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measuring my SS - beginner

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1ManSoundsystem View Drop Down
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    Posted: 04 August 2022 at 4:01am
schiff ahoi

i got a 4way SS (4 hogs, 8 hd15, 4 mt122 with 2 ultradrives some crown and qsc-amps)
and would like to begin with measurements.
since im a cabinet builder and have no clue about measurements and the whatabouts, i hope to
find some beginners advice here.

since english is not my first language, it might sound a little weird cuz lack of technical terms haha.

i want to use my laptop to visualize the frequency-spectrum of my SS. when playing music, i always used my ears to adjust volume-levels of all 4 ways. took some time, not pretty accurate.
had fun anyway. against room-interference (crazy loud humming in one place in a room)
i was always helpless (poor dj had the exact spot of insane drone, weird coincidence, haha)

so, when completely setting up the SS, als crossovers running, all amps powered up,
music is playing, i want to see witch frequency/speaker is louder/quieter than the others so i can adjust manualy with the equalizer. for setting up delay i used basic calculations and the ultradrive.

so anyone of you pros might suggest some beginners tips for someone not sure about what hes doing. money is not an issue, i can buy a good mic and REW software f.e. but i dont know what to do with it :/   what would you recommend, what i should do as basic adjustments/setup for a freshly setup SS in a new location f.e. nothing too fancy just the basic measurements u find necessary.

advanced stuff i could work out for myself, but id be glad for beginners help. greetings


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Conanski View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Conanski Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 August 2022 at 4:54am
Originally posted by 1ManSoundsystem 1ManSoundsystem wrote:

what i should do as basic adjustments/setup for a freshly setup SS in a new location

Don't do that. The first thing you want to do is correct the response of the naked speaker systems free from the effects that indoor spaces bring. To do that find a location outside away from buildings.. the further the better but no less than 20m from any structure. Setup the rig as it is typically configured, if you do dual stacks you just need one, setup the mic 10m away and make yourself comfortable to a few hours of work. What you are striving for is relatively smooth(flat) amplitude and phase response across the whole spectrum... or all of it that your speakers can reproduce anyway. Actually a generally more pleasing response particularly at high SPLs is one that slopes down from lows to highs..



Start with the subs and kicks first(mute everything else) and work to get the best time and phase alignment for those through the crossover region, a dip in the amplitude response right at the crossover is likely a time/phase misalignment, hence the reason you work that first. Then do the same for the other crossover frequency. 
With that set as best as you can, move on to EQ correction. You can run each box separately and shape it or flatten any obvious peaks or valleys but don't get too carried away, work the biggest anomolies and leave the rest alone. Then unmute everything and sweep the whole system, the combined response should produce smooth transitions from one box to the next if you did everything right. A properly corrected system like this should sound crisp and very dynamic, drum sounds should go Bang you should not hear each speaker section separately... like a woo-da-tizz sound.

And with this done you will find you really don't need to do as much work inside venues, there you just have to fix problems like too much highend or an excessively boomy sound and that can be done with the eq on a mixer, you don't necessarilly have to go into the DSP again. You wont be changing crossover frequencies or time alignment if the same boxes are always stacked the same way. 


Edited by Conanski - 04 August 2022 at 4:58am
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1ManSoundsystem View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1ManSoundsystem Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 August 2022 at 12:06pm
awesome, thank you !

now i have to find out, what amplitude response and phase alignment is :D
no idea what that means, since im really just a cab-builder without any clue of that stuff.
but i will figure that out, thats a start where i can begin with.

another big deal will be setting up and run my SS outside, since i live in germany, worse, berlin, that open minded capital where everyone will call the popo on you, when u have a phone call too loud.
(can tell by ~17y doing open airs, with about 80% of them "limited" in runtime :/ )

but i will manage that too.

yesterday i ordered a measuring mic already,
i got recommended the minidsp umik-1, got it for 120 eur.

meanwhile, i will play around with that REW software. i will get back to this thread after i accomplished something.  greetings and thx again
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toastyghost View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote toastyghost Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 August 2022 at 12:56pm
Read the manual that comes with REW. Start to finish. I’m fairly sure there is even a translation available.
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1ManSoundsystem View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1ManSoundsystem Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 August 2022 at 8:19pm
ok, will do. hopefully i understand half of it.
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