DR200s at a small gathering

[BrentEvans]

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take the pair of DR200s forum member Brew has out to a family gathering. I used SAC to run the gig, and this also gave me the ability to RTA and measure them. The response curves very closely mirrored the published charts, and I didn't think to get screen grabs while I was doing them. I did, however, get a grab of the EQ curve I used, which had them pretty flat from 120 up to 16k.

The sound was very nice and smooth, got a lot of positive comments from family, some of whom are reasonably familiar with good sound. In any case, lots of interest in the rig all the way around.

For those of you not familiar with the SAC EQ, it is parametric. The number at the top represents the increase or decrease in gain in dB, the middle number is the frequency, the bottom number is the bandwidth in octaves. For example, the 3.0k filter is -6db at 3.0k, and rolls off half an octave above and below that.

[Chris_Allen]

I also see the aggressive removal at around 8K-10K (can't remember the exact spot).

[Sydney]

aggressive removal at around 8K-10K

I've seen that applied to about every piezo implementation I've come across.

Syd

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I also see the aggressive removal at around 8K-10K (can't remember the exact spot).

You can overdo it there, depending on the mic location. In larger rooms, or outdoors, high frequencies are attenuated at longer distances and/or smeared by room interactions, so an RTA taken at relatively close range might cause too much EQ cut at longer range. Always take a listen throughout the listening area, and if your ears say you need more highs let them override the RTA. OTOH aggressive boosting above 12kHz is seldom of value, as there's not much up there to hear, assuming you can hear it anyway.

[Haysus]

Brent what RTA setup are you using Thinking of adding it to the need list from the want list.

[Ron K]

A better approach to noising a system especially in a room is using an RTA that can seperate direct sound from reflected sound at the mic position. As you move the mic away from the system the time of flight from the system to the mic can become a critical piece of data rendering the RTA all but useless in some rooms and environments.

With programs such as SMAART you set the delay value to match the time of flight and the software ignores data above and below the actual time of flight. Its still not perfect but it is much better then just grabbing data and moving sliders to compensate.

You must also keep another thing in mind. While using any software to align and set up a system even though the system under test and software can ignore unwanted data your ears cannot! That's why in the end you "must" still use your ears to make any final decisions. We dont come equipped with an on board delay to adjust so when the room contaminates the signal it's still a contaminated end result.

At least with a TOF type setup you know whats room and whats system related.That allows you to process the system and let it. As long as you dont change the systems components or other variables within the system the processing should remain constant.

Now your free to EQ each environment as a separate entity and store those values from venue to venue creating a library of presets for each venue you work in.

[BrentEvans]

You can overdo it there, depending on the mic location. In larger rooms, or outdoors, high frequencies are attenuated at longer distances and/or smeared by room interactions, so an RTA taken at relatively close range might cause too much EQ cut at longer range.]

I did the RTA outside (since that was where they were going to be used), with the mic at about 15 feet. Granted there was a bit of wind, but the results were very satisfying aurally.

Always take a listen throughout the listening area, and if your ears say you need more highs let them override the RTA. OTOH aggressive boosting above 12kHz is seldom of value, as there's not much up there to hear, assuming you can hear it anyway.

I walked it 180 degrees around the speaker, out to about 75 feet distance. It was very even. The 15k half octave boost made a noticeable difference in sound quality. The SAC EQ is very very clean and does not excessively interact between bands like a typical 31-band or even some parametrics, so my results may not
transfer to other EQs unmodified.

Brent what RTA setup are you using Thinking of adding it to the need list from the want list.

I'm using the RML Frequency Analyzer in SAC, and I used an SM-81 as the reference mic (from the department of "good enough for now"). I have a reference mic on order (now).

A better approach to noising a system especially in a room is using an RTA that can seperate direct sound from reflected sound at the mic position. As you move the mic away from the system the time of flight from the system to the mic can become a critical piece of data rendering the RTA all but useless in some rooms and environments.

With programs such as SMAART you set the delay value to match the time of flight and the software ignores data above and below the actual time of flight. Its still not perfect but it is much better then just grabbing data and moving sliders to compensate.

You must also keep another thing in mind. While using any software to align and set up a system even though the system under test and software can ignore unwanted data your ears cannot! That's why in the end you "must" still use your ears to make any final decisions. We dont come equipped with an on board delay to adjust so when the room contaminates the signal it's still a contaminated end result.

At least with a TOF type setup you know whats room and whats system related.That allows you to process the system and let it. As long as you dont change the systems components or other variables within the system the processing should remain constant.

Now your free to EQ each environment as a separate entity and store those values from venue to venue creating a library of presets for each venue you work in.

All true, but as this was done outside, and absolute precision wasn't needed, I got it close enough.

[Haysus]

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take the pair of DR200s forum member Brew has out to a family gathering. I used SAC to run the gig, and this also gave me the ability to RTA and measure them. The response curves very closely mirrored the published charts, and I didn't think to get screen grabs while I was doing them. I did, however, get a grab of the EQ curve I used, which had them pretty flat from 120 up to 16k.

The sound was very nice and smooth, got a lot of positive comments from family, some of whom are reasonably familiar with good sound. In any case, lots of interest in the rig all the way around.

For those of you not familiar with the SAC EQ, it is parametric. The number at the top represents the increase or decrease in gain in dB, the middle number is the frequency, the bottom number is the bandwidth in octaves. For example, the 3.0k filter is -6db at 3.0k, and rolls off half an octave above and below that.

I tried this EQ curve last night and was very pleased with the sound at the gig, really good departure point when starting out. I have never RTA'd my system and rely only on my ears for tuning. Thanks for the post.