrections to make. First, I did not recommend REW and a mic. I recommended REW, a mic, and a miniDSP unit that I linked in my last post. The distinction is that REW and a mic will only give you measurements, while REW, the mic, and the unit I linked will give you a fair percentage of what Audyssey Pro gives you for less money. I'll link again and you can check it out.

http://www.minidsp.com/products/ht-series/nanoavr-hd

This is not the only unit available, including an analog version and a version with Dirac. Audyssey Pro is definitely not the only option and I've very good results using much more basic versions of the miniDSP and its associated software. I think you'd find it pretty useful, and if you've never used something like this before, probably more useful than Audyssey Pro. There's a great thread over on AVS about Audyssey Pro, but there are many more people familiar with the miniDSP software and units. Personally I've used the miniDSP units, although not the newer HDMI versions and have a little experience with Dirac. However, haven't seen the need to make the jump to Audyssey Pro.

Although curiosity does start to overwhelm....

 

[elwaylite]

Ah, I missed the link to the mini dsp. I have looked into that and Dirac, since ZI decide to jump into REW.

I may spend the money later, but I think XT32 does a great job now, so not sure I'll spend the money yet. I do think $100 for a mic and REW + donation is worth the expense to check behind audyssey, especially since I have subs with so many modes I can try.

I also have to do some level matching after XT32 is complete, because my center is set to -12, so I think the Umik is a smart move. Plus itll be fun.

 

[fuzz092888]

Ah, I missed the link to the mini dsp. I have looked into that and Dirac, since ZI decide to jump into REW.

I may spend the money later, but I think XT32 does a great job now, so not sure I'll spend the money yet. I do think $100 for a mic and REW + donation is worth the expense to check behind audyssey, especially since I have subs with so many modes I can try.

I also have to do some level matching after XT32 is complete, because my center is set to -12, so I think the Umik is a smart move. Plus itll be fun.

IMO, XT32 is ok, but good placement, some basic room treatments, and good speakers can get you pretty darn close to what XT 32 does. The real money is in Audyssey subEQ.

Being able to measure can be invaluable in getting the placement just right and also to help understand what Audyssey is actually doing when it doesn't show you the before and after graphs.

That's a big reason why REW can be a powerful tool. You specify what your goal is (+- FR, and range), tilt (if any) and a bunch of other parameters and you upload that to the minDSP and then remeasure to see how close you've gotten. You can also just go straight to the miniDSP software and specify your own curves and see if you can do better than autoREW.

I think Audyssey Pro allows more curves per channel than miniDSP and REW, but I could be mistaken. However the goal should be to use as few bands as possible, especially in a dedicated room. Which means, good speakers, good placement, and a couple room treatments first. In a living room or other area where aesthetics come into play, it can be a little trickier.

 

[elwaylite]

I have found, quality speakers and tedious thought into placement (distance, toe in, etc...) seem to much more positive and negative effects than room eq. I recently put my towers outside my subs, taking them from 8.5 feet apart to 10.5, and it made all the positive difference in the world.

I am looking forward to tinkering with REW in the coming weeks. And I agree, dual sub eq is a great think. Makes it easy and does a great job IMO.