2 ch audio: audyssey calibration useful?

SlowcarIX

since 2 ch audio is all about keeping things as simple as possible...

will audyssey calibration be helpful...or not?

Gadabout

Never tried an Audyssey Calibration for 2 Ch. I have always just set things by ear to what sounds best to me. I'd be interested to hear about your results if you try an Audessey Calibration vs. what you had set by ear.Which one your preferred.

SlowcarIX

there is a very positive effect with audyssey!

with audyssey: there is a big improvement in clarity of the sound and soundstage spans between the 2 speakers.

w/o (running pure direct on the avp): the sound is dull, uninvolving...soundstage is er..poor

can someone with audyssey try this also and comment?

pietro944

SlowcarIX wrote: »

there is a very positive effect with audyssey!

with audyssey: there is a big improvement in clarity of the sound and soundstage spans between the 2 speakers.

w/o (running pure direct on the avp): the sound is dull, uninvolving...soundstage is er..poor

can someone with audyssey try this also and comment?

no offense..but,WTF?
If I can't set-up a 2 channel rig by ear and an spl better than audyssey,it's time to go back to HTIB.

In the movie Sparticus,Kirk Douglas,an actor of the Method school,asked Laurence Olivier how he should play a key scene....raw?..torrid?...sublime?

Olivier,replied..simply..."My dear boy,
why don't you try....acting"?

...Brilliant,and KISS

treitz3

What in the hell is audyssey calibration?

billbillw

Generally, I say no. 2-ch is better using the "direct" modes to minimize processing. Audyssey is automatically disabled on my Onkyo when in Direct or Pure Direct mode. This is also the only easy way to disable my sub for music listening. The 1C do not need a sub for music.

SlowcarIX

pietro944 wrote: »

no offense..but,WTF?
If I can't set-up a 2 channel rig by ear and an spl better than audyssey,it's time to go back to HTIB.

In the movie Sparticus,Kirk Douglas,an actor of the Method school,asked Laurence Olivier how he should play a key scene....raw?..torrid?...sublime?

Olivier,replied..simply..."My dear boy,
why don't you try....acting"?

...Brilliant,and KISS

ok....:)

SlowcarIX

treitz3 wrote: »

What in the hell is audyssey calibration?

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/index.html

NotaSuv

SlowcarIX wrote: »

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/index.html

automatic eq
2 channel did it..... hated never again

HT yuppers i use it

John K.

Pietro, keep in mind that there are two separate aspects of the Audyssey system and "set-up", which you think that you can do well, is there in addition to the room equalization, which can't be done by the user making his own adjustments. Room equalization processing is a developing technology, certainly isn't perfect now, and never will be, because of the complex ways in which rooms affect the sound of the speakers before it reaches our ears.

Since the rooms certainly affect the sound of the speakers in a 2-channel setup, there's just as much reason to use Audyssey there as there is in a surround sound setup.

pietro944

John K. wrote: »

Pietro, keep in mind that there are two separate aspects of the Audyssey system and "set-up", which you think that you can do well, is there in addition to the room equalization, which can't be done by the user making his own adjustments. Room equalization processing is a developing technology, certainly isn't perfect now, and never will be, because of the complex ways in which rooms affect the sound of the speakers before it reaches our ears.

Since the rooms certainly affect the sound of the speakers in a 2-channel setup, there's just as much reason to use Audyssey there as there is in a surround sound setup.

look....maybe I'm becoming a "luddite",and I have the Mcacc system on my Pio Elite,but...my g-d,when the guy says how horrible it was before using the magic of audyssey......Well,it
just pushed my ludicrous-meter to the top rung.

For 2-channel,at least,trust your eyes,ears and most importantly,your brain to lead you to musical nirvana.
The technology helps and I luv it,but,after 50 years of collecting and listening to music....I long for the days
of my Garrad turntable,Macintosh amps,Crown recorder and Bozak speakers.
There was no "perfect" then,nor is there "perfect",now...I don't need a computer chip to tell me that.

I was trying to be as gentle as possible,
however...g-d gave us 5 senses...use them first,not last.

SlowcarIX

pietro944 wrote: »

look....maybe I'm becoming a "luddite",and I have the Mcacc system on my Pio Elite,but...my g-d,when the guy says how horrible it was before using the magic of audyssey......Well,it
just pushed my ludicrous-meter to the top rung.

For 2-channel,at least,trust your eyes,ears and most importantly,your brain to lead you to musical nirvana.
The technology helps and I luv it,but,after 50 years of collecting and listening to music....I long for the days
of my Garrad turntable,Macintosh amps,Crown recorder and Bozak speakers.
There was no "perfect" then,nor is there "perfect",now...I don't need a computer chip to tell me that.

I was trying to be as gentle as possible,
however...g-d gave us 5 senses...use them first,not last.

the title of the thread: "2 ch audio: audyssey calibration useful?"

the audyssey calibration has shown a very positive effect on my setup/room and therefore is useful for me.

btw i'm a newbie, i've only been playing with this stuff for 5 months

LuSh

You really begin to wonder about how much further the state of the art can be pushed when people DON'T want to talk about room calibration which IMHO is the future of audio. Rather then buy expensive cables which are sometimes useful tone controls or throw up ugly acoustic wall treatments why WOULDN'T you want to have a system which can Parametrically EQ a system for flatter in room response?

I would recommend trying the auto calibration and leaving it for a good week, then revert back to default settings. I suspect you'll enjoy the auto settings better because the room effects have been minimized. Companies like TacT audio, Copland and Meridian have really pushed the technology forward.

mantis

LuSh wrote: »

You really begin to wonder about how much further the state of the art can be pushed when people DON'T want to talk about room calibration which IMHO is the future of audio. Rather then buy expensive cables which are sometimes useful tone controls or throw up ugly acoustic wall treatments why WOULDN'T you want to have a system which can Parametrically EQ a system for flatter in room response?

I would recommend trying the auto calibration and leaving it for a good week, then revert back to default settings. I suspect you'll enjoy the auto settings better because the room effects have been minimized. Companies like TacT audio, Copland and Meridian have really pushed the technology forward.

You nailed it Bro.

Dan

bikezappa

pietro944 wrote: »

no offense..but,WTF?
If I can't set-up a 2 channel rig by ear and an spl better than audyssey,it's time to go back to HTIB.

In the movie Sparticus,Kirk Douglas,an actor of the Method school,asked Laurence Olivier how he should play a key scene....raw?..torrid?...sublime?

Olivier,replied..simply..."My dear boy,
why don't you try....acting"?

...Brilliant,and KISS

What would you adjust on your system to improve the frequency response using just your ears and spi meter? Tone controls?

The audyssey system sounds like an excellent method to adjust the frequency response of a 2 channel system for any room.

Can this be done with 2 channel? Has anyone does this? If yes what equipment did you use?

Thanks

Peter

SlowcarIX

i think you can by putting this between your source and pre

http://www.audyssey.com/soundequalizer/index.html

bikezappa

how much does that unit cost?

it would be nice if they sold a 2 channel unit.

anybody try it?

looks like a great idea.

SlowcarIX

oops it goes between pre/power

msrp $2500 in 2006 - http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/acoustics/audyssey-multeq-pro-sound-equalizer

bikezappa

very interesting slowcar. thanks for the link. it just makes common sense.

ND13

Hmmm......$2500....HMMMM!!!:eek:

SlowcarIX

another company with room correction technology

http://statement.anthemav.com/HTML/Products/D2/downloads/ARC-1_PDS.pdf

bikezappa

slowcar, as i reread your posts carefully you in fact are using the audyssey technology with your 2 channel system. correct?

please tell me your impressions of 2 channel music with and without the audyssey technolgy.

what equipment that uses the audyssey technology are you using?

what do you think the differences are between your audyssey equipment and the $2300 unit?

i never thought these ht units would allow the audyssey to be applied to 2 channel.

thanks

peter

SlowcarIX

yep, i use the audyssey correction for both 2 ch and ht

the immediate thing i notice with and then w/o audyssey is the soundstage! with it on, the voices/instruments "float" with pinpoint placement between the 2 speakers - the speakers literally vanish.

with it off, the soundfield collaspes and the sound comes out distinctly from the 2 speakers. Btw my LSi9s are 13 feet apart

audyssey on:




audyssey off:




another very noticible effect is the seemless integration of the LSi9 to the conquest sub - (velodyne sms-1 plot of room bass response). initially i thought that it was me who found the right seating position - but after reading more on audyssey, it was the room correction that did it.



i'm running the onkyo885 avp with internal audyssey

i dont know what is the difference between the standalone one vs the built in one...kuntasensei on here knows the audyssey; http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=867158&postcount=3 or chris@audyssey from the avs forum; http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14044921&postcount=4460 - try send them a PM

i got the worst room for sound - its square! lucky there is audyssey to the rescue :D

John K.

Peter, you should note that several of the receiver models from Denon, Marantz, NAD and Onkyo incorporate Audyssey MultEq XT, which is the most powerful version present in receivers. The separate Audyssey unit which has been mentioned is still more powerful, but is quite pricey and is intended for professional installation.

fatchowmein

Hey Slow,
I assume since you switched from the Yammie to the Onkyo that you're no longer running all of those rti4 Presence Speakers (9.1)? Did that do anything for you or were the Presence more of a gimmick? I haven't tried it because I don't want to deal with all the additional speaker cables. Lazy I guess.
Is Audyssey comparable to Yamaha's YPAO? Just curious since I'm also looking at moving from yamaha to onkyo and I'm running LSi's. I'm only asking because I don't like YPAO's auto setup and I always end up changing it to suit my ears.

SlowcarIX

hey

the only scene i found that was great for the presence speakers was the fantastic 4, rise of silver surfer - the helicopter crashing into sue/rubberman's wedding...

go audyssey! its got the ability to make speakers vanish