Check Levels inconsistent??

[hrpschrd]

Yesterday I ran Check Levels and got (at -18dB) a 75dB SPL reading. For a first try I was happy. I went ahead to Calibrate SPL and only had to make a 2dB adjustment to -73dB. Good I thought. Didn't have time to do a measurement of the room.

Today I went back to Check Levels and got (at -18dB) a 61dB SPL reading! (see attached). I also noticed that the sound was mid and high frequencies only and yesterday it sounded quite different (low sounds mostly). Is there something I missed in setting this up? I used the same (good) cal file. Contrary to the image below, I have set the levels to main speaker.

Ok, now I have tried again and get still different results - still not working. I decreased the Input Volume and checked the SPL weighted meter box in Settings. I have connected the right output from the MP3+ soundcard through a Y to both left and right channels on my AV processor. Now I get no volume from the stereo but get feedback if I try to turn it up. Really stuck here.

[thewire]

First make sure you have the correct drivers.

http://support.creative.com/Products...=Sound+Blaster

Then go to the creative console in your start menu so it looks similar to this.







Now go here in your windows control panel that looks similar to this and double click the speaker icon. I think the icon in your system tray might work also.



Check the playback and recording playback as bruce explains.

Disable the line-in of the Playback Mixer.

The line-in of the Record Mixer is enabled.

PLAYBACK MIXER
Attachment 10489
RECORD MIXER
Attachment 10490

See that REW settings look similar to this except with the soundcard calc loaded and then adjust as needed.

[thewire]

Corrected the first post.

[thewire]

This bass boost needs to be disabled also...

[hrpschrd]

Thanks for the detailed help. Unfortunately that site only has a driver update for the internal sound card SoundBlaster Live! I have the external SoundBlaster MP3. I can't find any drivers for the external card. Therefore I can't use the Creative Console! Any ideas?

[brucek]

Use the Windows Mixer...

brucek

[thewire]

hrpschrd wrote:

Thanks for the detailed help. Unfortunately that site only has a driver update for the internal sound card SoundBlaster Live! I have the external SoundBlaster MP3. I can't find any drivers for the external card. Therefore I can't use the Creative Console! Any ideas?

That is the one I am using.

[hrpschrd]

Bruce: Where do I find Windows Mixer?
Steven: Do you mean you are using the internal driver? I couldn't load it because it is for x64 only.

[thewire]

hrpschrd wrote:

Bruce: Where do I find Windows Mixer?
Steven: Do you mean you are using the internal driver? I couldn't load it because it is for x64 only.

Yes I spent over a couple hours downloading a driver version from another site and as soon as it started to install the driver it said it was not going to install because I did not have a internal sound card. Out of desperation I went to the Creative site and then installed the beta one and it worked. I thought to myself good news for users of REW. I guess the drivers only work on Vista x64, sorry to hear it isn't working.

[brucek]

Where do I find Windows Mixer?

What Windows operating system are you using?

brucek

[hrpschrd]

Windows XP Professional

[brucek]

Where do I find Windows Mixer?

Double click the speaker icon in your desktop system tray.

The two mixers are setup as below.

To select Recording, select options, then properties pulldown

Playback Mixer



Record Mixer


brucek

[hrpschrd]

Thanks Bruce. Is this all I need to do or are the options Steven listed necessary also?
Also, besides checking the items do I need to adjust the levels just as you show them?

[brucek]

Is this all I need to do or are the options Steven listed necessary also?

Those options won't be available without the SB driver application software.

besides checking the items do I need to adjust the levels just as you show them?

You set the levels as required by the Check Levels routine. I am only giving an example to show you what is enabled and muted.

brucek

[hrpschrd]

SUCCESS!
Thanks very much Brucek! I obviously didn't understand the necessity of adjusting the soundcard volume as well as input volume and preamp volume.

I am assuming that this graph is a correct one of course but I think I can now add a "room curve" adjustment to the bass. The treble doesn't roll off much to 20KHz but I like the sound in the room (which is heavily trapped). With the bass traps I have it looks like I don't have substantial peaks but I may not be able to reduce the troughs too much more. I think the waterfall is fairly good (not much beyond 300ms).

With a little help this software is really easy to use and it gives great results.

[brucek]

Looks good.

Tips:

For subwoofers, always use the standard Vertical graph axis of (45dB - 105dB) and the Horizontal graph axis of (15Hz - 200Hz) using the Graph Limits button in the top right corner of REW.
For full range, use the standard Vertical graph axis of (45dB - 105dB) and the Horizontal graph axis of (15Hz - upper limits you desire, - certainly no higher than your soundcard or SPL meter can extend).
For full range only, enable smoothing to eliminate the comb filtering. Use a 1/3 octave smoothing.

The little floppy icon in the bottom left hand corner of your graph is used to save a jpg at 800 wide so you can post them here.

brucek