[splittailz]

hello all. since I now have my room correction unit, Audyssey, connected and "dialed in" and extremely pleased with the results, I thought some discussion and comments on the +'s and
-'s of this new technology might be in order. should be interesting to see what we all think about this. any and all comments welcome here.
BTW, I did replace the 4' speaker cables with 12' (approx 4 meter) cables about a week ago.
so far I hear absolutely no difference. this was the subject of my last topic.

[Mag]

Since getting my new Yamaha RX-v1700 with the YPAO. The biggest improvement I've noticed is with MC sacd. Before with my old Yamaha the balance was off center. Now it's balanced and the sound is so enveloping.
The interesting thing when using the YPAO is how quiet the room has to be. I had the furnace motor running in the background for central air conditioning and it wouldn't work, I didn't think that little bit of noise from outside the room would be a factor. Shut the furnace off and you can hear a pin drop, then the YPAO worked.

[splittailz]

Since getting my new Yamaha RX-v1700 with the YPAO. The biggest improvement I've noticed is with MC sacd. Before with my old Yamaha the balance was off center. Now it's balanced and the sound is so enveloping.
The interesting thing when using the YPAO is how quiet the room has to be. I had the furnace motor running in the background for central air conditioning and it wouldn't work, I didn't think that little bit of noise from outside the room would be a factor. Shut the furnace off and you can hear a pin drop, then the YPAO worked.

I ran into the same thing with the Audyssey on setup. Room needs to be very quiet to get the proper readings. I ended up turning off the air conditioning too.

[ted_b]

I've had Audyssey in a couple of processors so far.  I've spoken with Chris (CEO) many times; he is a great resource and very open to forum discussions, emails, etc.  The multiple-location measurements and room EQ theories behind Audyssey are sound (no pun intended) and seem to do the trick.  But I'm not yet a DRC fan, especially before proper room treatment.  I have the luxury of having identical hi-end speakers in my 5.1 ITU hirez music setup, with massive amounts of RealTrap room treatments.  Although my 7.1 setup uses different speakers on the sides and rears than my 5.1 (see system/gallery) my 7.1 listening is mostly movies and not as critical.  In more difficult rooms or where there is more WAF going on    i can imagine that Audyssey would be of great benefit.  Folks like Kal Rubinson (Stereophile) swear by its magic.  

My current surround processor is the Onkyo 885 (aka Integra 9.8 pre/pro), and I may still let Audyssey try and set up my 7.1 mix as a test, but I don't turn it on for 5.1 (or, of course, 2 channel, cuz it's out of that signal path).

There is a BOATLOAD of discussion about Audyssey over on AVS Forum.  Or try posting this in the home theater circle.  It will likely get more hits.

The new kid on the block is Trinnov.  It's currently only in a lite-mode implementation in Sherwood receivers (?) but has huge promise.  A stand-alone box is due asap.  i've spoken with those guys and they are taking a very aggressive 3-d approach to it.  Very kewl.  Check out the measuring probes!
http://www.trinnov-audio.com/optimizer.php

[Eric]

The only rrom correction I have experienced is my wife telling me I need to get my audio stuff out of her living room. Does that count? aa

[splittailz]

The only rrom correction I have experienced is my wife telling me I need to get my audio stuff out of her living room. Does that count? aa

there is something to be said for having a " Man Room" or "Man Cave"

[splittailz]

I've had Audyssey in a couple of processors so far.  I've spoken with Chris (CEO) many times; he is a great resource and very open to forum discussions, emails, etc.  The multiple-location measurements and room EQ theories behind Audyssey are sound (no pun intended) and seem to do the trick.  But I'm not yet a DRC fan, especially before proper room treatment.  I have the luxury of having identical hi-end speakers in my 5.1 ITU hirez music setup, with massive amounts of RealTrap room treatments.  Although my 7.1 setup uses different speakers on the sides and rears than my 5.1 (see system/gallery) my 7.1 listening is mostly movies and not as critical.  In more difficult rooms or where there is more WAF going on    i can imagine that Audyssey would be of great benefit.  Folks like Kal Rubinson (Stereophile) swear by its magic.  

My current surround processor is the Onkyo 885 (aka Integra 9.8 pre/pro), and I may still let Audyssey try and set up my 7.1 mix as a test, but I don't turn it on for 5.1 (or, of course, 2 channel, cuz it's out of that signal path).

There is a BOATLOAD of discussion about Audyssey over on AVS Forum.  Or try posting this in the home theater circle.  It will likely get more hits.

The new kid on the block is Trinnov.  It's currently only in a lite-mode implementation in Sherwood receivers (?) but has huge promise.  A stand-alone box is due asap.  i've spoken with those guys and they are taking a very aggressive 3-d approach to it.  Very kewl.  Check out the measuring probes!
http://www.trinnov-audio.com/optimizer.php

very very nice home theater you have. The only experience I have with the Audyssey is the stand alone sound equalizer, not something inside a pre/pro. does the Audyssey inside the Onkyo have the ability to measure the 32 positions like the stand alone does?

[James Tanner]

Just to add some controversy:

“Active room control, flatly stated, does not work. Never did..never will. Simple rules of physics vs the human hearing function. The very idea and execution...basically...retards the reproduced sound that emanates from the speakers in such a way that it bears little resemblance to what was recorded on the disk. I've also seen active room control devices blow drivers. The room must fundamentally be corrected via acoustic treatment FIRST....and then MAYBE some small amount of active control may, I repeat -may be utilized.

This is not a rant against active control systems...merely a fact.

If your particular room does not allow for proper acoustic treatment, then fix the room, or move into another one. Ultimately, as one's understanding of what is actually going on in a given actively eq'd system -one that is involved in electronically manipulating the output of said system for 'room correction'-, one will come to the seemingly startling revelation that they simply don't work.

The source of the problem is that the reflective time smear characteristics of the room 'issues' remains intact, and the direct radiator sound source is being retarded to compensate for this. Thus the result is a time smeared mess where the issues remain, and the original source is destroyed.

This is about as completely, irrevocably, bass-ackwards as one can get. The only thing it is good for, is if you aren't actually listening to your system. Great for pro ambient environments or large auditoriums but they don't work in a serious two channel or serious HT system.

Point of all is, if you really care about great sound, fix your room and forget about EQ. Having fixed my own room with some professional help, I am a firm believer that about 50% of what you hear is the room and the rest is your equipment.”

[sleepysurf]

...The new kid on the block is Trinnov.  It's currently only in a lite-mode implementation in Sherwood receivers (?) but has huge promise.  A stand-alone box is due asap.  i've spoken with those guys and they are taking a very aggressive 3-d approach to it.  Very kewl.  Check out the measuring probes!
http://www.trinnov-audio.com/optimizer.php

Hmmm, very interesting, but the only pricing I could find is (presumably for their stand-alone Pro Model) ~$12,000 retail!  Will be interesting to see if they can deliver something competitive with Audyssey!

[ted_b]

I've had Audyssey in a couple of processors so far.  I've spoken with Chris (CEO) many times; he is a great resource and very open to forum discussions, emails, etc.  The multiple-location measurements and room EQ theories behind Audyssey are sound (no pun intended) and seem to do the trick.  But I'm not yet a DRC fan, especially before proper room treatment.  I have the luxury of having identical hi-end speakers in my 5.1 ITU hirez music setup, with massive amounts of RealTrap room treatments.  Although my 7.1 setup uses different speakers on the sides and rears than my 5.1 (see system/gallery) my 7.1 listening is mostly movies and not as critical.  In more difficult rooms or where there is more WAF going on    i can imagine that Audyssey would be of great benefit.  Folks like Kal Rubinson (Stereophile) swear by its magic.  

My current surround processor is the Onkyo 885 (aka Integra 9.8 pre/pro), and I may still let Audyssey try and set up my 7.1 mix as a test, but I don't turn it on for 5.1 (or, of course, 2 channel, cuz it's out of that signal path).

There is a BOATLOAD of discussion about Audyssey over on AVS Forum.  Or try posting this in the home theater circle.  It will likely get more hits.

The new kid on the block is Trinnov.  It's currently only in a lite-mode implementation in Sherwood receivers (?) but has huge promise.  A stand-alone box is due asap.  i've spoken with those guys and they are taking a very aggressive 3-d approach to it.  Very kewl.  Check out the measuring probes!
http://www.trinnov-audio.com/optimizer.php

very very nice home theater you have. The only experience I have with the Audyssey is the stand alone sound equalizer, not something inside a pre/pro. does the Audyssey inside the Onkyo have the ability to measure the 32 positions like the stand alone does?

Thanks for the room comments.  The stock in-processor implementation of Audyssey MultEQ Xt uses 8 positions only.  Upgrades to Audyssey pro are available (requires pro installer), but I'm not sure if it increases the measurement locations, or to what.

[splittailz]

I fully agree with James that the room itself is 50% or better of the sound you hear, and that a room correction unit will never take the place of properly setting up the room. But in a room that is reasonably well set up to start, and the unit is only making slight corrections, not completely restructuring the music, or the timing,so far the results seem to well warrant having the unit in the system. the before measurements the Audyssey did before correcting, were more than acceptable. not that they could not be improved with more room work, bass traps, etc. I just looked at the before/after paper on my room again, and it does not appear the Audyssey applied more than 2-3 db correction anywhere from 20-20000 hz. If the room started out +or- 3-5 db from flat response, then compensating the system to flat should and did make a huge difference. I guess more time listening will tell.