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New speaker DSP in Media Center 14.0.127 [Room Correction]

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Matt:

--- Quote from: mojave on January 18, 2010, 02:43:57 pm ---In the Speakers DSP there should also be the option for Large or Small for each speaker and a setting for the crossover frequency. When set to Large, each speaker gets the full range audio signal with the option to also route the sound below the crossover frequency to the sub. Each speaker should also have a check box for "Bass to Sub Plus Mains" that is available if Large is selected. If it is set to Small each speaker gets the frequencies above the crossover frequency with the frequencies below the crossover sent to the sub and combined with the LFE signal. The crossover should have a High Pass Filter with a 12dB/octave slope and a Low Pass Filter with a selectable slope (12 dB or 24dB/octave slope). This selection could be made on the Subwoofer settings page and should only be allowed when the mains are run as Large and "Bass to Sub Plus Mains" is selected. Each speaker should also have a check box for "Bass to Sub Plus Mains." Some like their bass routed to the mains in addition to the sub. These settings would allow the Speakers DSP to handle bass management and provide greater flexibility.

The reason for the selectable slope of the subwoofer LPF is because some like to listen to music in a 2.1 configuration. They like their mains to run full range and their subs to add in the low frequencies below the natural frequency rolloff of their mains. Because main speakers of different designs roll off at different rates, having an adjustable rolloff for the sub is helpful for arriving at the best speaker/sub integration.

With my 7.1 channel system, for example, I would set the Output Format DSP to "7.1 channels" and surround mixing to "no mixing (unused channels silent)". I would then set each speaker to small and use a crossover of 80 Hz. Now regardless of how many channels I am listening to, MC should route all bass to my subwoofer channel. If I am listening to two channel music, my speakers should get from 80Hz and up and the sub from 80Hz and down.


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We're still thinking about this.

A parametric equalizer available per speaker with presets like 'Large Speaker', 'Medium Speaker' and 'Small Speaker' might be one approach.

mojave:
I have a Behringer DCX2496 that I have been using for bass management. It does parametric equalization and also provides digital crossovers. For each speaker you can set a HP filter and a LP filter with crossover slopes including 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, 24dB, and 48dB per octave with three filter types (Butterworth, Bessel, and Linkwitz-Riley) and using whatever frequency you want. It also has adjustable delays with manual or automatic correction for room temperature and distance. The parametric equalizer allowed for a gain of +/- 15dB, frequency, and Q (bandwidth). The Q (bandwidth setting) is essentially the width in octaves that is affected by the EQ. There is no way I could use this advanced parametric EQ to perform the crossover function. It works in a completely different way. Even using the crossovers in the DCX2496 require a lot of knowledge and measurements to get them set correctly. I have a calibrated measuring microphone which helped greatly.

For most users, being able to select Large or Small and a frequency is the best choice. I'm not sure what a Medium setting would be. You are either using a crossover or not using a crossover. There is no middle ground.  ?

There is disagreement whether all speakers should use the same crossover. For starters, you could have a crossover setting under the Subwoofer page. This would set everything to the same crossover frequency and it could be either on or off.

My current soundcard provides its own crossover setting. However, one would expect audiophile software to provide more choices.  ;D

Alex B:

--- Quote from: Matt on January 18, 2010, 02:39:15 pm ---You're of course right that speaker sensitivity needs to be accounted for.

But distance provides a good starting point, and as long as the manual adjustment for level remains, I think it makes a nice addition.  It will be in the next build.

It's kind of neat to sit really close to a speaker and listen to how it sounds almost like mono.  Then dial in the distances and the image neatly balances out.
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Actually on typical home theater receivers the speaker distance setting adjusts channel specific delay. Here the first article that Google found: http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines/setting-speaker-levels-distance-in-a-surround-sound-system

The channel specific volume adjustments are separate because there can be many factors in addition to the speaker distance. As said, individual speakers can have a different sensitivity and also a different power amp may be used for different speakers. For instance, the L & R speakers may be connected to a separate stereo power amp and the other speakers to a HT receiver. Also room acoustics can have a significant effect to the speaker volume level.

mojave:

--- Quote from: Matt on January 16, 2010, 07:16:22 pm ---Maybe next to the channel selection combobox it could have three buttons: "Solo" "Mute" "Tone"

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Thanks for adding these with the latest released build. However, Tone is only available when audio is playing and then it overlaps the current audio. For testing purposes, it really should only play when audio is not playing.

Matt:

--- Quote from: mojave on January 20, 2010, 02:13:51 pm ---Thanks for adding these with the latest released build. However, Tone is only available when audio is playing and then it overlaps the current audio. For testing purposes, it really should only play when audio is not playing.

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Check 'Solo' and 'Tone' to output to only that speaker.

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