jongaro said:
i just don't see how having to go through test tones with a rat shack meter is easy regardless of how the GUI looks. I think Mark and company put out some amazing products for an amazing price, but not in this case. now if you guys made the arguement that the signal was less processed versus the sms-1 then i could see how you could justify it being comparable to the sms-1.
i'll say it again, minute adjustments can play a big role in flattening the freq curve. i'd rather fiddle with room placement and phasing before trying to cut or boost the signal at a specific frequency. given that we are all migrating to multiple subs these days, the sms-1 makes eq'ing multiple subs painless.
had the sms-1 not come out, i'd say the r-des is a great product, but it just isn't the case given the price.
Hi jon & others,
I'm dragging this back up because I missed this earlier and wanted to add some perspective to this. First, while I am designing subwoofers for AV123, I currently have no personal stake in RDES, other than it being another tool to make subwoofers I design perform better in real rooms.
First and foremost, I would point out that the main difference in the SMS-1 and RDES is the measurement setup and decision to keep the display and interface internal. The measurement setup is certainly of value, and you pay for it. From what bits I've seen, TrueRTA or REQ offer much better resolution than the SMS-1. The display choice is a give and take. With the SMS-1, the settings live in the unit. With RDES, you will be saving those settings and as many as you like to your computer. Even if your system gets killed by lightning, you still have the files. With the SMS-1 you start over. In the computer you can save a file that you are happy with and stash it away without much worry. In other systems you have a higher probability of accidentally over-writing or un-intentionally changing a setting. Not always a huge deal, but if someone pays me or an installer to set up their system and they want to do some experimentation later, it's good to know that someone always has the settings backed up.
Another important factor is that the interface of RDES clearly shows you how different filters are interacting. This is being under-rated by many. It is quite common to fall in the trap of setting filters that end up hugely overlapping or effectly counteracting eachother. With the SMS you have no way of seeing that or understanding if your filters have just created an unexpected peak or other anomaly that might be minimized or smoothed over in the measurement process. The display also helps you see what is going on well below the range you have applied EQ, where different approaches will result in very different relative levels in the sub 20Hz range.
Frankly, the measurement method is the weakest link, but there are plenty of inexpensive or freeware options out there, and for those not wanting to spend too much time measuring, the "graph paper" mode will still allow them to make very significant improvements.
In relation to the Behringer, these really aren't competing products. Note that ALL support for the Behringer units comes from user bases because the company has zero interaction with you, the customer. Most of the Behringer products, and especially the cheapest ones, are an absolute pain to use and adjust if you don't go through the trouble of hunting down the different software packages and get your computer talking to the unit. The measurement options mentioned with the Behringer units can just as well be used with RDES. Let's also not forget that the Behringer units were never intended for a home environment in mind, and they require much more attention to the gain structure of your system.
Simply put, the Behringer is a plenty practical and cost effective option for those willing to spend a lot of time reading on the forums and tinkering to get things working right. RDES is much more "ready to go" and less intimidating to those who would probably leave the Behringer in the box or un-adjusted for months (there are a LOT of people who we see post that they have a Behringer, but haven't set it up yet). The price and packaging of it is also low enough for those tenative about buying something like an SMS-1 to start experimenting with subwoofer EQ in their system.
All of the products have their places, but let's not loose perspective just because a few people have preferences for the other two options.
PS - If you are looking for a more hands-on EQ like the DCX or DEQ 2496, be sure to check out the QSC DSP-30 or DSP-4 which are much more flexible and better suited to the use.
