Roland Jutai

Getting Started with Manual

Calibration and REW

Version 1.1 - Aug 2021

Please note this guide is protected by US and International Copyright Laws. Reproduction and
distribution without written permission of the author is strictly prohibited.
Copyright (c) 2021. Roland Jutai. All rights reserved.

Yamaha, YPAO, Precision EQ are properties of Yamaha Corporation.

Audyssey, Audyssey XT32 are properties of Audyssey Laboratories.
Dolby, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital are properties of Dolby Laboratories.
All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

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Foreword
This guide can be read by itself, but it is part of a series on
www.SimpleHomeCinema.com. Thank you!
There are some sections that are repeated between the Thank you so much for buying this guide.
guides. This is by design because each guide needs to be
self-contained by itself. Please note that no DRM has been applied to this guide for your
ease of use and so that you can fully own what you have
However, in some instances, the headings are the same but purchased.
slightly different material is included according to context.
However, I would kindly request that you don’t distribute this
Don’t skip a chapter just because you have read it in another guide on any forums or le sharing sites.
guide.
If you have obtained this guide on a le-sharing site or forum -
This guide references external guides that are available for and you nd it is of bene t to you - please kindly consider
purchasing a copy at www.SimpleHomeCinema.com.
free. It isn’t the purpose of this guide to re-hash guides written
for REW available freely, but to collate all the basics on the Alternatively, please support the creation of this type of content
required topics for you to start your manual calibration journey. by donating $10 to the PayPal address: [email protected]

Thank you,
By putting you on the right track and taking you through the
Roland
initial hurdle of this seemingly scary topic, it is my hope that
you will be able to start using the tools and guides available to
you to become self-suf cient and continue to grow beyond
what you learn here.

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Introduction
Why Manual Calibration Why REW
Manual calibration can be used as tool in the Home Cinema Room EQ Wizard (REW) is again just a tool. It isn’t the best on
Toolbox to do one of the following: the market or the easiest to use, but it is free, runs on both
1. Set up a system from scratch where this is the only tool Windows and Mac so it is available to everyone without
available. exception.
2. Verify results after the auto-routine has been run.
3. Tweak the system after auto-routine has been run. It is an excellent tool to learn about sound pro ling and
calibration as it has all the functions that either a home cinema
Tweaking a system can mean a couple of things again: newbie or a home cinema expert would need.
1. Con gure EQ from scratch (GEQ or PEQ)
2. Tweak the EQ that auto-routine has set up Since it caters to a wide range of users, it has a LOT of
functions, most of which we will not go into. However, this
In the case of Yamaha and Pioneer receivers, it is possible to guide will provide an introduction that will make it a lot easier
tweak the EQ without destroying time-based correction lters. to discover and use the rest of the functions.
In the case of Audyssey based receivers, the option is there to
either use a fully manual EQ without time-based lters or use
Audyssey without any manual tweaking.*

*I have seen some reviewers in the tech world believing that

Audyssey receivers can be tweaked using the manual setting and
Audyssey lters stay in place. This is incorrect!

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Understanding the End to End Chain
Room Interactions Bass Frequencies
At low frequencies, the inherent resonances of the room
Introduction (called room modes) are the cause of this coloration, with the
most audible effect being a booming of certain bass notes as
It is an incorrect assumption that modern room correction well as an absence of bass energy in certain parts of the room
algorithms can correct for all issues within a room. It is also a - called nulls.
misconception that you can correct for the issues across all
seats equally without introducing artefacts in some seats. Since these issues are inherent in the room, the best way to
deal with them is by selecting the ideal subwoofer location
The reason for this is that rooms have a signi cant effect on within the room, which we did in the previous section.
what we hear, that is they colour the sound. This effect
happens for both stereo or surround sound. This colouration is Room correction systems are able to deal with too much bass
caused by the room boosting some frequencies while other energy in bass frequencies. However, they are normally unable
frequencies will be suppressed. to correct for nulls. This is because the more energy you put
into the nulls, the more the sound waves will keep cancelling
This is why it is important to ensure your room is optimally set each other out. If you try and correct for them, you may
up before running room correction. The more optimal the overdrive the speaker and introduce other artefacts such as
room, the better - and more consistent from seat to seat - the transference of the energy into surrounding walls and furniture,
results will be. which will add their own resonances to the sound. This is why
it’s critical to nd the ideal subwoofer placement.
In this section, we will examine the types of room interactions
and will then discuss how to minimise them before running Another way to deal with them is with very speci c room
room correction. By putting the work in rst, you will get much treatment - called bass traps - which we will discuss in the
better results in the end by letting the room correction spend next section.
its processing power to polish the sound as opposed to x
issues it was not designed to deal with.

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 Early Re ections Reverberation
At mid to high frequencies, there is a change in timbre / colour Rooms also have reverberation that causes the sound to keep
of the sound caused by the interference between the sound re ecting and in a way, linger. In a well-designed room, the
re ected from the walls, oor and ceiling (called early reverberation will subtly reinforce notes.
re ections) and the sound coming direct from the speaker to
the listener. However, too much reverberation can mask the original sound
while no reverberation will sound unnatural.
Early re ections can also create problems with imaging, pulling
sounds away from their intended location in the mix - and The ideal approach to controlling reverberations is to focus on
therefore affecting steering in surround sound mixes. early re ections and suppress them via absorption. This will
lengthen the time between the direct sound and the rst
What we need to do is make the sound appear to be coming signi cant room re ection, so that the room will sound bigger.
from the the speaker by suppressing the early-arriving
re ections from the walls / ceiling / oor. This is in fact what Yamaha’s DSPs take advantage of: by
measuring the reverberations in the room, the DSP is able to
Most advanced room correction solutions, such as YPAO re-create the feeling of a larger space by calculating the
R.S.C. and Audyssey XT32 have tools to reduce early difference between a larger auditorium and the room’s
re ections. However, this does not come for free and may reverberation characteristics. It then uses that data to drive the
cause artefacts in some seats. DSP and only add in reverberation where the room does not
have natural reverb. This way the DSP won’t overdrive the
It is therefore best to try and reduce these using room setup effect and can create a convincing sound space.
and let the room correction solution clean up the residual early
re ections. Movie theatre auditoriums - especially built to THX standards -
have very well controlled reverberation time (called RT60). It is
normally between 0.3 and 0.6 seconds and pretty even across
the whole frequency spectrum. We need to aim to reduce
reverberation time in our home cinemas as well to achieve a
natural sound and literally make the walls disappear. By
focusing on early re ections, we get the best bang for the
buck.
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 High-Frequency Build Up Time-Alignment
One other nasty side-effect of too much reverberation in small Lastly, time-alignment of frequencies are also important. Time-
spaces is high-frequency build-up. Due to psycho-acoustic alignment issues happen due to how speakers are designed
reasons, when high frequencies are played in small spaces, as well as the previously described room-interactions.
the reverberation of those frequencies can make the sound
sharper than it would sound in a larger room and less Modern advanced room-correction algorithms try to correct
reverberation. for time-alignment based issues across the frequency
spectrum. This can sometimes tackle nulls in lower
There are two solutions: frequencies as well as time-align the frequency spectrum in a
way to have frequencies arrive at your ears at the same time.
1. Introduce absorption to reduce high energy early
re ections, while taming the rest of the re ections. This is Time-alignment issues are a lot easier to correct if room
the ideal solution. interactions are kept to a minimum. In fact, the more room
2. Reduce the amount of energy in the high frequencies interactions are suppressed by picking the ideal listening
using EQ position and implementing room treatment in the correct
places, the more resources the room-correction solution will
Yamaha - and in fact Pioneer - chose to implement this feature have to correct residual time-alignment issues.
in their respective room correction algorithms. This is why
Yamaha’s PEQ is often misunderstood. In the high Therefore, it is ultimately worth putting in the effort before
frequencies, small corrections in narrow bands can actually be running room correction. You know the saying: “Shit in, shit
ineffective and can cause artefacts. out.” Well, it also applies here. In the next two chapters, we
will look at how to minimise room interactions and turn that
Broad-range changes to energy of a larger spectrum of “shit” into silver - then that silver into gold using room
frequencies is more effective and causes less issues from seat correction.
to seat: it xes the timbre shift while making sure every seat is
a good seat.

However, the most ideal solution is to use room treatment,

which we will tackle later on in this guide.
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 Receiver Setup - Manual Calibration

Speaker Wiring / Phase 4. A known issue with how this particular speaker behaves
that should be detailed in the speaker manual, online
support articles from the vendor or on forums.
When manually setting up a receiver, it is critical to check the
polarity of each speaker: it must be negative to negative and Since these advanced issues are very dif cult to detect and
positive to positive wiring (black to black, red to red). measure for, it is always advised to run a receiver’s auto-setup
routine, and then tweak from there.
If the wiring is correct then there is normally no issue, you can
dismiss the warning and continue the setup.

However, in some special circumstances, there could be other

issues which advanced users might want to look into:
1. Very strong room re ections off the walls or ceiling due to
speaker dispersion characteristics. Try and introduce more
room treatment at the rst re ection points and re-run
setup. Alternatively, you can try to change speaker angles
slightly to see if that makes a difference. (Mind speaker
positioning guide advice!)
2. Dolby Atmos up- ring speakers can have this issue even
after having con gured them correctly. Try a slightly
different angle or position for the speakers. Additionally
see if you can introduce room treatment to reduce or
eliminate unwanted re ections other than from the
“bounce point” on the ceiling.
3. There is a manufacturing issue with the speakers - either
with connection within the speaker terminals or the
crossover network.

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Speaker Distance / Delay Speaker Levels
The distance or delay measurements for the main speakers In a commercial cinema, speakers are calibrated to run at
are equivalent to distance to the primary listening position and 85dB using pink noise.
can be tweaked by hand if necessary.
In the home, receivers emit pink noise at 75dB HOWEVER,
There can be some slight delay introduced here based on the full that 75dB corresponds to 85dB internally within the receiver
path the sound travels in very special circumstances such as as an offset is applied to bring it back to 85dB. This is strictly
routing certain channels through another A/D to D/A conversion for true of all THX-certi ed receivers and those that include
the purpose of matrixing or further DSP effects. I know very few
Audyssey. Other manufacturers may or may not adhere to this
people do this, but it’s worth mentioning as there are some who
matrix additional surround or Atmos channels using multiple rule. What this means is that when the emitted pink noise is
receivers. calibrated to 75dB sound pressure for each speaker, the
volume control at 0 will play back at reference level (85dB).
However, the subwoofer delay or distance is NOT the true
distance to the subwoofer and should not be manually So how do we calibrate the speakers to 75dB? Well,
tweaked in most instances for the following reasons: unfortunately there are only two ways this can be
1. The subwoofer interactions with the room mean that all accomplished:
frequencies need to be aligned by delaying groups of 1. With the auto-setup routine with the microphone that
frequencies which can be quite substantial for low came with your receiver
frequency sounds. The DSP and room correction will 2. With a sound-pressure / sound level / decibel meter
delay the signal within the DSP itself and put a value in the
delay measurement calculated mathematically for this time Unfortunately, using REW is NOT a reliable method even IF you have a
calibrated microphone due to the many variables that the laptop /
alignment for the rst frequency that will be played. operating system / hardware and software that interferes with the
2. There usually is another A/D to D/A conversation accurate setup for REW to measure levels correctly.
happening within some of the subwoofers, especially ones
with “digital amps” or DSPs built in. When using a sound pressure meter, it needs to be set to C
3. The phase value has an effect on the signal path and the
weighting and slow response. You should measure from the
resulting delay required.
primary listening position at ear height, place it on a tripod or
microphone stand and don’t put it next to re ective or abortive
surfaces.
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Speaker Crossovers ROOM INTERACTIONS
Even though speakers may be able to play back full-band or
Speaker crossover is the frequency where the speaker will down to 60Hz for example, the room might interfere in a way
hand over duties to the subwoofer and vice versa. Dependent that there is a much earlier drop-off due to wave interactions
on the make and model of your receiver or amp, it can be set within the room. These interactions will manifest differently
to full band (no crossover) or anywhere between 40Hz and dependent on listening positions so even moving the speaker
250Hz. or listening position slightly might end up giving us different
results. This is why it is critical to measure the response as
There are two issues that need to be considered when setting opposed to relying on speaker speci cations.
crossovers.
1. The capabilities of the speaker Frequencies below 80Hz are incredibly dif cult to control in
2. The performance characteristics of the room at the rooms - but thankfully 80Hz is also the cut-off for the human
listening position ear to be able to localise sound in space. This is why THX
recommends in both cinema and home cinema setting to set
CAPABILITIES OF SPEAKER all speakers to 80Hz (or higher if the speakers aren’t capable
This is usually described in the manual of the speaker under to go that low) and letting the subwoofer handle the rest of the
specs and will tell you how the speaker performs when frequencies. This is because controlling sound waves below
measured near- eld with a +/- 3dB drop-off on either end. So 80Hz from 1-2 sources (such as 1-2 subwoofers) is much
for example, if the speaker is rated at 80Hz to 20Khz, then it much easier than from multiple speakers. This can results in a
can play those frequencies cleanly at the same volume +/- much smoother frequency response in the low end if
3dB margin of error at any point. subwoofer placement and appropriate equalisation is used.

Smaller speakers (such as satellites in smaller packages) will As a rule of thumb, if you used your receiver’s auto-setup
have a more limited frequency range at the bottom end and routine and if your receiver con gured your speakers with a
larger speakers are usually able to play back to a lower high crossover, you should not lower it (e.g. from 100Hz to
frequency at the bottom end. 80hz), you can however up the crossover frequency (e.g. from
60hz to 80hz).
This would be pretty easy then if we did’t have room
interactions to take into consideration. Let’s have a look at The reason you should not lower crossover frequencies is
those next. because the setup routine determined that anything lower than

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the crossover frequency doesn’t reach the seating positions
without major dips (+/-3dB) in frequency response. If you
lower the crossover, you may still get an uneven response or
may not hear certain frequencies at all as now the subwoofer
is not playing them back either.

However, sometimes speaker and room interactions mean

that the speakers’ full capability cannot be realised in the
listening positions.

If your crossover is too high for your speakers, there could be

a few issues worth looking into
1. Listening position
2. Measurement position
3. Lack of room treatment
4. Incorrect speaker positioning / aiming. Some speakers are
very sensitive to how they are positioned and that they are
aimed or not at the listening position.

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 that arrive after the direct sound by looking at how the
Equalisers frequency bands arrive at the listening position in the time
domain. They average these patterns across multiple
measured locations to understand the problems caused by
Equaliser Types re ections.

There are two types of equalisers: one that only work in the The lters in a way try and invert those issues by altering the
frequency domain and ones that work in both the frequency impulse response of the signal chain and thereby reducing
and time-domain. The frequency based methods are as time-domain issues.
follows:
1. PEQ Since these lters also operate in the frequency domain just
2. GEQ like PEQ / GEQ / etc, they can also be used to resolve
3. Shelving EQ frequency-based issues as well.
4. Dynamic EQ (not used in HT)
Some solutions - like Yamaha’s YPAO R.S.C. - use a mixture
Time-based / Convolution / Impulse Response based of FIR/IIR lters to correct for time-domain issues such as
methods are as follows: re ections and some element of room modes under around
1. IIR (In nite Impulse Response) lters 250Hz while use PEQ for frequency-based issues from the
2. FIR (Finite Impulse Response) lters midrange up.

Filtering in the time domain is done by a convolution operation. Audyssey uses FIR lters exclusively while Dirac Live uses
There are two commonly-used time-domain convolution lters mixed-phase ltering (FIR and IIR lters). You can load both
that are applied to digital audio. They are FIR lters ( nite FIR and IIR lters into some of the MiniDSP units.
impulse response) and IIR lters (in nite impulse response).
With regards to editability in receivers, FIR and IIR lters are
Modern room-correction solutions such as Audyssey, Dirac not manually editable with regards to time-domain issues,
and YPAO R.S.C. either use purely FIR ltering or a mixture of however they are sometimes editable from a frequency
these two lter types (mixed phase ltering) to correct time- domain perspective. For example, Audyssey has a mobile app
domain issues. where the frequency curve can be edited after which
Audyssey recalculates the lters. On Yamaha Receivers, the
These solutions rst divide up the frequency spectrum into FIR/IIR lters aren’t editable, but the overlaid PEQ lters are.
bands and then measure the effects of rst-order re ections
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Parametric Equalisers (PEQ) Additionally, some parametric equalisers will also allow for the
Parametric equalizers are the most versatile type of EQ following settings:
because of their con gurability. You can control the center
frequency, level, and Filter Slope: Sets the steepness of the lter when selecting
bandwidth of each frequency either the low cut or high cut lter.
band with very high Filter Type: Allows you to choose the lter shape for the
precision. selected frequency band (see Appendix A).
Parametric equalizers excel
at making changes with Parametric EQ allows a single lter to be very narrow or quite
pinpoint accuracy. While they wide, and it is therefore very useful for correcting frequency
can be digital or analogue, in response errors or reducing peaks caused by room modes.
home cinema we use digital PEQ.
Parametric lters can also take the shape of a "shelving" lter,
In a parametric equalizer, each lter cuts or boosts a range of which boost or cuts frequencies above or below the lter
frequencies. Each lter has three main controls: frequency.

Frequency: Adjusts the center frequency for the particular Yamaha uses a limited PEQ, meaning the frequencies are pre-
PEQ lter. It can also set the frequency cutoff point for high selected and only the Q and Gain are con gurable for each
and low cut lters. pre-set frequency.

Resonance or Q (Quality Factor): Adjusts the bandwidth of Many of the miniDSP plugins support parametric EQ on each
how wide or narrow to boost or cut frequencies. Higher Q input channel.
values affect a narrower range of frequencies and lower Q
values affect a wider range of frequencies.

Gain: Sets the amount of gain (boost or cut) for the selected
band of frequencies. It adjusts how much to cut or boost the
centre frequency. This parameter is often deactivated when
selecting the low cut or high cut lter shapes.
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 Graphic Equalisers (GEQ) Internal EQ Modules
A graphic equalizer has a number of lters spread evenly Audyssey receivers usually have a manual EQ mode that uses
across the audio bandwidth. Each lter is the same shape (or GEQ. However, please note that manual EQ on an Audyssey
Q), and has just one control: the amount of boost or cut. The receiver turns off Audyssey lters altogether. I don’t
lters overlap, so the combined response forms the shape recommend this unless in extreme circumstances where no
given by the positions of the sliders. other option is providing acceptable sound.

Graphic EQ can be implemented with analog circuits or with Low-range Yamaha Receivers use GEQ.
digital signal processing.
Mid-range Yamaha Receivers use YPAO which uses PEQ and
In the miniDSP lineup, graphic EQ is a 31-band equalizer with it is con gurable by copying one of the curves into the manual
up to 12 dB of boost or cut in each band. slot or by setting it up from scratch.

Yamaha Receivers with YPAO R.S.C. have a layer of FIR/IIR

lters and then apply PEQ on top of those. You are able to
copy all lters to the manual slot. While the FIR / IIR lters are
NOT editable, they are retained for the manual slot which then
allows you to edit the PEQ for all channels. This is especially
useful for tuning the subwoofer(s) as YPAO is not particularly
good with them.

Receivers from other manufacturers will have some form of

manual equaliser as well: whether GEQ or PEQ. It’s important
to refer to the manual to understand if time-based FIR / IIR are
used and whether they are retained when working in manual
mode.

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External EQ Modules External EQ and Room Correction
External EQ modules exist in a few forms: External EQ modules can be slotted into two places:
1. In Subwoofers with built-in DSPs 1. Between source and receiver (this is quite rare but
2. In external EQ units for both subs and main speakers MiniDSP did make a module like this using HDMI input
such as the ones from MiniDSP. and output)
3. When using a Home Cinema PC, there are applications 2. Between the receiver and an external amp (this is more
such as Dirac Live that can process the signal before common)
pumping it out of the PC.
4. On the PC, many audio and video mastering applications In the rst instance, Room Correction in the receiver would
can take plug-ins that can do convolution or frequency need to be run rst, and then the external EQ module.
based correction for the mastering environment.
In the second instance, the external EQ module needs to be
In terms of the hardware modules, there are various that can run rst and then Room Correction as it will take the pre-
be slotted into the signal chain. You need to refer to their equalisation into account further down the chain. If you swap
manual as some of these modules over the years could be the order, measurements will be out.
inserted into the digital chain (through HDMI) while others
using analogue connections. However, since they all work in The only exception to this is if you are not getting the correct
the digital domain, analogue modules have to perform a cycle response from the automatic technologies and you want to
of A/D - D/A conversion to be able to apply EQ. While the overlay a layer of PEQ. That can be done even after, as long as
sound quality degradation might be minimal with only one you are using external sound generation and feeding it through
cycle of A/D-D/A, it is still worth keeping this in mind. the whole chain (from source to ampli cation) like we do with
REW. In such an instance, it doesn’t matter where the PEQ is
Also, if the module can only take an analogue signal, it is best slotted in: receiver, external module anywhere in the chain.
to insert them between a receiver / pre-amp and a power
ampli er. Pre-pros such as the Yamaha CX line that split the
pre-amp from the amp section are perfect for such purpose.

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Introduction to REW
Installation & Setup How to Choose a Microphone
FOR PRACTICE
Equipment You Will Need The microphone that came with your receiver and a cheap
USB sound-card with microphone line input if your laptop /
You will need the following equipment for using REW: computer doesn’t have one. While this won’t be super
1. A laptop or computer you can put in your listening space accurate especially in the low end or the high end, it is suitable
2. A measurement microphone (including a USB cable for a to learn and follow this guide.
USB mic)
3. A sound card if you are not using a USB Mic (this can be FOR SERIOUS MEASUREMENTS
built in or external) A USB microphone that comes with a calibration le. Such a
4. A microphone stand / tripod mic can be used for low frequency or full range
5. Cable that you will use to connect your laptop to your measurements. If the cal le also has sensitivity data in a
receiver format REW recognises, it can also act as a calibrated SPL
1. Preferably an HDMI cable. If your computer only has meter. The MiniDSP UMIK-1 is recommended and has
DisplayPort output, you can get a DisplayPort to HDMI calibration data in an REW-friendly format. See
cable www.minidsp.com for more.
2. Toslink (optical cable) is acceptable if you only want to
do subwoofer or two channel calibration / veri cation. There are other options on the REW site which you can refer
Some older computers to below:
3. Analogue jack to stereo RCA is again acceptable if you
only want sub or two channel calibration / veri cation. https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/
gettingstarted.html

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Installation on Windows After Installation Con guration
1. Download the latest stable version for your Operating If your microphone came with a calibration le, this needs to
System from https://www.roomeqwizard.com. be loaded into REW.
2. Install any drivers for your microphone if needed
3. Con gure the Sound settings:
1. Input con guration to the microphone
How to Con gure Your Receiver
2. Output to the output you connected to the receiver
When doing manual calibration, it is critical to have the
For further setup instructions, refer to the below: following features turned off:
1. Dynamic range compression / volume levelling (DRC)
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/
2. Loudness compensation (such as Dynamic EQ / YPAO
gettingstarted.html Volume / Etc)
3. Matrixing technologies (Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic,
Installation on Mac OS Dolby Pro Logic II (x/x), DTS Neo, etc
4. DSP overlays (Cinema / Music modes such as Yamaha’s
1. Download the latest stable version for your Operating DSPs)
System from https://www.roomeqwizard.com.
2. Install any drivers for your microphone if needed Generally speaking, it is best to have the channels received by
3. Con gure the Sound settings: the receiver mapped to the played channels directly (so 5.1 to
1. Input con guration to the microphone 5.1 - 7.1 to 7.1 etc). There are some exceptions to this which I
2. Output to the output you connected to the receiver can highlight as we go through this guide.
4. Install SoundFlower if you are using HDMI and want to
direct sound into individual channels in a 5.1 or 7.1
con guration.

For further setup instructions, refer to the below:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/rew-for-macos-how-to-
setup-your-mac-for-rew.3075106/

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 Basics of REW

User Interface Introduction 4. If your microphone has a calibration le, load it on the
second tab. If it has a 90 degree cal le, choose that one.
Open REW. There are three important areas of the user Leave everything else at default for now.
interface we need to get
familiar with.
1. The Toolbar
2. The Preferences
window
3. The Measurement
window

The rightmost button on the toolbar opens the

Preferences, which looks like the below when using
REW on a Mac with Sound ower installed.

Refer to the REW user guide for detailed explanations of

the different con guration options. For now, I would like
to bring your attention to the following:

1. Use a 48Khz sampling rate

2. Ensure that the interface that is used to play back
the sound to your receiver is selected. You can
either select it at the main control panel in
Windows / Mac and select “default” here or select it
speci cally in the preferences panel here.
3. Select your microphone as the input device

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Microphone Positioning Running Your First Sweep
Position the microphone at the main listening position rst. The Open the Measure window from the toolbar ( rst icon).
microphone should be at ear height and pointing up at 90
degrees, although you should refer to the user manual for your 1. Set frequency range from 10Hz to 20,000Hz (20Khz).
mic. 2. Set your output channel as required
3. Start Measuring
One way to work out the exact position of this location in 3D
space is to sit in this position just as you would be when You should hear the sweep coming from the correct
watching a movie. The microphone position should be exactly
speaker(s) you selected and REW recording the measurement.
in the middle of your head between your two ears. This is true
even if the centre of the listening position falls somewhere Once nished, REW will pop up the results window showing
between two seats or chairs: ear height in line with your seats. your results.

Ideally, the position is equal distance from the left and right
speakers.

Remember the following when positioning the microphone:

1. Use either a camera tripod (great option) or a boom
microphone stand (excellent option) for the microphone
when doing the calibration / measurements.
2. A boom microphone stand is the best as it can be out of
the way while also allowing for precise positioning of the
microphone in 3D space. A camera tripod is less exible
but also a good option.
3. Make sure that the microphone has a “line of sight” view
to all the speakers you are measuring. The only exception
to this is the subwoofer.
4. Use a soft blanket on the head rest of the couch or chair
to minimise the sound re ection off the back of the sofa.
Alternatively, recline the chairs / sofa if they can recline.
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 Using Charts

Introduction
As you start out, there are three main charts I recommend for
you to learn:
1. Frequency Response Chart
2. Waterfall Chart
3. Spectrogram

While you can look into the others, it is important that you
learn these rst.

The Frequency Response chart has two axis:

1. Amplitude from bottom to top (y axis)
2. Frequency from left to right (x axis)

The Waterfall and Spectrogram introduce a third axis: time, but

display this axis differently, which I will talk about under the
individual sections.

The rest of the graphs will be useful as you graduate from the
basics, but they won’t be covered in this guide. You will be
able to cover them using the REW documentation available at
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/

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Reading Frequency Response SMOOTHING
Once your rst measurement concludes, it will open on the All We will also need to apply some kind of smoothing to the
SPL and Phase tab. Switch to the All SPL tab to see the graph. To do this, go to the Controls Icon and click it. It will
results of the sweep. have an “Apply for All Measurement” option where you can
select smoothing for all measurements. This option is also
accessible from the Graph menu in the toolbar (at least on a
Mac).

My recommendation is to use either 1/6 smoothing, 1/12

smoothing or variable smoothing when doing equalisation or
The frequency response is not the easiest to view in its default veri cation of results.
form. We will need to do two things:
1. Set the frequency and sound pressure limits using the Anything more accurate (less smooth) and you will be chasing
Limits icon. after issues that are dif cult to control and are not going to be
2. Set some kind of smoothing on the frequency response heard anyway. Anything less accurate (more smoothed) and
so it is easier to see what is going on. you won’t be xing the issues you need to when doing manual
calibration work.
LIMITS
Click on the limits icon and see if you are happy with the Psycho-acousitc smoothing will allow you to gauge how
defaults. If any of the graph falls outside of view, it may be best sensitive your ears will be to the different issues, if you’re
to change the defaults, especially for dB top and dB Bottom interested. It should not be used for calibration work however.
settings.

Frequency should be between 10Hz and 20,000 Hz for full

measurements and 20Hz to 300Hz for subwoofers.
HOWEVER, I prefer to see the full spectrum even as I am
con guring subwoofers unless I
need more resolution to hone
in on particular issues.

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 Reading the Waterfall Chart Reading the Spectrogram
Click on the Waterfall tab. A spectrogram chart is like a waterfall chart but viewed from
above. It allows you to see where in the frequency domain you
have a higher energy that takes longer to ring out due to room
modes or reverberation.

The frequency domain is shown left to right. The colour of the

Waterfall charts need to be generated before they are
displayed. There’s a Generate button in the bottom left corner chart shows you the amplitude, and the time-domain is shown
of the graph. from bottom (0) toward the top as time elapses.

While a Frequency chart shows you two axis: frequency and It allows you to pinpoint issues in both frequency / amplitude
amplitude, a waterfall-chart brings in a time element as the and time-domain accurately, especially if the waterfall chart is
dif cult to read.
third axis.
You can read more about this chart and how to con gure it in
A waterfall graph shows you the decay or ring-out time of the REW documentation below:
each frequency as a wave coming towards you. It is especially
useful for room modes in the modal region (under around https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/
300Hz) when calibrating subwoofers for example. graph_spectrogram.html#top

You can read more about this chart and how to con gure it in
the REW documentation below:

https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/
graph_waterfall.html

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Introduction to Calibration
Basics of Calibrating RULE 3: It is generally ok to CUT amplitude without thinking
about it twice.

Core Principles RULE 4: You cannot x a NULL or suck-out by BOOSTING,

especially in the modal region by simple PEQ or GEQ. Nulls
The core idea behind calibration can be summarised using the can sometimes be xed using time-based correction, mixed
below process: phase ltering or multiple sound-sources (e.g. multiple
1. Measure the room response (e.g. for the subwoofer) subwoofers). Since we won’t be doing those advanced
2. Calculate the EQ lters automatically or manually in REW techniques, best to learn that the more energy you put into a
3. Input the lters into your choice of EQ NULL, the more it is going to ght you back! This is why it is
4. Re-measure the altered frequency response generally NOT advised to boost a narrow band of frequencies
5. Repeat until you get satisfactory results in the modal region. It is unlikely to yield acceptable results.

Of course, the gold is always in the detail so let’s establish

some general principles to help us along. While they are not
ALWAYS true, they true in most circumstances and therefore
should be able to guide us when doing EQ.

RULE 1: Anything in the modal region - that is under about

200Hz - can be targeted precisely using EQ. The lower the
frequency, the more precisely we can target the resonant
frequency.

RULE 2: Anything above the modal region should have broad

corrections as opposed to targeting of individual or a narrow
band of frequencies. The higher we go, the broader the
correction should be.

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Calibrating Subwoofers Calibrating Main Speakers
Calibrating subwoofers is relatively easy and beginners should There is an entirely different challenge when calibrating main
start here. speakers. As soon as you go above the Schroeder frequency
(around 100-200Hz dependent on room), the targeting of
As mentioned earlier, speci c frequencies that ring out longer speci c frequencies becomes more and more dif cult. This
or at a higher amplitude can be targeted quite successfully. problem increases as you start going up the frequency range.
These frequencies are called Room Modes if they are naturally The higher you go, the broader the corrections may need to
occurring due to room dimensions. be.

Unfortunately, NULLs cannot be easily xed but they are also This is because there is even more variation from 3D space to
unlikely to be heard with most material. There are ways to x 3D space in the high frequencies. This is why we smooth the
them if you have two or more subwoofers or you are willing to frequency sweep and average the different bands to
move your subwoofer or listening position. understand overall energy in those bands as opposed to
individual frequencies.
Please note that subwoofer response varies greatly in the
room, dependent on the location measured. Even a few There is another issue we face when calibrating main
inches or cms can make a difference if you are around a speakers, which is even more problematic: the issue of
transition area. This is why it is a good idea to nd the ideal imaging between a pair of speakers. When imaging is
placement for your subs in the room which will allow you to accurate, the sound almost seems to oat between the two
get a similar response across all listening positions. This can speakers as opposed to coming from them. This is kind of
be done using REW, and then you adjust from there if needed. critical when playing back multi-channel soundtracks that reply
on correct steering between speakers to create a 3D space
Sub-response can be quite different when close to a wall where you can place sounds with pin-point accuracy. I am
versus being away from a wall. This is due to something called sure we have all heard systems where the sound almost oats
boundary gain. This can make it dif cult to get an even and the walls disappear versus systems where you can clearly
response across all seats, especially with one subwoofer. You identify where the speakers are. There is a sense of
may need to prioritise seats - either the ones near walls or the discontinuation as the sound moves from speaker from
ones away from walls. speaker.

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This issue is complex and can have different root causes. The Another approach is to use the same EQ lters on both
symptom however is that frequency bands arrive at the channel pairs, especially above 350Hz.
listeners’ ears at incorrect times creating a compromised
impulse response. If this happens between speakers at Please note that phase issues can be caused by the room as
different frequency bands (as in not uniformly) then the stereo well, so ultimately having at least the rst order re ections in a
imaging between the speakers is broken and your brain will room treated goes a long way to getting great imaging. If you
pick this up. are starting off with just OK imaging without EQ, you may well
make this worse.
The issue with EQ is that it can mess with the phase of the
frequency band you are affecting and cause some delay. Having auto-equalisation such as Audyssey, YPAO and Dirac
Therefore if EQ is not applied by taking this frequency / phase Live is really the best when it comes to main speakers as they
relationship into account, it can affect imaging. ensure that both frequency-based and phase issues are taken
into consideration and adequately corrected. This normally
This is an issue auto-equalisation technologies take into results in smooth frequency response and great imaging -
consideration and will either correct the phase issues using dependent on your microphone placement as explained in the
time-domain correction or will leave certain adjustments alone relevant Room Correction guides.
if they have the potential of hurting imaging.
In addition, Pioneer MCACC Pro allows you to select whether
So what can you do about this issue? Well, one approach is to you want to prioritise imaging (correct left and right speakers
measure both left and right speakers (e.g. Front L / R together, together called SYMMETRY) or absolute frequency response
Surround L / R together, etc) and adjust them in a similar way. (correct all speakers independently called ALL CH ADJUST).
If your room is symmetrical, then it is normally not an issue.

This is certainly more critical for Front and Surround speaker

pairs. Back surrounds and height speakers may not be
affected by this as much as there might not be as strong
steering happening between them.

Applying broad EQ corrections (a low Q number with PEQ) is

usually best when it comes to retaining imaging.

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 Subwoofer Example Reading Results
STEP 1. ESTABLISH TARGET AMPLITUDE
Running Sweep To read results, rst turn the smoothing to 1/2 for the
measurement. This will allow you to nd the “centre line” that
It is preferable to run a full sweep even when calibrating you need to be aiming for which will be your target amplitude.
subwoofers as it shows the relationship between all the The target amplitude needs to be going across the middle of
frequency bands as well as the crossover region well. the measurement between 300 and 8000 Hz. (Refer to Figure
However, if you are only interested in the subwoofer, set the 1 - it is at 40.5dB for this measurement)
upper limit to 200Hz to ensure all crossover points would be
captured. STEP 2. DIAGNOSE ISSUES
Next, we will turn smoothing to 1/12th so we can see the
When running a sweep, it is a good idea to run two sweeps: subwoofer channel more clearly. It is also helpful to click in the
1. One where the crossover is at your chosen frequency the graph display area to display the “guides”. Click so that the
(recommendation is 80Hz or higher) guides end up on your target aptitude and on the LFE channel
2. One where the crossover for the channel is set at 120Hz - cut-off (120Hz). (See gure 2). Let’s see what issues we can
alternatively run a sweep over the LFE channel only see in our example:

The reason the 120Hz sweep is needed is because LFE • Issue 1: Anything below 55hz is massively boosted!
channel in multi-channel soundtracks has information upto • Issue 2: At around 40Hz, we have a huge bump. This looks
120Hz EVEN IF you set your crossovers for your main like the resonant frequency which we can target if we have
channels at a lower frequency. LFE information is never routed PEQ and can con gure the Q correctly. It could actually help
to anything other than a subwoofer. us bring the boost down below 55Hz.
• Issue 3: There are two dips: at 61.4Hz and at 74.8Hz. We
can’t use EQ to correct dips in this region in any meaningful
way if you remember our rules. However, These dips will be
inaudible anyway. You can switch to Psycho-acoustic
smoothing in REW if you want to be sure of this. (Figure 3).

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 Figure 1
1/2 smoothing

Figure 2
1/12 Smoothing

Figure 3
Psychoacoustic smoothing

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 3. I have two options to target this frequency:
Creating Filters 1. Using one broader lter as follows: [Control: Manual;
Type: PK; Frequency: 40.5; Gain -12; Q:5] - See results
Let’s “design” our corrections next. Before we do that, though, on gure 6.
we have to set up the EQ module of REW as follows: 2. Using two lters: one narrow one [Control: Manual;
1. Make sure you switch back to 1/12 smoothing and then Type: PK; Frequency: 40.5; Gain -6; Q:10] and one
click on the EQ button. broad one [Control: Manual; Type: PK; Frequency:
2. On the right-hand side, expand the Equaliser panel and 40.5; Gain -6; Q:2] - see results on gure 7.
select Generic EQ
3. On the Target Settings —> Speaker Type setting select The reason I am showing you the option of using two lters is
None and select 0 for the two sloping settings (rise slope, that some EQs won’t be able to cut or boost more than a
fall slope) particular dB (such as +/-6dB), however you can stack lters
4. On the Target Settings tab, there is a link at the very to achieve more of a boost or cut. If this is not available, I
bottom called Set Target Level. You can click this button would have to lower the subwoofer volume and re-measure to
to set the target amplitude / target level more accurately. achieve an appropriate sub level - for example.
As you can see, mine defaulted to 41.2 which is more
accurate than my initially guessed 40.5. 4. What we are left with is still a large boost under about
5. On the main graph on the left, untick all settings except for 55Hz. We also have two options to tackle this:
your speaker measurement, the target and predicted lines. 1. Cut everything with a broad lter at 35Hz [Frequency:
You can also click the cog above the graph to display the 35Hz; Gain -6; Q:1] ( gure 8). This however makes the
smoothing controls. Once done, it should look like Figure dips worse. Remember the we can’t cure those dips by
4 below. targeting them with a high Q precise lter like we can
with humps, however, we can use a broad / low Q lter
Alright, we are ready to create lters. to bring the levels up [Frequency: 63; Gain 5; Q:3]
1. Let’s tackle issue 2 rst, which was the bump at around ( gure 9)
40Hz. To identify this more precisely, let’s disable 2. Cut with two less broad lters spaced out as follows:
smoothing altogether and try and centre our cursor on the [Frequency: 25; Gain -6; Q:2.5] and [Frequency: 40;
centre of that hump and click into it. It should allow us the Gain -5; Q:3] (see gure 10)
read the frequency on the X axis of the graph. (see Figure 5. To tackle the dip still remaining between 60 and 80Hz, I
5). It looks like the centre of that frequency is 40.5Hz. can use a broad correction lter like before. [Frequency:
2. Next let’s open the EQ Filters panel using the button 63; Gain 5; Q:4]. See full results on gures 11,12 and 13.
above the graph and try to target this frequency.
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 Figure 4
EQ Graph setup

Figure 5
Finding modal frequency

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 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10
1 EQ lter 2 EQ lters 35Hz Cut 63Hz boost Cuts at 25Hz and 40Hz
1/12 smoothing 1/12 smoothing Psychoacoustic smoothing Psychoacoustic smoothing Psychoacoustic smoothing

Figure 11
Final corrections
Figure 12 Figure 13
Final corrections Final corrections
Psychoacoustic smoothing 1/12 smoothing

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 A Note on Filter Design with Remember, graphs don’t tell the whole story because hearing
is both a physical and psychological phenomena therefore
Limited PEQs always listen to the end results to ensure QUALITY sound
which the graphs won’t always reveal.
Limited PEQs (such as the ones on Yamaha receivers) will only
allow you to select speci c frequencies, Qs and limit the max Inputting Filters into EQ &
boost or cut.
Checking Results
When designing lters for such systems, a trial and error
approach need to be followed. Unfortunately, if you cannot My preferred approach to inputting lters into the EQ module
target modal frequencies precisely, you will achieve less than is to input them one by one and then check the result of that
ideal results. However, even if you can target the frequency correction by measuring it. The reason for this is that REW’s
approximately, a measurable and subjective improvement can predicted response is only that: it is a prediction.
be achieved.
REW will be pretty good at predicting cuts to frequencies.
When inputting lters, ensure that the nearest selectable Boosts however, especially with narrow lters (high Q) will be
frequency is used when designing the target curve in REW much more dif cult to predict because of room interactions.
and it corresponds to the frequency selectable within the EQ
module of your hardware. If there are a lot of lters, one approach could be to input all
the cut lters in rst. Check results, and then put the boost
However, with limited PEQs, the recommendation is still to use lters in one by one. If a boost lter is not doing its job, there
REW to nd ideal subwoofer placement rst, and then correct are two options:
minor issues with EQ as opposed to the other way around. 1. Change the lter to see if response can be improved.
However, be mindful that as you increase the boost and
Also, lots of higher-end subwoofers do have con gurable EQ put more energy into that dip, the more the room will kick
built in. In such a case, it may be worth looking at using a back which could create resonances and sound quality
combination of the PEQs within the signal chain (such as in the issues not shown on the graph.
subwoofer as well as the receiver) to see if a better end result 2. Drop the lter altogether since it’s not going to be
can be achieved. effective.

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Ultimately, always switch between the unsmoothed, 1/12 2. Moving the subwoofer around to nd a more ideal spot
smoothed and psychoacoustical graphs to check the results. where the issues are shared between the seats
The psychoacoustical graph will let you know whether it’s even 3. Using multiple subwoofers and
worth bothering with the issue beyond what you have done 1. Testing ideal locations
already. 2. Testing changing the phase on one or the other by small
amounts until the dips and peaks are evened out
Multiple Listening Positions You may need to use a combination of these to nd the ideal
for all listening positions.
Of course when calibrating, the best is to take multiple
listening positions into account, not only one.

To do this, you need to measure all listening positions. Some

issues might appear in all groups, and these will be easy to
calibrate for. However, some issues won’t be shared and
therefore while trying to improve one seat, you will make
another worse. This is why it is important to know which seats
you want to prioritise. One way to do this is to group the
similar seats into groups and calibrate for that group while
ensuring you don’t completely destroy the sound in others.

However, if all seats are important to have great bass, you

have a few options:
1. Move all seats AWAY from walls
2. Place all seats along walls with similar response

By doing the above, you are most likely to make the seats
similar at least. Alternatively, or in combination of the above,
you may also need to consider the following:
1. Treating the room with bass traps

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 Multiple Positions - Example 1 Multiple Positions - Example 2
Consider the following chart (in gure 14). The 3 measurement So now let’s consider that I have improved my subwoofer
positions are actually pretty similar, apart from the suck-out positioning and with that, I have the three seats looking a lot
happening at 60Hz on one and at 70Hz on the other two. closer to each other ( gure 18).

What I could do is average these 3 responses: If you are unsure, switch to 1/3 smoothing to see similarities
1. Select all three measurements by ticking the checkboxes ( gure 19).
under the chart (which displays the selected
measurements) After I average these responses, the average looks a lot like
2. Press the “Average Responses” in the left bottom corner the individual measurements ( gure 20 in red). This is now a
much easier job to bring in line and improve all seats.
Now this average can be EQ’d against, we can then check
what the EQ does to the different curves. Once I go into the EQ module for the average response, I
1. Select the Average curve on the left-hand side (whichever design my lters ( gure 21) which results in a at response for
curve is selected on the left-hand panel is the one EQ the average curve ( gure 22).
panel will open.)
2. Open the EQ window using the EQ icon. Now let’s check how the individual responses would be
3. Set the target as we did before affected by these settings.

Now in my case ( gure 16), I could leave it like this since I am Position 1 (Figure 22): Much better than before and tracking
unlikely to be improving the massive dip at 70Hz and anyway it relatively close to the target. The dip at 62Hz won’t be audible.
is not very noticeable psycho-acoustically ( gure 17).
Position 2 (Figure 23): This is still a little hot, but considering
Alternatively, I could design some broad lters to even out the the other two seats would be compromised by lowering this, I
response even further (minus the dip), but I wouldn’t be would not do that. Whoever likes big LFE effects can sit here.
improving things substantially.
Position 3 (Figure 24): This tracks excellent. The small
variations won’t be heard.

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Example 1 Averaging Responses
When averaging the responses, you must make sure they are
either unsmoothed or smoothed to 1/12 at maximum. If you
want to be able to check different smoothness later, average
them unsmoothed and then turn on smoothing on the average.

Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17

3 Measurement Positions 3 Measurement Positions Average & Target Average & Target
1/12 smoothing 1/12 smoothing No smoothing Psychoacoustic smoothing
No smoothing on Average

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Example 2

Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 22

3 Measurement Positions 3 Measurement Positions 3 Measurement Positions EQ Filter:
1/12 smoothing and Average and Average Target, Before and After
1/3 smoothing 1/12 smoothing

Figure 21
EQ Filters

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Example 2 Cont…

Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24

Position 1 after EQ Position 2 after EQ Position 3 after EQ

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 Main Speaker Example Creating Filters
When creating lters for main speakers, a low Q should be
Running Sweep used (broad lters) especially when creating lters for left or
right speakers in a pair (e.g. front or surround L / R). Both
Let’s have a look at a main speaker example next. When cutting and boosting is ok, but best not to do major
running a sweep for main speakers, you should: corrections in either direction - less is more.

1. Run sweeps full-band (20hz to 20Khz) Imaging needs to be checked by ear after lters are applied,
2. If you want to be absolutely sure that you won’t affect as creating lters for main speakers is as much art as it is
imaging, you could run left and right speaker sweeps science.
together to see if your lter designs can be implemented
on both channels together. If imaging is an issue, it is best to try and use the same lters
3. Run sweeps on more than one listening position to for L / R speaker pairs if this is possible. It is normally best not
understand which issues are common across your seats. to correct for minor issues if it will result in imaging issues. The
If the seats are located far apart, you may want to only exception to this would be the centre speaker where
optimise for the sweet spot area. imaging wouldn’t be as problematic. Although we can argue
that imaging between C / L and C / R are also important in
Reading Results some multi-channel sound-tracks where there is a lot of
panning on the front soundstage.
When reading main-speaker results, I would advise using 1/6
smoothing on all measurements, picking the most similar ones The rst example uses 3 really broad lters to get the tracking
and then averaging the results. The correction can be done on closer to the target over 80Hz. This is the preferable approach
the averaged results instead of each individual measurement. to take.

The second example uses more precise targeted lters to get

the levels looking even closer aligned.

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 Figure 25
3 Measurement Positions
1/6 smoothing

Figure 26
3 Measurement Positions
and Average in red
1/6 smoothing

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 Inputting Filters into EQ &
Checking Results
For main speakers when using broad lters (as opposed to
narrow or high Q lters), the predictions in REW will be pretty
accurate.

For this reason, it is ok to input all the lters into he EQ,

measure the results and then adjust from there.

If a lter is not doing its job, there are two options:

1. Change the lter to see if response can be improved.
2. Drop the lter altogether since it’s not going to be
effective.

Ultimately, always switch between the unsmoothed, 1/6

smoothed and psychoacoustical graphs to check the results.
The psychoacoustical graph will let you know whether it’s even
worth bothering with the issue beyond what you have done
already.

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Option 1. Broad lters

Figure 27
Average
Pre-EQ

Figure 28
EQ Filters

Figure 29
Average
Post-EQ

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Option 2. More precise lters

Figure 30
Average
Pre-EQ

Figure 31
EQ Filters

Figure 32
Average
Post-EQ

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Afterword
Manual calibration using REW is a journey. You may not
succeed in achieving audio nirvana the rst time you try it.
Also, this is simply a tool in your toolbox. You should not rely
on it solely for achieving great sound. Room treatment,
speaker setup & positioning, listening position selection and
auto-EQ are just as important - if not more - in achieving great
sound.

I personally use REW to verify results, and do minor

adjustments to subwoofer calibration when the auto-EQ
routines are having trouble in nailing it.

However, even with 15+ years of experience in audio-visual

science, I still get it wrong and at times need to start over. It is
just the nature of the beast. So if you don’t succeed rst time,
try again!

There is no such thing as perfection. Trying to achieve it leads

to frustration and unhappiness. Take a step back and pat
yourself on the back for a work well done, no matter how
small the improvement.

And lastly, do not take things too seriously. Enjoy the process
of learning, the incremental improvement you achieve as you
get better and don’t forget to take a break to enjoy the fruits of
your labour. After all, you do all the hard work for your, your
friends’ and your family’s enjoyment.

Wishing you Great Sound and Enjoyable Listening!

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 APPENDIX A. Reference Information
HIGH SHELF FILTER
Filter Types High shelf lters don’t cut frequencies out completely like high
cut lters. Instead, they gradually reduce or boost treble
LOW CUT / HIGH PASS FILTER frequencies.
Removes all frequencies below a Use a shelf lter to boost or reduce high-end frequencies
speci ed frequency cutoff point / it without cutting them off completely.
passes all high frequencies above the
cutoff point. BELL CURVE FILTER
Used to remove unwanted low A bell curve attenuates or boosts frequencies around a
frequencies. speci ed centre frequency point. The bandwidth Q sets the
width of the bell curve. Bell curve lters are also known as
LOW SHELF FILTER peak lters.
Low shelf lters don’t cut frequencies out completely like low Moreover, bell curves are the most versatile lter. Use them to
cut lters. Instead, they gradually reduce or boost bass boost or reduce a range of frequencies with precision.
frequencies.
Use a shelf lter to boost or reduce low-end frequencies BAND PASS FILTER
without cutting them off completely. A band pass lter passes a range of frequencies around a
speci ed center frequency point. Low
HIGH CUT / LOW PASS FILTER and high frequencies outside the
Removes all frequencies above a range are attenuated.
speci ed frequency cutoff point / it Use a band pass lter to isolate a
passes all low frequencies below the range of frequencies. Multiband
cutoff point. equalizers use multiple band pass
Use a high cut lter to remove lters to divide the audio spectrum
unwanted high frequencies. into sections.

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NOTCH FILTER
A notch lter attenuates a range of
frequencies around a speci ed
center frequency point. Low and high
frequencies pass on either side of
the frequency range. Notch lters are
also known as band stop lters.
Use a notch lter to cut a range of
frequencies.

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