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Sub woofer EQ

Has anyone had any experience with a EQ program (Audyssey or others) for subs? What tips might you have to smooth out frequency dips and peaks in a listening environment?

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Permalink Reply by Thebesthereis on July 6, 2009 at 11:24am: Audyssey works wonders in my living room setup. I'm using it with a Denon 3808CI and an SVS PC12Plus. Although, I've heard of some using an SPL meter to even out the sound/balance when using 2 subs instead of one, the PC12Plus is much more power than I need in a sub for my listening area. I've also noticed that when running Audyssey, most people don't let the entire program run and calibrate for all seating positions, which is essential when trying to get the levels correct. Also, if available, make good use out of the Dynamic Volume feature. When watching programs on TV, I notice that the commercials will sometimes be several noticeable decibels louder than the program I'm watching and having that Dynamic Volume on the Midnight or Evening setting helps A LOT.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kieran Coghlan on July 6, 2009 at 11:38am: I've not used, but heard great things about the Velodyne SMS-1...
http://www.velodyne.com/products/product.aspx?ID=15&sid=997a35; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Paul D'Amboise on July 6, 2009 at 12:48pm: I use an Onyx R-DES (it is discontinued). At the time, without denigrating it, I considered it the "poor man's SMS-1. I meant that in its less elegant functionality (it is a lot more cumbersome to set up than an SMS-1) and its considerably lower price (about half of the price of an SMS-1). it works fine (my bass is less bloated), especially in conjunction with my bass traps, but it is a labour-intensive device that has been surpassed in sophistication by the Audyssey system, among others. Still, I don't plan to remove it from my system anytime soon and will certainly use it in my future 2.1 setup in my living room when I upgrade the home cinema receiver to an Audyssey equipped receiver/pre-pro in a while.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ross Jones on July 6, 2009 at 12:59pm: I own the SMS-1, and it does work wonders. Downside is that it only measures for one listening position. I'm also auditioning the Paradigm Perfect Bass Kit, which works with their reference subs and is based on Anthem's ARC technology. It will let you take measurements at 5+ listening positions, and is likewise fantastic. I also own and have used a Behringer DSP1124, which can be used "off label" as a multi-band parametric EQ for subs. The general rule with all of these solutions is that you can effectively cut peaks in bass response caused by room modes; but do not try to boost in an attempt to overcome room nulls. You can damage the sub by overdriving it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chris Heinonen on July 6, 2009 at 1:13pm: This next week I'm going to be going to a friend's and using a Behringer 1124 in combination with Room EQ Wizard to see if we can improve the bass in his room. I'll try to get some before and after graphs of the response up after we've done this.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John E. Johnson, Jr. on July 6, 2009 at 1:58pm: SVSound's new EQ system with speakers and subs arrived recently. I think it will undoubtedly do an excellent job. It really does take more than just one or two EQ bands to EQ the bass in a room; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jim Milton on July 7, 2009 at 5:15am

Here is an article on the advantages of multi-subwoofers in a room that you may find quite interesting (with thanks to the Harman group):

Attachments:

multsubs-TW-asof_02-02-06.pdf, 815 KB

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Permalink Reply by NekoAudio on July 7, 2009 at 8:57am: I used an SMS-1 for a while and it is excellent for most subwoofers. But it caused issues for me below 20Hz, confirmed with my measurements. I now use a Behringer DCX2496 which gives me about 20 PEQ bands plus other filters.

+1 Two or more non-colocated subs is also one of the best, and easiest, ways to smooth out your frequency response.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by B Flo on July 8, 2009 at 3:44am: Is the original question asking for tips to smooth out a subs response with stuff like the mentioned Audyssey, or were you asking for tips to smooth a sub out withOUT?

If the former, most of the Audyssey ilk are by definition automatic. Just follow the procedure. "Manual" EQ on the other hand is a royal pain in that you have to spend like an entire day measuring (with AT LEAST 1/12 octave precision), tweaking, measuring, tweaking, moving the measuring to a new location, tweaking, measuring, tweaking, going back to the first position, measuring, tweaking....you get the picture.

On the other hand with the simple addition of a 2nd subwoofer you can virtually eliminate I would say 70% of all subwoofer issues via careful reciprocal placement of the two as outlined in the Harman article you mention. If I hypothetically had to chose between a $2000 sub with, say, PBK or a pair of $1000 subs without, I would take the later any day of the week.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dennis Oblow on January 9, 2010 at 4:38am: I use a Velodyne SMS-1. To me the screen display is invaluable, allowing me to see how the adjustments I make interact with my room in real time. It has also helped my optomize the positiom of my sub as well.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tom Carcione on March 16, 2010 at 12:45pm: I have both the SMS1 and the Antimode 8033. I run the auto cal on the Antimode and then tweak the response with the SMS. It works fantastic and is very easy to use either of them.; ▶ Reply to This