This place is a welcome bad influence

Esreuter

Hey forum,

I just wanted to thank you all again for being a bad influence on me, again.

but it is all welcomed bad influence.

today i read up on and got a SPL meter. the ever popular radio shack one.

Just a note for any one reading, who was on the fence about getting a meter because of price, make sure you check your radio shack, because as you can see i got the analog meter. The shack is apparently closing out on this one for good the digital read out is more popular i would imagine. so i picked up this little baby for 29 bucks instead of 45. I am willing to sacrifice the ability to see the .1 db for 16 bucks.

This whole tweeking and fine tuning stuff is interesting the most. I feel today that my nerd meter now goes to 11, but i know this is the tip of the iceberg and my meter is probably set at about 5.

i want to ask you all something. I believe the EQ setting of HZ must be a personal preference to each ones ears and taste. Is that correct? or is there a reference for these settings to be optimal?

For example, i like my highs to be a bit ?warm? or ?bright? (please explain what these terms mean, i see them all over this forum) What i mean is i like my highs and mids to be more pronounced than the bass, and i also like my bass to be not over powering and not to booooommm.

i usually like to run everything flat, but i have been dabbing in the +2, 20khz +0 20hz but then the hissssssss S's make my ears cringe a little.

Anyways, what i would like to know is what are you all running your EQ's at?
Any good reference levels for starting?
Or is this setting completely up to my ears and their tuning?

as always your insight and experience is welcomed.

Thank you for your time and reads.

ESR

skrol

Impressive tripod and boom. It should avoid any sound reflection off the tripod.

dorokusai

I run my surrounds and rear hot by +5db, every time, based on reference pink noise @ 75db. I prefer to hear more surround effects. In regards to the subwoofer?...100% preference.

That's a very nice boom and stand but the last thing I'd be worried about is reflection off the tripod. No offense Skrol.

I'm sure you can buy all kinds of stuff to get more serious but it's just not that hard to get a baseline and run with it from there with nominal adjustments and basic +/-.

Good luck.

Cmiller

"This place is a welcome bad influence"

Tell me about it..lol..i came here looking @ what Xover should be set on a pair of monitor 40's i bought @ the egg,for cheap a yr ago, now those are long gone..Now im in about 5k and countless hours off rearanging my living room,to sound pannels.etc etc...HAHA

Esreuter

opps.

I should mention, as i forgot. The tripod is mine, of course, what i mean is i didnt by that today! thats my photo tripod.

its just pullin double duty, tonight for the meter.

dorokusai

Esreuter wrote: »

opps.

I should mention, as i forgot. The tripod is mine, of course, what i mean is i didnt by that today! thats my photo tripod.

its just pullin double duty, tonight for the meter.

It's the pimp daddy of tripods.

Joe08867

I run my rears about the same as Doro does, +5-6db. I run my center a bit hot at +2db over the left and right channels.

I don't really mess with the EQ much if at all as I prefer it flat.

I adjust the sub volume to match the movie/show I am watching. No need to blast bass for say "You Got Mail" or "Price is Right", but prefer more thunder for say "Lord of the Rings" or "Full Metal Jacket".

byfthalone

only been here a couple of months but find it addicting. likely spend too much time reading all of the various threads but so much good info.

Glowrdr

Esreuter wrote: »

For example, i like my highs to be a bit ?warm? or ?bright? (please explain what these terms mean, i see them all over this forum) What i mean is i like my highs and mids to be more pronounced than the bass, and i also like my bass to be not over powering and not to booooommm.


ESR

The best way for me to explain sound terms is to overly exaggerate to get the point across. Here are MY definitions:

Warm would be considered "muddy, low, muffled" - put a sock over your tweeter and that would sound warm.

Bright is when the treble is so high, it actually makes you cringe a little. Turn your bass all the way off, and turn up the speaker, and imagine the thing just screaming and screetching (BTW - don't do this..lol)

Bass itself is generally tight or boomy. I used to have 3 10" subs in a car years ago, and the bass hit so clean and tight, it felt like someone was punching you in the chest. I've also had an 18" sub in an Expedition. You could hear it alright, but all it really did was shook the living hell out of everything. It wasn't a "punch", it was more of a message. lol

As for the loudness of the bass, that's all accomplished by adjusting the volume of the sub, or the levels on the receiver.

Hope that helped! Obviously my explanations were a little over the top - but hopefully it gets you on the right track

Systems

Yep..cool place to hangout..picked up some really good tips in here..a lot of the old timers in here are as good if not better then some of the guys on the Pro-sites...They help me out alot!..Here ..Cold Beers! too the guys that have been on here for sometime!

Hawkeye

As we fall deeper and deeper into the hole, an entirely new language begins to overtake us. This link is a good reference for the terminology used in audio.http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/bbs/stereophile_audio-glossary.html

Gordon

Esreuter

much obliged Hawk thank you.

lots of times i get a lil confused because i dont know the terminology used here but i am getting it.

krauley

Esreuter heres how i setup my system using the spl. It may not be the most scientific correct way but give it a shot.

First, I measured my speaker distances from "MY" sitting position, then i went into setup and manually imput this information. On my onkyo 808 I can only set it by .5 foot increments.

Then I manually set my speaker crossovers according to polks website specifications. I rounded up if a certain speakers crossover wasnt availiable in setup. Such as my monitor 50s are rated at 42Hz - 25kHz. So i set the crossover at 50Hz. Once again my 808 is only adjustable in 10Hz increments. I did this for all my speakers. I set my LFE at 120Hz.

I then mounted my spl at ear level on my couch where i sit and ran my level calibration test tones manually and set each speaker to 75dB. I spent some time on each speaker getting them right at 75 by going up and down on each speakers dB until they just crossed over from 74 to 75dBs that way all speakers were exactly at 75dBs within reasonable tolerance considering. I have two subs so i set each one while the other was switched off. I tried to do both at the same time but i wasnt happy with the outcome, one at a time worked (sounded better). I also like my system to have a little more bass so i uped the dBs of the subs to 80 dB each. My onkyo has an easy to excess OSM where i can adjust my sub/center on the fly if needed but the 80dBs really worked for my ears.

After doing this setup, my stuff never sounded so good. This was my way to setup my equipment, it may not be the exact proper method so please dont critize it folks, its just me giving an idea as to what worked best for me to Esreuter.

bsoko2

This hobby is our "Crack".

krauley

smoking some right now!