Who uses it? Keeps it at its settings? Tweaks its settings? Does it without?

Honestly, using their straight settings sounds really good some of the time. However, the settings selected by Audyssey are never within THX range, or recommended manufacturer range either.

Also, why are the settings always so low? It seems like I can get a lot more use of my amps if I raise all the levels uniformly until the highest settings reaches 0.0db.

Thoughts? Usually I spend an hour on tweaking settings for small jobs, longer on theaters, but when I have days to spend trying everything on my room, you know.

Have you looked into anthem?
Their room correction is amazing

I typically just end up doing it myself. Audessey seems great for the consumer that has no clue what they are doing, but for us and a simple SPL meter, I will get much better sound performance and results.

Isn't Audyssey supposed to calibrate so that a volume level of 0.0db reflects true reference level - meaning if your system runs "loud" (ie. efficient speakers) it will reduce all the levels until they're correct.

Personally, I like it. I like Dynamic EQ on with a -10db offset, and I prefer to leave Dynamic Volume off (hate what it does to some stuff, but I know WAF typically likes it).

I've always thought that to do it properly you need the Pro kit, and not sure how expensive that is. I think it's at least 2K. I think the kit that comes in the box is a waste of time, why does a room that has so much going on it like a regular living room need calibration.


A dedicated room, well that's different.

My nickle.

Audyssey is doing more than SPL, but I'm sure you already knew that...

I prefer to run it, and then set it to ON, but with bypass L/R, so its not applying any EQ to the mains.

And it always seems to set to a reference of 70-72db instead of the 75db standard for SPL measurements. We typically go back in and bump each level by 3db.

And we always make sure the dynamic eq and dynamic volume are OFF.

Hi Guys,

Audyssey is much more than simple channel levels and distances and can make a big difference in the final performance of the system.

There are a host of best practices to follow to get the best possible result (a few):

1) Always use a tripod
2) Make sure the mic is at ear height
3) Avoid taking measurements too far to the sides or right up against walls
4) If you get a phase caution, double check your speaker wires, if they are correct you can skip the caution
5) Make sure the volume on your sub isn't too loud prior to running the calibration

The above are only a few examples (Matt used to do a full hour on Audyssey in his CI classes). For anyone wanting to get the most out of Audyssey today, just google "Audyssey Setup Guide" - it is very good and has been endorsed by the team at Audyssey.

Lastly, yes the Pro Kit will get you best results on models that support it (It is around $450 these days).

Thanks,

Paul Belanger
D+M Group

Unless you have the Pro kit and can override some of its poor decisions in the target curve, it will be by chance whether it does more good than harm. Read this article I wrote on what is wrong with it (and Cinema sound): [Link: madronadigital.com]

So always test it with some music and turn it on and off and only leave it on if it improves overall.

To follow on what amirm stated. I always set the speakers up to the best of my ability in terms of placement before even considering room correction. When possible, make sure the speakers sound as good as they can possibly sound 1st, then run the room correction and compare.

I run it and then I tweak it by ear to what I think sounds good.

For speaker levels I use "Dodge This" from The Matrix as I have heard it sooooo many times I know every nuance of the chapter. I know exactly how I want that helo to sound as it auto rotates through the side and rear channels. Once I've done that then i sit down woth the client and play the same passage, ask them what they think, and make any neccesary tweaks.

For the EQ's I just compare with or with out and then if needed I make a few tweaks, using Telegraph Road, Money For Nothing, and Brothers in Arms, by Dire Straits.

Always I let the client judge the final set up. So far so good.

Craig

Audyssey room correction can make a significant improvement, especially in "acoustically challenging" rooms, but there are lots of tricks in both measurement methodology and manual settings override to optimize its results. Most importantly, the sub delays are NEVER correct and must be manually adjusted and then phase tuned by ear using variable phase adjust on the sub[s] to create a truly musical system.

In other words, if you're just throwing the measurement mic on the couch, running a single pass and leaving, you're giving our industry a bad name.

Agreed. I've also noticed that the sub usually needs readjusting to sound right. I'm by no means and expert on the particulars but my understanding is that those little condenser mics can't properly measure bass frequencies. Probably why the pro kit improves things so much.

Craig

Any room correction system is somewhat of a crap shoot on how well they will work. The limited number of measurements they take make it impossible to evaluate every room properly. It doesn't matter if it is Audyssey, MCACC, YPAO, ARC, etc.

Arcos, Trinnov and Dirac are probably the best but are more complex and recommended you have one of their calibrators perform the calibration. Which is fine by me:-) in the more reasonable price range I like Anthem's ARC. It is not that ARC has the best algorithm but its quick measure feature lets someone with a little acoustic knowledge do a lot of what a professional calibrator can do with much more expensive test gear. If you can set up your system well and then adjust the ARC settings you can get very good results.

I would say Audyssey with the Pro kit is second. Personally, I like that the Yamaha processors have manual parametric EQ although with limited capability but they still allow decent manual settings if you have test gear.