Why BFD

[roakes]

I have a very simple question. Please forgive me if it has been answered before on this forum. I looked at the BFD FAQ thread and did not see a FAQ link or section. My question is this: what difference in LFE do you actually hear after completing setup and configuration of you sub with BFD and appropriate software? Thanks in advance for any answers!

[brucek]

what difference in LFE do you actually hear after completing setup and configuration of you sub with BFD and appropriate software?

None, if your subwoofers response in your room is flat to start with, and the difference of night and day if you have a large resonant peak caused by your room.

If you have a peak, then that is the signal that you have been setting your sub level to, while the rest of the subs signal except for that single frequency is far down in the inaudible range. It's called one-note bass.

If you remove that peak with a BFD, then you can turn your sub up to a proper level and enjoy the entire spectrum including the low end bass you've been missing......

So, why not test with REW first and find out what's happening in your situation....

brucek

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

brucek wrote:

None, if your subwoofers response in your room is flat to start with, and the difference of night and day if you have a large resonant peak caused by your room.

+1 for this reply. I programmed my BFD ~3 years ago and havent' thought about it since. I remebered being happier with the sound after avaing it, but I couldn't remember how mch of a difference it made. So, recently I bypassed the filters to hear the difference. It was amazing! It sounded like a whole different, much worse sub in the room. Not subtle at all.

[imbeaujp]

Yes, the first thing to do is to get some mesurements with RoomEQWizard software. After that you can move your sub to get the best house curve you want.

After that, if you have some peeks that can not be resolved by speaker placement, you could use the parametric EQ.

Make some graphs and post your results before buying the BFD.

JP

[roakes]

Thank you all for your replies. My room is not treated yet. LFE is very inadequate. The room probably suffers from the "one-note bass" described above by brucek. Aside from that, I have quite a slap-back echo. The entire room is composed of hard surfaces. That said, what would be the value of the info obtained from REW in my untreated room?

Thanks,
ROakes

[brucek]

Room treatment will generally affect a frequency range that is above the range that you would equalize with a BFD. Equalization is useful in compensating for modal resonance caused by the room geometry.That's what we use REW for. To determine the correct filters that will counteract this effect.

brucek