Subwoofer DSP - Enable / Disable?

whoareyou

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If subwoofer has DSP processing:
1) Should subwoofer DSP be enabled and used in combination with Audiolense measurments and corrections?
2) Should subwoofer DSP be disabled and Audiolense does everything?
 

juicehifi

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Usually there is nothing to gain by using the subwoofer DSP. And it could cause problems. Usually it makes very little difference.
 

hulkss

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I would turn off all subwoofer processing. An exception would be a subwoofer with closed loop control of the driver.
 
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If subwoofer has DSP processing:
1) Should subwoofer DSP be enabled and used in combination with Audiolense measurments and corrections?
2) Should subwoofer DSP be disabled and Audiolense does everything?
My response would be "it depends". Is the internal DSP only for response correction (for the room), or does it also serve as protection for the driver of the sub? If the sub is ported (as most are), below the port resonance the cone motion is not controlled by the box, and putting power into it below that frequency not only does nothing for what you hear, it can damage the driver. If the internal DSP is used for driver protection, you do NOT want to disable that part of it.

As one example of practice, I'll use my studio monitor system. My mains are Mackie HR824, which have very accurate response and are good down to 40 Hz (the fundamental of the low E string on a bass). I wanted to extend this. I found a used EAW SB180 18" ported sub for cheap. I decided to drive it with a bridged Hafler P230, but the speaker specifies the use of processing. I bought a MiniDSP processor and a UMIK-1. I use REW for measurements, and crossover software in the MiniDSP. EAW says it is important to roll off the low end sharply below about 20 Hz or so to protect the driver, and recommends a specific boost around 30 Hz for driver response correction. I hand tailored the filters in the crossover (which I used ONLY for the sub, not for the mains), and tested the response with REW, tweaking and testing until I got the best result I could.

The point here is that if the processing in the sub is used for protection, and if it is decently adjustable, why not use it? If, however, you want to disable the internal DSP, make sure that anything you use instead is set up to do the needed driver protection with a high order (at least 4th order if not more) high pass filter set to match the box resonance frequency. Again, this is for a PORTED box. If the sub is a sealed box design, the LF protection is probably not necessary.
 

hulkss

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The point here is that if the processing in the sub is used for protection, and if it is decently adjustable, why not use it?

If you understand your sub and its limitations it is much better not to stack processing on top of processing with all the associated group delay and phase distortion.

The room is in control at low frequencies as much or more than the sub. AL will correct the sub in the room to its best performance. Inspect the filter magnitude response and do not over boost the sub beyond its displacement limits.
 

whoareyou

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I suppose I can always just try each possible solution and let my ears judge :)

Having said that, I was wondering about what ....
If you understand your sub and its limitations it is much better not to stack processing on top of processing with all the associated group delay and phase distortion.
The room is in control at low frequencies as much or more than the sub. AL will correct the sub in the room to its best performance. Inspect the filter magnitude response and do not over boost the sub beyond its displacement limits.

Thanks !
 

juicehifi

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Most likely dsp on or off will hardly make an audible difference here. But it is a sound approach to try both and then judge for yourself.
 

hulkss

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Most likely dsp on or off will hardly make an audible difference here. But it is a sound approach to try both and then judge for yourself.
Turning off any high pass filters should make a difference you can hear with deep bass. You may then need multiple subs to avoid driver displacement issues when playing the low frequencies that were filtered out.
 

juicehifi

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The premise to "most likely not hearing a difference" is that the dsp in the sub does not impose any band width limitations for what the user tries to achieve with Audiolense, low or high.
 
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