Calibrating my music listening setup - what should I be aiming for?

[sm52]

I think the range up to 300 Hz looks good. Therefore, there is nothing to do there. And from 700 Hz to 1.2 kHz, reflections interfere. You can try moving your listening position (sofa), speakers, or large objects. Yes, when measuring two speakers at the same time, the microphone must be exactly the same distance from them. In other cases, the HF schedule will be misleading.

 

[DanDan]

IMO the Moving Mic Method is fundamentally flawed. This is from Bruel and Kjaer.

 

[Marcus Aseth]

I should also mention that the EQ from the last measure I've shared on the previous page is using a grand total of 34 filters... is that too much? How much is too much? Does this gives me a noticeably worst sounding system comparing to a similar EQ using, say, 20 filters?

 

[John Mulcahy]

Yes, fairly excessive. There isn't much value in EQ above a couple of hundred Hz as the response can vary so much with position that trying to fix it for one location makes it worse for another, even a very short distance away. Outside the low end EQ is mainly useful for tone shaping, using broad filters to tweak the response to taste. We don't live in anechoic spaces, much of the higher frequency variation you see in a measurement due to the room's surfaces gets ignored.

 

[Marcus Aseth]

Yes, fairly excessive. There isn't much value in EQ above a couple of hundred Hz...

can I have some more definite number? So that I know if I'm EQing too high. As a reminder, the first image in page 1 on my first message is the non-equalized measurement
Also, what kind of filter should I use to achieve the downward slope?

 

[John Mulcahy]

Every space is different, but a handful of filters are often enough. Narrowing the EQ range to the low end will reduce the number of filters applied. By downward slope do you mean the overall trend of the full response? That is a characteristic of the space and the materials and objects in it, it isn't something you should try and impose on the response.

 

[Marcus Aseth]

That is a characteristic of the space and the materials and objects in it, it isn't something you should try and impose on the response.

But isn't that equivalent to "don't go for an house curve" then? should I EQ for a flat line then? ... I feel like I'm getting mixed messages...

 

[John Mulcahy]

Use of terminology varies. 'House curve' is often used to refer to a raised low end (below 200 Hz or so), that can be achieved by using the controls in REW to adjust the target so the low end is higher, though it may be necessary to raise the sub volume first so there is something to work with. Alternatively a shelf filter can be applied and adjusted to taste.

House curve may also be used to refer to the overall trend of the whole response, where a general downward slope tends to be preferred by listeners, when the listening position is not close to the speakers. That trend depends on the nature of the room and its absorption characteristics and the polar response of the loudspeakers (how their frequency response changes with angle). If the room has a lot of hard surfaces and glass it may be absent, but the solution there is to have more absorbent surfaces in the room rather than try and alter the direct sound from the speakers with EQ. At high frequencies we predominantly hear that direct sound, so applying EQ to slope the response down is likely to sound dull. EQ is best kept below a few hundred Hz.

 

[Marcus Aseth]

I don't think I can do more in terms of room treatment... would it improve anything if I where to place the speakers further? (I would need to purchase stands)
Right now both kali lp-6 are sitting in my desk, the drivers are 50cm from my hears

 

[John Mulcahy]

When listening nearfield the room's influence on what you hear is much reduced, a flat response is the right target for that situation.

 

[DanDan]

In a direct field such as a highly treated Control Room, or in Headphones, the lack of HF cancelling Early Reflections leads to a tonality about 6dB tilted away from 'normal'. Way way too bright. By normal I mean average untreated rooms. https://www.bksv.com/media/doc/17-197.pdf Nobody listens in Audiometric Flat headphones. The popular ones such as the HD650 have the B&K or Harmon Target curves built in.

 

[ddude003]

Interesting little speakers you have there... From the Sweetwater description "Tuned to perfection at The Village Studios in Los Angeles"... I have spent a little time there years ago... If your listening for pleasure you might use a house curve to your liking... If your are listening for mixing/mastering I would suggest a flat response... Wow... ~20 inches (50cm) from your ears seems a bit tight... I might try 3 to 6 feet for near field...

 

[Marcus Aseth]

I'm kind of giving up, honestly... after the last EQ, the graph had that flat response on the high frequencies and that bump on the low frequencies, and then I realized the song sounded better (more alive) without any EQ... first, the problem was that I had no way to measure so spent 1 year changing EQ countless times from the SVS app but was never happy with the result. Now, I have the umik 1 and REW, asked help in 4 different forums (this included) and I am still not happy with the result, for a reason or another (although the sound is improved in the sense that the base doesn't make the house rumble). Not sure if in this topic (I think it was another topic) but someone said you should aim for a sound that makes your ears smile - noone of the results I'm getting out of EQ is giving me this, this seems like an infinite wild-goose chase...
If I wanted to try with the speakers further away, I would need stands, but when I search for them online is like 50% of the people is not happy with them, either they vibrate or add more problems than they solve so...

Thank you everyone for the help so far ^_^

 

[DanDan]

You are welcome. There is conflicting advice. People dislike the response of speakers in Anechoic. Nobody listens to Lab perfect Audiometric headphones. These statements are either well known and accepted or and easily demonstrated. Try your speakers out in the garden, on stands...... hear how unrealistically bright they sound. Flat response is ridiculously bright compared to normal listening conditions.
If your speakers or headphones are not delivering the well known well loved tonality identified by B&K, Harman, Sonarworks, etc. you will benefit from using Eq to get things in sync. Stands are usually necessary to locate the speakers at their best spot.

 

[Marcus Aseth]

I might have had a breakthrough today - since I wanted to add more bass but that would inevitably ruin the sound, I've added an High Pass filter set to 21Hz with Q of 0,75 , now the room doesn't rumble even if I add 2db to the low region
I think is the same thing the Room Gain Compensation in the SVS software is doing, although this is more finetuned thanks to REW
Now is sounding much better, I think the next major improvement will be acquiring the stands, I'll start saving money! xD