I'm quickly running out of time. I've been so busy getting a cab build done that I haven't even had time to hook up my DEQ and all the other new crap I bought. Getting it all reracked is as far as I got.
Ok, so, I MUST do this before the 45 day return policy runs out. I do not have a wide open space to run the system without loading it all up and taking it somewhere, and I don't have time for that. I need to learn how to use the RTA and become familiar enough to use it at an upcoming outdoor show.
What is the least amount of space I can get by with? Just for the purpose of learning the system, can I set it up anywhere, understanding the result wouldn't be something I'd want to save? In the Behringer manual it says to take readings from 5 different locations. Is that the norm, or do you guys do something different?
RTA help and advice needed
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Mark Coward
- Posts: 2601
- Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 10:47 am
- Location: Memphis, TN
I don't do the AutoEQ, just use the RTA to see the reponse and tweak manually. I ended up not used the DEQ on mains at all, I used the EQ filters on the DCX while running plain RTA on the DEQ. After doing this outdoors half space, I seldom had to tweak for room response, but I had 4 bands of parametric on the board if I needed it. In my experience, even if room RTA were that useful it's usually a pain in some way, either the club is filled with noisy folks or it's quiet and they don't want to hear the hiss. Different areas of the room will sound different, and lots of bodies in the room will change things too.
Even if you don't have a large outdoor area at home, IMO you'd still be better off setting up outside and pointing the cabs towards the most open part. You don't have to run the pink noise loud enough to disturb the neighbors. I look at the DCX as a "speaker processor", get it flat (or rather to my target EQ curve which rolls off from 5k down) and it's "set and forget."
Pinking & RTA indoors will give you practice though, no harm in doing that. If you have time when you set up for your outdoor gig, I would suggest that you EQ 1, 2, and 3 cabs separately and save each setting. IMO, once this is done you seldom if ever need to pink the room, and then just to help identify some obvious problem frequency.
The RTA function is quite useful in weeding out bad piezos too.
I found that the AutoEQ function isn't that intuitive, had to read the manual a few times. It also won't "quit", it keeps adjusting until you stop it. If you hit the wrong button it doesn't keep the curve and you have to start over. I preferred doing it manually. This also lets you get a better idea of the response below 100hz, as both Behringer and DBX will tell you to disable these frequencies from AutoEQ. When you're watching the RTA, if a truck goes by on the highway you can see that's the cause of a 40hz spike etc.
Even if you don't have a large outdoor area at home, IMO you'd still be better off setting up outside and pointing the cabs towards the most open part. You don't have to run the pink noise loud enough to disturb the neighbors. I look at the DCX as a "speaker processor", get it flat (or rather to my target EQ curve which rolls off from 5k down) and it's "set and forget."
Pinking & RTA indoors will give you practice though, no harm in doing that. If you have time when you set up for your outdoor gig, I would suggest that you EQ 1, 2, and 3 cabs separately and save each setting. IMO, once this is done you seldom if ever need to pink the room, and then just to help identify some obvious problem frequency.
The RTA function is quite useful in weeding out bad piezos too.
I found that the AutoEQ function isn't that intuitive, had to read the manual a few times. It also won't "quit", it keeps adjusting until you stop it. If you hit the wrong button it doesn't keep the curve and you have to start over. I preferred doing it manually. This also lets you get a better idea of the response below 100hz, as both Behringer and DBX will tell you to disable these frequencies from AutoEQ. When you're watching the RTA, if a truck goes by on the highway you can see that's the cause of a 40hz spike etc.
Mark Coward
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SoundInMotionDJ
- Posts: 1750
- Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:31 pm
- Location: DFW, Texas
- Contact:
Re: RTA help and advice needed
I take a single reading about 4m in front of a stack of tops. The reading is taken from about head height using a mic stand.Tim A wrote:In the Behringer manual it says to take readings from 5 different locations. Is that the norm, or do you guys do something different?
I notice HUGE differences between indoor and outdoor readings. I notice significant differences between my garage and 5k sq ft venues. I notice almost no difference in the settings between venues in the 2500-6000 sqft range.
The thing to get use to is getting the gain set on the noise signal, knowing about how long to let it run (hint: watch the changes to the proposed EQ curve), and setting the initial target curve. Once you get that committed to muscle memory, the RTA process takes a couple of minutes end to end.
--Stan Graves
10 T39S + 10 DR200 + 1 T48
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gdougherty
- Posts: 2623
- Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:13 am
- Location: Denver, CO
- Contact:
Re: RTA help and advice needed
+1SoundInMotionDJ wrote:I take a single reading about 4m in front of a stack of tops. The reading is taken from about head height using a mic stand.Tim A wrote:In the Behringer manual it says to take readings from 5 different locations. Is that the norm, or do you guys do something different?
I notice HUGE differences between indoor and outdoor readings. I notice significant differences between my garage and 5k sq ft venues. I notice almost no difference in the settings between venues in the 2500-6000 sqft range.
The thing to get use to is getting the gain set on the noise signal, knowing about how long to let it run (hint: watch the changes to the proposed EQ curve), and setting the initial target curve. Once you get that committed to muscle memory, the RTA process takes a couple of minutes end to end.
--Stan Graves