Meters on BFD flashing red??

[Weirdwolf]

Allo!

Curious one this and can't seem to find an answer anywhere so I'l ask you guys.

I've stored my REW settings into the BFD, but instead of the meters going up and down with the signal as it should, the top of the 2 red VU meters blinks the first level 'block', followed by the bottom one just going from 0 to full and then starts again in a neverending loop.

I've tried pressing buttons and restarting but still the same result.

Forgive me if theres an obvious answer but its just odd.

Many thanks

[brucek]

the top of the 2 red VU meters blinks the first level 'block'

Just completely don't understand that statement.

But anyway. Are the filters indeed entered into the BFD? Check that they are, and that the filters you aren't using are in the 'OF' mode.

With no signal being sent to the BFD, explain what the VU meters are doing.

brucek

[Weirdwolf]

Hi Brucek

When I said the top of the 2 meters, I mean the left hand channel.

I did enter the filter into filter no.1 via the midi in/out, and REW said that the BFD had received it OK. I've not checked to turn off all the other filters. I'm at work at the mo so can't do it as yet.

Even with no signal going to it, it still does the same thing: blink once (left hand channel) then from zero to full quickly on the right channel. Then repeat ad nauseum.

Any more thoughts??

BTW the input is connected to left channel on BFD.

Thanks for reply

[brucek]

REW said that the BFD had received it OK

Yeah, make sure you don't have firmware rev 1.3. It doesn't actually work with the midi. You need version 1.4

See this rather long discussion on that topic.

Either way, just enter the filters by hand. Use program 4 and first turn all the filters on both left and right channel to 'OF' mode before you start.

Then see what happens...

brucek

[Weirdwolf]

My BFD is actually v1.0 if I remember correctly, so should be no issues there.

Snowed under workwise so can't get round to looking at it till Monday now, so will get back to you then.

Thanks again.

[Weirdwolf]

Back again...

Going through the manual...look at pages 10/11 and it seems the red lights I refer to are the filter status indicators. The upper (left) meters, (after looking again tonight) have 6, not one, constantly lit filter lights and the right hand side (lower) are blinking. Reading up, this appears normal as I have 6 filters set on left hand channel, and none on the right, hence the blinking (searching for feedback frequencies). So all is well it appears.

The actual LED meters on the left do actually show levels, but the volume has to be quite high to register anything. Thinking of going through REW again from scratch as after re-sending my saved filters, my sub was very loud and there was a ridiculous amount of 'rumble', so turned the sub down quite a bit.

As an aside, should my sub (SVS PB12-ISD) be 'rumbling' on bass heavy bits....I'm specifically thinking about the start of Toy Story 2 when the number 2 comes into view for the title.
The whole room shakes quite a bit...even with the volume of the sub turned down...should EQing eliminate this to get a smoother response? What should I expect? Should I isolate it from the floor a bit more than it is as most of the vibration comes through the floor.

Thanks for your patience!

[brucek]

The upper (left) meters, (after looking again tonight) have 6, not one, constantly lit filter lights and the right hand side (lower) are blinking. Reading up, this appears normal as I have 6 filters set on left hand channel, and none on the right, hence the blinking (searching for feedback frequencies). So all is well it appears.

No, I'm afraid all is not well. As I indicated before, you should set every filter of each channel to 'OF' mode. Only the filters that are actually used in the channel that you are using should be in the 'PA' mode. There should be no flashing LED's. This is an indication of the feedback destroyer mode (that you are not using)....

Next, you should do a response check with REW once the filters are loaded and see that the response tracks the target you set.

You should also setup the input level of the BFD with the trim setting of your receiver.

Have you read the BFD Guide on Setting Input Levels. It's a good idea to have this setup before starting your EQ.

What should I expect?

You should set the filters to track the desired target. If it's a default target, then it should track that within about 5dB. You need to do a response check after you enter the filters. Once you've eq'd the sub, you would recheck the level of the sub in relation to the mains using the receiver test tones routine... Then when you do a response check with REW the sub and mains are about the same level....

brucek

[Weirdwolf]

Thanks for posting back Bruce...

I've now got my head around the flashing filter LEDs...before I was only setting the first filter in each preset to 'OF', when I thought it made all 12 go to 'OF' mode...duh . Makes complete sense now and have no flashing LED's. Easy when you get you're head around it!

Have also setup input levels as you said...done a response check with REW...applied filters and loaded to BFD via MIDI and the response perfectly corresponds with the target, so it appears to be working fine.

I'll post graphs of before/after EQing when I can tomorrow.

With regards to the sub making the room shake, what would you recommend for isolating it from the floor a bit?

[brucek]

With regards to the sub making the room shake, what would you recommend for isolating it from the floor a bit?

hehehe, that's the kind of thing someone around here would say when they were making a bit of a joke. Why would you not want the room to shake?

That's the purpose behind all this insanity. The room is shaking because of the low frequencies resonating with objects in the room - it has very little to do whether the sub is isolated or not....

If your response is low (i.e < 20Hz), and you're supplying lots of power - the room is gonna shake.

brucek

[Weirdwolf]

Ha-ha!

Fair enough....I realise what you're saying but just wandering out loud I suppose. I'll shut up now!

Luckily I've got no worries with neighbours and noise....my HT is in a detached garage at the bottom of my garden...take a looky..

Picture005Medium.jpg Picture003Medium.jpg

Weirdwolf

[brucek]

Looks cool. The smaller size of the room will allow for easy pressurization and lots of shake. Man, I'll bet those CD's at the rear will rattle like crazy.......

brucek

[Weirdwolf]

****** right they shake!

In fact you can feel it through the floor and the sofa...its a bit intense sometimes, you have to step out after a film and take a breather!

Thanks for your assistance Bruce! If I can think of any more stupid questions, I won't hesitate!