REW Virgin 1st results

[stevefish69]

I've been using my trusty SPL meter and excel charts to tame my 20-39PC+ for the last year and decided today that i would get to grips with REW.

After buying the cables this afternoon, Calibrating the sound card, and finally finding out how to switch off the "Record without monitoring" on my Audigy 2 i could begin.

Firstly, it was nice to see how far off my old BFD settings were by doing a sweep. I then proceeded to try various settings with crossover at 80Hz, 60Hz and full range. I eventually opted for my old 80Hz setting.

I could not believe the difference a slight tweak to the phase setting on the Sub could make to the whole setup. I did manage to get a lovely response but stupidly moved the dial a tad and could not find the spot again

I ended up running a sweep, applying the filters and then doing the process again to give a flatter response.

Here is my 1st attempt. I've left the peak < 30Hz as you can never have too much of the low stuff (REW did not try to flatten this either ), and the Sub has been re-calibrated to run slightly hot like i prefer. Did not get time to do another sweep after this as SWMBO was itching to watch a film

Edit..New Sweeps of before and after now added.

Before BFD Correction



And after )



Anyone got any comments or suggestions ??

Watched Saw II and there certainly seems to be a more noticable super low end

[Sonnie]

Anyone got any comments or suggestions ??

Yeah... great job! Enjoy!

[cellexjohn]

So how do you like the new sound?

I remember making my first accurate adjustment and couldn't believe how much smoother the bass sounded. It was like getting a new SVS again!

Enjoy
John

[stevefish69]

cellexjohn wrote:

So how do you like the new sound?

I remember making my first accurate adjustment and couldn't believe how much smoother the bass sounded. It was like getting a new SVS again!

Enjoy
John

So far watched Saw II and Finding Nemo. Boy was the last one fun

I've managed to push the Sub level up a bit from what it used to be, and sounds much smoother and in control. Just need to find out a way to stop the doors / windows and picture frames from rattling during loud super low scenes

The difference betwen the old setting and new is like night and day, so well worth the 8 hrs spent getting used to REW. Plugged it in this morning, and done some new sweeps shown above within a couple of mins. Even SWMBO was impressed


Thanks a million to the people on this site that have worked so hard on the software.

[Sonnie]

Just need to find out a way to stop the doors / windows and picture frames from rattling during loud super low scenes

That's a simple solution... build a dedicated HT room...

[adogand6kids]

The overall response looks much better after BFD. Did you use the REW recommendations straight from REW, or did you try manually adjusting them? In my own room, I have found the REW "optimized" filters to be a good starting point, but manual tweaking of the filters gives a much smoother response.

One concern I have is the > 10 dB dip around 80 Hz. Do you have any wiggle room in your sub or main listening position? Now that you have figured out how the take measurements, I would try moving the sub around (even 6 - 12inches one way or another might help) or moving your listening position / measuring position around to see if that dip goes away.

Another option to try is to smooth out the response from 20 Hz to 30 Hz and see which one you like better. It should only take one filter and if you don't like it you can just delete the filter.

I am at about the same spot in implementing REW/BFD in my system and I am going to try a couple house curves to see if I like them better than a flat response. You could consider doing the same. Just load a house curve into your target response, re-measure with your BFD on another pre-set (not the one that has your current filters) re-filter the response to match the house curve target level and save on the new pre-set. Now you can switch between flat and house curve simply by changing the pre-set on your BFD - a great way to do A-B comparisons and see which you like the best.

Have fun!

[cyberbri]

adogand6kids wrote:

One concern I have is the > 10 dB dip around 80 Hz. Do you have any wiggle room in your sub or main listening position? Now that you have figured out how the take measurements, I would try moving the sub around (even 6 - 12inches one way or another might help) or moving your listening position / measuring position around to see if that dip goes away.

Good advice.

Also, this could very well be phase cancellation between the speakers and the sub. The SVS should have a variable phase, so perhaps the OP could experiment a little more with that. Say running sweeps at 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 degrees and going from there.

Also, what happens above 200Hz? Can you do a sweep and graph it up to say 500Hz or so? The dip around 190~200hz is pretty big and pretty deep, so I wonder how wide it is.

EDIT: Wait, is that the sub by itself? If so, disregard my above comments. But still, once you get the sub itself flattened you, you need to test it with the speakers. There will be lots of bass coming through the mains as well, and you need to see how the phase is between the mains and the sub between 50~200Hz.

[stevefish69]

Thanks for the ideas.

The charts are for the Sub plus mains. I have not measured the Sub on it's own, as i've always though it best to try to intergrate both together from the start. Initially getting the phase correct and working from there. Plus i'm too lazy to disconnect the speakers from either end where they are terminated.

Unfortunately, my room is quite small'ish (16' * 13') and i have a lot crammed in. The SUb really has only got 1 place to go, unless i re-jig the whole room. SWMBO would if i tried that at the moment.

The dips at 80Hz and 110Hz are Suck outs in my room unfortunately, and no matter what setting for Crossover, Speakers used or Phase setting has managed to shift it

I may have another play in a couple of weeks when i get some free time without the kids under my feet. Until then, i'm a hell of a lot happier than i was with what i'm getting out of the SVS.

Thanks again.

Steve

[Malice]

The charts are for the Sub plus mains.

If that is the case I'd revisit resetting the levels of your mains. The level is about 70db, and you really should get that up to the target 75db level.

Now that you have got to grips with REW and know how easy to is to run a sweep, I'd redo a sweep for your sub only and for your mains only and post your results for us to have a look. Perhaps I'm fortunate with my set up, but I managed to achieve a flat response right through the crossover area and up to 200Hz and beyond.