New to REW. What's the process for correcting subs?

[anjunadeep]

I made the jump and picked up a UMIK1 and MiniDSP after watching some videos on YouTube about REW. I feel like I understand some of the concepts, but I want to make a bit of a plan that makes sense, can I run this by you guys? My plan so far is:

1. Turn off Audyssey.
2. Move subs around running REW until I find the spots with the most uniform response in my seating area.
3. Run REW at my best location collecting datapoints.
4. Generate REW auto-correct (not sure if that's the technical name)
(question: I saw a video with matthew talking about taking many points, how do I average these and then output the correct corrections?)
5. If it doesn't look too crazy apply that to a MiniDSP
(question: Matthew warned about sometimes the results being over EQd in his video.. how will I know what what can I do to remedy?)
(question: REWs corrections are only cuts, not boosts, correct? I have ported subwoofers and want to avoid boosting below the tuning frequency)
6. Re-run REW to see if these corrected my issues

Now it gets really hazy...

7. Run Audyssey
(question: Is there any way to have Audyssey avoid double EQing my bass after it was already done using REW? Audyssey does seem to kinda neuter the low stuff sometimes. Also if REW cuts something and Audyssey boosts it back up, won't that cause issues?)
8. Run REW again and see what Audyssey did (I have the Audyssey app, but it's still a black hole....)
9. Add in any house curve (I will have Dynamic EQ off) and probably a high pass (something down deep just to prevent my ported subs from trying to play a 10Hz tone loud or something) to miniDSP
(question: I seem to run my subs about +5dB hot without DEQ on, I listen at about -15 to -12 on MV so that's my "manual DEQ", as running hot PLUS adding DEQ seems like a bad idea especially on ported. Is there a right way for how to do this? Or just I just leave it how Audyssey programs it? I imagine they are smarter than me about how the bass should be, but, a lot of people tell me that Audyssey is pretty aggressive at cutting deep bass that I probably want to keep in? ).
10. Run REW again and confirm everything looks right.
11. Watch a movie

Is my thinking of this process right? Are there steps missing? Incorrect ones? Does my order of operations make sense?

Thanks for any help. I know this is a wall of text, and all these answers are surely out there, but there is SO MUCH documentation, often very detailed, it's a little overwhelming.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

You have the basic idea.

I typically EQ subs for the main listening position. My thinking is that the other locations only get used during a movie with friends over, and movie bass is mostly just “boom.” So who cares of the other seats get a less-than-optimal “boom?” What exactly is an “optimal” boom anyway?

However, you can take additional measurements if you want to. I’m pretty sure REW can average them, although I don’t know how (I’m using an old version). Perhaps John will weigh in if you can’t find directions in the REW Help Files.

Typically the subs should not need more than 3-5 filters. Often REW recommends what I call “useless” filters. Here’s how to recognize them:

* Small boost or cut value (e.g. 2-3 dB).
* Very narrow filters. Filters tighter than 1/3 to 1/4 octave (4.8-5.3 Q) should be avoided.
* Filters in close proximity are suspect (say, at 100 Hz and 110 Hz).

REW can be set up to allow boosts, at the maximum value you input.

Can’t tell you much about Audyssey, as I don’t use automated room correction. What I’ve heard is that subs should be manually EQ’d first, then run Audyssey. The thinking is that it gives Audyssey less to do. If you’re not happy with post-Audyssey results, then the sub level can be boosted, or even run Audyssey again as a “no subwoofer” system.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[anjunadeep]

You have the basic idea.

I typically EQ subs for the main listening position. My thinking is that the other locations only get used during a movie with friends over, and movie bass is mostly just “boom.” So who cares of the other seats get a less-than-optimal “boom?” What exactly is an “optimal” boom anyway?

However, you can take additional measurements if you want to. I’m pretty sure REW can average them, although I don’t know how (I’m using an old version). Perhaps John will weigh in if you can’t find directions in the REW Help Files.

Typically the subs should not need more than 3-5 filters. Often REW recommends what I call “useless” filters. Here’s how to recognize them:

* Small boost or cut value (e.g. 2-3 dB).
* Very narrow filters. Filters tighter than 1/3 to 1/4 octave (4.8-5.3 Q) should be avoided.
* Filters in close proximity are suspect (say, at 100 Hz and 110 Hz).

REW can be set up to allow boosts, at the maximum value you input.

Can’t tell you much about Audyssey, as I don’t use automated room correction. What I’ve heard is that subs should be manually EQ’d first, then run Audyssey. The thinking is that it gives Audyssey less to do. If you’re not happy with post-Audyssey results, then the sub level can be boosted, or even run Audyssey again as a “no subwoofer” system.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Wayne

Thank you for the response, Wayne. Yes, I'm only concerned about one listening position. However, reading and watching the REW videos I found online done by AVNirvana I heard that running multiple positions near that area is advisable because it is able to measure the room better. I've heard this from Audyssey as well, so I tend to take all eight measurements with Audyssey, moving the microphone to their drawing with the jumps being about 1.5ft. So pretty tight, but still moving the mic. With Audyssey, the first position needs to be in the main listening position, because that's where it takes its delay measurements. Then I think the rest tell the software more about the room.

Thanks, yeah maybe John will be able to chime in about how the measurements should be done. Maybe it's just a matter of taking a bunch and overlaying them to see if they match up visually? But then when it comes time to apply auto-eq I imagine you'd want to average them or something.

I will look out for the useless filters. I can delete those on a per filter basis and see what the result would look like without that correction? I'm a bit ahead of myself asking that question, as I haven't gotten that far and maybe it is very straight forward.

Thanks again