New HTiB , Cant get Perfect Sound !

[Naveen_Reloaded]

Hi all,

i got Onkyo 3200 and set it up yesterday , I arranged all the speakers as per dolby 5.1 setup. all speakers are good , expect i cant able to get the perfect BASS , It seems to be more distorted loud rather than pure loud like we have in theatres. The loudness is very deep/ diverged ...


i tried differrent places ( still moving here and there ..) but i cant able to get best sound of it.. may be i have to do something in the AV reciever .

can anyone help on getting the right setup in the AV reciever ?

 

[santhukp]

Hi all,

i got Onkyo 3200 and set it up yesterday , I arranged all the speakers as per dolby 5.1 setup. all speakers are good , expect i cant able to get the perfect BASS , It seems to be more distorted loud rather than pure loud like we have in theatres. The loudness is very deep/ diverged ...


i tried differrent places ( still moving here and there ..) but i cant able to get best sound of it.. may be i have to do something in the AV reciever .

can anyone help on getting the right setup in the AV reciever ?

Give the problem in details like what source you are using,what kind of media you are playing and what it shows in the AVR display etc(is it showing dolby Digital while playing the DVD ?). then only people can give you the exact reason.

 

[jaudere]

Hi all,

i got Onkyo 3200 and set it up yesterday , I arranged all the speakers as per dolby 5.1 setup. all speakers are good , expect i cant able to get the perfect BASS , It seems to be more distorted loud rather than pure loud like we have in theatres. The loudness is very deep/ diverged ...


i tried differrent places ( still moving here and there ..) but i cant able to get best sound of it.. may be i have to do something in the AV reciever .

can anyone help on getting the right setup in the AV reciever ?

Hi,

what is the sub woofer crossover setting? i prefer it to keep at 60 or less. that way subwoofer does not interfere in music(most of the notes being >60Hz). the woofer should work only where it is required e.g.in blast scenes

I have not heard the onkyo system you are using. the above mentioned setting hold true only when your fronts can go low down to, say, 50Hz.

 

[thevortex]

Navin - did you actually listen to this setup at Onkyo before getting it? I have heard HTiB's sounding like this even in demo rooms.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

Give the problem in details like what source you are using,what kind of media you are playing and what it shows in the AVR display etc(is it showing dolby Digital while playing the DVD ?). then only people can give you the exact reason.

I played different media`s like Bluray - Dark knight

Dolby digital , DTS

I lights up respectively when i play these media on the AVR

Hi,

what is the sub woofer crossover setting? i prefer it to keep at 60 or less. that way subwoofer does not interfere in music(most of the notes being >60Hz). the woofer should work only where it is required e.g.in blast scenes

I have not heard the onkyo system you are using. the above mentioned setting hold true only when your fronts can go low down to, say, 50Hz.

I tried.. it . I have put a thick mat underneath the subwoofer so that it wont vibrate as the legs of the woofer are not equal .... will that mat have any effect ?

Navin - did you actually listen to this setup at Onkyo before getting it? I have heard HTiB's sounding like this even in demo rooms.

yup i listened there. but as i didnt have time , i had to leave to me my home place i rushed in a hurry. but it was great there. in my room also its great , but i cant able to get that Shrill BASS , like we have in theatres

also help on these settings :


Audessey ,

Crossover Setting , ( how much should i keep )

Treble , Bass ( i have pumped up treble a little bit keeping bass at 0 db )

distance ( i am really confused here )


here is a pic of my setup



( the room is a total mess .... :-D )

the blue mat you see is wht i have put underneath the subwoofer which is on the right just side to the LCD

is there a way to setup the woofer... ?

Which is the best demo / music to calibrate my system ?

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

I'm sorry for saying this, but that Onkyo system sounds terrible (I heard the 3100). What you are hearing is what I would expect you to hear. You can't expect a 20K system (actually not even a 200K system) to deliver the impact of a cinema theater in your room. If the bass is distorting, turn down the level. You should be experiencing a lot of boom in the lowest octaves, this is normal for subs like those that come with your system.

but is that why we call it home theatre ... ?

i think i didnt configure correctly .. yes i agree that i shouldnt compare a 25 k speaker with high end ones. but when i have a decent 5.1 audio and room size less than 1/50th of theatre , shouldnt it be possible to replicate the same sound of a theatre ? i am simply asking ... dont take me in a wrong sense ...

suggest few ideas on BASIC setups .. so that i setup the things right .

 

[thevortex]

I dont quite get what you mean by 'Shrill bass'. Bass, to me, can never be shrill. It can be distorted or warm or full. It can even be overpowering.

If you have slightly larger speakers then a crossover at 80 Hz would be fine. If you have satellites then a crossover setting of 100 or 120 hz may be required. Feel free to experiment. As to subwoofer location, there are loads of guides available in our forum as well as the internet. Suffice to say that this can be the single most problematic integration element in any home theatre setup.

To start with, keep the subwoofer in a wall corner. If you now walk around the room you should find one or two spots where bass is accentuated and sounds good the ear (your ear, most importantly). Those one or two spots are the room nodes and that is where your subwoofer should go. This is easier said than done, of course.

Turn down both the treble and bass knobs and try and listen to the recording as is. Only if this is unbearable, go ahead and fiddle with the tonal controls. Dont know if these are the 'right' things to do in your case. These are the steps I would have done if I were you.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

shrill in the sense like a single bullet shot not a bazooka sound effect .. hope you get the point..


i will try your method vortex and reply back here...

can u suggest me any ddemo material which i can download from the internet and calibrate accordingly?

 

[thevortex]

shrill in the sense like a single bullet shot not a bazooka sound effect .. hope you get the point..


i will try your method vortex and reply back here...

can u suggest me any ddemo material which i can download from the internet and calibrate accordingly?

There was a rapidshare link glven somewhere in the forum for this purpose. Please search.

 

[vj_box]

Naveen,this sounds something new to me,as others suggested try different positions and place the sub in that position,i believe this is a passive sub and its not gonna give u that tight punchy bass that u would expect. I remember this was told to u before u purchased the system. Try adjusting the HZ,there shoud be a hardware setup in the AVR which lets u do that,u can also try adjusting the DB.See if u get the bass that will excite you
Vj

 

[sonosphere]

Hi Naveen,
I have auditioned Onkyo 3100... and ultimately purchased Onkuo 5105. I have faced the same issue including the fact that the bass sounded good in demo-room. Here is what I have to say...

1. The cross-over frequency selection has BIG impact on Bass sound. For your 3200 HTIB, keep it at 120Hz and set your fronts as "Small" speakers.

2. If you have "Audissey" function, use it right away but follow the manual instructions STRICTLY. You will notice overall bass enhancement that is better than what the Bass control offers.

3. If your AVR has EQ setting available for Subwoofer, tweak that if you find the Audissey function has not given desired result.

4. Try shifting around the subwoofer AFTER completing till point-3 above and then observe the difference. (This whole affair takes patience man!! I took two weeks to get the best possible)

4. The demo room I visited was small about 9 feet x 10 Feet, my listening distance was 3 feet, room was full carpeted having heavy curtains. So the AVR filled the demo room with sound effectively (see how powerful even a 25watt car stereo sounds in a car... because the car interiors are small and your listening distance is small... plus the interior is heavily padded with foam-seats, floor carpet and roof-fabric) When I returned to my living room 16 feet by 18 feet and installed the AVR at 60Hz subwoofer cross over, I was shocked at the weak overall sound. Maybe your case is similar to mine.

5. Download some woofer testing files from here and observe results >> RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

You may find that subwoofer is doing fine in some low freqs while weak in others. Thats the case with low end HTIB subwoofer. To be fair to Onkyo, their subwoofer (and overall 5.1 output) is better than Sony HTIB in the same price range.

6. Human perception: Now this is most interesting. You may be surprised to know that our ears are prone to hear differently on different days. So one fine morning (usually its morning..) you will suddenly find something lacking in sound, and wonder what happened since last night when everything was perfect! This is just for info, ... it doesnt happen on everyday basis.

7. I see bookshelf speakers behind your front speakers (in your image provided). If they are 8 Ohms each, try using them as fronts (change the Fronts setting in AVR as LARGE now). That should help in bass also.

I hope you haven't dozed off by now and the above helps.
Regds,

 

[gobble]

shrill in the sense like a single bullet shot not a bazooka sound effect .. hope you get the point..


i will try your method vortex and reply back here...

can u suggest me any ddemo material which i can download from the internet and calibrate accordingly?

Thats the boominess that you will get from "this type" of box.

Try moving the subwoofer away from the corners and wall and check.

Regards

 

[vj_box]

Spot on! sonos

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

Naveen,this sounds something new to me,as others suggested try different positions and place the sub in that position,i believe this is a passive sub and its not gonna give u that tight punchy bass that u would expect. I remember this was told to u before u purchased the system. Try adjusting the HZ,there shoud be a hardware setup in the AVR which lets u do that,u can also try adjusting the DB.See if u get the bass that will excite you
Vj

i am now clear with settings as i fiddled through hours and hours with my fan off and hearing closely to the sounds.

the main culprit is the Crossover setting..

Hi Naveen,
I have auditioned Onkyo 3100... and ultimately purchased Onkuo 5105. I have faced the same issue including the fact that the bass sounded good in demo-room. Here is what I have to say...

1. The cross-over frequency selection has BIG impact on Bass sound. For your 3200 HTIB, keep it at 120Hz and set your fronts as "Small" speakers.

2. If you have "Audissey" function, use it right away but follow the manual instructions STRICTLY. You will notice overall bass enhancement that is better than what the Bass control offers.

3. If your AVR has EQ setting available for Subwoofer, tweak that if you find the Audissey function has not given desired result.

4. Try shifting around the subwoofer AFTER completing till point-3 above and then observe the difference. (This whole affair takes patience man!! I took two weeks to get the best possible)

4. The demo room I visited was small about 9 feet x 10 Feet, my listening distance was 3 feet, room was full carpeted having heavy curtains. So the AVR filled the demo room with sound effectively (see how powerful even a 25watt car stereo sounds in a car... because the car interiors are small and your listening distance is small... plus the interior is heavily padded with foam-seats, floor carpet and roof-fabric) When I returned to my living room 16 feet by 18 feet and installed the AVR at 60Hz subwoofer cross over, I was shocked at the weak overall sound. Maybe your case is similar to mine.

5. Download some woofer testing files from here and observe results >> RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting



You may find that subwoofer is doing fine in some low freqs while weak in others. Thats the case with low end HTIB subwoofer. To be fair to Onkyo, their subwoofer (and overall 5.1 output) is better than Sony HTIB in the same price range.

6. Human perception: Now this is most interesting. You may be surprised to know that our ears are prone to hear differently on different days. So one fine morning (usually its morning..) you will suddenly find something lacking in sound, and wonder what happened since last night when everything was perfect! This is just for info, ... it doesnt happen on everyday basis.

7. I see bookshelf speakers behind your front speakers (in your image provided). If they are 8 Ohms each, try using them as fronts (change the Fronts setting in AVR as LARGE now). That should help in bass also.

I hope you haven't dozed off by now and the above helps.
Regds,

downloading the woofer testing file....

yup when i go down to 50/60/80 HZ the Bass doesnt kick in .. when i pump up to 100 or above , the bass becomes active.

I went through many forums and articles and found wht crossover is , now i am clear and i think i got it under control.

I switched off other setting and just ran the cross over to get the maximum.

yes as u said , each day it sounds different.

also experimenting now with position of the sub.

almost got around 70% of perfection. will do more changing and see ...

I also pimped up the rear volume slighlty above the front speakers , just to give that extra surround effect . is it ok or should i set equal to all ?

does a mat underneath the sub have any effect. removing the mat makes the sub very unstable , i mean the legs of the subs are not equal , so it vibrates and creates extra rattling sound. what should i do ?

also does placing sun near my CD/DVD / bluray rack have any extra unwanted sound disturbance due to thier vibration (CD/DVD covers )?

Thats the boominess that you will get from "this type" of box.

Try moving the subwoofer away from the corners and wall and check.

Regards

yup totally moved away from the wall . it was sooo Heavy.

now its almost very near to me.

now experimenting on different crossover to get that blend and not to make the sub identifiable.

please suggest few tips on best sub placement and on what i should put beneath it so that it doesnt vibrate ( due to my unequal sub legs )





<<<------- Guys , you all are very helpful . thanks a lot for spending time in helping me out. ---------->>>

 

[skumar]

Get a bath-mat with rubber padded bottom and place the sub on it. Or if you can find a 1/4th inch thick rubber mat, that should also help.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

thnks SK.

got the setting somehow better. So i didnt want to disturb you SK ...

just now put a bath mat underneath. now it ok.

the woofer tester are streo , so i have to use PLII or NEO to use subs.

is there any 5.1 music which PS3 can run ? so that i can test the subs ?

 

[vj_box]

I usually download a lot 5.1 material from torrents which you can never even imagine of buying here,coz they are not available. You wouldn't need a 5.1 music to test your SUB,a good stereo will just do good.But as mentioned earlier,you cannot really expect this system to perform like the higher end ones.You would have to live with this until you upgrade your setup. Try downloading some DTS demos DVDs from the net,to test your system's processing capabilities,it would include,surround sound processing,your sub's performance,imaging,sound steering and so. Nowadays i have started to convert the MKVs with DTS to DVD formats,as this way most of ur movies will be DTS with 1.5 MBPS.
Vj