Basic Calibration Questions

[EAmin]

Couple of questions:

1. I calibrate all of my speakers using my processor test tones. My DVD player (Pioneer DV-45a) also has some calibration settings for speaker distance as well as volume level. What do I set my DVD settings to if I've done all of this on the processor?

2. I use two subwoofers on the left side of my prime seating position, alongside the left wall. What do I set the speaker distance too? One is six feet away, the other is twelve feet away. I figured I should use 9ft since is it is in the middle.

Thanks in advance!

[Club1820]

It seems no one ever replied to this post. ?? Well, I have the same question that the original poster had. #1 above.

I have a Rotel 1068 that I then set the speaker levels & delay. But my Rotel 1060 DVD player also has settings for the speakers. Do I leave these alone and at zero for the delay?

Also, when using the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter, should one point the mike directly at each speaker at the listening position when setting the level? Or just have it pointing forward at the screen in the listening position?

Thanks in advance!

[Kal Rubinson]

It seems no one ever replied to this post. ?? Well, I have the same question that the original poster had. #1 above.

I have a Rotel 1068 that I then set the speaker levels & delay. But my Rotel 1060 DVD player also has settings for the speakers. Do I leave these alone and at zero for the delay?

Yes. Use only one setup. Leave the other zero-ed.

Also, when using the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter, should one point the mike directly at each speaker at the listening position when setting the level? Or just have it pointing forward at the screen in the listening position?

Straight up.

Kal

[Club1820]

Kal, thanks for the response. But not to question your wisdom - but straight up? Aren't the sound waves coming from the speaker horizontally? Or I guess, they are also bouncing down from the ceiling?

Also, the mike on the spl meter is not round, but a cylinder and only exposed at the top of the cylinder, not all around or on the sides.

Please excuse my ignorance.

[John Holmes]

Kal's responses are accurate. He gave you very direct answers that wouldn't confuse you even more. If you follow them, you will be just fine. Hope this helps.

If you need further assistance, let us know. We're always glad to help! :T

[Club1820]

OK. thanks! You guys are the experts!

[Kal Rubinson]

Kal, thanks for the response. But not to question your wisdom - but straight up? Aren't the sound waves coming from the speaker horizontally? Or I guess, they are also bouncing down from the ceiling?

Sound radiates in all directions but unevenly from most speakers. You want to position the mike in an unbiased position so that it is not favoring the output of any one speaker over another.

Also, the mike on the spl meter is not round, but a cylinder and only exposed at the top of the cylinder, not all around or on the sides.

Yes but it is not very directional.

Kal

[Club1820]

Thanks again for the lesson, kal! take care.

[Audiophiliac]

If I am not mistaken, your DVD player's speaker setup options (distance and level, etc) should only effect the 5.1/7.1 analog outputs. This is because most, if not all, AV receivers/preamps dont process their 5.1/7.1 analog inputs so you have to do the setup in the player.

If you do not have that connection, then the above advice is spot on. If you are setup to listen to SACD or DVD-A through the analog outputs of your DVD player, then you will want to do the setup in the player itself.

Please correct me if I am mistaken.

[Kal Rubinson]

If I am not mistaken, your DVD player's speaker setup options (distance and level, etc) should only effect the 5.1/7.1 analog outputs. This is because most, if not all, AV receivers/preamps dont process their 5.1/7.1 analog inputs so you have to do the setup in the player.

If you do not have that connection, then the above advice is spot on. If you are setup to listen to SACD or DVD-A through the analog outputs of your DVD player, then you will want to do the setup in the player itself.

Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Wish I could but you are on the money.

Kal

[Club1820]

Yes, I actually do also have the 5.1 analog connections set up on the Rotel 1060 DVD player for DVD-Audio. So I should then set up these connections for Delay & Level on the 1060? And this would only affect the analog connections?

OK, will do that also.

Thanks again you guys. This forum is the best!

[EAmin]

My DVD player uses the Multi-channel inputs as well, so I set the speaker distances. No problem. But not sure what to do with the volume level. If I have my:

Left Front set to + 2db
Center set to + 1db
Right Front set to + 2db
...etc.

I'm assuming I'd mimic that set up in the DVD player? I also use a Radio Shack SPL meter.

[Kal Rubinson]

My DVD player uses the Multi-channel inputs as well, so I set the speaker distances. No problem. But not sure what to do with the volume level. If I have my:

Left Front set to + 2db
Center set to + 1db
Right Front set to + 2db
...etc.

I'm assuming I'd mimic that set up in the DVD player? I also use a Radio Shack SPL meter.

Does your pre/pro or AVR controls channel levels on the analog inputs? Some do. If so, do not set them on the player.

Kal

[Club1820]

Welcome back EAmin!
Good Question. I will check the manual to see if my Rotel 1068 controls the levels on the analog inputs. If not, then I guess I will also set them on the 1060 dvd player.

One other question regarding the Level settings. To my ear, the levels dont exactly sound accurate even though they pretty much match according to the meter. Is this normal? This is especially the case with the sub level setting. I actually had it about 10 db higher than what the meter said it should be to match the other speakers.

Maybe my hearing is off! 8O

[John Holmes]

One other question regarding the Level settings. To my ear, the levels dont exactly sound accurate even though they pretty much match according to the meter. Is this normal? This is especially the case with the sub level setting. I actually had it about 10 db higher than what the meter said it should be to match the other speakers.

This is pretty normal. Most of us are used to the extra bass (bloated) we've heard in our systems for yrs. So when we hear it set at the correct levels, it sounds low.

Another issue could be your room and the position of your sub in relationship to your listening position. There are highs and lows (peaks & dips) of the sound in every room. Depending on where you sit and put your sub, you could be in one of the peaks or dips. Which would cause you to up/lower the output of the sub. In the long run (unless you are a stickler for the most accurate sound possible) if you are happy with the sound (regardless of what the meter says) then that's all that matters.

[Club1820]

John, yes you are right - I will probably increase the sub level to my own taste and not what the meter says. As for the other speakers, I will leave them to what the meter says and try it out. If I dont like it - will change them.

[EAmin]

Does your pre/pro or AVR controls channel levels on the analog inputs? Some do. If so, do not set them on the player.

Kal

My Rotel RSP-1098 does allow me to set the channel levels on my multi-channel inputs. So I'll zero out the levels on the player. Thank you Kal.

[EAmin]

Welcome back EAmin!
Good Question. I will check the manual to see if my Rotel 1068 controls the levels on the analog inputs. If not, then I guess I will also set them on the 1060 dvd player.

One other question regarding the Level settings. To my ear, the levels dont exactly sound accurate even though they pretty much match according to the meter. Is this normal? This is especially the case with the sub level setting. I actually had it about 10 db higher than what the meter said it should be to match the other speakers.

Maybe my hearing is off! 8O

Thanks for keeping this post alive. It would be nice to have a thread or sticky on things folks should do to fine tune there systems. Hint, hint moderators. Maybe this thread can be a start.

Regarding the sub calibration --- I found this from the RSP-1098 manual.

"Due to meter weighting curves and
room effects, the actual level of the subwoofer
may be slightly higher than you measure. To
compensate, Dolby suggests setting the subwoofer
several dB lower when calibrating
with an SPL meter (i.e. set the subwoofer to
read 72 dB on the meter instead of 75 dB).
Avoid setting the subwoofer level too high
(above 75dB)."

Hope it helps.

[Club1820]

EAmin, now I am really confused. Again everyone - excuse my ignorance. This is the first time I am using a SPL meter.

Are you supposed to set the levels of the speakers to a certain dB level, - like 72 dB that you mention above? Or are you supposed to pretty much match the all the speakers at the same dB level no matter what that level may be when calibrating them?

In other words - when I was setting mine up, it was late at night so I had the volume low when using the test tone. Subsequently my meter was reading about 53-55 dBs. So I just set all my speakers to about 54dBs. Is this correct? It shouldnt matter what volume level you calibrate the speakers just as long as they all match?

Thanks.

[EAmin]

EAmin, now I am really confused. Again everyone - excuse my ignorance. This is the first time I am using a SPL meter.

Are you supposed to set the levels of the speakers to a certain dB level, - like 72 dB that you mention above? Or are you supposed to pretty much match the all the speakers at the same dB level no matter what that level may be when calibrating them?

In other words - when I was setting mine up, it was late at night so I had the volume low when using the test tone. Subsequently my meter was reading about 53-55 dBs. So I just set all my speakers to about 54dBs. Is this correct? It shouldnt matter what volume level you calibrate the speakers just as long as they all match?

Thanks.

Sorry Club1820! Didn't mean to throw a wrench? The way I calibrate is I set my volume on my 1098 to 75, I go through all of the test tones making sure they all match. Note I use the Slow C setting on the Shack meter. When I get to my sub, I usually calibrate it to 72 cuz it's a little too hot at 75. I suppose it is okay to use any volume. The experts will know better. Have fun.

[John Holmes]

In other words - when I was setting mine up, it was late at night so I had the volume low when using the test tone. Subsequently my meter was reading about 53-55 dBs. So I just set all my speakers to about 54dBs. Is this correct? It shouldnt matter what volume level you calibrate the speakers just as long as they all match?

While it is important to match the level of each speaker correctly, it is sorta important to get each to measure about/around 75db on your SPL meter. A few reasons are:

You want to have adequate sound output when viewing your blockbuster flick!

It will give you a more common reference point with others in the hobby to discuss sound issues with certain films.

And it helps as a starting point when troubleshooting your system.

THX (if that's important to you) requires peaks of 105 db when a film is played back, which a 75 db measured test tone result will/should achieve.

So, you may want to turn your volume knob to a point that will allow you to do this. On THX (and some other units) 0 db on the volume knob is your reference point (the level which you should set it to achieve 75 db).

[Club1820]

you guys are going to laugh - but with each additional response I think I get more confused after I thought I understood this. 8O

My Pre/Pro is a Rotel 1068. The volume knob meter goes from 0 to 100 (maybe higher?). When I leveled the speakers to all read 54 dBs, I believe I had the volume set to somewhere in the mid-upper 50s (does this mean that the 1068 volume meter coincides with actual dB output?).

Here is the process I went through to to this:

I started with all the speaker levels at 0 in the settings on the 1068. I then started the 1068s test tone (with the 1068 volume reading in mid/upper 50s).

I believe I then started with the center channel speaker (set to 0) and whatever reading I got on the SPL meter (which was 54/55 dbs), I then tried to match the other speakers to the same readout on the meter.

So for example, I believe I had to increase the left speaker +1 and decrease the right speaker -1. The rear right speaker I had to decrease the level -5 and the rear left speaker I decreased -6. I dont have my center back speakers hooked up yet.

The sub read something like 66 dBs on the meter, so I think I had to decrease the level -9 or something like that.

After doing this, all my speakers read 54-55 dBs on the meter, including the sub.

Does that sound right? Is that the process to go about setting the levels?

My understanding of what I did is to basically level all of the speakers to have the same output. Then, at whatever volume I play my system - whether it be 50 dBs or 75 dbs (achieved by turning the volume up or down) - all my speakers would be at the same level.

??????


Thanks again.

[John Holmes]

Club1820,

You're not confused! :B You have it correct. The idea is too match all the speakers to output as close as possible to the same level. So no problem there. There is also no problem having your vol. knob around the mid/halfway mark when leveling the speakers. The only thing is like I said above about not being on that same sheet of music as most of us.

Getting each speaker on the same level is the most important part of the process. You can set them at 40db, 62db, 85db, 75db, etc. As long as they are all set to the same level, you are in business.

As far as your volume knob and it's numbers on the 1068, if it goes from 0-100 from left-to-right, then it is not set on the db scale of reference I spoke of above. The units (rcvrs, preamps and processors) that are go from (using the 0-100 example from above) 100-0-+12 from left-to-right. 0 would be your reference point and this is where you would set the vol. knob when balancing your speakers.

So know you ask: "What's the difference in me using 50 and others using 0 ?"...The only difference is, you aren't at the same level as most for reference purposes.

Hope this helped.

[Azeke]

Hopefully, this will not add to any confusion.

I own the RSP-1098 and use the Radio Shack SPL to calibrate my speakers, with the SPL on a tripod, at ear level (to minimize any reflections, i.e from your body, etc.) and at the center of the listening position.

I turn the SPL to 70db C weighting slow response. Starting with the left channel, I turn the volume on the pre-pro until I achieve 75 db on the SPL meter, and then I calibrate each channel to 75 db (ensure that each speaker delay is set properly before you begin). The sub is different, it is probably the hardest to blend, I have run my sub at 85db (10db above reference (75db)), also ensure that the sub phases and frequencies are set in accordance with your personal taste if applicable.

This provides a good reference point for your speaker calibration, you can make minor adjustments to suit your own acoustical taste. Just remember, if you move your speakers, including minor adjustments i.e. toe ins., you should re-calibrate.

Hope this helps, and of course your acoustical mileage may vary.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[EAmin]

Cool. Thanks John! I learned something new too as I was assuming 75 was 75db. We all have different amps and speakers so some will be louder than others.

It sounds like what I need to do on my 1098 processor is the following:

1-turn on the Test Tones for the Left Front speaker only.
2-adjust the main volume knob to where my Radio Shack meter says it's 75db.
3-once volume is at 75db (regardless of the volume #), THEN calibrate the rest of the speakers to this same level.

Makes perfect sense.

[John Holmes]

No problem. Glad to help clear things up for you guys. :T