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Improving audio reproduction
I've been doing highend audio - Pro audio for eons now (>35 years) and have a few suggestions for getting the most out of what you have. With the addition of software and a calibrated mic like UMIK-1 sold by miniDSP (or similar like PE Omni mic or UMM6) can be used.
I'm primarily using ARTA, HOLMImpulse and REW. Many features overlap functions of others, yet all do not do everything the other does ie 3 apps cover 99.9%.
Between these, many features are used for designing speakers, but like with REW specifically, one can compensate for the room which does horrific things to sound reproduction. Know where to place that sub, sats, etc. and the manufacture says here how to... pfff WRONG 99% of the time. Hate those standing wave nodes/modes this is the ONLY way outside of changing your room around a million times to see what works best. Yeah right
FYI do not use a single sub, but rather a min. of three. One is placed in a corner, one along a side wall and most important one no more than 1/3 of the way down the wall measured from the ceiling! This balancing act has todo with standing waves and room modes corresponding to Heigth/Width/Depth... and then to windows/doors/adjaceint rooms/hallways, and then to the dampening coeffceints of EVERYTHING! You can solve some of these on a calculator or with gross experience, but without direct measurment is only a guess at best (though can be an extremely good guess with experience.
Originally I was planning to have one heck of a post describing what I have been upto but alas part of that got shelved for the moment, issue is akin to building a Ferrari but doesn't do you any good without tires and I NEED TIRES DAMNIT! 1 AMP, 2 (more) woofers and two waveguides eg about $140 short of my goal (errr) and was to be completed by my BDay last weekend. So anywho... a active 2.5way speaker using 4, 6.5" midwoofers and an aerostriction tweeter. A preliminary setup and test yielded a response from 27Hz to well into Bat hearing @ ~110dB sitting position (2.5m), uber clean non boomy bass, without any harshness in the mids (entire vocal range is wonderful) til you get goosebumps from the silky highs. Each speaker is a dual ML-TQWT design (Mass Loaded - Tapered Quarter Wave Transmission line). Using a MiniDSP 2x4 active crossover. Amazing sound and designed to connect any PC/phone/tablet. Not expensive (not as far as this quality goes) but not exactly cheap @ a grand or so.
MiniDSP also has a device called OpenDRC (similar devices on the market but mucho more $$$) which can take measured data from imported from REW and provide FIR compensation to correct phase irregularities/EQ/ time delay etc. to clean up what your speakers and room do to each other and or correct for that psychobabble caca sold to you by speaker company X's marketing dept.
I'll be getting one perhaps later this or early next year. Having owned tens of thousands in audio equipment this device would be on the top of my personal list of must have's. Connects like an EQ in that it is inline.
Please checkout the software/ hardware if you love music
Cheers
I'm primarily using ARTA, HOLMImpulse and REW. Many features overlap functions of others, yet all do not do everything the other does ie 3 apps cover 99.9%.
Between these, many features are used for designing speakers, but like with REW specifically, one can compensate for the room which does horrific things to sound reproduction. Know where to place that sub, sats, etc. and the manufacture says here how to... pfff WRONG 99% of the time. Hate those standing wave nodes/modes this is the ONLY way outside of changing your room around a million times to see what works best. Yeah right
FYI do not use a single sub, but rather a min. of three. One is placed in a corner, one along a side wall and most important one no more than 1/3 of the way down the wall measured from the ceiling! This balancing act has todo with standing waves and room modes corresponding to Heigth/Width/Depth... and then to windows/doors/adjaceint rooms/hallways, and then to the dampening coeffceints of EVERYTHING! You can solve some of these on a calculator or with gross experience, but without direct measurment is only a guess at best (though can be an extremely good guess with experience.
Originally I was planning to have one heck of a post describing what I have been upto but alas part of that got shelved for the moment, issue is akin to building a Ferrari but doesn't do you any good without tires and I NEED TIRES DAMNIT! 1 AMP, 2 (more) woofers and two waveguides eg about $140 short of my goal (errr) and was to be completed by my BDay last weekend. So anywho... a active 2.5way speaker using 4, 6.5" midwoofers and an aerostriction tweeter. A preliminary setup and test yielded a response from 27Hz to well into Bat hearing @ ~110dB sitting position (2.5m), uber clean non boomy bass, without any harshness in the mids (entire vocal range is wonderful) til you get goosebumps from the silky highs. Each speaker is a dual ML-TQWT design (Mass Loaded - Tapered Quarter Wave Transmission line). Using a MiniDSP 2x4 active crossover. Amazing sound and designed to connect any PC/phone/tablet. Not expensive (not as far as this quality goes) but not exactly cheap @ a grand or so.
MiniDSP also has a device called OpenDRC (similar devices on the market but mucho more $$$) which can take measured data from imported from REW and provide FIR compensation to correct phase irregularities/EQ/ time delay etc. to clean up what your speakers and room do to each other and or correct for that psychobabble caca sold to you by speaker company X's marketing dept.
I'll be getting one perhaps later this or early next year. Having owned tens of thousands in audio equipment this device would be on the top of my personal list of must have's. Connects like an EQ in that it is inline.Please checkout the software/ hardware if you love music
Cheers