Venturing in REW + UMIK 1

REW beta version has got Time Alignment tool to integrate sub & fronts seamlessly.
Has any one tried this time alignment tool? I was able to follow his instructions. He is loading the sub measurements and the mains to calculate delay automatically. Only thing I don’t follow is what curve he is loading wether it is corrected curves or the pure direct curves for both sub and mains. You cab also try individually for each front right and left and use the average value. I tried both ways and got average reading of 20-22ft. When I tried the same for center I got 9ft average. So very confused. If some one can confirm what curve to load I can explain how to use the time alignment tool to calculate delay automatically.
 
I haven't been able to conclude much from above but one important aspect that UMIK + REW helped me is to level match all the speakers properly. The supplied Mic with AVR for the Audessey correction is way off the correct measurement.
You could've used a free free smartphone apps too. They work perfectly well :)
 
oh yes, tried many of them. Subwoofer level wasn't accurate with any of them :-/
Hmmmm... That's food for thought indeed. I guess I've noticed the same thing cuz as per the reading on my phone SPL meter app, i had to really crank up the gain to level match with the speakers and i imagined something was not right. Thankfully, that was for the LFE input (haven't watched any movies since then so no damage done to the sub) and not the high level input for which i trust only my ears.

Will measure again with the Umik and get back!

Thanks!!!
 
Has any one tried this time alignment tool? I was able to follow his instructions. He is loading the sub measurements and the mains to calculate delay automatically. Only thing I don’t follow is what curve he is loading wether it is corrected curves or the pure direct curves for both sub and mains. You cab also try individually for each front right and left and use the average value. I tried both ways and got average reading of 20-22ft. When I tried the same for center I got 9ft average. So very confused. If some one can confirm what curve to load I can explain how to use the time alignment tool to calculate delay automatically.
Ok went through the video again.He disabled room correction and eq. Runs the mains at 80hz crossover with the sub. Next he runs the mains with no sub and uses it in the time alignment tool.Only part I dint follow was the subwoofer curve he loaded. As per my understanding he uses the first curve for mains with sub but after applying eq. Can any one verify please?. Also one more thing he discussed in the video is that if we get the room correction results for speakers in negative values we have set the gain low in subwoofer. This is something new.
 
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I have been able to try out BEQ filters using MiniDSP, it was an easy process.
Has anyone been using actively? Could those xml files which are not specifically meant for the content from Netflix be used for Netflix as well?
 
Has any one tried this time alignment tool? I was able to follow his instructions. He is loading the sub measurements and the mains to calculate delay automatically. Only thing I don’t follow is what curve he is loading wether it is corrected curves or the pure direct curves for both sub and mains. You cab also try individually for each front right and left and use the average value. I tried both ways and got average reading of 20-22ft. When I tried the same for center I got 9ft average. So very confused. If some one can confirm what curve to load I can explain how to use the time alignment tool to calculate delay automatically.
I myself found it little confusing at certain points so I was waiting to get some more free time to watch again carefully and try it. Alas! my UMIK1 went defective after single usage again. I am still waiting for them to suggest resolution.
 
I myself found it little confusing at certain points so I was waiting to get some more free time to watch again carefully and try it. Alas! my UMIK1 went defective after single usage again. I am still waiting for them to suggest resolution.
As per my understanding he loads the corrected subwoofer curve through dsp with room correction ans eq disabled in avr along with LR full range sweep curve again with no room corrections and eq disabled. Selects the crossover in the graph and the tool automatically calculated the delay value. Left value to be added in mini dsp and the right value to be added with the current distance value for sub in the avr. So in his case he got 21 so with the current value at 12 he has to set the distance of sub in the avr as 33
 
Its been almost a week and there is no response from MiniDSP support, this is really going bad!
Got the replacement Unit second time, I was told that due to bending of cable/socket the port got damaged.
They took time but both the MiniDSP and the Dealer Avenue sound proved to be fantastic support.

I shall continue fiddling with UMIK 1 + MiniDSP tomorrow.

Already took some measurements today after changing position of my subwoofers.
 
As per my understanding he loads the corrected subwoofer curve through dsp with room correction ans eq disabled in avr along with LR full range sweep curve again with no room corrections and eq disabled. Selects the crossover in the graph and the tool automatically calculated the delay value. Left value to be added in mini dsp and the right value to be added with the current distance value for sub in the avr. So in his case he got 21 so with the current value at 12 he has to set the distance of sub in the avr as 33
thats it! I watched the Video now and realised it was always self explanatory :)
took little time to catch up.

I will be testing auto time alignment tool tomorrow

I would rather implement the delay adjustment in miniDSP plugin because anyway after integrating 2 subs into one virtual sub... the physical distance of "sub" would never be known.
 
Could tinker around with MiniDSP 2X4 HD and Umik again, after watching over tutorial videos and combing forums again and again I could get a very good response curve and much better integrated mains and subs :)

Below is individual response from my two subs and than the final PEQed curve of both (in red)


Screenshot 2020-11-22 at 8.31.42 PM.png
 
Can you give details of the settings and changes made? It will benefit everyone
Actually its a very standard process as explained in earlier shared videos, the maximum patience needed is at the "EQ" step to find correct "target level" and set the curve to your taste. Killing the Peaks and not worrying about some nulls (a lot of them taken care by changing sub woofer position) is the key to much cleaner and more dynamic lower end bass. Integrating with mains made it even better! It hardly took ten minutes to use this feature and I could technically find the delay I should have between mains and Subs as against hit and trial so far.
 
I don't want to share my graphs and spoil your thread.
But have you done "nearfield" measurements for you individual Subs ???
 
Hi i have been going through a few of your posts and looks like you have all sorts of experiments with your setup. Now mine is not that high end, ll soon get the delivery of q3030i fronts, 3090 and 3010 center and rear and 2 atmos ceiling along with bic pl 200ii single sub. Avr is marantz 5015. My question is should i even bother with these kind of tinkering for single sub setup? And what's the most useful and non cumbersome way to optimize this kind of setup without delving into such nitty gritties. Though i can handle the teachnicalities, dont think i ll have the time to do it. Hence asking someone who's already gone through the process of comparing before and after of many combinations.
 
"Hence asking someone who's already gone through the process of comparing before and after of many combinations."
There is no straight answer to your question. However, let me try.
Speaking from my experience It is all about room acoustics and placement. If your room is in a golden ratio( Eg : 10 by 16 feet or 12 by 19 or 14 by 22) then you are in luck. The inbuilt Audyssey program of Marantz should take care of the room audio calibration and it would be at least 90% accurate for movies atleast.
For critical music listening a more thorough analysis of room nodes are required.
I have recently used REW and Equalizer APO software (windows 10 HTPC as source device)to fix my room deficiencies to an ok level, further testing required.
 
Hi i have been going through a few of your posts and looks like you have all sorts of experiments with your setup. Now mine is not that high end, ll soon get the delivery of q3030i fronts, 3090 and 3010 center and rear and 2 atmos ceiling along with bic pl 200ii single sub. Avr is marantz 5015. My question is should i even bother with these kind of tinkering for single sub setup? And what's the most useful and non cumbersome way to optimize this kind of setup without delving into such nitty gritties. Though i can handle the teachnicalities, dont think i ll have the time to do it. Hence asking someone who's already gone through the process of comparing before and after of many combinations.
This covid house arrest gave opportunity to experiment all sorts :)
Investing time in REW would always be plus but if you can't do that, trust your ears and play around with placement of the singe Sub. During this process I even came across people who would say a gain of 5-6 db on certain low frequency helps the slams and thumps but then do you want that or you aim for a balanced low frequency effects is what you would know by placements experiment.

Following basic Audyssey Room correction (or better investing in MultiEQ app), correct speaker placements, good source of content, some acoustic treatment (carpets, panels, traps) and a decent gear would get you 80% to your aim ... the rest 20% is never ending upgrade spree.
 
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