Incorporating MiniDSP With Audyssey XT32

[William Lemmerhirt]

Actually I meant this...

 

[Pogre]

See my above post.
Yes, I absolutely agree. You’re towers are made to operate just exactly how they are. Remember that can of worms about 40 pages back? I think that’s what you’d have. A mess... Now it’s time maybe to look at the upper ranges. I know most room treatments are ugly(and bass traps are usually huge), but some are available that can look like art.

Listening to hail to the king at -20 right now!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Listening to hail to the king at -20 right now!

 

[Pogre]

Ha!

So... have you had time do play with your mini some more?

*Edit: Jamming shepherd of fire now.

 

[PENG]

If at all you choose to work on improving the sound, the best bang for buck will be "stealth" room treatments to reduce bass energy dissipation time.

Can you provide more info on that, links etc.?

Thanks

 

[agarwalro]

You're from Pittsburgh? I have an aunt there. I was born and raised about a hundred miles north of pittsburgh (aka "the sticks"). Lived there for 20 years. I went to high school in DuBois. Ever heard of Shannondale?

Moved to Pitt 2 years ago because my ex is holed up with our son outside St. Mary's and refused to move somewhere with a half decent IT job market.

Small world, I drive through Shannondale on the way to visiting my son. Is the ice cream store worth stopping? I'm usually booking through at 20mph over the limit.

 

[PENG]

See my above post.
Yes, I absolutely agree. You’re towers are made to operate just exactly how they are. Remember that can of worms about 40 pages back? I think that’s what you’d have. A mess... Now it’s time maybe to look at the upper ranges. I know most room treatments are ugly(and bass traps are usually huge), but some are available that can look like art.

So far the "art" types I found Googling are expensive. If I were to try those, I would have to know exactly where to put them, in order to minimize costs. If I can get that dip at 50 Hz lowered by 2 dB, I would not bother with anything else and just focus on enjoyment. I could use brute force by inserting the minidsp back in and use a couple of peak filters, but I am concerned with that approach. Even Audyssey recommend not over boosting and if I remember right they limit boost to 6 dB (edit: Actually 9 dB) maximum.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ha!

So... have you had time do play with your mini some more?

*Edit: Jamming shepherd of fire now.

Unfortunately, no. Last few days have been nothing but running kids around. Crazy!!!
The curve I have now is as better than ever. But while I definitely won’t leave it alone, it’s not giving me any big reasons to have a go at it. I watched passengers the other night, but it doesn’t have great extension so the real deep stuff just wasn’t there to evaluate. What was there was a lot of fun.

 

[Pogre]

Moved to Pitt 2 years ago because my ex is holed up with our son outside St. Mary's and refused to move somewhere with a half decent IT job market.

Small world, I drive through Shannondale on the way to visiting my son. Is the ice cream store worth stopping? I'm usually booking through at 20mph over the limit.

If you've ever driven past a little mom and pop store, that was ours. Used to be Claypool's then Himes Country Market. I think it's Kemerer's now...

My whole family is from Shannondale. My sister and I used to walk to that ice cream store when we were at grandma's house!

*Edit: Shannondale Country meats is what it's called now. My dad owned that store for more than 20 years. We trained the guy who has it now. Brad Kemerer. His parents own the greenhouse in Shannondale.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

So far the "art" types I found Googling are expensive. If I were to try those, I would have to know exactly where to put them, in order to minimize costs. If I can get that dip at 50 Hz lowered by 2 dB, I would not bother with anything else and just focus on enjoyment. I could use brute force by inserting the minidsp back in and use a couple of peak filters, but I am concerned with that approach. Even Audyssey recommend not over boosting and if I remember right they limit boost to 6 dB (might have been lower) maximum.

Oh yes. The “art” type ones can be expensive. Should have mentioned that. I also wouldn’t sweat your response much either, but at 50hz, that’s the middle of mid bass so I can see why that would bug you(me too).

 

[PENG]

Unfortunately, no. Last few days have been nothing but running kids around. Crazy!!!
The curve I have now is as better than ever. But while I definitely won’t leave it alone, it’s not giving me any big reasons to have a go at it. I watched passengers the other night, but it doesn’t have great extension so the real deep stuff just wasn’t there to evaluate. What was there was a lot of fun.

I think the 3 of us are just playing around to have fun and for instant visual gratification, not really sound quality. If for real audible sound quality reasons, we should be looking for effective ways to reduce those big dips in frequencies above 100 Hz. The minidsp, with or without Audyssey simply cannot do much about such deep dips. We can also provide all the details TheWarrior might have asked, but for now we seem to also wonder if he would come up with a low cost and effective solution.

By the way, has anyone seen better looking FR plots (including Dirac Live, Anthem ARC, Trinnov etc.) than ours? If yes, please provide links to such posts.

 

[agarwalro]

Can you provide more info on that, links etc.?

There wasn't a specific product in mind. "Stealth" room treatment referred to NOT this,

The best I can offer is, to use custom printed art and DIY panels.

 

[agarwalro]

Dug out this thread from my bookmarks:

DIY Acoustical Panels using custom printed movie poster art.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I think the 3 of us are just playing around to have fun and for instant visual gratification, not really sound quality. If for real audible sound quality reasons, we should be looking for effective ways to reduce those big dips in frequencies above 100 Hz. The minidsp, with or without Audyssey simply cannot do much about such deep dips. We can also provide all the details TheWarrior might have asked, but for now we seem to also wonder if he would come up with a low cost and effective solution.

By the way, has anyone seen better looking FR plots (including Dirac Live, Anthem ARC, Trinnov etc.) than ours? If yes, please provide links to such posts.

Can’t speak for J, but I’m definitely after more than just instant gratification of my line. The problem I have is I’m very much limited to using EQ.

 

[Pogre]

Can’t speak for J, but I’m definitely after more than just instant gratification of my line. The problem I have is I’m very much limited to using EQ.

I'm absolutely after sound quality first. The pretty graphs are easy to get a little obsessed about tho...

The last tweak I made to that big dip in the 105-120hz region made an audible difference. There's an overall improvement from what I had before. One big difference also is the new furniture. It's overstuffed and the end of the couch part is a couple of feet further back from where the old couch was. The old one used to partially block my left speaker and subwoofer at mlp. The "cubby" the couch created is now open space. Both towers and subwoofers are wide open now.

That's the reason I re-did everything. My room acoustics changed enough to warrant it.

 

[PENG]

I'm absolutely after sound quality first. The pretty graphs are easy to get a little obsessed about tho...

The last tweak I made to that big dip in the 105-120hz region made an audible difference. There's an overall improvement from what I had before. One big difference also is the new furniture. It's overstuffed and the end of the couch part is a couple of feet further back from where the old couch was. The old one used to partially block my left speaker and subwoofer at mlp. The "cubby" the couch created is now open space. Both towers and subwoofers are wide open now.

That's the reason I re-did everything. My room acoustics changed enough to warrant it.

I understand those fixable big dips are audible. My comments referred to your current situation where the graphs are pretty and you like the improved SQ.

 

[Squatch]

Get a DBX expander and put the punch in your system that it deserves.

 

[PENG]

Okay, I got it. Leave wonderful bass response alone. I have a feeling you're absolutely right. Experimenting more at this point could just mess up what I have and I'd be kicking myself for not leaving well enough alone.

Again, nothing to lose in trying. You probably could use the 2X4HD if you set your AVR to subwoofer "none", then the LFE information should be output to the main L/R speakers, at least that's how it used to work in the old days.

 

[Mitchibo]

There wasn't a specific product in mind. "Stealth" room treatment referred to NOT this,

View attachment 22598

The best I can offer is, to use custom printed art and DIY panels.

I bought a few ceiling to wall panels from ATS acoustics. I also got a corner trap. This was before I invested in the MiniDSP. Audibly my ears didn’t notice the difference @ the mlp but the dB meter noticed it right off. Behind the white screen is a tall thick ass corner bass trap. Note that you can buy colored panels and/or hide stuff. Pogre your measurements are as good as an anchovies chamber. Or is it anechoic chamber?

 

[agarwalro]

anchovies chamber

This?