Bass & Treble

[cthoennes]

I've noticed that many DVDs say something like "Audio optimized for DVD, no equalization required".

Am I to assume, then, that the Bass & Treble (tone) controls should be left at "0"?

 

[rnatalli]

I've noticed that many DVDs say something like "Audio optimized for DVD, no equalization required".

Am I to assume, then, that the Bass & Treble (tone) controls should be left at "0"?

Ignore comments like that on DVDs. Bass and Treble are mainly used to deal with room acoustics so leaving them at zero isn't always ideal.

 

[cthoennes]

Obviously no room/setup is the same. Is there certain guidelines to follow when setting bass & treble controls for movies? My room is small, 14x12. Have a Sony HT-SS2000 5.1 system. Nothing that blows the doors off but not bad for a small room.

Again, I know that there's no easy answer for this. But if someone could provide general advice on how to set Bass & Treble so that my movies sound warm and life-like I'd be grateful.

 

[bandphan]

there isnt any general advice for setup, each setup is different based on several factors, read up on surfaces and speaker setup, that could get you started. Im not sure if your system gives you control for speaker setup, so you might just adjust levels for the way it sounds good to you.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I for one recommend leaving all tone controls to OFF and turning off any room EQs.

If done correctly, I think room EQ has a good role.
But to effectively control the room EQ, you need more than just your ears; you need more expensive equipments. So messing with tone controls can do more harm than good, meaning your sound quality may be adversely effected.

Leave it at "0".

 

[GlocksRock]

I for one recommend leaving all tone controls to OFF and turning off any room EQs.

If done correctly, I think room EQ has a good role.
But to effectively control the room EQ, you need more than just your ears; you need more expensive equipments. So messing with tone controls can do more harm than good, meaning your sound quality may be adversely effected.

Leave it at "0".

So do you think I should turn off the Parametric EQ on my yamaha receiver that was set by the automatic setup?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So do you think I should turn off the Parametric EQ on my yamaha receiver that was set by the automatic setup?

I think you have to compare the room EQ vs. non-room EQ.

When I had the Harman Kardon receiver, I did that comparison and found that the non-EQ sounded much clearer. The automatic room EQ just caused the sound be be less clear; it sounded "muddy" or "compressed".

Notice that when HT measures the specs of the receivers, they always use the Direct mode (no room EQ or tone controls).

I think most receivers will sound exactly like any separate preamps + amps as long as you turn off all DSPs/Tone Controls/EQs.

I think you are taking chances the moment you turn on all those digital processing.

BTW, I just set my CLR3000 and BP7001SCs back to 12 o'clock, but I kept my BP7000SCs to 11 o'clock.

 

[GlocksRock]

I'll definitely have to do some comparing once I get my CLR 3000 in... it's out for delivery right now, but I may not get to mess with it till tomorrow

So how come you are getting a second 3000, and why did you set the center back to 12 o'clock?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'll definitely have to do some comparing once I get my CLR 3000 in... it's out for delivery right now, but I may not get to mess with it till tomorrow

So how come you are getting a second 3000, and why did you set the center back to 12 o'clock?

@ 12 o'clock, the CLR3000 does not produce overpowering bass, unlike the BP7000SCs. I wanted the maxium bass output without distortion or excess bass. I also talked to a Def Tech rep, and he recommended the 12 o'clock.

But yeah, definitely compare the room EQ vs non-room EQ.

Also, when critics (including Audioholics) review receivers, I think they always end up turning the Room EQ to off (or flat).

Oh, yeah, and that article about the $6 million HT system (w/ 3 vertical center speakers) gave me the idea of 2 vertical CLR3000s.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I have always run my HT receiver flat. In my music system, I bypass tone controls altogether.

 

[markw]

But if someone could provide general advice on how to set Bass & Treble so that my movies sound warm and life-like I'd be grateful.

Movies aren't recorded to sound "warm and lifelike". They are mixed to satisfy the wants of the producer/director and whoever else has a hand in the mix. What's lifelike about laser blasts, tyrannosourus foot-stomps and the sound space ships make in space, which is a vacuum?

Generally, you should set them to whatever your little heart desires but, lacking a true frame of reference and if you require a definitive answer, I'd say leave 'em at flat. I haven't touched mine since the HT system was set up.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have always run my HT receiver flat. In my music system, I bypass tone controls altogether.

Did the room EQ also sounded "compressed" or "muddy" to you?

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Did the room EQ also sounded "compressed" or "muddy" to you?

Room EQ? Must be something mine doesn't have. I was able to set speaker distances, though.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Room EQ? Must be something mine doesn't have. I was able to set speaker distances, though.

You are not missing anything. I think those room EQs were made for one purpose: to be turned off.

 

[Exit]

I used the Yamaha YAPO room equalization at flat and I think it sounds fine. For awhile I did not realize it had tone controls because they were buried in one of the menus. I think that the tone controls are buried because they really don't want to encourage you to use them, especially after they went to all the trouble for room equalization.

 

[GlocksRock]

The only way I found to adjust the tone contorls on my Yamaha are from the front control panel, not the remote. But I set my EQ to flat at first, then set it to front since I wanted the sound to match that of my BP10s, and I found that to sound the best so far. But once I go home and hook up my CLR 3000, I will set the center to large and turn the EQ off and see how it sounds with everything but the surrounds set to large and no EQ. I'm betting it will sound pretty good... I guess my next step would be to upgrade the surrounds so I can set those to large as well.

 

[no. 5]

I've noticed that many DVDs say something like "Audio optimized for DVD, no equalization required".

Am I to assume, then, that the Bass & Treble (tone) controls should be left at "0"?

Movies are mixed with the knowledge that they will be played in acoustically treated rooms (i.e. commercial theaters), but most rooms that are being used to watch DVDs are not acoustically treated, so my assumption is that the statement "Audio optimized for DVD, no equalization required" means that the DVD was mastered with a high frequency roll-off to keep it from sounding too bright in an average home.

 

[Exit]

It looks like you have a good subwoofer. If you set everything to large, then the subwoofer will not get an input. The bass information is mostly in the mains and center channel. If you set them to large you also will be getting little to no use out of your subwoofer. Most likely your subwoofer goes lower in bass than your mains or center channel so I would think you would prefer setting all channels to small. If you want to compare the processed signal to the raw input in stereo you should have a button called “pure direct” or something similar which bypasses all processing and feeds the signal directly to the amps and then to the mains. If you find you like that better than the processed signal, then you should turn off all processing as others have recommended.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The only way I found to adjust the tone contorls on my Yamaha are from the front control panel, not the remote. But I set my EQ to flat at first, then set it to front since I wanted the sound to match that of my BP10s, and I found that to sound the best so far. But once I go home and hook up my CLR 3000, I will set the center to large and turn the EQ off and see how it sounds with everything but the surrounds set to large and no EQ. I'm betting it will sound pretty good... I guess my next step would be to upgrade the surrounds so I can set those to large as well.

You mean upgrade the Def BP1.2x to the BP8 (30Hz-20kHz +/-3dB) or BP10 (25Hz-20kHz +/-3dB)?

Yeah, get them all Full Range/Large and turn off all EQs/Tones.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you set everything to large, then the subwoofer will not get an input.

That is incorrect.

A) In my experience, when you set everything to LARGE + SUBWOOFER, the LFE channel goes to the Subwoofer, and every channel gets full range.

B) If you set everything to SMALL, all the low bass from every channel (below crossover) goes to the subwoofer, and all the mid & upper frequencies (above crossover) goes to all the speakers.

If you have monitor/bookshelf speakers, then B is your only correct choice.

If you have full-range tower speakers + ext. amps, then A is great.