General Audio Guidance . . .

[Steve81]

Gentlemen of the Holy Audio-Order

I could get used to this kind of treatment

In any case, I’m wondering if the following is a normal outcome . . . it seems as though the overall volume parameters are artificially low?

Audyssey will attempt to set everything up such that when you turn the volume to 0dB, the volume at the main listening position will correspond to "reference level". Depending on the sensitivity of your speakers and their proximity to your position, it will either cut or boost volume on each channel in order to reach that goal.

Obviously everybody has different preferences for volume, so what I may prefer might not be what you prefer, and there will be differences between movies/tv shows, etc, but I can give you some rough ideas of how I view the volume levels.

-35dB Comfortable for TV watching

-25dB to -20dB Comfortably loud for most movies

-10dB to -5dB Very loud for movies (my HT is in the basement, and the subwoofer has no problems letting my wife feel its presence two stories up).

0dB: I rarely dare touch this nor do I desire to.

One other metric to keep in mind is that a 10dB jump corresponds roughly to a doubling of perceived volume.

Hope this helps.

 

[FirstReflection]

Yup, seems as though you're just coming across your first experience with the whole "Reference Volume" thing

Reference Volume calls for average SPL at the seat to be 85dB with movie content, with peaks as high as 105dB from the speakers, and as high as 115dB in the subwoofer LFE channel - all measured at the seat.

As Steve pointed out, Audyssey will attempt to create these conditions with the master volume set to 0 (zero) dB on the front display. That is why the volume is shown in negative numbers. It indicates how many dB below Reference Volume you're at

So Audyssey will often set the speaker trim levels quite low if you have efficient speakers, or you are sitting fairly close. It's all in an effort to make 0 dB on the volume dial line up with Reference Volume. Most people find Reference Volume way too loud and prefer to listen at -10 dB, -20 dB or even -30 dB, just like Steve said.

Audyssey also has a couple of different modes. They used to include "Audyssey Curve", "Flat Curve", and "Front Match". The newest versions only include "Movie" and "Music" curves, which correspond to the old "Audyssey" and "Flat" curves, respectively.

The Audyssey/Movie curve includes a bit of a "house curve" sound, with slightly rolled off highs, a bit of a mid bass boost, and a notch filter at 2kHz. The Flat/Music curve just goes for flat frequency response across the board. The older "Front Match" curve left the Front Left & Right speakers completely alone, but measured their response, and tried to make all the other speakers sound just like them.

Personally, I always only use the "Flat/Music" setting. I want as close to a perfectly accurate sound as possible, so no "house curve" or notch filter for me, thanks

 

[ahblaza]

Get used to it my friend, better yet put Audyssey in the OFF position

 

[Shek5150]

A chuckle . .

Get used to it my friend, better yet put Audyssey in the OFF position

Jeff,

I must say that your response made me chuckle . . . but then again, you're "the Anti-RC" guy . . . right? Or am I getting that wrong, was it Steve81?

Anyway, thanks always for the input . . . I think I'll need to do some playing around with this stuff and find my 'happy place' . . .

Steve81 & FR, thanks always for the education . . . guess I need to get some 'flight-time' under my belt . . .

Steve

 

[ahblaza]

Jeff,

I must say that your response made me chuckle . . . but then again, you're "the Anti-RC" guy . . . right? Or am I getting that wrong, was it Steve81?

Anyway, thanks always for the input . . . I think I'll need to do some playing around with this stuff and find my 'happy place' . . .

Steve81 & FR, thanks always for the education . . . guess I need to get some 'flight-time' under my belt . . .

Steve

Yeah that's me, no Steve is pro RC. ADTG is in my camp though, that's all the reinforcement I need.......

 

[Shek5150]

Ablaza

Yeah that's me, no Steve is pro RC. ADTG is in my camp though, that's all the reinforcement I need.......

I wasn't sure who you were referring to above "ADTG" . . . until I searched back in another thread . . . wasn't familiar w/ the abbreviated tag . . . in any case, I looked at his gear and "It must be good to be king." . . . as that expression goes . . . Holy Smokes!!!

In any case, thanks always . . .

Shek

 

[ahblaza]

I wasn't sure who you were referring to above "ADTG" . . . until I searched back in another thread . . . wasn't familiar w/ the abbreviated tag . . . in any case, I looked at his gear and "It must be good to be king." . . . as that expression goes . . . Holy Smokes!!!

In any case, thanks always . . .

Shek

Yeah there is nothing abbreviated about him King of what? Haven't heard from him in a while, must be busy ruling his KINGDOM.......
Good to have you here Shek, stay around my friend.

 

[TLS Guy]

Yeah that's me, no Steve is pro RC. ADTG is in my camp though, that's all the reinforcement I need.......

I'm in your camp as well. Audyssey does a good job of channel leveling and delay, but a lousy job of frequency response.

It does not realize that there is supposed to be a fall off of HF with distance from the speaker.

In my set up all speakers have a very flat frequency response. The front speakers are farthest from the listening position and the rear speakers close to the back seats.

Every time Audyssey wants to boost the three fronts by 8 db at the highest frequencies, the surrounds a little and the rears not at all. There is a direct correlation with HF boost and speaker distance from the listening position. Audyssey really spoils my system and I only use it for level match and distance.

 

[zieglj01]

I fired the different receiver set-up options - I am
not a big fan of them.

 

[ahblaza]

I guess the camp is bigger than I thought
Agreed Mark, leveling and delay is usually spot on but beyond that, nada...
Yeah Zieg, my Audyssey is collecting unemployment right now. Thanks guys.
Jeff

 

[ahblaza]

I'm in your camp as well. Audyssey does a good job of channel leveling and delay, but a lousy job of frequency response.

It does not realize that there is supposed to be a fall off of HF with distance from the speaker.

In my set up all speakers have a very flat frequency response. The front speakers are farthest from the listening position and the rear speakers close to the back seats.

Every time Audyssey wants to boost the three fronts by 8 db at the highest frequencies, the surrounds a little and the rears not at all. There is a direct correlation with HF boost and speaker distance from the listening position. Audyssey really spoils my system and I only use it for level match and distance.

Mark, if you don't mind, how do you use your Audyssey or other RC setup, do you take several mic position measurements to establish your levels and distance (delay) and then just use the results you get from these and disengage Audyssey. Thanks my friend, I look forward to your reply.
Best Regards, Jeff

 

[Steve81]

Yeah that's me, no Steve is pro RC. ADTG is in my camp though, that's all the reinforcement I need.......

I'd certainly say it's an overall positive in my system, even if it isn't perfect.

Unlike Mark, I've only got one small seating area for two people that I care about sited right in the sweet spot, and IMO Audyssey does a fairly good job balancing out the sound of my Klipsch speakers at those positions; I noted the difference was considerably more natural than stock when I switched from an older HK receiver to my current Onkyo, and got it a lot closer in this regard to my bedroom system (which has no RC, and sounds fantastic).

My main gripe is that I get one curve with my receiver, and only one curve: the Audyssey/Movie curve. I don't mind the rolled off treble; I'd even guess it might be part of why I feel my Klipsch RF-5s sound more natural. The bass boost OTOH I could live without. Even without Audyssey, I had a naturally rising low end that was a little hot compared with the mains; with Audyssey, it's boosting that even further. I don't mind the audible results (a little extra bass doesn't bother me ), but I think it's rather stupid of it to boost in the 20Hz region
A. because that tends to be hard on subwoofers...
B. because it doesn't need to be boosted in my system...

 

[ahblaza]

I'd certainly say it's an overall positive in my system, even if it isn't perfect.

Unlike Mark, I've only got one small seating area for two people that I care about sited right in the sweet spot, and IMO Audyssey does a fairly good job balancing out the sound of my Klipsch speakers at those positions; I noted the difference was considerably more natural than stock when I switched from an older HK receiver to my current Onkyo, and got it a lot closer in this regard to my bedroom system (which has no RC, and sounds fantastic).

My main gripe is that I get one curve with my receiver, and only one curve: the Audyssey/Movie curve. I don't mind the rolled off treble; I'd even guess it might be part of why I feel my Klipsch RF-5s sound more natural. The bass boost OTOH I could live without. Even without Audyssey, I had a naturally rising low end that was a little hot compared with the mains; with Audyssey, it's boosting that even further. I don't mind the audible results (a little extra bass doesn't bother me ), but I think it's rather stupid of it to boost in the 20Hz region
A. because that tends to be hard on subwoofers...
B. because it doesn't need to be boosted in my system...

Hey Steve, I believe these are some of the drawbacks of Audyssey that I have experienced as well as Mark (TLS), I hope he will chime in here with some answers to my questions as well.
Cheers Jeff

 

[Shek5150]

Reply to ahblaza

FR won't be back for awhile, he's trying to deflate his head right now so he can think straight after all your praising...

Hey there ahblaza, my apologies for the tardiness of my reply .. . but I did appreciate your replies . . . and humor (always). . .

Thx

 

[ahblaza]

Hey there ahblaza, my apologies for the tardiness of my reply .. . but I did appreciate your replies . . . and humor (always). . .

Thx

You're welcome my friend