A question about Auto equalization and calibration

D

Davidt1

Full Audioholic
My room doesn't have the best acoustics, and I can't do sound treatments. I remember reading a magazine review of a Denon receiver in which the reviewer said turning Audyssey equalization on made a huge difference in SQ in his room. This feature is becoming increasingly more important to me as a potentially inexpensive way to fix/help with my room's acoustics. I notice that just about all new receivers have some kind auto calibration and equalization. Denon and Onkyo use Audyssey while Pioneer, Yamaha and HK have their own thing.

Do you use it and does it help? Also, are they all the same, or Audyssey is better than the others? Thank you.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
Every manufacturer that has an automatic setup equalizer can make it any way they want, so, no, they are not all the same. As far as I know, Denon's version is neither exceptionally good nor exceptionally bad. Any such equalizer may help, but none can make a very bad room sound good, as, for example, an equalizer can do nothing to get rid of an echo. Generally speaking, the more 'soft' things you have in a room, the better for the acoustics. Thus, paintings on the walls, tall bookcases with books, etc., can help quite a bit. So can having a rug on the floor and a nice comfortable sofa. You may have noticed that when a room is empty, there is often an echo. And, generally, the more stuff you put in the room, the less of an echo you have, though if you simply put hard flat things, such as mirrors, on your walls, this is not likely to help.

If you want the best advice possible, you will need to tell us what you have in your room, its shape, etc. You might also want to say what kinds of "room treatments" you cannot do, as you probably can put a rug on the floor if it is a hard floor, and that helps as a "room treatment".

An automatic setup can help a lot of people, though, as many have difficulty setting the levels and delays properly for their surround systems, and getting these things right can help considerably. But that is not a fix for poor acoustics in a room.
 
E

Exit

Audioholic Chief
Also, most receiver automatic equalizers don't equalize for the subwoofer (i.e. low bass) and that is where the equalization can be the most usefull in reducing room response peaks.
 
F

fmw

Audioholic Ninja
Also, most receiver automatic equalizers don't equalize for the subwoofer (i.e. low bass) and that is where the equalization can be the most usefull in reducing room response peaks.
I think they do. Even my cheap Onkyo 605 adjusted the subwoofer level and crossover frequency in the Audyssey program. My Pioner 92 does a lot more than that such as correcting phase distortion through timing adjustments and other things.

For the OP, yes the equalization programs will have a fairly profound effect on the sound of your system. Whether or not it is an improvement is something I'll leave up to you to decide.
 
T

trnqk7

Full Audioholic
I for one do not care much for the Audyssey-it always seems to make speakers in my house very bass "shy" by cutting all the low frequency info in the eq even if it specs them as "large" speakers. I dont' have any room treatments (we just moved in, plus it's not a dedicated room) so I think that's a lot of it. From what I have heard, programs like Audyssey work best in rooms that are already treated or that sound "ok"...they kinda clean up the last little bit, but are not that good for the major work in acoustics.
 
E

Exit

Audioholic Chief
My receiver is a couple of years old now so I guess they do more nowadays. Can they knock 10 dB off of a 50 Hz frequency spike for example?
 
T

trnqk7

Full Audioholic
Sure-the Audyssey on my 2807 will do something close to that, it does it at 63Hz, but I don't see why another brand might not have implemented it at 50Hz.
 
F

fmw

Audioholic Ninja
I for one do not care much for the Audyssey-it always seems to make speakers in my house very bass "shy"
....or more accurate? Accuracy and your preferences might not be the same thing.
 
T

trnqk7

Full Audioholic
I'm judging it off several things-all of them my preference of course. But I don't think a rap song such as Nelly's "Splurge" should sound like there is absolutely no bass in it. It has quite loud bass that is not extremely low, maybe in the 50-60hz range. But again, it's just my preferences and experiences with the system.
 
Hi Ho

Hi Ho

Audioholic Samurai
I think they do. Even my cheap Onkyo 605 adjusted the subwoofer level and crossover frequency in the Audyssey program. My Pioner 92 does a lot more than that such as correcting phase distortion through timing adjustments and other things.
All of the systems set the basic parameters (level, crossover) but not many will apply equalization to the sub. My Yamaha 2700 can apply two EQ points to the sub vs 7 (or something) to the other speakers. Many receivers skip EQ on the sub completely.
 
P

ParkerAudio

Full Audioholic
The Multi Audessy did a good job setting up my Onkyo 875, but I didn't understand why everything had a negative number, with the smallest negative number being 3. Shouldn't something be zero.

Pardon my ignorance on this issue, not my strong suit.
 
D

Davidt1

Full Audioholic
All of the systems set the basic parameters (level, crossover) but not many will apply equalization to the sub. My Yamaha 2700 can apply two EQ points to the sub vs 7 (or something) to the other speakers. Many receivers skip EQ on the sub completely.
I hope the new 663 will equalize the sub, but given the low price, I can only hope. By the way, does it help with the sq of the sub?
 
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