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I am happy to report that the MiniDSPHD setting in REW will allow you to export a text file that you can upload into the minidsp app which may save some eq setting time since my curve needed more tweaks to get flattish. I won't beg but one of the more interesting things I would love to hear your thoughts on is the alignmentology of multiple subs. I only have two but time alignment has always felt like a guessing game and I am sure there are better methods than the one I use.
Kristi I loved the video. Thank you. I would like to see a 2 subwoofer and mismatched subwoofer review. I own a large Hsu research subwoofer but due to space I want to have a smaller kef subwoofer. Getting them to blend will be fun.
There are other videos on RU-vid that get into more detail and more steps. But this video is one of the easiest to digest and implement. The others, try as they might, still manage to make it intimidating. They might be more detailed and better, but if one has a hard time following them and end up not implementing anything at all, then "perfect is the enemy of good". Waiting for part 3 of this series.
Great Video Andrew and Kristi! Extremely straight forward and well explained! Out of all the subwoofer/REW vids online, your explanation is one of the best out there!! Thanks again!!!
Great tutorial to finish off the series. For home theater applications, what I have found works really well (for me at least) is to EQ the subs as flat using PEQs on the output tab of the MiniDSP software and then run room correction. After room correction, I use a Low Shelf Filter on the Input tab PEQ. Center frequenzy at 35 hz, Q at 0.8, and boost to taste. I find the 4-6 dB of boost is about right, but I also use Audyssey Dynamic EQ which already applies a house curve. This setting gives me a really enjoyable house curve that starts gradually rising around 50 Hz. I like this curve slightly better than the one most RU-vidrs use because it still gives incredible deep bass impact but also reduces chestiness in the vocals.
Hello Andrew and Kristi, thank you so much for getting the second part out so quickly!! The video was excellent and very useful! My vote is yes to a follow-up video with multiple subs (3 or 4). This is the type of content that adds so much value to your channel, learning is a life-long journey!! Thank you so much!
Great video. I have SVS subs and an Anthem receiver. Is it better to use the SVS software to EQ the subs or Anthem’s ARC software ? Or maybe a better way to ask the questions: when you have in multiple options/places available to make adjustments how do you decide which one to utilize?
Having the calibrated mic at the listening position will make the best results. Is there any other way to get the data from the calibrated mic and apply it, except in the miniDSP?
I'd certainly be excited to see a video similar to this one that looks at dual/multi-sub setup. Also, would you be willing to address how to optimize the phase and timing of the main speakers and subs using a MiniDSP device? Thanks!
A friend of mine wanted to build an DBA (Double Bass Array) with miniDSP Devices beside his Genelecs and i can say, its a nightmare to setup. He had so many problems with the miniDSP devices because even the Support have no idea, when you build up complex setups like Arrays - they cant help you. After two months of frustration sended back the stuff. Ìm very happy that ive an Neumann Sub incl Monitors where the software is easy to use but still very powerfull and you get awesome results out of it
Fantastic, easy to understand information for non-tech nerds! Can't wait to see the 2 sub setup. I recently got the RSL 10 MKII and I want to add another! This sub has changed my whole world coming from a cheap polk. Great work as always :D
Well done! I like how clear and coherent this was. I used roughly the same approach. I'm glad you highlighted that the most important step is to place your sub correctly at the beginning. EQ can only do so much to fix poor placement.
This was a great video. I did this when I set my system up over a year ago and it was a HUGE improvement compared to before hand. Totally worth the time.
Very NICE Andrew. These educational series are my favorite hands down! This is some of the most critical and useful pieces of content you can offer your viewers, especially for those entering the hobby, and even those more seasoned enthusiasts that have not yet encountered MDSP and REW. Investing early in ones musical journey on the likes of the MiniDSP, mic, and REW allows for an easy option to deal with room acoustics; absolutely one of the most critical components of any systems. The impact of these adjustments deliver value far beyond what most understand. It can save a customer signifcant money if hobbyists will "tackle" this process before spending hard-earned dollars on say, better DACs, amps, speakers, and cabling - if your room is creating problems, no amount of money spent on components will resolve the problem. Again, one of the single most important pieces of content you have offered your viewers!! As always, thanks for being there and for all you do! EXCELLENT!!!
Some of the best parts about this series that you're doing, which by the way I love. Is that when I do upgrade my receiver my subwoofer,and Atmos speakers. I can relate back to this series and learn how to do it. And if I hear other people talking about it, I can always refer them to your video as well. Keep up the good work. PS you know the base heads are going to ask for you to do two subwoofers next 😂
Appreciate it! Yes, these types of videos are a bit less topical and meant to be references that can live on and on. And yes, part III will most definitely have to deal with multiple subs, phase, time alignment etc. Hope you're well Nick!
@@andrewrobinsonreviews I'm feeling amazing thanks for asking! You are right about these types of videos! They're meant to be timeless and something you can always reference too.. I hope you and Kristi enjoyed your coffee this morning and have a lovely rest of your day!
Hey Andrew, I would like to suggest you to time align your subwoofer to your main speakers. In my days tuning this, time aligning both makes the subwoofer disappears. If you have two subs, then all is EVEN BETTER (when time aligned). I would love to help if you want.
First - A huge "Thank You" to the gentleman who wrote and provides us with REW. Awesome! However, I've found that anytime I try to use REW to tune my system I have to do two things: 1) Clear the calendar for the whole day and 2) Pack a big lunch. Oh, be sure you have some of your favorite adult beverage handy. You'll likely need it. 😉
IMO, you should start by setting the graph range to 50-100dB. In your video, the 0-120dB range is making some 4-6dB problems look minor, but that is a certainly audible difference. It is also worth creating 2-3 different listening presets, to provide bass boost at low volumes, and taper it off at high volumes.
I just use 4 subs all around 2 behind the listening room and two in the front I run both behind me out of phase .. All I can say is , it's effortless and easily matches what my rs1b did (12x8 inch servo controlled woofers,) which I sold year or so ago
Thank you. with your channel help I was able to build my system this year! I was overwhelmed by the information available on the internet, but you always manage to explain things in a way I understand :)
I think optimizing around the whole 3 seater couch you guys have, instead of just the middle seat would be a cool video option. If that requires 2 subs, even better.
As always, nice job!!! Suggestion, maybe in part 3, talk about phase alignment with delay (distance) adjustments in the minidsp to fix issues when the mains don’t cross well with the sub or subs.
That was great very helpful. Thank you. I was very helpful. I was a recording mixer before I retired for Universal and Warner Bros.. You do a good job. Thanks.
Oh wow you finally did a vid on this. Nice! I have been running the miniDSP HD 2x4 for over 2 years now. My Marantz AV7005 has dual sub out, but I run only sub 1 into the miniDSP and run three subs. MiniDSP by far is the biggest upgrade to my bass. Even more than adding a 3rd sub in the rear. FYI - you can export from REW then import into the miniDSp, no need to type it in.
Thank you for sharing such an interesting video. I was under the impression that minidsp products come with a Dirac live license, which makes it easier to use than rew. It would be interesting to see a comparison of two subs properly configured with only the front left signal fed to one sub and the other for the right signal. One thing that always bothers me is that one woofer has to move the air like it would be two, and that is not an easy task.
They don't come with the license but they do support Dirac, which you can add it at any time, making for a great way to automate this process and bring room correction to a traditional hi fi set up.
This might be one of the most interesting videos by far - thanks! A SUGGESTION: I'd love to see what a miniDSP with its software can do with a wide band bookshelf.
Thanks for watching. Multiple subs can be helpful but you're right, most people don't need two and most people have their second or third sub setup incorrectly which may be costing them bass.
Yes, I'd like to see the 2 sub video. I've heard so many comments that as great as one sub will improve the sound, 2 subs is even more impressive, so it would be great to know how to set up 2 subs. Great video, keep it up!
Great one, as always. I wished you could have mentioned the phase control and “…what if you use high level connections…” Maybe they can be addressed in the next chapter of this odyssey? 😊
Love you two and can’t wait until Sundays show. I would love to see multiple subwoofers ran on your show. I run three Monoliths and would love to see how you do multiple subs. Thank you for great shows & reviews. I also love that you and your wife do it together!!!
Thanks Andrew and Kristi. Really enjoying these setup videos. Would love to see a dual and 4 sub setup. Also a specific one for Yamahas built in eq would be awesome. Keep up the great work!
@@andrewrobinsonreviews so I could skip the mini dsp and use rew to measure each speaker and then use the results to update the Yamaha? Makes sense. I know you played with this on you rx-a4a before. Did you find a improvement over just running ypao? Id probably still get a mini dsp 2x4 to control the 4 subs since the Yamaha can only do 2 and only down to 30hz I believe
As always, this video is SO timely. Absolutely looking forward to the 2-sub video because that's a spinning-plates type of circus act with everything that can be played with (room placement, ported, sealed, variable phase, distance adjustments, etc). Personally, I just like the demonstrations of using the MiniDSP products, especially understanding how something with lots of stand-alone capability like the SHD fits between other stereo separates. VIDEO SUGGESTION: A video summarizing ways to add an HDMI ARC input to a 2ch system would be amazing (since we know that only a few manufacturers have added such capability so far but it's pretty universally wanted).
I enjoy your reviews and Kristi’s perspectives. DSP is great technology, but a little bit can go a long way. It can get echoey. We have an integrated amp and a 2.1 setup. Music is more important for us than home theater. We also live in a small townhouse. The sub is a Velodyne ULD-12. Yes, older technology… The speakers are 1954-55 vintage JBL’s, my dad’s. The integrated amp has a dedicated subwoofer outlet with a filter about 90 hertz. The Velodyne has a crossover fixed at 85 hertz. Cascading filters might be a problem - I have not tried it. I use speaker level connections to the sub and from there to the JBL’s. This allows the crossover to do its job passing above 85 hertz to the JBL’s and below to the sub. The only control for the Velodyne is a level. I set it by ear. The sub is in a corner and it works well. With most music you never know the sub is on. Billy Idol’s “Rita Hayworth” is substantial. Movies, well, boom, you can feel it.
That was the best and most thorough explanation of how to use all of these methods. I’m still confused and I feel like there should be a tutorial that answers why I’m to do each step. And what happens if I don’t click on a certain button. Obviously computer stuff isn’t my thing. Still a good video. I won’t give up. I’d like to know if this would work with my Yamaha as3200 and two subs. That’s really what I’m aiming for. Stereo only, 2 subs. Thanks you two, good job.
Great video! Concise, comprehensive, and well produced as always. For future content: maybe a video about aesthetically pleasing sound treatments (absorption, diffusion, bass traps) in the context of getting rid of a gnarly null. I’m currently doing an over the top living room build that hides the speakers, subs, and treatments as furniture and wall art, would be cool to see how you’d go about a similar setup. 👍🏼
@@frankbernharduebler As Wooderson would say, "Be a lot cooler if you did". It helps the channel grow, reach more people and helps us continue offering free content to viewers like yourself!
I think these how to videos are amazing for a noob like myself! Thank you, Andrew for being so thorough in all of your videos!!! And thank you, Kristi for catching the stuff Andrew forgot!!!
Good introduction to Mini DSP. I use mine to control 3 subs in my room. More advanced would be to introduce BEQ for movies. Seeing Bass response with REW and adapting placement and setup with concrete data makes the process so much easier and far better end results.
Really appreciate these deep drives! My only question would be if you aren't as flexible with speaker location you just basically "do what you can" in the eq and maybe add treatments if possible?
Thanks for another great setup video and no, I could care less about a two subwoofer video😂 I would love to see you add a Chapter 3 to this series by showing how you implement Dirac Live. I assume Dirac Live comes after the speaker and sub eq steps.
Thanks for your support! DIRAC Live comes after proper subwoofer placement but would be done in place of the EQ steps here. DIRAC is, in itself, doing a lot of the EQ covered in this video on its own or automatically. So you would not, theoretically, need to double up the EQ if using DIRAC Live or the DIRAC Bass/Subwoofer software.
@@andrewrobinsonreviews Thanks for clarifying that Andrew. The MiniDsp manual doesn't suggest to "choose one." I'll try it both ways and see which sounds best to me.
Awesome vid! Thanks a lot. I'd suggest maybe doing something about subwoofer feet/spikes, coupling VS decoupling, room rattle etc. I've found that decoupling via a plank of foam insulation (temporary, gotta find a decent product for the job, if you have any recs btw) made a big difference in my room. It's a 1st floor room that is suspended (wood joists) and quite bouncy and I was getting very muddled bass, and a fair amount of general rattling. It's now much more controlled and tight, and bizarrely giving me better chest "thump" for AV. Interesting stuff. Anyways thanks again guys have a good one! Surya
My stereo plays nice without a sub. The home theater has 2 subs. There are times when the subs sound perfect, and times where tweaks are needed. I find no matter how dialed in it can get, different movies and music have different levels of bass. i find myself adjusting the subs down depending on the movie. My best advice is to not get frustrated, and remember there is usually a remedy. Thanks for the video!
I heard about directional base but don’t know if it results in any significant improvement. I think the starting point in using directional base is to have 4 subwoofers in the 4 corners of the room and having each one output when the sound is coming from that area it’s covering. I have always been led to believe subwoofers base is non directional because if placed right and calibrated you are not supposed to know where the subwoofer is by listening to where you perceive the sound to be coming from.
It's one of my favorite products for just playing around with because you can do so much and kinda play speaker designer or acoustician with interesting results!
Thank you, this type of video is greatly appreciated !!! Although I don't have the need for multi -subs, I'm still interested in the video for expanding my knowledge and understanding.
Awesome, I was looking forward to this video! I like that you started with a single sub as many of us aren’t up to duals yet. When time allows it’d be great to see a separate video on calibrating duals, especially with the Multi-Sub Optimizer that people are raving about. On the subject of house curves, if one is using an AVR with Audyssey or Dirac, would you recommend EQ’ing the subs to flat without an REW house curve so that the room correction software can add its own when they are re-run after the MiniDSP tuning?
Great video. So much work using rew & minidsp. Thought about going with minidsp before going dirac. Really glad dirac works out foe me with my 7.3.4 setup.
A few other steps I do during measurements is set the crossover of all speakers and lpf for lfe as high as it’ll go. This makes it easy to isolate the sub response from the speakers without having to unplug anything.
REW works for multiple subs. There's also very serious (free) software out there called MSO, Multi Sub Optimizer. The primary benefit of that is that it helps dial in the subs so you get good bass response in multiple seats. If you only want to optimize for one seat, REW will get the job done even with multi subs.
Would you please make a video for SVS pro subwoofer owners to show how to use REW and SVS’s Pro App in combination. :) Or address whether to use both together or separately or whatever your recommendation may be. :) Also, if anyone is familiar with Anthem’s ARC and/or REW used with SVS pro dual subs and would like to chat with me how to navigate setup please reach out to me. :)
So with all these measurements, how do you then translate that back into your system,. Is the minidsp kept in the signal path, which signal path? Is this just for a stereo / subwoofer setup? what about theatre systems?
Andrew, there's no hate here. Only love. Your hair looks amazing, you look hot in your t-shirt, and your audio reviews help me de-stress in a busy world. Keep on keeping on!
Another great video. Love them, but I don't usually post comments. Thought I'd show some appreciation. Keep it up and yes please do a 3rd one with multi-sub calibration. And yes, I gave this a like
Great info, thanks Andrew, you are a gifted teacher. Have you or anyone out there had any experience using the Dayton Imm6 calibrated mic, I have 3 subs I'm constantly adjusting, I'm working on getting a mini dsp and mic, however updating my reciever is probably my first priority
Hi Andrew, absolutely no hate mate I'm so grateful you're doing this for us. I've wanted to learn this REW software for so long but have always felt most videos skip things that newbies like me need to know/see. Would really appreciate a multi sub tutorial as I have 2 different subs in my room ( Martin Logan stopped making the Depth I sub so I have it with an SVS SB3000 ).Cheers.
Wow!! Tons of information in a short amount of time? (Gonna need lots of pausing) hopefully it will make a big difference. Any tips on using a high end graphic eq to accomplish the same results,?
Look at your speaker/sub's response and note the frequencies of the peaks and valleys above and below your reference volume and do your best to correlate those to your graphical EQ and adjust +/- accordingly.
Hi Mr Robinson I love all your reviews with your wife as well! That’s great support! My front stage is Definitive Tech 9080X with center speaker 9080 system. Have them set to large the front and center set to small. Have in Denon receiver set with no subwoofer
Not that I've experienced, though you may want to watch part 1 because I go over the why and how behind my methods for EQ-ing speakers. I suppose you could over do it, but I explain how to avoid that in part 1.
Great video, thanks for it. I'm amazed how rapidly complexity grows the moment you want to move on from more automated software such as Oddisey and the likes. At least this software can serve to show off with friends coming home, but we all know the sub is going to be located where it matches the wife factor anyway.
EQ only is not the correct way to implement a Subwoofer. Its all about Phase Correction, Time Alignment and EQ. Thats why Measurements are so important and a whole concept including an DSP for the Mains and the Sub (and of course Acoustics). The Reason why ,,Audiophiles,, hate Subwoofers is, because they dont use a DSP and Measurements. And the result as always is the conclusion, that a subwoofer dont fit to a stereo system. Thats why Neumann or Genelec are such great companys where you can build up great 2.1 or 2.2 Setups. High End Sound, relativly easy to setup with Subs and a powerfull Software (and fair priced)
After watching this video, I was curious about placement and measurements for surround sound speakers and how to measure their sound regardless of which speaker someone chooses. That would be an interesting video.
Great job Andrew as always! Interested in a subwoofer so a review of the klipsch and maybe others too, would be great! Also would love you guys to review the cabasse rialto active speakers and possibly also the cabasse abyss integrated amplifier. They look like awesome products. 🙏🏼❤️
omg omG OMG!!! I'm glad all this makes sense to you. I must be getting old. My brain just turned to clay. I just make arrangements that sound good to me regardless of what any complicated setup system might tell me. It's just not worth it.
