Audyssey setup for dummies

[Hobbit]

There is in most avrs afaik, with the press of a single button on the remote....let alone how easy it is to setup particular profiles....what has been your roadblock in doing so?

You may be correct with QuickSelect 1-4. I had thought each QS was tied to a specific input only - as it appears in the setup menu. Thus, I didn't think it would work because I watch movies and listen to music through a Roku. But that doesn't appear to be the case.

I had programmed buttons on my Harmony 665 to make the changes to settings I want. I'll try the QSs and see how it works.

 

[PENG]

First, consider your sonic memory is fairly unreliable. If you do compare, you need to do some level matching for a fair comparison, as well as quick switching....hard to do. Better speakers will show up more faults in material, tho.

Agreed, but using the same reference source (media contents and player) of high recording quality to compare is very important if the results are to be taken seriously. I suspect probably more often than not, lots of people are not paying enough attention in this regard, when comparing things (electronics, room correction etc.) by their subjective measurements, i.e. ears and brains. They would just run their calibration, set their systems up, listen to their favorite music and/or movie tracks and then go on the internet forums and tell their story one products sounds so much better, or worse, from barely audible to night and day kind of differences.

I don't know that for sure but judging (subjectively of course) from what they wrote, I am taking my educated guess, or more just a guess based on gut feeling.

 

[pseals68]

Agreed, but using the same reference source (media contents and player) of high recording quality to compare is very important if the results are to be taken seriously. I suspect probably more often than not, lots of people are not paying enough attention in this regard, when comparing things (electronics, room correction etc.) by their subjective measurements, i.e. ears and brains. They would just run their calibration, set their systems up, listen to their favorite music and/or movie tracks and then go on the internet forums and tell their story one products sounds so much better, or worse, from barely audible to night and day kind of differences.

I don't know that for sure but judging (subjectively of course) from what they wrote, I am taking my educated guess, or more just a guess based on gut feeling.

Hey Peng,
I always enjoy your insight on setup with lots of detail, which I’m still trying to process and understand at times. My listening source for music is Tidal Hifi Plus to try and get the best recorded sound quality. Are there more suggestions you might have to continue tinkering with the receiver and speakers setup? I trust my ears to hear what I perceive as quality sound in the listening environment without having to continually increase the volume, if that makes sense.
Thank you!

 

[lovinthehd]

You may be correct with QuickSelect 1-4. I had thought each QS was tied to a specific input only - as it appears in the setup menu. Thus, I didn't think it would work because I watch movies and listen to music through a Roku. But that doesn't appear to be the case.

I had programmed buttons on my Harmony 665 to make the changes to settings I want. I'll try the QSs and see how it works.

Another way is to create different house curves with the Audyssey MultEQ Editor App. Even just the dsp mode for the music/movie/game/direct buttons.

 

[PENG]

Hey Peng,
I always enjoy your insight on setup with lots of detail, which I’m still trying to process and understand at times. My listening source for music is Tidal Hifi Plus to try and get the best recorded sound quality.

I tried Tidal and was disappointed with them overall in terms of responsiveness to questions, the interface, the not too good collections, and the MQA thing is more hype/bs, than substance. Someone on this forum suggested Qobuz, and did a quick trial and then signed up shortly, very happy with them so far. So you may want to try them for free (one month iirc) and then consider switching, for better enjoyment, and less money too but obviously ymmv, so in the end you may conclude Tidal is better, or even much better.

Are there more suggestions you might have to continue tinkering with the receiver and speakers setup? I trust my ears to hear what I perceive as quality sound in the listening environment without having to continually increase the volume, if that makes sense.
Thank you!

If you are interested in continue tinkering, and are looking for more suggestions you can browse through pages of the following thread:

I cannot speak for other users, but for me, if I spend many hours tinkering and checking with REW, I could achieve a near straight line response from 20 to 150 Hz, say within +/- 1 dB. Below is one quick example:

This one shows about +/- 1.3 dB from 20 to 100 Hz, no smoothing, so with the popular 1/12th smoothing, it would look very close to a straight line, within +/- 1 dB.

I could have spent less than 2 hours and get within +/-3.5 dB, and to me it would sound the same as the best I managed, i.e. +/- less than 1 dB, 1/12th smoothing. Where is that point of diminishing return, I really don't know but I would bet for most people, there is no point spending more than half a day to chase the good looking curves.

So, I would suggest you run Audyssey as normal, but follow instructions to the letter, then tweak, tinker, with the Editor App to get the best result based on the Editor app's predicted FR graphs, and of course by ears too. Then, try shaping the target curve, if you prefer more bass then put a tilt to it so the bass would be elevated gradually from about 200 Hz towards 20 Hz. Peaks and dips in the lower than 20 Hz range is for the look, preferred by crazy people like me, at that low range, we could feel the bass but not really hear it anyway.

Again, tinkering for a few hours should be good enough if you are the go by ears type. If you are the for the best measurement type, then depending on your room acoustic/speakers, you could spend days on it, to get a near flat curve from 20 to say as high as 200 Hz, and then play with different bass tilted target curves, but in that case, don't expect audible difference, because in practice curves with a few narrow peaks and dips won't make an audible difference, except that due to Placebo effects.

The Audyssey MultEQ Editor app users thread (with facts and tips) | Page 8 | Audioholics Home Theater Forums

 

[Focus SE]

Peng your comments on music source was a better way to say what I wanted. My source music in my case was an unknowingly bad choice on my part. It was what I liked to hear on most systems. I had a had a 48 years history listening to my “source” music and it stood up to all others on what I’ll call lowfi equipment. By changing artist and types of music It was much easier for me to dial in my current hifi equipment. I have a long way to go. But being willing to admit that what I’ve always enjoyed is not the best to judge equipment with, I would have missed so much. Being new at this game is frustrating. I wish I could remember where I read it because whoever it was deserves credit. But they asked a simple question,
“Are we listening to our equipment or the music? ” it’s so very true but when you have good music and good equipment it makes it worth it

 

[pseals68]

Update: been working on speaker placement, angles, rerunning Audyssey and overall sound is a whole lot better actually sounds really good. Thank you for all the advice!

 

[Kingnoob]

Update: been working on speaker placement, angles, rerunning Audyssey and overall sound is a whole lot better actually sounds really good. Thank you for all the advice!

Hurray ! I just re configured my speaker layout and put bipolar as surrounds because my rooms so small. Xt32 did an amazing job sounds like a cinema. And it’s just a basic mostly cable tv or movie set up .I had to run audysee 3x to get proper trim levels on my sub so my head hurts a little.

Peng your comments on music source was a better way to say what I wanted. My source music in my case was an unknowingly bad choice on my part. It was what I liked to hear on most systems. I had a had a 48 years history listening to my “source” music and it stood up to all others on what I’ll call lowfi equipment. By changing artist and types of music It was much easier for me to dial in my current hifi equipment. I have a long way to go. But being willing to admit that what I’ve always enjoyed is not the best to judge equipment with, I would have missed so much. Being new at this game is frustrating. I wish I could remember where I read it because whoever it was deserves credit. But they asked a simple question,
“Are we listening to our equipment or the music? ” it’s so very true but when you have good music and good equipment it makes it worth it

I use Netflix to dial in my gear . Plenty of movies ..