[Rob Tweed]

In another recent thread Steven Sullivan wrote:

I know plenty of audiophiles who use DSP for system calibration and room correction.

I've seen this kind of thing mentioned before but not really discussed
in detail. Suppose I wanted to do this, what's involved and what
equipment would I need? Some step by step instructions would, I
think, be really helpful and of interest to a lot of readers of this
newsgroup.

---

Rob Tweed
Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
Registered in England: No 3220901
Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR

Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com

[Steven Sullivan]

Rob Tweed wrote:
In another recent thread Steven Sullivan wrote:

I know plenty of audiophiles who use DSP for system calibration and room correction.

I've seen this kind of thing mentioned before but not really discussed
in detail. Suppose I wanted to do this, what's involved and what
equipment would I need? Some step by step instructions would, I
think, be really helpful and of interest to a lot of readers of this
newsgroup.

There's a number of ways to go.

Generally, either you buy an modern AV receiver with built-in tools (most now come with some
version of room correction, but they aren't all equally good) or you buy an outboard unit. You
can configure these automatically in some cases (just set up the microphone and hit 'go'), or
tweak them manually, or hire an acoustic consultant to do it. Audyssey's top-line room EQ,
for example, requires professonal setup. But they make other tiers of performance, some of
them reportedly very good indeed, available in AV receivers. Finally there's also freeware
like RoomEQ Wizard, which lets the properly equipped user do his own measurements and generate
graphical output from his/her PC; then its up to the user to implement the indicated
correction profiles (in the case of Room EQ wizard, these tend to be for low frequency
problems).

--
-S
I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can
seldom accept the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit
the falsity of conclusions which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have
woven, thread by thread, into the fabrics of their life -- Leo Tolstoy

[Kalman Rubinson]

There are several routes but, before I mention them, actual physical
construction and add-on acoustical treatments (along with proper
setup) are fundamantal and should precede any electronic EQ.

1. Built-in room EQ included in many modern AVRs and processors. The
current standard is Audyssey (www.audyssey.com) but there are many
others (ARC, TacT, YPAO, MCACC, etc.) This is the easiest and most
effective for most users.

2. Stand-alone EQs like Nautilis, Audyssey, Trinnov, TacT (all
digital) as well as analog EQs like PARC (bass only).

3. Many, many EQs made for the professional/musician application but
also usable for some home systems. The Behringer units are examples.

4. Bass/subwoofer EQs, such as Velodyne's SMS-1, AntiMode 8033, etc.
Note that the bass is the hardest to treat with a physical acoustical
approach and probably the most important range to treat.

5. One can also use a very flexible parametric EQ for this but one
needs to have a way to generate the proper filter setups for it. A
good way is to use the Room EQ Wizard software or similar.

This is far from an exhaustive list but you might start by reading up
on listening room acoustics. Two great books are Everest's The Master
Handbook of Acoustics and Toole's The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of
Loudspeakers and Rooms. There are useful threads/discussions on
websites like http://forum.studiotips.com/, www.hometheatershack.com
and www.avsforum.com.

I have reviewed many of the relevant products in my column at
www.stereophile.com/musicintheround

Kal


On 9 Nov 2008 18:28:00 GMT, Rob Tweed wrote:

In another recent thread Steven Sullivan wrote:

I know plenty of audiophiles who use DSP for system calibration and room correction.

I've seen this kind of thing mentioned before but not really discussed
in detail. Suppose I wanted to do this, what's involved and what
equipment would I need? Some step by step instructions would, I
think, be really helpful and of interest to a lot of readers of this
newsgroup.

---

Rob Tweed
Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
Registered in England: No 3220901
Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR

Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com

[Arny Krueger]

"Rob Tweed" wrote in message

In another recent thread Steven Sullivan wrote:

I know plenty of audiophiles who use DSP for system
calibration and room correction.

I've seen this kind of thing mentioned before but not
really discussed in detail. Suppose I wanted to do this,
what's involved and what equipment would I need? Some
step by step instructions would, I think, be really
helpful and of interest to a lot of readers of this
newsgroup.

The basic equipment is a computer with audio interface, a suitable
microphone, and a mic preamp.

One of many software products are available to guide you through the
process. Their instruction manuals will tell you more about what other
hardware to acqu

SMAART

http://www.eaw.com/products/software/EAWSmaart/

ETF
http://www.etfacoustic.com/

Sample Champion
http://purebits.com/

etc.