How do you level match surround back speakers

[tcarcio]

I think of such variances(Glocks & others) are SPL-meter user error too. Whether or not you hold the meter vertically or horizontally will also make a difference.

My 2 cents.... Use the Yammi Mic as instructed in the manual, and it will level all 7.1 channel SPL levels accurately. Of course....user error can foul up those results too.

I use a tripod and mount the SPL meter on that so I don't have that problem.

 

[patnshan]

I think of such variances(Glocks & others) are SPL-meter user error too. Whether or not you hold the meter vertically or horizontally will also make a difference.

My 2 cents.... Use the Yammi Mic as instructed in the manual, and it will level all 7.1 channel SPL levels accurately. Of course....user error can foul up those results too.

I used the Yami mic and it screwed everything up, but your experience may vary. It had the distances and levels almost right, but screwed up the sub, the speaker sizing, and the crossover.

Pat

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yes, my receiver is THX certified, and I do believe the internal tones aren't reliable, hence my originaly question of how to properly level match the rear surrounds since Avia doesn't have surround back tones.

I can't recall exactly how far off the front and back were when using just the internal tones, but it was significant. Ithink the left and right levels were pretty close it was just the front and back that weren't good.

You say match all channels with avia and forget it, but I can't since avia doesn't have tones for the surround back.

It's been a while since I used the Avia last. It is hard to believe that it doesn't have all 5 ch test tones in sequence. If that is the case, how do you know the rear levels are off since you could not calibrate it with Avia?

Let me ask. Since you level matched the front 3 with Avia, did the internal test for the front seemed to be level as well?

Since it is THX, I am a bit hesitant to say that its internal test tones are off between channels as I would suspect that being one of the THX requirement. Again, let me ask about that since it is THX, what happens when you run the test sequence? My experience with one THX is that the master volume goes to 0 on the dial on its own and the test tones sequence from left front all around.

I would suggest another test DVD that has all 5.1 channel test tones

When you do the internal tones, why do you think they are not properly matched?

I would also suggest sending an email to Ovation at ovationsw.com and tell them which disc you have and if indeed it doesn't have the two rear signals. Maybe they will update your disc free?

 

[avaserfi]

I would suggest another test DVD that has all 5.1 channel test tones

Pretty much any THX disc has an optimizer on it that runs test tones and such, including for rear surrounds. Cars is the one I use, you might want to check that out too.

 

[AVRat]

Glock needs 7 channels and the AVIA only has 5. Just use the Yammies tones and GIT-R-DONE.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Glock needs 7 channels and the AVIA only has 5. Just use the Yammies tones and GIT-R-DONE.

Oh, this is getting curiouser all the time.

Then he is out of luck. I don't know of a 7.1 sound test disc yet. And no wonder I was scratching my head about the Avia.

 

[mtrycrafts]

7.1?

Yes, my receiver is THX certified, and I do believe the internal tones aren't reliable, hence my originaly question of how to properly level match the rear surrounds since Avia doesn't have surround back tones.

I can't recall exactly how far off the front and back were when using just the internal tones, but it was significant. Ithink the left and right levels were pretty close it was just the front and back that weren't good.

You say match all channels with avia and forget it, but I can't since avia doesn't have tones for the surround back.

Avrat tells me you were looking for a 7.1 test disc? Don't think that exists yet.

What happens when you level match the 5.1 with Avia and the internal test disc, are they at least level?

 

[GlocksRock]

No, that's the problem... results are inconsistent. I didn't have time to mess with it last night, but I'll try to mess with it tonight. Using the YPAO, I can select which tests to run, and which ones to skip... I think I'll just let it set the levels and EQ only then manually check it's results with the internal tones and see how close it is to what I get. Even though it's a THX receiver, that doesn't mean that the auto setup is really good... because if it were, it would set the distances and speaker size correctly, but as you can see by looking at the reviews that were done on other similar yamaha receivers, the YPAO is somewhat lacking in that dept... look at the RX-V2600 review on this site.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/yamaha-rx-v2600/remote-control-and-system-setup

 

[AVRat]

Even the new DVE on HD-DVD only offers 6.1 tones which would require some speaker connection work for the rear channels.

 

[GlocksRock]

Even the new DVE on HD-DVD only offers 6.1 tones which would require some speaker connection work for the rear channels.

In that event, I think it would play the rear surround channel through both speakers at the same time... in that event I would just disconnect one rear surround speaker and calibrate, then run the test again but with the other rear surround speaker disconnected and reconnect both and set the levels based on the reading I just got for each speaker.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Even though it's a THX receiver, that doesn't mean that the auto setup is really good...

I doubt that any system will be 100% acurate on the automatic calibration, but they are acurate "ENOUGH" for most people, including me.
Even if you could get all channels EXACTLY the same level, the actual movie itself may differ in sound levels for the individual channels. For example, it is a well known fact that certain movies crank up the center channel sound level. Who's to say that when the sound mixers produce the DVDs that they Sound-Level-Match ALL the channels with 100% acuracy?

 

[GlocksRock]

I would just feel better knowing my levels are set correctly, and if a movie's levels aren't matched, then I'll just assume that's how the director inteded it to be.

 

[MDS]

No movie or music source has the same level in all channels at all times. The purpose of calibration is to set a specific output SPL for each channel given a particular input level.

When you use the internal test tones that input level is -30 dB and the output level is 75 dB. When the soundtrack level is lower (quiet scenes) the output level is lower; when the soundtrack level is higher (explosions) the output level is higher.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would just feel better knowing my levels are set correctly, and if a movie's levels aren't matched, then I'll just assume that's how the director inteded it to be.

Okay, bottom, you are just going to have to wait for a 7.1 HT from Avia or buy a $200 HD DVD player and a $30 Digital Video Essential HD DVD disc, which has 7.1 speaker configuration.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/digitalvideoessentialshddvd.html

 

[GlocksRock]

I know, I would love to get an HD DVD player, but I'm gonna wait for the format war to be decided before I invest in a next gen player. I'll just level match using the receiver's internal tones and see how I like the results.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'll just level match using the receiver's internal tones and see how I like the results.

You WILL like the results just fine. You WILL like the results just fine. You WILL like the results just fine. You WILL like the results just fine....Just keep on saying it.

 

[GlocksRock]

I did level match with the receiver last night, but didn't watch any movies... there was NFL Pre-Season to watch, but I plan on watching something tonight. I did however play a portion of a movie and did like what I heard so far.

 

[tcarcio]

Like I mentioned earlier I did it that way and it sounds fine. I think you will see it works for you too. Good Luck...............

 

[mtrycrafts]

No, that's the problem... results are inconsistent. I didn't have time to mess with it last night, but I'll try to mess with it tonight. Using the YPAO, I can select which tests to run, and which ones to skip... I think I'll just let it set the levels and EQ only then manually check it's results with the internal tones and see how close it is to what I get. Even though it's a THX receiver, that doesn't mean that the auto setup is really good... because if it were, it would set the distances and speaker size correctly, but as you can see by looking at the reviews that were done on other similar yamaha receivers, the YPAO is somewhat lacking in that dept... look at the RX-V2600 review on this site.

The auto setup is very sensitive to extraneous noises which you may not even detect That is why the results can vary. I would just use that feature for the EQ and manually level match with meter.

 

[GlocksRock]

I just turned the eq off, and level matched manually, and after watching a movie last night, I'm satisfied.