will
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For speaker level sub setup, I am thinking of the sub as a support for the speakers/room, not a replacement for part of the signal. But I have been setting a max sub bass frequency and slope like a crossover sound-wise, trying to use the low end focus of a sub to support where the speakers can’t do it as well as the sub in my setting. My speakers/room go low but lose some articulation way down. So not a crossover circuit like some sub crossover setups where you run speaker cables to the sub first, through its adjustable crossover, and then wire what is left to the speakers from the sub... the sub doing the lowest stuff, and the speakers having those frequencies attenuated to whatever level by the crossover. Whereas, the speakers and sub getting the same signal, hopefully the sub can supplement the speaker’s low down weaknesses with musical integration.
Not having tried RELs I can't begin to suggest this SVS might be a better path than RELs, even with very fine adjustability from the seat. It seems REL's popularity for being fast and musical, and pretty easy to integrate is relatively common... what I have read or heard from others anyway. Though without two, can they be integrated as well without fine adjustments and in placements that might be a little suboptimal...don't know.
And I know how particular I am about balances, so the idea of very fine adjustments through phone/pad software appealed to me. My hope was that they would allow me to tune it as best as possible to my preferred system sound while adding a bit of refinement. But this too is theoretical, not having tried a REL.
I use an iPhone for the SVS app. The software can seem a little odd in some design parameters, but to me it is nicely done, pretty advanced and pretty easy to navigate. It has pages for:
Volume: 0 to -60dB Low Pass Filter: 30-200Hz with a slope of either 6, 12, 18, or 24dB per octave (also with on/off button for testing) Phase: 1 degree increments 0 to 180° Polarity Parametric EQ: 3 Simultaneous Curves, individually having on and off buttons. Room Gain Compensation: 25, 31, 40Hz with 6 or 12dB per octave slope. Presets: 3 Factory presets that can be used as is with volume adjustments for simple integration. Or these can be adjusted with whatever user adjustments one wants beyond volume and saved as user presets. Or make up your own altogether, and save them with as many of the advanced settings as you want to use. Having user presets has been useful for comparisons of similar home-made preset settings and testing variations in an AB way.
I prefer to do it by sound. But I have been tuning with EQ for years, mostly pretty subtle, but enhancing room balancing EQ, and all by ear. At some point I got a mic and long USB cable I could use with REW, but never went there, so many serious listeners finding these methods unnatural sounding for their tastes. I can imagine this could be less the case with bass, but not sure, and guessing you can still fine tune "adjustments from measurements" to taste, but I have not explored this.
In contrast, I am really particular, and I have always liked carefully tuned by-sound EQ for refined system/room adjustments, to me making the music more beautiful and system more versatile. Though it may not be totally “flat,” by engineering standards, if close to balanced, I am thinking it can be better than the hypothetical “flat,” more alive and complex, more like real music. So I stick with it, slowly refining my discernment as a result I hope!
And being green in this sub world, I can’t be conclusive about how to best tune this one, but here is where I am so far.
I guess every system and room tuned optimally will end with different settings, but for me the main players seem to be volume, low pass frequency and slope, phase, and perhaps the room gain compensation and slope. I find them totally interrelated, changing one effecting the sound of changing the others. I am liking it best if I go for a tight/fast bass mainly, so timing/phase and volume adjustments at first, in my case starting with the default 80 Hz with a 12dB slope for low pass. And then I set the low pass and slope to sound "right" in terms of natural sounding bass spectral balances across recordings, hopefully with little emphasis on any part of the bass, and nothing missing on average considering the flaws of various recording styles.
Then, here, though it sounds good with no room gain compensation, so far I find it more versatile across recordings with it on 25 or 31 Hz. And the polarity is similar for me, finding it a little more natural/rich sounding without it, but perhaps more versatile and clean bass settings in this room with it on. Finally, the parametric EQs can be refining, using the same sound parameters, to tighten bass by lowering room mode zones that muddle the sound, or raising ones that might fill around cancelation frequencies, or just make the bass feel more impactful and natural. Here, either up or down in the right areas can be useful for clarifying a natural bass feel.
So I am going for a complete sounding bass that balances low to mid-bass within this system/room, so that, as much as possible, it sounds like a real bass or drum, or whatever. Fast, not too low and not too full, balanced so that I hear as much natural sounding bass complexity as I can with as little smearing or muddle as possible.... bass that is not overstated in the deepest mixes, and set so it does not overwhelm mid clarity or get thick or boomy across recordings. At the same time, I am listening for settings that feel like they open/richen the mids... to me indicating good bass settings with decent quality sub support can improve bass timing that can help balance system/room smearing issues.
It has taken me some experimenting to figure out the sweeter zones for each of these settings (still playing some), while gradually refining balancing them together to sound "right" with more intense heavy bass recordings as well as improving bass on more sorry bass recordings like many earlier jazz recordings. A good seeming crosscheck for me so far: when I think it is all pretty good, I crank up the sub volume some and play some heavy bass recordings to see just how close I got with the bass pushed too much. Then I make minor adjustments if I hear some smear, masking, or heaviness, etc, and then go back to the more proven system appropriate volume. Still working it, and hoping I can "get there" for my needs without having to move into trial and error with different subs, or by deciding to do without as I have been for a really long time.
All that said, seems folks find some subs can be pretty good with well designed default settings, and simpler adjustments, but I really like tuning tools based in this early stage of exploring subs again.
Hope this helps.
Will
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