Audyssey killing my HT sound?

[Pogre]

The one where that lil squiggly line says it sounds better.

The one that sounds like yours then.

Okay. That actually makes sense. So now we would call that chart YOUR reference. It can be your personal goal for every setup and having the right gear means you can make it sound like that on any system you own. See how that works now?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The one where that lil squiggly line says it sounds better.

Bottom line - if your system (speakers, subs) sounds awesome, then it's awesome.

If your system doesn't sound as awesome as you want, like UNEVEN response or lack of bass even though you crank up the bass level, then you might need some help and spend $110 on that UMIK-1.

So I guess for people who have always experienced awesome sound quality without much room EQ, we might be blessed with good room acoustics.

But for people who just can't seem to get that great sound exactly the way they want due to room acoustics, they might want to spend that $110.

 

[Pogre]

Bottom line - if your system (speakers, subs) sounds awesome, then it's awesome.

See what I said above. If that's what sounds better to him then it becomes his reference target. That's why I say reference is a moving target and different for everyone.

Bottom line is, once you know what you like, you can measure it, know what it looks like and almost perfectly replicate it on any system you own. Now or in the future. It doesn't matter what you prefer. It's nice to be able to achieve what you like with consistency tho, no matter what you buy, move or replace.

THAT is the value of having a mic and the gear to make it happen.

 

[Pogre]

So I guess for people who have always experienced awesome sound quality without much room EQ, we might be blessed with good room acoustics.

And this is a great point too. I'm positive some rooms sound just fine without any eq or room correction at all. If you're one of those guys that's great. In fact I could even see an argument for room correction making matters worse if your baseline is already good so sure, it's not for everyone. Those arent common tho, and as you can see from my "before" chart I'm not one of those guys, lol.

The bass response in my room needs help, obviously, and there's no getting around it. It's terribly boomy and sounds bad by itself, Audyssey gets me into the goldilocks zone but makes it sound just a little thin. The Umik and Mini help me get it dialed in the rest of the way. Tho since the editor app came out I don't even need the mini anymore. I can make the same adjustments and get the same results with Audyssey by itself now using the editor app.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

See what I said above. If that's what sounds better to him then it becomes his reference target. That's why I say reference is a moving target and different for everyone.

Bottom line is, once you know what you like, you can measure it, know what it looks like and almost perfectly replicate it on any system you own. Now or in the future. It doesn't matter what you prefer. It's nice to be able to achieve what you like with consistency tho, no matter what you buy, move or replace.

THAT is the value of having a mic and the gear to make it happen.

You could do that. But it's not necessary.

Most of us have been listening to music/sound most of our lives - long before we spent that $110 on the UMIK-1.

We already KNOW what our "Reference Point" is every day that we listen. We don't have to measure it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

And this is a great point too. I'm positive some rooms sound just fine without any eq or room correction at all. If you're one of those guys that's great. In fact I could even see an argument for room correction making matters worse if your baseline is already good so sure, it's not for everyone. Those arent common tho, and as you can see from my "before" chart I'm not one of those guys, lol.

The bass response in my room needs help, obviously, and there's no getting around it. It's terribly boomy and sounds bad by itself, Audyssey gets me into the goldilocks zone but makes it sound just a little thin. The Umik and Mini help me get it dialed in the rest of the way. Tho since the editor app came out I don't even need the mini anymore. I can make the same adjustments and get the same results with Audyssey by itself now using the editor app.

Is this the $20 Audyssey app or some other $200 app I heard a client asked me about?

 

[Pogre]

You could do that. But it's not necessary.

Most of us have been listening to music/sound most of our lives - long before we spent that $110 on the UMIK-1.

We already KNOW what our "Reference Point" is every day that we listen. We don't have to measure it.

Ah, but if it doesn't sound right then what? That's where knowing what your reference looks like and the measuring gear comes in. I think you put it very well already.

But for people who just can't seem to get that great sound exactly the way they want due to room acoustics, they might want to spend that $110.

Perfect. I completely agree.

 

[Pogre]

Is this the $20 Audyssey app or some other $200 app I heard a client asked me about?

The $20 one. I'm not interested in dropping $200 for an app I don't need, lol.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Ah, but if it doesn't sound right then what? That's where the measuring gear comes in. I think you put it very well already.

Perfect. I completely agree.

Yeah, like you said before, it's a tool.

And like any tool in life, it's there for you if you know how to use it properly. But you don't need to use the tool (whether it is a hammer, drill, saw, mic/REW) if it's not necessary.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The $20 one. I'm not interested in dropping $200 for an app I don't need, lol.

And that's another point - you don't need every single tool and sometimes you don't even need a tool.

But these tools are available.

Yeah, I told my client that I don't see the point of dropping $200 on that tool either.

 

[shadyJ]

@shadyJ, I know you use both terms quite often in your reviews. What's your take on "flat" vs "linear"? Or do you use them more or less to mean the same thing?

Mostly the same thing. However, linear can encompass more. Flat normally just refers to the frequency response, whereas linear can also refer to distortion characteristics such as harmonic distortion or lack thereof.

 

[Pogre]

Yeah, like you said before, it's a tool.

And like any tool in life, it's there for you if you know how to use it properly. But you don't need to use the tool (whether it is a hammer, drill, saw, mic/REW) if it's not necessary.

I'm curious what your charts look like with and without Audyssey? You might hear your reference every day but you have no clue what or why you like what you do. We could zero right in on exactly what you don't like about MultEQ, enhance or detract with eq and possibly make it sound even better than what you have now. Then you'd have a new reference and feel like you got new speakers again!

 

[Pogre]

Mostly the same thing. However, linear can encompass more. Flat normally just refers to the frequency response, whereas linear can also refer to distortion characteristics such as harmonic distortion or lack thereof.

And that's pretty much where I'm at with it! I'm using linearity to refer to distortion characteristics. I just wasn't doing a very good job of explaining it as succinctly as you just did.

 

[Pogre]

I don't do much to my speakers. All the stuff I'm posting is bass. Mainly subwoofers!

I just wanted to reiterate this one. I'll talk up Audyssey all day based on how well it works with my subwoofage, but I'm not a big proponent of using a bunch of eq on main speakers, especially if you already have good speakers. In my case and likely most others tho, the room is in charge of the bass. No matter how good your subs or speakers are, if you can't nail placement or the room doesn't want to cooperate you're SOL without some kind of intervention, and for those cases the right tools for the job are invaluable.

 

[Kaskade89052]

2EQ is not even close to the better Audyssey platforms.....it's pretty bad by all accounts as it's not even a MultEQ version. FWIW.

I know. That's why I mentioned it in the context of the comment made to me.

 

[HT4Life]

Wow, so much wordification and graphicacation so much proofication and rationalization, trust ur ears.

i have also seen that measurements are only as good as that moment and that exact place of the mic was taken Lol, i mean that exact place LxWxH location which is where my head isnt in a locked location. Its a bit more forgiving of lower frequencies

 

[Kaskade89052]

 

[Replicant 7]

Well there is this from James. The only time I've used Adyssey was way back in umm 2012 if my memory serves me right XT32? Anyways had two subs, Adyssey did help big time with dialing in my 2 subs.
Shady J, posted this a few years back.

 

[Pogre]

Well there is this from James. The only time I've used Adyssey was way back in umm 2012 if my memory serves me right XT32? Anyways had two subs, Adyssey did help big time with dialing in my 2 subs.
Shady J, posted this a few years back.
View attachment 54148

And? That's pretty much exactly what I've been saying!

 

[Replicant 7]

And? That's pretty much exactly what I've been saying!

And? Well here it is bubby! I remember where you started from Pogre! You didn't always have those very nice speakers and that RBH Sub you got stashed behind your couch that you won't sell me! Guess it's true what they say, once someone hits the big time they forget about their friends in low places.