Speaker calibration, DTS, DD and Twister (long) (1 Viewer)

[Tom Vodhanel]

>>>Tom,
That plot of Frequency vs. SPL(dB) is interesting. I'm wondering how it was grabbed from the source signal. I assume it is only one INSTANT in time, right? Or is it an average over a certain time period?
-Kieran.

 

[Lewis Besze]

What puzzles me though, is that a lot of people here have been commenting that the DD version sounds more bassy

You didn't hear it from me,as I had a real hard time to tell these tracks apart,and I didn't even bothered with the sub calibration since I do change the output on it quiet a bit,to better suit certain movies.Tom's RTA should put this notion to rest[DD's higher bass level].
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"You Hungarians are always disagree"

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Regarding the rant about 5.1-to-2.0 downmixes at dvdfile.com. The LFE channel is supposed to contain only supplemental bass effects. It is not meant to carry the entire bass content of the soundtrack. The main channels are full range and can carry their own bass. The LFE channel is supposed to be used for extra loud bass effects that won't fit in the main channels, that's why it is designed to have 10dB more headroom. (And this 10dB more headroom is why it can't be included in a 2.0 downmix.)
The LFE channel should be mostly idle until there is a thunderclap or a gunshot or a car exploding, and even then the LFE is only supposed to provide some extra kick but not take responsibility for all of the bass. The main channels are supposed to retain the "essential storytelling bass". When this is done, the 2.0 downmix will sound fine without any further adjustment. As soon as filmmakers realize that this is the proper way to mix 5.1 digital soundtracks, the studios' home video divisions won't need to remix them to accomodate the 2.0 downmix on DVD.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I'm very grateful to Tom for his measurements, but of course it brings up the question - Why is my DTS LFE level out of whack?
The only test signal I have is on the CD that came with the Millennium decoder and according to that, it's at the same level as the other channels when played 'flat' through the amp.
I suppose there could be something odd going on inside the decoder (I suppose it's quite an old unit now, as far as DTS decoders go), but what I'm bothered about is getting that bass level correct.
Any ideas?
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"It's all in the mix"