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Receiver Mic Mad Scientist Speaker/Cans Measurements

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by SSL, Jul 21, 2016.

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  1. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    I've got one of those Yamaha receiver mics, will have to see what mischief I can put it to.
     
    SSL, Jul 21, 2016
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  2. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Looks like they are not too bad. Make a makeshift headphone measuremen rig...
    I'll try mine with my speakers and headphones in a few days.
     
    spwath, Jul 21, 2016
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  3. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    OK, I did that, doesnt seem to work. The SPL is way too low on my calibration mic for some reason, even thouhg the level in windows shows up fine. The windows levels show up the same for my blue snowball and calibration mic, but calibration mic doesnt get hihg enough levels in REW. Also, i guess my snowball is not a good mic for this, as im sure these dont all sound this similar.
    [​IMG]


    Any ideas to get my calbration mic working though? It was at only like 15db, regardless of weather I was playing sound or not my snowball detected at 60db. Yet the windows levels show it the same.
     
    spwath, Jul 23, 2016
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  4. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Your dBSPL range levels are too wide. Change the range from say 0 t 70 dB for starters and apply smoothing for speakers (maybe 1/12 smoothing).

    For the calibration mic, make sure the settings are correct in the input options in REW, including whether you are using the left or the right channel.
     
    ultrabike, Jul 23, 2016
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  5. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Pretty sure all setings were good.
    But I'll adjust the scale for the snowball, but I don't think it will work well. I'll probably get the mini DSP mic
     
    spwath, Jul 23, 2016
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  6. spwath

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    OK, the range made it better. But I still dont think this is accurate, but thats because of my blue snowball.
    [​IMG]
     
    spwath, Jul 23, 2016
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  7. ultrabike

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    Change the frequency range. Make it from 20 to 20 kHz. For the headphones make sure you are sealing the cup with the mic, otherwise the bass goes bye-bye. The speaker measurement is too weak. Place the mic at 0.5 to 1 meter away and level with the tweeter. The tone sweep should be loud. But no need to blow the drivers out.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2016
    ultrabike, Jul 23, 2016
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  8. ultrabike

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    (BTW, I moved the posts from the Mackie thread and started this thread.)

    Going by what I did with my Yamaha receiver el-cheapo-almost-free mic, you should be able to get better results with the speakers. My guess is that you need to make the speakers play the tones louder, or perhaps you need to mock around with the input settings.

    Definitively would love to hear more about your results and see if I can help in any way.
     
    ultrabike, Jul 23, 2016
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  9. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    General rule of thumb here is: "Loud enough so that, if you were measuring outside, mad women would start appearing and telling you to stop, but not so loud that multiple people would call the cops on you."
     
    Serious, Jul 23, 2016
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  10. ultrabike

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    Something like that...[​IMG]
     
    ultrabike, Jul 23, 2016
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  11. spwath

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    OK, ill try some more testing today once its not early in the morning. Ill turn up the volume.

    I measured my sources though, and interestingly enough, my Denon receivers DAC performs worse than my cheap motherboard DAC.
    Receiver is blue, motherboard is purple.....
    [​IMG]

    Also, ill have to take my speakers outside to measure. I think my almost square room with this set up is less than optimal...
    [​IMG]
     
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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  12. spwath

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    OK, im getting some results that make sence now. Looks like my room does funky stuff to sound though, ill have to do outside testing. But all these graphs seems to be about what im hearing
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2016
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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  13. ultrabike

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    I don't know about the Polk R15, but the Polk Montor 30s are indeed a bit bright. I bought them and installed them in my father-in-law's.
     
    ultrabike, Jul 24, 2016
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  14. spwath

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    I did some outside testing in my backyard. Boy does my room mess up the sound.... I need to fix that...
    Speakers measure quite well outside.
    [​IMG]

    Even with my not so good measuring set up....
    [​IMG]
     
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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  15. ultrabike

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    The orientation of the mic you have is proly better than pointing the top towards the driver, but it may produce a little roll-off from 7 kHz and up, and a heavier roll off 15 kHz and up in your measurements.

    These speakers seem like a full range design based on the Tang Band W4-1052SD 4" driver. Perhaps pretty neutral sounding with maybe a little of a treble-up tilt. A little bright on-axis, but perhaps much better than the Polks. Possible that a toeing them a little off-axis will result in as good as it's going to get as far as tone is concerned (w/o equalization), depending on your preferences. They may be have a relative narrow sweet-spot, but perhaps very cohesive sound. Since you are using them as computer monitors, the perhaps narrow sweet-spot proly matters little.

    Very nice set of speakers.
     
    ultrabike, Jul 24, 2016
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  16. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    I opened them up, says the are the Tang Band W4-1052SA. You were just one letter off.
    Yeah, they are pretty nice, especially becuase I bought them for $110.

    Though it looks like my room destroys what they could be. Not sure if its worth trying to fix my room though....
     
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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  17. ultrabike

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    That's a great price for those speakers. The drivers alone seem to be about $30-ish each!

    I would try equalization first. You are using a computer it seems. What SW do you use?
     
    ultrabike, Jul 24, 2016
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  18. spwath

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    Well right now I just use uh.... the windows 10 music app......
    But I could change to anything to get better sound.
     
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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  19. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    It proly depends on your price range. There is Sonarworks which is very powerful and maybe among the best in it's class, but it's > $100:

    http://storeus.sonarworks.com/collections/speaker-calibration

    The price is not bad at all for what you get IMO.

    JRiver Media Center may support some degree of equalization as well:

    https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Convolution

    Another option is to get a cheapo Behringer equalizer, or one of those miniDSP stuffs I myself use. I like the miniDSP stuffs. They have the low end version fro $100 which I use, and the high end version now which is like $200 (and can be use itself as a streamer (DAC) for your speakers:

    https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-2x4
    https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-2x4-hd

    You may need a better mic to get the most out of these...
     
    ultrabike, Jul 24, 2016
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  20. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    I cant really get a hardware unit, as I have a 4.1 surround sound system, so im using HDMI to my denon receiver.

    But im probably going to get a miniDSP mic soon to take other measurements, as I want to measure better.
     
    spwath, Jul 24, 2016
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