Do you use Audyssey (or equivalent) features on your amp

rubberduck · 4 Aug 2018 at 20:04

Interested to hear people's views on this... I tend to turn them all on. While I wouldn't say I have a hearing problem I struggle to discriminate speech when there is a lot of background noise such as in a busy pub/club... Likewise, with home cinema I often have the problem of explosions being obnoxiously loud while whispered dialogue with an actor doing an accent can be difficult to pick out... And I find nothing more frustrating than not being able to understand speech in a film. On the flip side I believe too much audio processing may make things worse so with all the Audyssey settings, dynamic range compression, cinema equilibration etc. how do you decide what will give you the best results?

hornetstinger · 5 Aug 2018 at 08:39

Sounds like you need a better quality center speaker.

As for loud and quiet parts try using dynamic range compression / night mode.

My pre amp has no eq features as it's pre room eq, but I do have a antimode for the sub.

Also there is some debate about eq for sound quality. Hifi systems have none

benjii · 5 Aug 2018 at 14:01

I don't use them as I prefer to keep the audio as close to reference as possible. I can appreciate people find them useful in certain scenarios though.

As for you struggling to hear voice, where's your centre speaker? If it's not at ear height, which let's be honest, is impossible without a projector, then it should be angled up towards ear height. I use a pair of rubber door stops to lift the front on my centre speaker and a laser pen to ensure it's aiming at ear height. It makes a world of difference.

rubberduck · 5 Aug 2018 at 15:59

Centre speaker is above projector screen angled down.

jpaul · 5 Aug 2018 at 20:40

Trollvester Trollone said:
And I find nothing more frustrating than not being able to understand speech in a film

you can just boost the db on the voice channel at its simplest though ?

Trollvester Trollone said:
On the flip side I believe too much audio processing may make things worse so with all the Audyssey settings

agree I am sceptical and have never seen any write up of the capability/quality of the grpahic equalizers in the audyssey system ... (and don't even have a tone control on my amp)

edit

jpaul said:
...
- wondered whether people use the Audyssey Dynamic volume&Eq funtionality, to ensure voices remain discreet
(apparently for all makes when Audyssey engaged, output sampled 48Khz, due to cpu/processing requirement)]

if this is still true, the high res 192Khz dolby bitsreams get 'chopped' by audyssey

EDIT 2:

The jury is probably still out on whether such downsampling is actually audible during normal listening, but I would rather keep everything at it's native resolution, of course. Incidently, most Blurays I've seen have had lossless soundtracks at 24 bit / 48khz resolution. I believe it is the bitrate that is far more important than the sampling rate, so I am glad Audyssey is using the 24 bit rate, even if they are downsampling to 48khz from higher sampling rates.
...
Specifically, read the section entitled "Notes on High Resolution Signal Processing". The article even shows graphs taken from the Marantz AV8801 showing that the prepro is clearly downsampling to 48khz when Audyssey is engaged. This is because most prepros don't have enough DSP computing power to do full rez Audyssey processing - However, Audyssey DOES support full 192k sampling rates IF there is enough DSP power to do it in the prepro. It is up the the manufacturer to provide enough DSP power.
...

If one performs reliable listening tests (level matched, time synched, double blind) one finds that exceeding 16 bits and 44,100 Hz sampling has no audible effects if the reproduction system is reasonably free of distortion. Therefore Audyssey's downsampling causes no audible loss of sound quality.

need dirac processing ?

.....

james.miller · 7 Aug 2018 at 11:02

absolutely yes, makes a huge difference. These tricky processors dont just eq frequencies, they time and phase align as well which no simple eq will do. In all but the perfect room, they should offer some improvement but the resulting sound isn't to everybody's taste.

Chris1712 · 7 Aug 2018 at 12:08

Yeah absolutely, it's one of the biggest AVR improvements in recent years. Anthem are the daddies, first time I heard their MRX receivers I knew I needed one. Eventually I'll afford one, but until then YPAO-RSC does a great job on my Yamaha Aventage. My lounge is a boomy mess without it.

Armageus · 7 Aug 2018 at 12:23

Trollvester Trollone said:
how do you decide what will give you the best results?

Surely it's whatever sounds best to you?

Getting hung up on "reference" sound if you aren't listening at reference levels, in an optimally shaped room is a pointless exercise.

I use the Audyssey room correction on my Denon, as I don't have an optimal shaped room. Pretty sure I also have some form of Dynamic Volume turned on, as well as boosting the centre channel slightly, and a reference level offset.

Is it the best possible sound quality? Unlikely
Is it the best possible experience for my room/viewing habits? I like to think so

brakeinup · 8 Aug 2018 at 11:44

http://www.diymovierooms.com/Home-Theater/Design/Room-Shape-and-Size

"Room width should be 1.6 times the height and the length should be 2.6 times the room height" - my kit is in a loft conversion that is 4m wide by 10.5m long with a ceiling height of 2.15m. However, I also have angled ceilings due to the roof so 'optimal room size' doesn't qualify in my house. I do use Dynamic Volume on my Denon sometimes when watching films at night but I do not have Dynamic EQ on. I have tried it on and off and to me it sounds better with it off. No issues with the centre channel (using Mission MX system for speakers (F,C,S) and BK P12-300SB FF sub).

I also have a pair of Monitor Audio in ceiling speakers for Atmos in a 5.1.2 configuration. These are angled due to the roof but I get a very good overhead soundfield, hardly an optimal setup but they sound superb to me.

rubberduck · 8 Aug 2018 at 16:22

Armageus said:
Surely it's whatever sounds best to you?

Getting hung up on "reference" sound if you aren't listening at reference levels, in an optimally shaped room is a pointless exercise.

I use the Audyssey room correction on my Denon, as I don't have an optimal shaped room. Pretty sure I also have some form of Dynamic Volume turned on, as well as boosting the centre channel slightly, and a reference level offset.

Is it the best possible sound quality? Unlikely
Is it the best possible experience for my room/viewing habits? I like to think so

I just don't see how you can listen to a scene, change some settings on your amp, rewatch the same scene and then make a decision on the differences in audio quality between the 2 listenings.... How do you remember exactly what the first listening sounded like to compare to the second? Its not like doing a side by side visual comparison where detecting subtle differences between two screens is straightforward.

hornetstinger · 8 Aug 2018 at 18:10

Slightly annoying you may not even like the eqed sound after paying hundreds for it.

I run my sub through a antimode 8033c, other channels have no eq.

Automatic phase/distance/time delay (same thing) setup would be good as I'm missing that so I set manually and with sub plus antimode there is a delay but no way of finding out......unless I use my Yamaha AV amp in main system, run auto setup note what distance it has put for sub, then swap back to my lexicon then change it to what the Yamaha deemed as correct.

Is this ok or best just to add X feet to actual to make up for antimode delay.