Best way to calibrate a HT system?

D

dlavall

Enthusiast
Any thoughts on the BEST way to calibrate a HT receiver?

I've had an Integra AVR (old DTR 9.9) that I've had for some time and I have been largely disappointed in its automatic calibration (i.e., with the Integra Audyssey Setup). My main complaint is there seems to be a lot of variance between tests without changing anything. I see the difference in both levels and distances it sets for each speaker between each test and the averages of separate rounds of tests. We've also been disappointed with the results and find that we need to fine tune it afterwards.

I also tried doing it myself with a miniDSP microphone placed at my optimal listening position and using the manual level setting option in the setup menu of the receiver. I do this as follows:
  1. Place the microphone at the optimal listening position, at ear level
  2. Use the speaker level adjustment --uses pink noise on each speaker to set the level at 75dB (using Z weighted measurements)
  3. Measure the distance to each speaker from the microphone
While this is much more labor intensive, it is definitely much more consistent between tests to the point that there is no value in running a series of tests and averaging them as is done when using the factory calibration. Now this might be placebo, but to me, it sounds much better! In one case, we watched the blu-ray of "Birdman" and I was amazed by the results I got from manually calibrating my system. Whether you like the movie itself or not, the audio mix on it is awesome and pays a lot of attention to the direction to the direction a noise is coming from; e.g., a creaking door that is closing behind you turns with the POV of the shot. We recently watched the John Wick series which is all action (and little else) but also has a fantastic audio mix,

Thoughts?

All the best,

Dave
 
D

dlavall

Enthusiast
Darn it, I meant to add that "my wife can hear the difference when she was cooking breakfast in the other room!"
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I'd say the one that you liked the results of better. :) Audyssey can yield good results but technique does enter into it to an extent as well as the version of Audyssey (the newer XT32 is better, and the newer avrs with the Audyssey app to give you more control even better). Some don't like the eq Audyssey brings....did you find the settings of delay/level with Audyssey turned off was that different from your manual settings in terms of listening?

ps meant to say the one your wife prefers :)
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Best results for stereo, 5.1 audio and movie tracks has come from just generating white noise from each speaker and measuring its db level with an SPL app on my iPhone. I adjust each speakers volume to about 56 db at the speaker. Then, I set Pre-Pro to distance listening chair is from each speaker. This so far has produced the best outcome when music and movies are played through my Pre-Pro. I also play multi-channel via a Universal Player, and I use its multi-channel bass management to set speaker volume/crossover/distance. I have not needed to use the SPL meter for that operation.
 
D

dlavall

Enthusiast
Some don't like the eq Audyssey brings....did you find the settings of delay/level with Audyssey turned off was that different from your manual settings in terms of listening?
Sort of. It seemed that we always end up tweaking the levels a bit when we used the Audessey, whereas when I do it manually we don't, with one exception: I always boost the center channel by 3db for the voice tracks
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Nothing wrong with a little tweak afterwards either. I meant more was whether or not with Audyssey off (i.e. no eq), how different were the levels set? What were the typical Audyssey settings for level/delay vs your own?
 
D

dlavall

Enthusiast
Nothing wrong with a little tweak afterwards either. I meant more was whether or not with Audyssey off (i.e. no eq), how different were the levels set? What were the typical Audyssey settings for level/delay vs your own?
I will have to re-check as far as levels as this was a while back. I do know the speaker distances were often off by a foot on my mains (farther than actually measured). As a result of this (I think) the levels from the surrounds seemed faint.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I will have to re-check as far as levels as this was a while back. I do know the speaker distances were often off by a foot on my mains (farther than actually measured). As a result of this (I think) the levels from the surrounds seemed faint.
Could be room acoustics with slight differences in delay/distance for your speakers, and some sub amps add some processing time so can affect such as well. Slight differences in mic position can also yield slightly different results as well from one Audyssey calibration to another. Usual complaint from Audyssey users is surrounds set a bit hot rather than faint. In the end make yourself happy no matter how you do it. So mainly it is just level/delay settings that you prefer to make manually, the Audyssey eq portion doesn't enter into the picture for you?
 
D

dlavall

Enthusiast
Could be room acoustics with slight differences in delay/distance for your speakers, and some sub amps add some processing time so can affect such as well.
As far as room acoustics, I did some measurements with REW that showed a pretty flat response. This is probably due to the geometry of the room. I have vaulted ceilings, and open areas to the right and behind.

So mainly it is just level/delay settings that you prefer to make manually, the Audyssey eq portion doesn't enter into the picture for you?
Yes. I've found the EQ settings that Audessey provides to work very well, so I always mirror them in my manual set-up.

Also, note that there seems to be a big discrepancy between each test run (Audessey requires at least 3 tests on my receiver) with a single microphone setup. It was the disappointment in the sound quality by myself and two other members of my family, and seeing the variance of each test within a run of tests, that led me towards performing a manual calibration in the first place.

I do wonder, given a lack of disappointment (in Audessey) by others, maybe my Audessey microphone is defective? It seems to be cheaply made (of plastic) and is very light.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
As far as room acoustics, I did some measurements with REW that showed a pretty flat response. This is probably due to the geometry of the room. I have vaulted ceilings, and open areas to the right and behind.


Yes. I've found the EQ settings that Audessey provides to work very well, so I always mirror them in my manual set-up.

Also, note that there seems to be a big discrepancy between each test run (Audessey requires at least 3 tests on my receiver) with a single microphone setup. It was the disappointment in the sound quality by myself and two other members of my family, and seeing the variance of each test within a run of tests, that led me towards performing a manual calibration in the first place.

I do wonder, given a lack of disappointment (in Audessey) by others, maybe my Audessey microphone is defective? It seems to be cheaply made (of plastic) and is very light.
You really can't copy the same eq into the graphic eq section of the avr, its just different (the Audyssey filters are more extensive). Audyssey doesn't require 3 tests particularly but multiple mic positions to give it more information and I'd recommend you use all of them....the first one is at your primary listening position and will be the one used for levels/delays, the other mic positions (they're not literally for each seat) provide more information for the filters and should be grouped around the first....I use a circle for the other 7, about a 3 ft diameter circle around the first. How are you positioning the mic itself? Tripod? Mic boom? Pillow?
 
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