Target Curves

The old Bruel and Kjaer Curve was derived from pretty decent systems in domestic rooms and Hi Fi Shows. I spent two years in my highly treated Control Room searching for a curve that would be enjoyable to work with, and that would encourage mixes to translate instantly to three domestic playback systems in regular domestic rooms here. At the end I came right back to B&K. I mean right back. +/-3 at 100/10K does not make nicely sloped and rounded curves. It takes quite a few way points to get those slope right.

DanDan said:

The old Bruel and Kjaer Curve was derived from pretty decent systems in domestic rooms and Hi Fi Shows. I spent two years in my highly treated Control Room searching for a curve that would be enjoyable to work with, and that would encourage mixes to translate instantly to three domestic playback systems in regular domestic rooms here. At the end I came right back to B&K. I mean right back. +/-3 at 100/10K does not make nicely sloped and rounded curves. It takes quite a few way points to get those slope right.

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The smoothed response in Audiolense is different from the one the B&K is based on. So you will get a slightly different voicing than the B&K engineers heard.

Attached is a PDF with the Lyngdorf target curves.

I don't think these voicings are the "be all" and "end all" of best target curves, but they are a good start.

For example, the target curve that Moedra presented seems like a more sophisticated version of the Lyngdorf "Soft" voicing.

Trying a variety of target curves with Audiolense, we can train our ears/brain to have a better understanding of how frequency balance influences sound. Then we are in a good position to come up with our own preferred target curves.

Thanks Bernt. Thanks Billy. Yup, tweak to taste including the room and positions in it. Worth noting testing was at least a decade ago and I am approaching my 7th. I am beginning to ease off on the HF roll off......;-)

I hear colorations in all the Lyngdorf curves. I worked through a bunch of similay templates back in the Tact days,

Your mileage may vary, but I strongly recommend to opt for more subtle transitions between e.g the midrange region and a raised bass than what we see in the Lyngdorf curves.

I totally agree about the crudeness of the Lyndorf curves. That's why I called Moedra's curve "sophisticated".

That said, there is a dearth of target curve examples for Audiolense and showing some basic shapes for new users I think is helpful.

juicehifi said:

Your target is very close to my preference … in my best room.

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can you share your target here Bernt. I might as well try in my room and listen and tweak to my taste (if even required)

My target varies somewhat in the bass, depending on the capacity below 100 Hz. So I customize the roundoff and how low it goes. A rounded version of the speakers’s low frequency capacity is what I aim for. From somewhere around 100 Hz to 20 kHz I have a straight line that falls around 4 dB. Less fall for high spl and more for lower. 2-6 dB is where I find my sweet spots. But this only works with a perfectly calibrated microphone and for people who wants the same voicing as me.

This type of «straight line» target tends to eliminate the sound of «sound reinforcement», so it sounds more acoustic. If you want your system to sound more concert like … and I believe that goes for at least 60% of the Audiolense users … you need a shape with a bass lift and less drop through the midrange. It is more difficult to dial in such a target, so I recommend many iterations to find your sweet

I do not want to advocate my preference too strongly, because it is only MY preference and because I’ve experienced in the past that expressing my preferences too strongly tends to be wrongly associated with some innate sound quality of Audiolense. I want Audiolense to be perceived as a very flexible tool that enables each and everyone to voice their system to their own liking, and I am more pleased when the guys chase their own preferences instead of trying to like what I like.

It requires some effort to sort out your own preferences, but imo it’s a worthwhile and very rewarding exercise. Audiolense can deliver what you want, but finding out what you want can be quite a journey. And some times your preferences will change along the way.