ez setup mic accuracy

[nsousa]

Hey guys im new to all this and I have a denon 3311ci recevier, im getting huge interest in this hobby and recently started thinking about how accurate is that ez set up mic compared to a Radio shack spl meter, i dont want to waste my money if the spl meter will just tell that the settings on the receiver are right, is it worth it buying or is that mic accurate plus we dont have RS here in Toronto but we have The Source and they sell these Scosche boom stick spl1000 either that or I drive about 45 min to get a analog spl meter any in put is appreciated. whats are your thought

Thanks!!

 

[Pyrrho]

I would not bother with getting a meter with any competently made modern receiver with automatic setup. Many people who later use a meter to readjust the settings, thinking they are off, do not get the orientation of the meter exactly the same as the microphone for the automatic setup, plus they are typically in the room for one and not the other, or are not completely still and in precisely the same place for both, so their readings may be different without thereby being better or more right.

The accuracy for things like levels and delays tends to be quite good with automatic setups, but they often leave something to be desired when selecting whether the speakers should be large or small, and if small, what the crossover frequency should be. For those things, I recommend manually setting them based upon the specifications of the speakers, which I discuss here for someone's specific case, which however explains how to decide such things:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=795004#post795004

 

[BMXTRIX]

What we used to have to do manually, is something which computers can do far more accurately, in far less time.

They are not just close, but are amazingly accurate with their microphones in the listening position(s) as required. Moreso, the units which take readings from multiple locations get more and more accurate with their readings and how the receiver is setup.

Originally I went with both manual setup and auto setup on units and eventually found that the auto setup was doing exactly what I wanted it to do at the base level, then I might go in and tweak some settings.

For example, I just had a client who wanted to reuse his old speakers which had integrated 10" or 12" woofers in the speaker. As most modern speakers don't include the large woofer, these speakers were a mis-match to the other speakers in the room and ended up sounding bassy. My client didn't like it, so I went in and adjusted the crossover up a bit on that speaker to get it to sound more similar to the other speakers in the room.

Immediately he was happy with that change and the bass extension which the speaker could handle, but made it sound odd, was removed from the speaker and dumped back onto the subwoofer.

So, it's still important to know what you want to hear and how to adjust things, but the use of the audio meter basically is no longer required for the setup of a surround system.

 

[highfigh]

Hey guys im new to all this and I have a denon 3311ci recevier, im getting huge interest in this hobby and recently started thinking about how accurate is that ez set up mic compared to a Radio shack spl meter, i dont want to waste my money if the spl meter will just tell that the settings on the receiver are right, is it worth it buying or is that mic accurate plus we dont have RS here in Toronto but we have The Source and they sell these Scosche boom stick spl1000 either that or I drive about 45 min to get a analog spl meter any in put is appreciated. whats are your thought

Thanks!!

As long as the mics are consistent, it really doesn't matter how accurate they are because the inaccuracy can be countered in the software.

 

[nsousa]

so the setup mic is accurate well thank you

 

[nsousa]

Hey guys, I have to admit I had nothing to do today so I went for a drive about 1/2hour away to a electronics store called Sonicboom Audio were I met Mason who is the store owner, let me tell you he is really helpful and extremely knowledgable about this stuff so I got the latest model of the RS SPL meter, he told me to try and see if I noticed a difference if didnt hear a difference he would give me my money back, You cant go wrong with that deal I paid $40 for it so it wasnt about the money.
Now l set it up properly took my time doing it (1/2hour) let me tell it was the best 40 bucks i've spent in awhile, I noticed a great improvement with the sound again I have the Denon 3311ci receiver which in my books is a phenominal avr but that easy mic will set you up pretty good but if you wanna go one step further i would definitley recommend doing set up with the SPL meter. thats just my 2 cents

 

[jostenmeat]

I own both an RS meter as well as Audyssey mic. Audyssey mics are actually more accurate than RS meters, particularly in the bass. If you prefer your own RS measurements, please have at it, but the RS meter is not superior.

 

[nsousa]

I completely agree with you on the bass setting but for the other speakers im pleased with spl meter maybe preference of sound but the difference between the 2 wasnt alot