Get the best sound possible
Apart from the usual Dolby, DTS and other logos on the front panels of AV receiver's, you might see a new logo on some off the newer generation receivers which you might not have seen before, named Audyssey.
Audyssey originally started off as a High End stand alone home cinema room correction processor. It soon became the benchmark for room correction technology. Recently Audyssey have started to sell user License's to various home theatre and multi room sound system manufacturers. These license agreements enabled the manufacturers to integrate various scaled down and up gradable versions at different price points, of the benchmark Audyssey technology, found in the original full house stand alone unit, into their products. [ Expand page content... ] [ Collapse page content... ]
As example - The higher end Denon, NAD, Marantz, Onkyo, Crestron and a few other receivers use Audyssey MultEQ XT, a breakthrough room equalization technology that corrects sound distortion caused by room acoustics. Sound in the entire listening area, not just at one seat, will be greatly enhanced whether listening to music or watching movies.
- Have preferably a CEDIA trained professional to install the home theatre system for the best results, and have an Audyssey-trained installer to perform your MultEQ XT setup. The Audyssey-trained installer will use the Audyssey Professional Installer Kit and PC-based MultEQ Pro software, resulting in the best possible sound from your system.
- Do it yourself Follow the step-by-step process included in the Audyssey equipped receiver, and Audyssey MultEQ XT will set the proper speaker levels, delays and crossovers and create the proper equalization solution for your listening area.
Audyssey Laboratories, Inc.
The company is a spin-off from the highly-regarded Immersive Audio Laboratory at the University of Southern California (USC), where all four founders worked together. The lab, started by Prof. Kyriakakis and Prof. Holman (the inventor of THX and a professor of film sound at USC), is a part of the Integrated Media Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center.
Audyssey has customized its sound equalization technologies to the realities of today's home theater environment. The result shatters the traditional limitations of home theater. Audyssey truly delivers pure sound and unleashes the full potential of home theater systems.
Audyssey MultEQ XT:
MultEQ XT was started in the late 1990s when Audyssey founders combined their expertise in room acoustics, sound reproduction, psychoacoustics and audio signal processing to develop a revolutionary room correction tool. MultEQ XT is the only room correction technology that removes distortions in both the time and frequency domains across the entire listening area. Funded through a multi-year, $5 million research effort at USC and the subsequent founding of Audyssey, the founders turned the cutting-edge R&D concepts behind MultEQ XT into a well-tested product ready for installer implementation.
Audyssey Sound Equalizer:
The Audyssey Sound Equalizer provides a convenient delivery platform for Audyssey technologies in the home theater installation market. Future technologies beyond MultEQ XT will continue to push sound equalization to new levels and create additional installation opportunities. The Audyssey Sound Equalizer represents the company's long-term commitment to providing professional home theater installers with cutting-edge sound equalization technologies.
With the Audyssey Sound Equalizer Balanced, you can integrate the Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction technology into your balanced home theater separates system:
Literature
- [ More information on the Audyssey Sound Equalizer Balanced ]
- [ More information on the Audessey Sound Equaliser Unbalanced ]
- [ More information on the Audessey Sub Equaliser ]
About Audyssey MultEQ:
How does MultEQ work?
Three easy steps:
- Hook up the microphone, place it in the middle of the listening area, push a button, wait quietly while MultEQ pings each speaker with a special signal.
- Move the microphone to up to 8 (32 in the Pro version) positions and wait for the speakers to be pinged again.
- MultEQ calculates a room correction solution for each channel.
Done.
Then the fun starts. Turn it on and be amazed how your system sounds.
What makes MultEQ work when so many others have tried to solve this problem for decades?
Two things:
- The way it measures your room
- By correcting both time and frequency problems
Measurement:
There are two types of systems out there today:
- Those that attempt to correct for only one seat in the room. This typically makes other seats in the room sound worse because a single measurement does not provide an accurate representation of the problems of the entire room.
- Some EQ systems do try to correct for multiple positions. They simply average the measurement results that they gather. Averaging tends to smooth out common acoustical problems, and therefore doesn't fix them. For example, if there is a peak at 200 Hz in one seat and a dip at 200 Hz in another seat (typical room), then the two measurements average each other out and there is no correction attempted.
In either case, these systems only attempt to correct frequency response problems and not time domain problems and this leaves a big part of the problem unsolved.
How does MultEQ measure your room differently?
MultEQ looks at patterns in the time domain responses and classifies them into clusters based on the similarities in those patterns, typically in 3-5 groups. A representative response is created from each cluster, and a final response is then created from grouping the representatives. That response is then used to create the EQ filter. It is a complicated process that is based on the complex mathematics of pattern recognition and fuzzy logic. But there is nothing fuzzy about the results.
If you want to know more, we offer copies of selected publications we have written for technical conferences. Unique measurement and calculation system makes great sound possible.
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Time and Frequency correction:
- The time domain is where many of the problems reside. Parametric and graphic equalizers can only correct for the frequency response and do so in a very coarse manner because they have limited resolution (bands).
- Further, whether they have fixed or adjustable bands it does not matter because bands cause phase problems that most people hear as "ringing" or "smearing." This is why, after thirty plus years of trying this method most people don't like the results and turn it off.
How does MultEQ address time and frequency problems?
MultEQ filters start in the time domain. They are not just a few parametric bands. Instead they use several hundred points to represent the room response in both the frequency and time domains.
The trick is to use enough filter points to get the needed resolution, but not so many that it overwhelms the processor inside the audio component. So, we came up with a way to reduce the number of points without sacrificing accuracy and a way to provide more filter power at lower frequencies where it is needed the most. MultEQ can correct 8 channels by using only a fraction of a single DSP chip. This gives you the best of both worlds: time and frequency correction. Result-room correction that works for the first time ever.
What about calibrating my system?
In addition to all of our very complex EQ work, we also do the simple things really well. During step 1 above, MultEQ checks the absolute polarity of your system and tells you if any speakers are out of polarity (the + - wiring problem), measures the acoustical distance (within a 1/4 inch) to each speaker and sets the proper level trims for all channels including the subwoofer. Finally, it finds the optimum crossover frequency between each satellite channel and the subwoofer(s) and provides that information to the bass management system.
Audyssey Installer Program
Pro Audio Calibration: Customers deserve great sound
No installation sounds as good as it can without proper audio calibration. An Audyssey Calibration automates for home theaters what used to be done manually by top-level acousticians in the world's best theaters. Now, professional home cinema installers have a way to deliver world-class sound in the entertainment systems they install.
Insist in the inclusion of an Audyssey Calibration in your cinema, because you deserve great sound.
Don't leave the job unfinished no matter how great the installed equipment is. The system's performance is limited by the distortion caused by the acoustics of the room.
An Audyssey Calibration gives you the best sound equalization possible, uniquely tailored to your room, system, and seating configuration. No installation is complete without an Audyssey Calibration.
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