sound pressure meter

[artv4]

hi,
i am a bit confused on how to properly use my sound pressure meter. i know you are supposed to set it to c weight and slow response. from there, you adjust the channels until they are over 75db. but my question is where do i set the volume of my reciever. like, to i start with the front left and turn the volume up until the meter reads 75db, then, adjust the remaining speakers until they all reach 75db from this point. PLEASE HELP ME!

ps- i am using this to calibrate my rotel rsx-1055

art

[P-Dub]

Are you using a calibration disc, like Video Essentials or Avial? or the internal test tones?

Ideally you are using a calibration disc and there should be a cycle of white noise that goes through each speaker. The main volume should be set so that you are reading 75db from the mains based on your seating position. Then you adjusted the LCR and surrounds so that you are reading 75db from each speaker. Due to placement and accustics you will have to go into a submenu on your receive and adjust each speaker level individually.

Did that make sense?

So you are basically on the right track.

[JürgenW]

Your receiver should tell you what to do.

It should send a signal to each speaker separately, mostly starting with the left front speaker.
Each speaker should have the same sound pressure, e.g. 75 db. So when the front left speaker reaches that pressure (because you turn the volume up), you confirm that the sound speaker for that speaker is okay and go on to the next speaker (it should be the center), and so on.

Hold the sound pressure meter when measuring right up in the air - - or use a stative - at the sweet spot(the sweet spot is where the best place is to listen to surround).

Jürgen

[artv4]

i am using the sound and vision disc and i just purchased the hd-dve disc. i that helps quite a bit. i just calibrated my system and i started from the center channel, is that ok or should i redo it and start with the left front channel
art

[P-Dub]

In the end it really shouldn't matter. The idea is once you have all the speakers set, then as you move your master volume, the sound levels will be equal.

[littlesaint]

I always use the speaker that is the quietest at default settings (not including the subwoofer), and then trim the others. Generally it is better to trim than boost. Also, if you are calibrating/positioning your sub using low frequencies, the RadioShack analog SPL meters are way off at the low end. There are correction charts out there to compensate. The digital meter is only off 1dB at most, so no correction really needed.

[artv4]

thanks for the help. i am going to retry setting up the db levels starting with the left front speaker then compare to the center settings.

[JürgenW]

Should work fine.

In general it is not important with which speaker to start.

I wrote about 'usually' starting with the left front speaker because
- mostly the receiver starts with that speaker to give signals,
- some receivers relate the sound pressure of the other speakers to one specific speaker. (That is e.g. the case with Audionet surround processors; the specific one is the left front speaker.)

Jürgen

[artv4]

thanks for the help everyone. one more question. should i use the pink noise on my rotel or use the tones on my hd-dve disc? before i was using the test tones on the sound and vision disc, the dts tone test.

[P-Dub]

I think using the tones of the DVD would be better. That way you will be calibrating based on the audio signal from the source DVD player. As to which disc to use, I leave that up to you and the others. I've been out of the loop on the newer calibration discs. I've personally used the DVE disc for my own calibration, but this was the pre HD version.

[artv4]

thanks paul. seems like i was just being self conscious on the setup. thank everyone for the help!