Audyssey discussion thread - Room calibration & settings

[elangoas]

Hi All,

There has been no dedicated thread to discuss Audyssey room calibration settings in the AVR... Hence this thread for the benefit of ppl using Onkyo, Denon, Marantz & other AVR's which have this feature....

My Onkyo AVR TX-NR 818 has Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 room calibration...I did a full 8 point audio calibration (long back) ... I think there was an option of 3 point calibration, but i went full...

I didn't tweak them & left it to what Auto Calibration saved itself...

Here are my Audyssey settings from my AVR...

Audyssey target sound curve - Movie

Dynamic EQ : On

Reference Level : 0 db

Dynamic Volume : Light

 

[GeorgeO]

Good thread to start, I will be also interested in learning more.

 

[Murlidher]

good one. let me also share my settings in few days after I fix other issues

 

[spirovious]

There is still few things to consider.
Audyssey uses regular equalization I guess which may be inferior to parametric Eq.
Setting "Large" in Dynamic Vol makes surround levels much more than real.Need to turn down manually.

 

[elangoas]

There is still few things to consider.
Audyssey uses regular equalization I guess which may be inferior to parametric Eq.
Setting "Large" in Dynamic Vol makes surround levels much more than real.Need to turn down manually.

Could you please share the brand of AVR's that use Parametric EQ...

In Onkyo AVR, we have 3 settings " Light, Medium & heavy". By default when Audyssey was calibrated in my AVR, it prompted with "Light" settings... So i saved them.. Didn't tweak them to find out the difference...

Will try tweaking them to find the difference...

 

[spirovious]

Could you please share the brand of AVR's that use Parametric EQ...

Yamaha 667 use Parametric eq.It has YPAO auto setup which uses parametric Eq.If you go to manual mod,you have extra settings.This image is from RX-A1040-
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There you have to select frequency,Q ,band and other.

Audyssey does auto set up better though.

 

[Fillmore]

Could you please share the brand of AVR's that use Parametric EQ...

In Onkyo AVR, we have 3 settings " Light, Medium & heavy". By default when Audyssey was calibrated in my AVR, it prompted with "Light" settings... So i saved them.. Didn't tweak them to find out the difference...

Will try tweaking them to find the difference...

My stab at this on the Dynamic Volume setting..
Onkyo settings are as follows for a movie context in a lay mans terms. .


Setting : Heavy
Typically set when watching a move late night and dont want to disturb the others.
It lowers the volume of high sounding parts, while not affecting the low sounding portions.
Eg: A building blown up would be lowered in terms of output volume , while a bird chirping in the distance should still be heard as it is not an absolute volume reduction.

Setting : Light
Would not suppress loud sounding sections as much as under the setting 'Heavy'. Although there would be some rationalization of sound.

Setting : Medium
In between Light and Heavy.

On the other hand, having a sound proof professional HT room does not mean Dynamic Volume in Audyssey has no use to you.

For example most of you must have experienced this especially when watching Action movies late night. The action sounds are too loud so you turn down the volume, then you cannot hear the conversation clearly
so again turn the vol up.

Ps: This is just on the Dyn vol, not related to the Audyssey Speaker configuration

 

[elangoas]

Yamaha 667 use Parametric eq.It has YPAO auto setup which uses parametric Eq.If you go to manual mod,you have extra settings.This image is from RX-A1040-
Redirect Notice
There you have to select frequency,Q ,band and other.

Audyssey does auto set up better though.

So does YPAO allow automatic + manual setup ? I think for experienced users who know what they are doing, manual tweaking is good....

For a novice/average user, auto calibration saves the hassles ....

 

[elangoas]

Onkyo settings are as follows for a movie context in a lay mans terms. .

@ Fillmore - Good info in simple terms ... So the light, medium & heavy are something to do with the degree of compression for each pre-set....

From my first hand experience and over a year of wathicng movies, here are some of my observation....

1) When both Dynamic EQ & Vol are engaged together, you don't have to fiddle with volume control @ all even in top action scene....

2) Even if you increase the volume, you may feel a slight increase....

3) Dialogues are pristine... I don't even miss the sound of someone breathing in the scene hyeah:

 

[spirovious]

So does YPAO allow automatic + manual setup ? I think for experienced users who know what they are doing, manual tweaking is good....

For a novice/average user, auto calibration saves the hassles ....

There are 4 presets in YPAO(RX-V667). Natural,Flat,Through Manual.
In manual mode,you can change all the settings of speakers.
Infact in setting ,you see Parametric EQ option and not YPAO.

 

[elangoas]

There are 4 presets in YPAO(RX-V667). Natural,Flat,Through Manual.
In manual mode,you can change all the settings of speakers.
Infact in setting ,you see Parametric EQ option and not YPAO.

Great info...So Parametric EQ preset (Natural, flat, Through) is similar to Audyssey Volume (Light, Medium & Heavy...)

What is / Do you have equivalent of Dynamic EQ in YPAO ?

 

[BLASTO]

How is dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume in real life?

Do you guys keep it on or off or use it only during night?

Is it really effective in normalizing the volume differences between main content and commercials etc as claimed?

 

[elangoas]

How is dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume in real life?

Do you guys keep it on or off or use it only during night?

Is it really effective in normalizing the volume differences between main content and commercials etc as claimed?

Yes... Dynamic EQ & Vol makes your movie & DTH watching much better....

I watch DTH content connected thru my AVR... So before using Audyssey feature, i need to crank up volume to hear clear dialogues.... But after using Audyssey, yes... it has normalised the sound with DTH.....

I leave Dynamic EQ & Vol "ON" when i watch 5.1 movie content & when watching DTH channels... I only time i switch it off (Pure Audio) is when i listen to stereo content....

 

[slash1814]

keep the Audyssey thing Off Always! after numerous trials, I have observed that your surrounds bark right into you years (mine are 8 feet above from ground).. Also I feel as if I am missing something..(articulation is difficult)

Sound is more fuller, punchy, direct and lively with Manual settings.
Set all volume levels to Zero, increase Center / Sub / Surrounds @ ur preferred level. Surrounds can be a notch higher if mounted higher, like mine, I keep between 3 to 4.

 

[elangoas]

keep the Audyssey thing Off Always! after numerous trials, I have observed that your surrounds bark right into you years (mine are 8 feet above from ground).. Also I feel as if I am missing something..(articulation is difficult)

Sound is more fuller, punchy, direct and lively with Manual settings.
Set all volume levels to Zero, increase Center / Sub / Surrounds @ ur preferred level. Surrounds can be a notch higher if mounted higher, like mine, I keep between 3 to 4.

My surrounds are 5 feet from the ground... The tweeter is exactly @ 5 feet... So when i sit on my sofa, the tweeter is approx 2 feet above my ear level....

I think you AVR has Multi EQ XT version of calibration.... If you feel the surrounds are edgy, then you can reduce the levels of the surrounds....

There was on other FM who recently used Audyssey EQ & Vol version in Denon & Marantz AVR with same speakers and found Marantz was good... May be the trio (Denon + Polk + Audyssey) is making the speakers bright on occasions....

Me too have watched movies with and without Audyssey EQ & Vol, but i like what Audyssey does....

 

[pkhammu2005]

using Marantz 5008 avr with emotiva 500 amp & calibrated thru Audyssey multieq.Must say it has smoothened the sound. Mine is an accoustically treated room,the center channel sounds more composed & clear even during heavy action & certainly the harshness at loud volumes is gone now.Audyssey has mentioned that surrounds will be more agressive than other channels,for which we can always adjust the volume manually but for me now the surrounds sound more spacious.And most importantly the subwoofer sounds more clean.
But again audyssey may behave differently in different rooms,based on the furniture,walls,speaker placements,etc...best solution is to listen with & without audy & judge whichever sounds sweeter.

 

[spirovious]

What is / Do you have equivalent of Dynamic EQ in YPAO ?

There is only DRC (Dynamic range control)
Just found this-
Yamaha Adaptive DRC vs. Dolby Volume, Audessey Dynamic Volume/EQ, THX Loudness Plus. - Blu-ray Forum

 

[spirovious]

using Marantz 5008 avr with emotiva 500 amp & calibrated thru Audyssey multieq.Must say it has smoothened the sound. Mine is an accoustically treated room,the center channel sounds more composed & clear even during heavy action & certainly the harshness at loud volumes is gone now.Audyssey has mentioned that surrounds will be more agressive than other channels,for which we can always adjust the volume manually but for me now the surrounds sound more spacious.And most importantly the subwoofer sounds more clean.
But again audyssey may behave differently in different rooms,based on the furniture,walls,speaker placements,etc...best solution is to listen with & without audy & judge whichever sounds sweeter.

Audyssey in same room may caliber differently even with no change in system.
I found, adding power amp makes marantz sound better.Especially Bass get controled.

 

[elangoas]

Here is an interesting link to read Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 Vs YPAO Vs MCACC Google Translate

Results towards the end of the review from the above link ....

Rating system calibration with automatic correction of priority:

1. Audyssey MultiEQ XT 32 for most flat frequency response graph for all channels, including subwoofer
2. YPAO RSC for the good work RSC complex filter on correcting problems in NP
3. MCACC for clear presentation of information about the changes made
4. YPAO for work at all frequencies
5. Audyssey 2EQ for correcting the frequency response of heterogeneous speaker HF

Rating calibration systems with manual priority correction:

1. YPAO (all) for flexible parametric EQ on each channel
2. MCACC 9-band graphic equalizer and 3-band EQ standing waves
3. Audyssey (all) for a graphic equalizer, equalizer including subwoofer (sale Onkyo)

Overall Rating calibration systems:

1. Audyssey MultiEQ XT 32 and YPAO RSC. Uniquely difficult to choose a leader, that is. To. A system perfectly corrects frequency response over the entire range, and the second, though less straightens response, but has the ability to further edit the result obtained using a parametric equalizer to your personal preference.
2. MCACC. A good range of options is limited only by the means used for editing.
3. YPAO. Auto-tuning is only slightly rules AFC channels, which requires a mandatory change settings parametric equalizer to produce an acceptable result.
4. Audyssey 2EQ. The absence of changes below 1 kHz does not allow to adjust the effect of the room.

 

[sidvee]

I recenty acquired a marantz sr 6009. I am usually very skeptical about auto calibration and usually perform manual settings with a radioshack meter for levels. Anyways I was curious with the 6009 and this evening when I had some free time, I performed the auto calibration. The setting after, resulted in my speakers (paradigm studio v3 in 5.1 settings) all being set to large, crossover at 40hz. Quick checking on audyssey blog recommends that this should be changed to small and 80hz, because rcvr. is doing the setting not audyssey. Secondly my sub. level which I set at +0.5 db manually was reduced to -9.5. Ok fine, I checked out fast & furious 6, everything sounds good except I feel sub is too low. I know bass levels are subjective, but has anyone else experienced this? I plan to turn up the sub level to perhaps -5 db and check out everything subjectively? what do you think?
Cheers,
Sid