Same calibration for all listening modes? (1 Viewer)

Things are going quite well since I picked up my HT system. I am now at the point where I ordered the calibration disk and will be picking up a SPL meter. My amp has a selection of listening modes, do I have to calibrate each of the modes different or just do one mode. I am thinking since any of the modes use the same speakers, I just need to do the speakers once. The "Noise" for calibration would be the same in any mode, correct?

Also wanted to thank everyone and say this forum has been a great help and has a vast amount of knowledge.

Dan

Your room and it's layout, for the most part, determine what the readings you'll get, so yes, your settings should be mostly the same for everything. There may be a volume discrepancies between different sources, but as long as the levels are matched, it will be OK. As to calibrating for the different listening modes, no, and most receivers will not have this option except possibly for DD vs DTS. Difference input selections may allow different calibrations to be retained, also depending on the receiver.

I believe you should turn off all DSP modes before you calibrate.

Here is my thinking:

- My receiver has built-in test tones. These do not change even if Hall/Church/etc are enabled. The Mfg seems to not want the DSP modes engaged during the calibration.

- The DSP modes work by being artificial: they delay/enhance/reverb some sounds not originally intended for some channels. If you use a setup DVD, the receiver does not know you are calibrating so it will 'enhance' the sound and you will be measuring the altered signal. This may cause you to adjust the sound too-low.

Note: One day I wanted to hear just how much signal went to the rear speakers. So I disconnected my front 3 speakers, fired up Contact and sat down with a book and the TV off so I could just experience the rear-sounds.

To my suprise/shock I heard music and even dialog coming from the rear speakers. This was not right. I began to fear about noise/crossover/something wrong with my receiver. Then I noticed that one of the DSP modes had been turned on. (The daughters had been listening to boy-bands and playing with the settings.) When I turned off the DSP modes, the rear speakers went silent except for the occasional special-effect.

Conclusion: if you have a DSP mode turned on and try to measure volume from one speaker, the DSP may produce sound in other speakers that your meter will read.

The whole point of calibrating is to isolate each speaker and ajust to match the others using the SPL meter. The DSP modes may mess this up.

Hope this helps.

The answer depends entirely on your receiver or processor. Some receivers/processors maintain seperate levels for each surround mode (H/K, for example), while others maintain only one global setting.

I have an Onyko receiver, and I think one global setting. I will be using the DVD for calibration so I will make sure to select "Direct" as the input to avoide any "simulation sounds" the amp might want to add.

Thanks for the detailed information.

Dan

I find the comments in this thread to be confusing. The original poster said that he had bought a calibration disk to use for setting everything up. All of the calibration disks I have encountered allow you to choose, via menus, what mode you will run the tests in - usually DD or DTS, sometimes pro-logic. Even if the receiver had been set up in a DSP mode prior, the DVD will change this. And the test tones will be generated by the DVD, not the receiver. Right?

Rick, I made the online purchase, but have not received the disk yet. I was asking to get an idea of what was involved. Thanks.

Dan

Rick, on some receviers, it doesn't matter what surround mode you calibrate the speaker levels to...those settings will be applied to all surround modes (with varying degrees of accuracy, I might add). This is what I mean by 'global' settings. On other models, you have the ability (it's a necessity, really) to calibrate the speaker levels for each individual mode (DD, DTS, DPLII, etc)

Ahhh... I see the confusion.

- DVD Disks can contain different audio formats like "ProLogic", "Dolby Surround", "Dolby Digital", "DTS".

- Receivers have the ability to decode these (and has settings for them), but they also often have DSP modes called things like "Hall", "Jazz", "Stadium", "Enhanced 70 Meter"

The DSP modes are often called "listening modes" or "surround modes" in the manuals.

All of my remarks apply to these DSP modes. Some receivers allow separate level-adjustments for Dolby Digital vs DTS vs ProLogic.

Hope this clears things up.