HELP PLEASE!!!

[Ht4me]

This may be way off, I apologize up front, but I want to know. . .
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Whats the differences between dsp1124p and the ultrabass pro ex1200.????
For the novice at this ( I mean at all the processing with other than amp/receiver).
What do they do for bass signal?? What will I use them for in a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up ?
Is this just a missing link in the better home theater sounds? I am sorry if this seems stupid
I keep reading about rew & bfd and....well you can see i dunno???
thanks for any clearing up of this new field to me!
mike

[Otto]

Hi Mike,

The Ultrabass thing is a subharmonic synthesizer -- so it's going to artificially create an audio signal based on your input signal. This might be a good idea if you want to rock the house with your bass guitar, as an effect, but you definitely don't want this for home theater. For HT, we pretty much want to reproduce just the signal that's on the medium.

The BFD 1124P is a 12 band per channel parametric equalizer. This will allow you to tweak the frequency response of your subwoofer. This is particularly important as the audio signal coming from your sub can be greatly affected by the room in which you are using it.

As you mayknow, REW is software that will allow you to measure the frequency response of you room. It can then create filters to "fix" your room's response such that you get the frequency response desired. You can also tweak the filters suggested by REW, or you can totally forgo its suggestions, and make your own. Either way, REW will interface with the BFD via MIDI, and you will have all your filters set up in a matter of seconds.

Both REW and the BFD are extremely powerful tools to help smooth out the potential peakiness of bass response in a given room. Also, the BFD is terribly affordable -- I just picked up a second one (used) on eBay for $49 + shipping. For that price, I recommend grabbing one, then start playing.

It takes a while to figure everything out, but the manual here at the Shack is good, and there are lots of nice, expert people around here that will help you out.

Good luck!

[Ht4me]

GREAT !!! and Thanks

So dsp1124p for the sub...
what about a 8024 for eq'ing the other channels? or am I being sold a bunch of goods?( like someone else said, "but honey, everybody else has one".) I think I want, but,.... i dunno.
I've got what I thought is a solid system( for a shared Living room/ HT set-up ) 52"DLP
Onkyo TX-DS 898 110w x 7 thx,dts,dd,plII etc., onkyo dv-sp502 dvd dvd-a + sacd ,paradigm ps-10 sub, paradigm surrounds mini mk3's & reference center, mission L/R 150w 2-way. I do have a 24 band eq hooked to the mains and a 31 channel single eq Audio Centron waiting in the spare room( thought of hooking up to the center channel( and up until finding you guys here, and the dsp1124p info, thought of hooking it up to the sub) to flatten the sound out. So many questions, so little time to be sneaky & not let my wife know...or find out till after she hears it!

Mike

[Otto]

Hey Mike,

What's the 8024? Not sure on that one...

The rest of your system sounds pretty cool. The only thing I might consider is the voicing differences between the Missions and the Paradigms, but I don't have current, and certainly not extensive, experience with either. Do you notice any minor funkyness as things pan across the screen?

Aside from two BFD 1124s, I don't have any other EQs in my system. I might go out on a limb here and say "most other people" don't either. I think some may use receiver built-in EQ if they have it, but probably not an external device. Of course, if you like it, and it's doing something good for you, by all means, keep it.

Now your sub can excite the room much more than your mains. Keep on reading about the BFD, browse the forums here, and I think you'll find that you'll want one. It really made a difference in working out the rough spots of my boomy bass. I continue to work with it; it's a very powerful tool.

[Ht4me]

Otto... thanks on the compliment on the equipment quick list.


As far as I can tell with the Rives cd, before a little eq work the missions were a slightly more bass feel to them, a little heavier, maybe..?. I rolled off the 80 htz & under to the sub thru the eq for the mains & they blended very well in a left to center to right sweep. I dropped the highs a bit too. I may have to redo that after some new furniture pieces & rug are in place.

The 8024 I was referring to is the behringer 8024, 31 band rta & eq. Seems to be a very nice piece. My Onkyo Does NOT have any internal eq ability.So, I want to have the best I can do with what I got to work with...( don't we all). I am up for any & all suggestions... 85% or more is watching movies, concerts: like the Eagles, or Diana Krall, then regular tv, well HDTV, with the receiver "ON" and then dvd-a, sacd music.

Glad to have found SHACK

Mike