Richard Greene
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2001
- Messages
- 148
I think just about everyone who has used an equalizer to obtain a flat frequency response has heard sound that is bass-shy.
The goal is to hear a subjectively flat frequency response.
I think that's a goal of any decent recording engineer too.
But even if the recording engineer had your ears, your room and your stereo system to work with, the "house curve" he includes in his mix is only valid for the SPL he used
(plus or minus a few dBs).
If the recording engineer sets his "house curve" while listening at an average of 85dB ... but you listen to his recording at an average of only 75dB at home, then you will most likely want to boost the bass at home by a few dB below 50Hz. to sound subjectively flat (at 75dB.)
The reason: The lower the average SPL, the more difficulty our ears have hearing bass below roughly 100Hz.
At very high volumes (100dB) a flat frequency response may sound flat.
But I listen to music at 75-80dB.
At 75-80dB there needs to be bass boost (especially below 5Hz.) for a subjectively flat frequency reponse
See a chart of the Fletcher-Munson curve in this link
for an approximation of what a house curve might look like at different SPLs.:
http://www.tcm.rmit.edu.au/imtp/Soun...2/fletchmu.htm
Your actual house curve depends on your hearing ability,
listening room acoustics and the average SPL you prefer.
If you listen to music at a wide variety of SPL's, a subwoofer remote control is very helpful for keeping the bass, mid-range and treble in balance.
If your sub and satellite speakers are controlled by a single volume control, the bass, mid-range and treble will be subjectively out of balance any time you make a large SPL increase or decrease from the original SPL you used to balance the frequency response .
Whether we hear a subjectively flat bass frequency
response depends more on the SPL than any other factor.
The "C" weighting curve already includes a "house curve" and this is a portion of the curve between 20 and 80Hz.:
+0.5dB at 80Hz.,
+0.8dB at 63Hz.,
+1.3dB at 50Hz.,
+2.0dB at 40Hz.,
+3.0dB at 31.5Hz.,
+4.4dB at 25Hz., and
+6.2dB at 20Hz.
I personally prefer an unweighted dBU curve.
My own house curve for an SPl of 75-80dB is similar to the C-weighting curve ... and I think my Rule-of-Thumb that a subwoofer should be set +3 to +6dB louder than the satellite speakers is a simple way of describing a
bass "house curve".
The goal is to hear a subjectively flat frequency response.
I think that's a goal of any decent recording engineer too.
But even if the recording engineer had your ears, your room and your stereo system to work with, the "house curve" he includes in his mix is only valid for the SPL he used
(plus or minus a few dBs).
If the recording engineer sets his "house curve" while listening at an average of 85dB ... but you listen to his recording at an average of only 75dB at home, then you will most likely want to boost the bass at home by a few dB below 50Hz. to sound subjectively flat (at 75dB.)
The reason: The lower the average SPL, the more difficulty our ears have hearing bass below roughly 100Hz.
At very high volumes (100dB) a flat frequency response may sound flat.
But I listen to music at 75-80dB.
At 75-80dB there needs to be bass boost (especially below 5Hz.) for a subjectively flat frequency reponse
See a chart of the Fletcher-Munson curve in this link
for an approximation of what a house curve might look like at different SPLs.:
http://www.tcm.rmit.edu.au/imtp/Soun...2/fletchmu.htm
Your actual house curve depends on your hearing ability,
listening room acoustics and the average SPL you prefer.
If you listen to music at a wide variety of SPL's, a subwoofer remote control is very helpful for keeping the bass, mid-range and treble in balance.
If your sub and satellite speakers are controlled by a single volume control, the bass, mid-range and treble will be subjectively out of balance any time you make a large SPL increase or decrease from the original SPL you used to balance the frequency response .
Whether we hear a subjectively flat bass frequency
response depends more on the SPL than any other factor.
The "C" weighting curve already includes a "house curve" and this is a portion of the curve between 20 and 80Hz.:
+0.5dB at 80Hz.,
+0.8dB at 63Hz.,
+1.3dB at 50Hz.,
+2.0dB at 40Hz.,
+3.0dB at 31.5Hz.,
+4.4dB at 25Hz., and
+6.2dB at 20Hz.
I personally prefer an unweighted dBU curve.
My own house curve for an SPl of 75-80dB is similar to the C-weighting curve ... and I think my Rule-of-Thumb that a subwoofer should be set +3 to +6dB louder than the satellite speakers is a simple way of describing a
bass "house curve".
