Incorporating MiniDSP With Audyssey XT32

[William Lemmerhirt]

You know, to be honest I was kicking myself a little for wasting money on the mini as it sat for a couple of months unopened and unused in a drawer. Now I'm really glad I got it!

Glad you didn't sell it to me!!! Lmao

 

[Pogre]

Glad you didn't sell it to me!!! Lmao

You and Kurt both! I thought about it too, but the voice that won't stop told me to hang onto it, I might find a use for it yet.

It took me a while to get started because this stuff can be so confusing and non-intuitive, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to figure it out and might even make things worse. It's intimidating, but if you're willing to read, ask questions and apply yourself it's not that bad. What took me days to learn I can now do in well under an hour.

 

[PENG]

You know, to be honest I was kicking myself a little for wasting money on the mini as it sat for a couple of months unopened and unused in a drawer. Now I'm really glad I got it!

Total cost $235, or C$305, I am going make sure it won't be a waste of money. While waiting for FedEx, I will be reading the manual, but may still have questions for you next week.

 

[panteragstk]

You and Kurt both! I thought about it too, but the voice that won't stop told me to hang onto it, I might find a use for it yet.

It took me a while to get started because this stuff can be so confusing and non-intuitive, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to figure it out and might even make things worse. It's intimidating, but if you're willing to read, ask questions and apply yourself it's not that bad. What took me days to learn I can now do in well under an hour.

When can we expect a write up with your specific directions?

If you don't maybe we won't be bothering you so much. - lie

 

[Pogre]

Total cost $235, or C$305, I am going make sure it won't be a waste of money. While waiting for FedEx, I will be reading the manual, but may still have questions for you next week.

You guys have helped me so much with all of this. Ask away. I hope I can be of some help for you guys who are jumping in and trying this.

 

[Pogre]

When can we expect a write up with your specific directions?

If you don't maybe we won't be bothering you so much. - lie

Heh. Truthfully I haven't thought of a writeup, but maybe after a couple more try this with some success I'll consider it. As of right now we have a whopping 2 people I know of on these forums that have tried and had success with it.

 

[music4cities]

For gods sake man, turn off the dynamic eq for music, and the dynamic volume if that's on, or at least trim it way down to the minimal setting if you can turn it down. Isn't that the first rule of using it for music?

Also experiment with levels of your crossover to the subs and mains. Towers are designed to be full range and the cabinets, ports Etc are tuned accordingly. Removing some frequency can have effects on resonances beyond that frequency.

To be honest, I have found AV receivers and audessey good for films and for satellites surround music or casual listening. But it often overcooks the eq is strange ways, overly excited, and shaped to unnatural degrees. Turning it off to direct usually reveals only the limits of the hardware without the software it depends on.

 

[music4cities]

I think it's natural to think that way and I think many people feel exactly the same way.

You spent good money for full-range towers, darn it! So now you must use them full-range!

Well, even if we don't use towers completely full-range, I think we can still gain DYNAMICS and efficiency over most bookshelf/monitors (unless the monitors are big bad ones). So it may be possible to get better SQ using towers + subs vs monitors + subs.

All depends on the towers vs stand mount speakers in question. Actually, it is often possible that the same money will buy a stand mount that out performs a similarly priced tower. Smaller housings have less volume, and that can limit dynamics yes; but big floor standing boxes might not be made as well, less ridgid, etc. Instead of $ on extra mdf, stand mounts might have better crossovers or drivers, etc. In the end it is about the design of the speaker.

Also, integration of a sub into the system is crucial...and sometimes easier to manage with stand mounts. If you have to have a sub for music....and if you have good towers I am not sure why you need a sub really. Maybe turn the subs off for music and enjoy the floor standers in their full range glory.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

All depends on the towers vs stand mount speakers in question. Actually, it is often possible that the same money will buy a stand mount that out performs a similarly priced tower. Smaller housings have less volume, and that can limit dynamics yes; but big floor standing boxes might not be made as well, less ridgid, etc. Instead of $ on extra mdf, stand mounts might have better crossovers or drivers, etc. In the end it is about the design of the speaker.

Also, integration of a sub into the system is crucial...and sometimes easier to manage with stand mounts. If you have to have a sub for music....and if you have good towers I am not sure why you need a sub really. Maybe turn the subs off for music and enjoy the floor standers in their full range glory.

It all depends for sure. No guarantees here.

There are lot of theories.

This is just reiteration of what we all know. The overall design and implementation is salient. The sum is more important than the individual parts.

Just because a bookshelf speaker has "more expensive" or "better" parts, doesn't guarantee it will sound better than the tower.

There is no guarantee that a full-range tower without subwoofer will sound better than speakers (tower or bookshelf) with subwoofers and vice versa.

Perhaps Pogre's towers + subs sound better than the $6,000 KEF 201/2 bookshelf + subs I used to own.

It all depends and there are guarantees as you say.

 

[Pogre]

For gods sake man, turn off the dynamic eq for music, and the dynamic volume if that's on, or at least trim it way down to the minimal setting if you can turn it down. Isn't that the first rule of using it for music?

Also experiment with levels of your crossover to the subs and mains. Towers are designed to be full range and the cabinets, ports Etc are tuned accordingly. Removing some frequency can have effects on resonances beyond that frequency.

To be honest, I have found AV receivers and audessey good for films and for satellites surround music or casual listening. But it often overcooks the eq is strange ways, overly excited, and shaped to unnatural degrees. Turning it off to direct usually reveals only the limits of the hardware without the software it depends on.

I did experiment with the crossovers and I will never turn DEQ off for music.

Dynamic volume has never been turned on on my receiver. Ever.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I did experiment with the crossovers and I will never turn DEQ off for music.

I agree. I like a little bump in my bump! Just enough. To me, if anything I like deq off, or a little less house curve with movies. I hate it when someone does something on screen like shut a car door, and it's like someone dropped a nuke in my LR. Btw, I was watching http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5618256/ manhunt: unabomber the other night and was switching deq on/off. It was definitely putting too much into the male voices. Didn't go into the offsets at that time. I was already irritating my son to to the point he almost quit watching. I do run lfe +5 so.... I will go through all of it when my mini gets here. And the kids go back to school!!!

 

[Pogre]

I agree. I like a little bump in my bump! Just enough. To me, if anything I like deq off, or a little less house curve with movies. I hate it when someone does something on screen like shut a car door, and it's like someone dropped a nuke in my LR. Btw, I was watching http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5618256/ manhunt: unabomber the other night and was switching deq on/off. It was definitely putting too much into the male voices. Didn't go into the offsets at that time. I was already irritating my son to to the point he almost quit watching. I do run lfe +5 so.... I will go through all of it when my mini gets here. And the kids go back to school!!!

I've seen you type this before and I have to say my experience is the same as yours. DEQ puts too much into my surround channels and they're louder than they should be. I turn it off or at least adjust it to -10 or -15 for movies. I also change the eq setting on my subs to 1 port plugged, EQ1.

 

[KEW]

I agree. I like a little bump in my bump! Just enough. To me, if anything I like deq off, or a little less house curve with movies. I hate it when someone does something on screen like shut a car door, and it's like someone dropped a nuke in my LR. Btw, I was watching http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5618256/ manhunt: unabomber the other night and was switching deq on/off. It was definitely putting too much into the male voices. Didn't go into the offsets at that time. I was already irritating my son to to the point he almost quit watching. I do run lfe +5 so.... I will go through all of it when my mini gets here. And the kids go back to school!!!

Try adjusting the DEQ offset and see if you can get a better result.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Try adjusting the DEQ offset and see if you can get a better result.

That is my intention, but I'm going to wait until my mini gets here. I took my bfd out, so I'm un-eq'd temporarily. I'll start over when that gets here. I'm optimistic.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I did experiment with the crossovers and I will never turn DEQ off for music.

Dynamic volume has never been turned on on my receiver. Ever.

Exactly.

I will always turn on Dynamic EQ. Period. For everything. 100% of the time.

 

[panteragstk]

Exactly.

I will always turn on Dynamic EQ. Period. For everything. 100% of the time.

I think the key is setting your reference volume under Audyssey so DEQ doesn't do anything funky.

 

[Pogre]

I think the key is setting your reference volume under Audyssey so DEQ doesn't do anything funky.

At -15 it's definitely more subtle.

 

[music4cities]

Alright, you cats dig your dynamic eq. That's cool. I have it on all the time for watching films, tv etc. I even use it sometimes to listen to music. But for music I have to say it usually is just too much shaping -- it's not corrective so much as producing a wild eq curve that is almost
Like remixing. It can sound exciting but fatiguing in longer sessions.

It's like one of those super super sour candies -- just too much man.

Try listing to a well mastered and mixed DVD-a, blue ray audio or multichannel SACD album with the dyn eq on and with it off. I find that with it on the mix is a muddled mess. Turn it off and it becomes precise and clear.

Maybe it's the implementation of audessy on my marantz. But I have read as well dyn eq can be a problem for music.

But whatever dudes. I would just suggest it's worth trying turning it off, get the crossover and sub dialed in, then if you gotta have the juice, turn on the dyn eq at less extreme levels and go from there.

 

[Pogre]

But whatever dudes. I would just suggest it's worth trying turning it off, get the crossover and sub dialed in, then if you gotta have the juice, turn on the dyn eq at less extreme levels and go from there.

I did do that. I have a flat response down to 15hz with Audyssey off. You didn't read much of this thread, did you?

 

[music4cities]

Fwiw, I have a pair of Mirage MRM-1. They did not make many of this model -- it's not a typical mirage speaker. They Are smallish standmounts. So, no way they could
Compete with a big tower from the looks of them...

BUT....each weighs about 45 lbs (without the stand, just the speaker). They are made with mdf sandwiching a 3mm welded steel box, veneered in cherry. The front baffle is 2 inches of corian. The "tiny" woofer has super deep excursion and a voice coil the size of a small subwoofer. The rear port is tuned perfectly. Put these on lead filled stands, 3-4 feet from the back wall in a 15x24x10ft room with lots of openings to other rooms and the bass these things produce is unbelievable. And tight. And integrated with clear mids and highs.

Look, they are never going to be as good as bigger speakers for really bass heavy music at rave high volumes...the little woofers will start to break up and distort. But they were not designed for that -- rather they are pretty linear, well balanced, mid-rang warmth monitors with a slight rolled off high end (a bit British...A bit like old school spendors)