[pjchappy]

Are there any free programs out there that have free digital room correction built in?  I'm assuming this program would have to be part of the playback program itself in order to send out the adjusted signal. . .unless something somehow changes the PC's output separately, like it does for what I discuss below.

I was just wondering because today, I came across such software standard in Windows Vista.  It sends out a few signals, picked up by my microphone, and then adjusts the signal time-wise and appears to do volume as well.  I currently haven't tweaked my speakers' physical set-up in awhile.  The volume per channel remained at 100%, but it delayed the left channel by 0.21 ms.  I just did this to check out the software and I have not done any listening yet.

I'm assuming there is not much more that can be done anyways with speakers with a standard crossover, correct?  Has anyone used Vista's room correction software with success?  Does typical room correction software simply adjust the level of the channel and add a delay, or is there more to it?  If so, what?

[pjchappy]

I just found a Bass Boost option.  Can only access if you set the speakers to satellites. 

I also answered most of my own questions after doing a little search.  Here's an article I found on the Vista sound correction.  Looking forward to messing with it soon.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=713073

[dwk]

The best and most comprehensive free 'room correction' package that I know about is 'DRC' (for Digital Room Correction) at http://drc-fir.sourceforge.net . It is just the analysis portion, with the output from DRC being an FIR filter that you can then use in one of a variety of convolution engines as part of the playback chain.  (BruetFIR under Linux and the Foobar convolver under Windows being the most common, but there are others as well)

The analysis done as part of this is quite sophisticated - far far more than just 'adjust level and delay'. This leads to an almost dizzying array of config parameters and options, but fortunately the set default config files is usually adequate, perhaps with a bit of tweaking.

As you would imagine, any 'room correction' approach relies heavily on being able to get accurate measurements of the room. A good quality mic (preferably calibrated, but some are flat enough to be OK without calibration) with associated preamp is essential.

[pjchappy]

Thanks for the response.  I'll check out that link.

Apparently, the Vista room correction does a lot more than just volume and delay, too.  Has anyone here used it with good results?  This stuff is all new to me.

[pjchappy]

Regarding Vista's Room Correction capabilites, here's a quote, from an MS engineer, found at the link above:

"Our room correction will equalize frequency response, time delay, and gain between all of your main channels, as well as build a first-reflection-cancellation filter if one or more of your speakers are near a reflective surface. If you do have a high-quality microphone, the room correction system will also flatten the overall frequency response and adjust the subwoofer delay accordingly. All of our adjustments are done as to capture the most obvious problems from the point of view of human hearing, allowing us to do a very effective job with a few machine cycles."

Now, I hope to try this out this weekend.  Again, I was just wondering if anyone here has used Vista's Room Correction. If so, what did you think?

I learned about Wasapi just the other day, too.  I am also in the process of re-burning all my CDs to .WAV format.  A pain in the ass.  Hopefully will be done by this weekend. . .and hopefully I will have time to mess around with this stuff. . .and also simply listen!

[fly_fish_nz]

Interested in learning more about Vista's RC software.  Do you know how it handles nulls, for example?  I think it is generally accepted, that boosting frequencies that are below a flat response is not advisable, because doing so taxes the amp and speakers without much effect.  This is at least the case with the Lyngdorf Room Perfect System I am trying out.  Thanks for the info. you've posted so far.

[mikel51]

if you use squeeze center, you Inguz is fairly popular.

[ted_b]

Interested in learning more about Vista's RC software.  Do you know how it handles nulls, for example?  I think it is generally accepted, that boosting frequencies that are below a flat response is not advisable, because doing so taxes the amp and speakers without much effect.  This is at least the case with the Lyngdorf Room Perfect System I am trying out.  Thanks for the info. you've posted so far.

Yes, I agree that nulls are not to be dealt with electronically.  They are your room's black holes, and any try at electronically EQ'ing them is a lost cause as you described (adding painful taxing of the amp, creating huge boosts elsewhere in the room, etc.).  Nulls are best dealt with via speaker placement, listener placement and physical room treatments.

Room EQ Wizard is a very very good tool to measure and understand the issues you have facing you in your room.  REW is freeware and available via download from another forum (googling it will find it easily..don't want to create an ad for another forum).

[pjchappy]

Interested in learning more about Vista's RC software.  Do you know how it handles nulls, for example?  I think it is generally accepted, that boosting frequencies that are below a flat response is not advisable, because doing so taxes the amp and speakers without much effect.  This is at least the case with the Lyngdorf Room Perfect System I am trying out.  Thanks for the info. you've posted so far.

Yes, I agree that nulls are not to be dealt with electronically.  They are your room's black holes, and any try at electronically EQ'ing them is a lost cause as you described (adding painful taxing of the amp, creating huge boosts elsewhere in the room, etc.).  Nulls are best dealt with via speaker placement, listener placement and physical room treatments.

Room EQ Wizard is a very very good tool to measure and understand the issues you have facing you in your room.  REW is freeware and available via download from another forum (googling it will find it easily..don't want to create an ad for another forum).

I'm not sure how it handles nulls.  I STILL haven't had a chance to really check the software out. . .nor my new Peachtree Nova, due to numerous things.  Just some casual listening.  I only know how it works based on the link above, which has info from an MS engineer and other info based on simple web searches.

[doctorcilantro]

You don't have to use MS. J. River can use Direct-X or VST.

I learned about Wasapi just the other day, too.  I am also in the process of re-burning all my CDs to .WAV format.  A pain in the ass.  Hopefully will be done by this weekend. . .and hopefully I will have time to mess around with this stuff. . .and also simply listen!

You are re-ripping your CDs? To .wav? (Or re-burning your albums to disc?) What format did you use initially. Meta-data can't be saved in .wav headers and you might as well use .flac or .ape for storage. Unless you believe that decoding on the fly affects fidelity (which I don't).

DC

[ironmine]

Are there any free programs out there that have free digital room correction built in? 

Find the program called ROOM EQ WIZARD. It's what you need! It's a simple program, much more user-friendly than DRC. I use it to great success. I use this program to find the most nasty peaks in my room and then I set up my Electri-Q parametric equalizer (80 bit!) accordingly. The bass is so much more cleaner. I cannot go back to the unequalized sound now. (Room EQ wizard can also generate impulses which you can later use with convolver plugins).

Another option is to buy Behringer DEQ2496 ($260). Explore this variant!