Ripole build - dual 18" Hawthorne Audio drivers

Blackmore · « **Reply #140 on:** 25 Sep 2011, 11:16 pm »

Bob,
Would you make sure that the M Audio is getting signal? On the left front panel should be a signal light and will show if the M Audio is getting anything from the mic. If not, separate the two mic cables and try just one at a time. I want to eliminate the simplest problems first. No sense going any further if you can't get signal from the mic. You could also just plug in a headphone and see if you can hear yourself talk.

Mark

gooberdude · « **Reply #141 on:** 26 Sep 2011, 01:47 am »

Bob,

That M Audio preamp, in this instance, has to be selected as the soundcard for your pc...an external soundcard.

Both John R & blackmore are spot on, i'd bet.

The proper Settings to get REW working are the same as you'll need with my analyzer system.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #142 on:** 26 Sep 2011, 08:35 pm »

Mmm...interesting. "External sound card". I'll see what I've got for preferences, and post a screen shot if I can't get something going on.

Mark, The green input signal light does blink with the beat, when I've got it turned up.
So the mic and the M-Audio are "hearing" what going on.

Thanks guys!
Bob

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #143 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:14 am »

Alright. Call me an idiot, but I don't know where to tell Windows 7 how to make the sound card external. I ran though everything that I can find, to no avail. I did take a screen shot of some sound setting tabs I had open.
Notice that M-Audio is listed on every one of the five tabs.

Also, another very interesting thing I discovered while uploading my photo, is that the Photobucket advertisement video was playing its audio through my PC, into the M-Audio, into my system and out of my main speakers.

That should be a clue?

Anyway, here's a screenshot:

JohnR · « **Reply #144 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:22 am »

How does the REW preferences screen look?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #145 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:31 am »

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #146 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:33 am »

How's that ^......

I did try right and left channels, to no avail.

Also, it is confirmed, I can watch YouTube video on my PC, with audio through the M-Audio, into the AVR. Kinda neat.
But the sweeps are still not loud enough by REWs definition.

Bob

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #147 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:38 am »

Bob,

This is probably not much help but here is the setup guide I followed to get REW going. It was still fussy but all the main parts are covered here, I think. It may have a clue or two...

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?1373-Room-Measurement-and-Acoustic-Treatment-series-Part-4-using-REW

John

JohnR · « **Reply #148 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 12:52 am »

Does the M-Audio show up in the "Input Device and Input" dropdown?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #149 on:** 27 Sep 2011, 01:03 am »

John (Inferno) - Thank you, I'll check it out tomorrow at work.

JohnR - Yes it does, on both dropdowns. I'll revisit that again tomorrow night (wrapping things up tonight). If memory serves, I got no audio through the speakers when playing the sweep when those were selected. But like I said, I think I may play with those again.

Bob

zobsky · « **Reply #150 on:** 28 Sep 2011, 03:34 am »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 24 Sep 2011, 01:40 am

Nick - Not sure about the difference between the RiPole and the dual 15" Augies. Too early to tell.
Although, the RiPole sound quality is VERY good. None of the boomy stuff you'd expect from a sealed/ported sub. Very clean, very sharp.
But like I said, I'm still in the settings/tweakings so it's too early to make serious judgements.

John - I changed nothing. In fact, I was probably leaning slightly to the left in my chair during each test. I don't think I sat up straight on any of them.
Ok....that's a bit of a stretch, but not by much. I never touched a setting, I never touched the mic position. Ever. Not once.

Interestingly, one channel of the audio is about 30dB higher than the other. Not sure why as it should be a mono signal.
"REW" had bitched every time that it's not loud enough, although I'm higher than the 65dB shown.

Bob

try ARTA (the free version doesn't let you save graphs, but other than that, it's functional)

emailtim · « **Reply #151 on:** 1 Mar 2013, 10:31 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 27 Sep 2011, 01:03 am

John (Inferno) - Thank you, I'll check it out tomorrow at work.

JohnR - Yes it does, on both dropdowns. I'll revisit that again tomorrow night (wrapping things up tonight). If memory serves, I got no audio through the speakers when playing the sweep when those were selected. But like I said, I think I may play with those again.

Bob

Any final results, charts, etc.? How did the project finally turn out ???

Thanks,
Tim

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #152 on:** 2 Mar 2013, 04:00 pm »

Hey Tim,

It didn't work out. The Ripole didn't have as much output as those of us involved thought it should have had. The sound quality was great, much like an open baffle sub, but for home theater subwoofer output (SPL and Hz) it just didn't have the "umph" required.
It's a shame, we had high hopes. I've only ever seen one example of a successful ripole, and the drivers used we designed for that alignment specifically, if memory serves.

Although, I've seen the Nelson Pass Slot Load alignment, and it seems pretty similar to a ripole. I can't recall the specifics of his design, but it's pretty close.

Hope that helps Tim,
Bob

emailtim · « **Reply #153 on:** 2 Mar 2013, 06:49 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 2 Mar 2013, 04:00 pm

Hey Tim,

It didn't work out. The Ripole didn't have as much output as those of us involved thought it should have had. The sound quality was great, much like an open baffle sub, but for home theater subwoofer output (SPL and Hz) it just didn't have the "umph" required.
It's a shame, we had high hopes. I've only ever seen one example of a successful ripole, and the drivers used we designed for that alignment specifically, if memory serves.

Although, I've seen the Nelson Pass Slot Load alignment, and it seems pretty similar to a ripole. I can't recall the specifics of his design, but it's pretty close.

Hope that helps Tim,
Bob

Thanks for the quick response.

face · « **Reply #154 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 01:00 am »

I'm not sure why someone would want to use a ripole sub for HT, you'd need quite a few around the room. As for music and only two channels, that's a different story.

Here's my result with a pair of cheap JBL 15" car subs, taken at 1m.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #155 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 01:20 am »

Well...as far as "quite a few around the room"......MORE isn't going to make them do anything that a single unit can't do.
They don't go low enough. More scattered around the room won't make them go any lower.

The goal of these Infinite Baffle specific drivers (or the "why someone would want to use ........") was to have an audiophile grade driver for home theater use.
It's a goal we have to provide quality sound through the entire spectrum was all.

I didn't graph these, so I can't speak there, but the ones you show are down 13 from 30 to 10.
So if they can handle the EQ to bring them up, then great, but if not then I'd say those aren't ready for home theater duty either.

Bottom line was that a guy who wanted his HT to sound as good as his two channel rig.
Having quality, great sounding drivers in his HT room was at the forefront of his thought process.
Cracking drywall would be nice, but it wasn't the main goal. Obviously HT needs to have a certain level of "umph", and these (in this alignment) couldn't do it.

Bob

face · « **Reply #156 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 01:45 am »

The purpose of ripole, or OB subs are for smoother bass response than a traditional "box" sub, not tooth rattling LF extension. Their smoothness and lack of a steep rise at the bottom are why many find them so natural sounding. The graph posted is for the bass section of a pair of stereo speakers I'm working on. No bass boost can be added, but in their final placement, some boundary gain will add to their bottom end.

There are plenty of "audiophile grade" subs suitable for HT. But when it comes to HT and fidelity, IMO, multiple sealed subs is the best approach. http://www.harman.com/EN-US/OurCompany/Innovation/Documents/White%20Papers/multsubs.pdf

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #157 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 01:51 am »

I've got OB and IB subs for my HT, so when the fellow came to me and asked if I'd build him a Ripole for his, it was like somebody asking Betty Crocker if she'd build them a never before seen caserole.

face · « **Reply #158 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 09:42 pm »

I follow.

Not criticizing you, just sharing information.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #159 on:** 3 Mar 2013, 09:48 pm »

It's all good. I'm cool.