# REW JPEG



## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Hello all.

I'm having a bit of a hard time with REW.

To this point, I have calibrated my sound card and SPL, then made a measurement of my sub from 0 - 200 hz.

I'm posting the measurement to see if this looks anything like what it should look like. 

I've read, re-read and re-read the REW help and believe that I have followed the instructions completely, but I still feel like I'm missing something. For example, shouldn't my SPL need to be used for taking measurements? 

When taking the measurement, my cables are hooked up the same way as the picture on the Equaliser Connections page, except I'm not using a BFD. Take out the BFD from the picture, and I have it setup exactly as the picture shows.

I did not, however, use that same connection while calibrating my sound card and SPL. I simply plugged one end of the RCA into the radio shack adapter and plugged that into my Line in on my sound card. The other end of the same RCA was plugged in to a separate radio shack adapter which was plugged in to the headphones jack on my sound card. This connection left one unused RCA input on each of the adapters.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Or...

How about this picture?


I changed how my cables are connected, which matches more closely to what's on the Connections (not EQ connections) page within help. The difference between that picture and my setup is that I have a cable from the line out (headphones) from the soundcard going directly to the sub and not the AVR.

This one looks a little more like what I expected. Do you think it looks more like an un-EQ'd sub would look like? This is for a PB12 Plus.

And how in the world is this software getting ANY measurements? Is it reading information from the SPL that I have hooked into the line-in on the soundcard? I thought I would need to enter measurements into this software, so if I don't, I'm very happy - but obviously a little confused.


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## Dr. Spankenstein (Aug 4, 2006)

You are correct in that the SPL meter is acting as your microphone to take the measurements. The response (in SPL) is shown in your second graph above.

It's a little hard to determine what's going on as the levels don't seem to be calibrated correctly as your target level in the both graphs is around 60dB when it should be 75dB. You have the option to calibrate your SPL meter by using the REW sub calibration pink noise. You should set your receiver volume at whatever it takes to make the SPL meter read approx 75dB. Having the volume set to this target dB helps keep the signal from going into the noise floor (the base ambient noise in your room). 

You're on your way, you just need to get some more parameters straight before you gather a meaningful graph.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Dr. Spankenstein said:


> You are correct in that the SPL meter is acting as your microphone to take the measurements. The response (in SPL) is shown in your second graph above.
> 
> It's a little hard to determine what's going on as the levels don't seem to be calibrated correctly as your target level in the both graphs is around 60dB when it should be 75dB. You have the option to calibrate your SPL meter by using the REW sub calibration pink noise. You should set your receiver volume at whatever it takes to make the SPL meter read approx 75dB. Having the volume set to this target dB helps keep the signal from going into the noise floor (the base ambient noise in your room).
> 
> You're on your way, you just need to get some more parameters straight before you gather a meaningful graph.


Hey, thanks for responding! 

Right now I just have the sound card line out cord connected directly to the input on the sub, and the sub's volume is turned all of the way up (range from -100 to 0, and it's on 0). 

I'll connect it directly to my AVR tonight and set the crossover for all other speakers to 200 (since I'm measuring only up to 200), turn up the AVR's volume until the SPL is 75 and then remeasure. 

I have already done the sound card and SPL calibrations. 

Thanks again for your help!


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## Dr. Spankenstein (Aug 4, 2006)

Yikes! 

First things first: Turn down the sensitivity (volume) on the sub. You don't want to blow it when the first signal comes through... Start somewhere below the halfway point.

Yes, please utilize the AVR when doing these measurements as it's the only way that you'll derive any meaningful results.

Don't set your AVR crossover to 200. You want to use the normal crossover setting you will be using during listening. You'll want to see if there are any issues in the frequency response in the crossover region as well, as these may interfere with the integration of your sub to your mains.

Just make sure the PC volume is set to max. Make sure that all processing is OFF in the AVR (no Audyssey or MCCAC. Use some manner of "direct" or "pure" mode and an analog input.

That should get you on track to take some valid measurements (when taken from your main listening position.) These will show potential issues (peaks or nulls) that can be addressed via a combination of subwoofer placement, room treatments and/or EQ.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Dr. Spankenstein said:


> Yikes!
> 
> First things first: Turn down the sensitivity (volume) on the sub. You don't want to blow it when the first signal comes through... Start somewhere below the halfway point.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your reply. I finally found some quiet time today to try your suggestion, but it didn't completely work.

Here are the things that I did:
1) Hooked up the cables as depicted on connections page (without an EQ) within REW help.
2) The cable output cable from the soundcard was put into the right channel on my AVR's AUX input
3) Lowered my sub's volume to 50%
4) Set my AVR's input to Pure Direct
5) Turned up the volume to -10 db
6) Performed a measurement 

At this point, my sub was not working at all - only the main speakers. Since I was trying to calibrate my sub and I couldn't figure out why my sub wasn't working with the main speakers, I changed my setup to go directly to the sub (again). I've asked some people on a different website if they know why I'm not getting sound through my sub during REW measurements when the connections are directly to my AVR (Yamaha RX-A3000). I'm waiting to hear back from them.

I'd like to know if I'm able to change the level on the measurement tab without having to first recalibrate using that level. I'm asking because all of my calibrations used a level of -12, but I kept getting a clipping error that said to turn down the volume or the level. I tried turning the volume down in small increments and remeasured and continued getting the same message. Once I turned my volume back to where I began and turned down the level, I didn't get the clipping message. So lowering the level resolved the problem, but I'm not sure if I needed to recalibrate using my new level to make everything in synch.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Sweetmeat said:


> Thanks for your reply. I finally found some quiet time today to try your suggestion, but it didn't completely work.
> 
> Here are the things that I did:
> 1) Hooked up the cables as depicted on connections page (without an EQ) within REW help.
> ...



OK, I've found out how to disable my EQ in order to get measurements with my front speakers and sub - however I don't believe things are correct. 

When I make my connections, I hear TONS of static coming from my front speakers and when I take the measurments I only hear the static and I'm not able to get the pressure level above 60db's - even when I turn my AVR's volume up to -10 (which is really loud). Is this normal?


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Bump


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

> Plug a CD player ( or iPod ) into your AVRs aux input to prove to all of us that you can actually get music into & then out of your AVR over to your speakers ( focussing on the ones you want to measure ) .

> Then unplug the CD player & replace it with your computer, but this time use some tunes as a source ( played through either iTunes or WMP ) to confirm the same ( as above ) .

> Then ( & only then ) we can talk about what REW is ( or isn't doing ) for you !

:sn:


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## diffserv (Dec 3, 2011)

test


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Ok, so my computer crashed and I had to buy a new one. I just reran all of the calibration steps on my new computer and here are my measurements. Please note that I'm still not able to get my SPL to 80 or more, because when I increase the volume or the level I keep getting clipping errors. Why do I keep getting that? Is there something wrong with my speakers, or have I not done something correctly in the REW setup?

When taking the 0-200 measurement, I had my L/R and sub ouput the signal, so all 3 are measured. I did not turn off the EQ in my AVR before I took those measurements. The crossover was set at 80.


:rofl:


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

We could tell a lot more about your sub response if you’d scale the graph for something like 45-105 dB vertical and 10-200 Hz horizontal. A huge 130 dB vertical scaling will make response as bad as the Grand Canyon look good!

Regards,
Wayne


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> We could tell a lot more about your sub response if you’d scale the graph for something like 45-105 dB vertical and 10-200 Hz horizontal. A huge 130 dB vertical scaling will make response as bad as the Grand Canyon look good!
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


You bet, I'll take a look tonight and find the way to do that. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Sweetmeat said:


> Please note that I'm still not able to get my SPL to 80 or more, because when I increase the volume or the level I keep getting clipping errors. Why do I keep getting that? Is there something wrong with my speakers, or have I not done something correctly in the REW setup?


Clipping is detected on the input, you need to reduce the input volume setting so that you do not get clipping any more. If you are using an RS SPL meter use the 80dB range when making your measurements and make sure the meter is not overloaded (needle pegged) during the measurement. If you change the RS meter range you will need to redo the SPL calibration to get correct trace levels.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

JohnM said:


> Clipping is detected on the input, you need to reduce the input volume setting so that you do not get clipping any more. If you are using an RS SPL meter use the 80dB range when making your measurements and make sure the meter is not overloaded (needle pegged) during the measurement. If you change the RS meter range you will need to redo the SPL calibration to get correct trace levels.


John, thanks for your response. I'd like to ask a few follow up questions.

"Clipping is detected on the input, you need to reduce the input volume setting so that you do not get clipping any more.". I'm assuming that you are saying to reduce the volume on my AVR to eliminate clipping. That's what I've done, but I don't know why I can't get 80db SPL before I start getting clipping errors. I'm using a RS digital SPL (they didn't have any analogues left).


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Sweetmeat said:


> I'm assuming that you are saying to reduce the volume on my AVR to eliminate clipping.


Nope, I'm saying reduce the input volume setting on your soundcard.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

JohnM said:


> Nope, I'm saying reduce the input volume setting on your soundcard.


Wow, I just noticed that the author of REW is helping me! I'm honored! Thank you!

Here's my new graph.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

I am getting so incredibly frustrated with working with this REW software.

For some reason, no matter what I try I can't get my SPL to be at 80db or above without getting a clipping error. In addition, once I finally get a measurement without a clipping message, when I remeasure again with the exact same settings I get different results and many times I'll get a clipping error. 

For example, earlier today I finally got a measurement without a clipping error. My settings were as follows:
1) All speakers set to off except for the front speakers
2) Measuring 0 - 30Khz
3) AVR volume set to 053
4) REW level set to -16
5) Headphones on computer set to 10
6) AVR EQ set to through (off)

The result finally showed the SPL around 80db's so I was extremely happy.

I wanted to compare that measurement to a measurement with the EQ on, so I executed the measurement using the same settings except for turning on the AVR's EQ. When I did that, I kept getting clipping errors. I adjusted the internal level (headphones) level decrementally by 1 all the way to 1 and continued to get clipping errors. I then reset the headphones level to 10, and tried decrementing the level setting on the "measurement" page 1 db at a time until I reached -40db and continued getting the clipping error. I then tried multiple variations of changing the headphones level, "measurement" page level and the AVR volume until I could find a setting that didn't give me a clipping error. This resulted in having the volume so low that I could barely hear it, and my SPL meter wasn't even displaying the level when it was set to 60 (it's lowest setting).

After all of that, I reset everything back to the settings listed above and reran the measurement and started getting clipping errors. Why was I able to use those settings before without getting clipping errors and now I'm using those same settings and getting clipping errors?

I have no idea if this will ever work for me and I don't know what to do next. I don't even know if I'm setting this stuff up correctly, or if my laptop has the correct type of sound card that's needed for use with this software and I have no idea on how to know if it is correct or not. My new sound card has 2 lines (headphones and microphone).

I'm connecting the cable going to the AVR to the headphones jack and I'm connecting the SPL to the microphone jack. These connections are being made with adapters and the use of the loop back cable.

Here's the graph using the settings I listed above.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Ok, so after my last post I decided to try it again and it seems like I'm getting some better results (at least better in that it's closer to what I expect).

I measured the following:
1) Front speakers only - no crossover (EQ on and off) 0-30Khz
2) Center speaker only - no crossover (EQ on and off) 0 - 20Khz (mistake, should have been 30Khz)
3) Rear speakers only - no crossover (EQ on and off) 0 - 20Khz (mistake, should have been 30Khz)
4) Sub only (EQ on and off) 0-200Hz
5) All speakers with sub (EQ on and off) 0-30Khz

Here are the measurements. One thing I noticed is that YPAO doesn't appear to be doing ANY EQ'ing on my sub. Very interesting.

Here are some additional settings I used:
*Measurement Front speakers Center Speaker Surround Speaker Sub*
Front speakers only Large None None None
Center speaker only Large and unplugged Large None None
Rear Speakers only Large and unplugged None Large None
Sub only Small and c/o at 200 None None Yes
All speakers Small and c/o at 60hz Small c/o at 80 hz Small c/o at 80hz Yes

SPL <-cable -> microphone jack 
Headphones jack <- Cable -> AVR 


Please provide any suggestions you have.

Thanks!


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

bump


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

For full range graphs, use 1/6 or 1/3-octave smoothing. That will eliminate the comb filtering and let you see the underlying trend in response. :T

Regards,
Wayne


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> For full range graphs, use 1/6 or 1/3-octave smoothing. That will eliminate the comb filtering and let you see the underlying trend in response. :T
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


Finally got around to changing my graphs to 1/6 octave smoothing, per your suggestion. Could you please take a look and let me know what you think? 

I'm going to provide you my setup so you can see if anything looks really far off, based on my graphs.
Fronts - B&W CM9's
Center - B&W CMC2
Rear - B&W CM5's
Sub - SVS PB12-Plus

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

The centre and rear measurements look pretty strange, how did you route the REW signal to them for measurement? Safest method would be to use the 5.1 or 7.1 analog inputs on the receiver, moving the REW test signal to the particular speaker being measured.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

JohnM said:


> The centre and rear measurements look pretty strange, how did you route the REW signal to them for measurement? Safest method would be to use the 5.1 or 7.1 analog inputs on the receiver, moving the REW test signal to the particular speaker being measured.


When measuring the center channel only:
1) Disconnected the front speakers
2) Set the AVR to no rear speakers
3) Set the AVR to no sub
4) Set the AVR to 7 Channel stereo
5) Run the test

When measuring the rear channels only:
1) Disconnected the front speakers
2) Set the AVR to no center channel
3) Set the AVR to no sub
4) Set the AVR to 7 Channel stereo
5) Run the test


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Don’t think I’d use the 7-channel stereo, there’s no guarantee the signal doesn’t have some kind of processing. You can measure the center channel by disconnecting the front speakers and switching the receiver to Dolby Pro Logic. The rear speakers, try it like John said, or you could temporarily connect them to the main L/R channels.

Don't know what's going on with your sub measurements. With and without EQ are virtually identical.

Regards,
Wayne


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Could one of you please help me understand what I'm doing wrong, or maybe tell me that my assumptions are wrong?

When I go into the preferences and check levels, it says to increase the AVR's volume to get to the preferred SPL level of 75dbs. I do that, and my AVR volume is at 13, the sweep level is -10, and my sound card is at 50.

The directions then indicate to lower the sound card level so so the input level is between -12 and -24, preferably -18. So I do that, and my settings end up being AVR volume 13, sweep level -10 and my sound card is now at 13 (so a decrease in 37%).

When I leave the preferences page and attempt to perform a measurement, with a sound card level of 13, the sound is so incredibly low that I can barely hear it. However, with a sound card level of 50 I get clipping errors. I'm pretty sure that I'm doing something wrong, but I don't know what it is. Should I be reducing the sound card level 37% in order to achieve -18 dbs or should I accept a measurement with clipping errors?

Once I have the answer to this question, I'll remeasure with using the multi-channel input's on the AVR and post the results. When I remeasure, I'm also planning to have the pure direct option on, so I'll only be able to post measurements without the EQ on since pure direct doesn't have EQ processing.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Hi SM,

Some Suggestions/Observations :

> Get rid of the loop-back cable setup which you mentioned you had in place ( back in post # 18 ) .
- It's a feature used for "timing" & you shouldn't bother with that . 
- Presently, having it in place represents another channel of possible signal overload ( clipping ) , so omit it .

> Have you ( religiously ) followed through with _*all of JohnMs *_advice ( from post #14 ) ?
- Is the RS meter always set to be in the correct range when you're measuring ?
- Are you sure you're never running that RS meter into clipping ( beyond its working range ) ?

> Re; the Radio Shack meter . Make sure it's running with a strong battery ( above 8.6Volts I'd say ). 
- Running any of these battery operated devices with anything less than good strong voltage, can give weird results .

> Also, limit your test sweeps to 5hz to 20,000hz ( maybe even 10K ) .
- The RS meter is only believable up to @ 3K ( btw ).


:sn:

PS ;
- Seems to me that you're almost there / it's just that you're still struggling with this overload ( clipping ) issue .
- The fact that you haven't posted any pics that show obvious "clipped" waveforms suggests to me that the clipping problem is more likely at the RS-Meter or coming from the Loopback chnl ( if still in place ) .


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

EarlK said:


> Hi SM,
> 
> Some Suggestions/Observations :
> 
> ...


Earl, yes, I've done all of the suggestions, however, each time I have to measure I end up getting different results, and therefore have to make changes to my previously used settings in order to not get clipping errors. All of the graphs I've posted were for measurements that didn't have clipping errors, but it takes quite a bit to find a new combination that doesn't give me clipping errors.

My SPL has always been set to 80, and I always do a 'Check Levels' in the preferences tab to set the SPL to 75 before I take any measurements. I don't know if I've ever ran my SPL into clipping range beyond it's working range. I'm assuming that if I did that, I would know it, otherwise I don't know how I would know the answer to that.

If I ever get a graph that's acceptable, I'm hoping I can use the settings used for those measurements for future measurements too.

All of my most recent graphs have been done without using the loop back connection, and I just replaced my battery today because I forgot to turn off my SPL the last time I used it (but it was new when I put it in the SPL and had only used it for a short time a few times). I don't think the battery was the issue in this case.

Thank you for your post and suggestions. I would appreciate it if you'd post again as I'm struggling with getting through this.

Chris


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Hi Chris,

Today sometime I'll see if I can recreate your clipping problem ( Problem is I only have an old analog RS meter here with a Behringer UCA222 soundcard to use as the mockup ) .

Frankly, at the moment I don't understand why you have such a limited window ( of measurement range ) from where you can get usable results .

Something I don't know about REW is it's sensitivity to detecting clipped waveforms that originate in other areas of the system ( like the AVRs input section ) . There are a few areas in a system where one can create clipping ( like overdriving the AVRs front-end input ) .

> I'd like to know if limiting the sweep range has any effect on the clipping message .

> Try sweeps of 20hz to 300hz, then 20hz to 1Khz, then 20hz to 5Khz, then 20hz to 10Khz, & thn 20hz to 20khz . 
> Just report back ( don't post pics ) if limiting the sweep range makes any difference . 

:sn:


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## jtalden (Mar 12, 2009)

Sweetmeat said:


> ....
> When I go into the preferences and check levels, it says to increase the AVR's volume to get to the preferred SPL level of 75dbs. I do that, and my AVR volume is at 13, the sweep level is -10, and my sound card is at 50.
> 
> The directions then indicate to lower the sound card level so so the input level is between -12 and -24, preferably -18. So I do that, and my settings end up being AVR volume 13, sweep level -10 and my sound card is now at 13 (so a decrease in 37%).
> ...


To me also, this sounds like you are not properly adjusting the the soundcard *input*. Again, see Post #14 and EarlK's recent emphasis. I suspect you have not found this control yet. 

From the quote above it sounds like you properly setup the soundcard *output *but then adjust the soundcard *output* back down from 50 to 13. This is not what should be done. There 2 volume controls for the soundcard, one for the *output *and one for the *input*. You have obviously found the one for the *output *, but have you found the one for the *input*? It may be in OS control panel under a tab marked recording and identified as recording level or microphone level. [It is *not* speaker level or headphone level which would be *outputs*.] It may also be within software for your soundcard if you have that. I don't know all the OS and soundcard conrols for the various setup and there is a lot of variation as to where they are found and how they are labled. You need to read the REW help on this issue and find the proper control to adjust. 

Anyway, that is my guess as to the disconnect here. If not - nevermind.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

jtalden/John said:


> To me also, this sounds like you are not properly adjusting the the soundcard input. Again, see Post #14 and EarlK's recent emphasis. I suspect you have not found this control yet.





JohnM_post#16 said:


> Nope, I'm saying reduce the input volume setting on your soundcard.


> It's difficult to say if Johns' advice was ever followed &/or absorbed .
> ( ie; does Chris realize that the Windows OS offers its' own control over input levels ? ). 
> Here are 3 examples , showing some of the different "skins" for Win7 audio control panels ( they dynamically morph the appearance of the panel , depending on the soundcards hardware & included software ) ;


























> I'd agree that it's better to keep the output constant at 50 and ( as jtalden/John mentions ) , adjust the Windows line input level up or down ( from within Windows audio control panels' mixer ) . 

:sn:

> As a review, Chris here was initially using a RadioShack SLM plugged into the stereo ( 3.5mm ) mic input belongong to his first computers soundcard .

> He's now on his second computer ( the first one crashing just before post#11 ) . That should mean Win7 is the OS ( though that's never been stated ) .
- I'll assume that for REW cabling purposes , Chris has duplicated the first computers cable setup ( since he doesn't mention a change occured ) .


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

jtalden said:


> To me also, this sounds like you are not properly adjusting the the soundcard *input*. Again, see Post #14 and EarlK's recent emphasis. I suspect you have not found this control yet.
> 
> From the quote above it sounds like you properly setup the soundcard *output *but then adjust the soundcard *output* back down from 50 to 13. This is not what should be done. There 2 volume controls for the soundcard, one for the *output *and one for the *input*. You have obviously found the one for the *output *, but have you found the one for the *input*? It may be in OS control panel under a tab marked recording and identified as recording level or microphone level. [It is *not* speaker level or headphone level which would be *outputs*.] It may also be within software for your soundcard if you have that. I don't know all the OS and soundcard conrols for the various setup and there is a lot of variation as to where they are found and how they are labled. You need to read the REW help on this issue and find the proper control to adjust.
> 
> Anyway, that is my guess as to the disconnect here. If not - nevermind.


Ok, I'm assuming you're talking about the following, and if so, do you agree with the level settings?


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Chris,

> Since you are driving line level into a mic level input ( with its' greater sensitivity ) at this point ( in the gain structure ) , you are quite likely best to take that number down to 10 ( from 18 ) . 
> Driving line level signal into Mic level inputs is a recipe for creating overload ( clipping ) .

> To set up this portion of your gain structure you need to open this Win7 audio panel ( & keep it visible )
> Then open REW ( & run the test levels routine like you have been doing ) .
> Observe your input levels here in the Win7 audio input panel & adjust accordingly looking at this panel ( to make sure that meter doesn't top-out )









> Once the Win7 panel is adjusted, go back to REW ( which has been blasting PN Noise all this time ) and reset it's input levels ( to the appropriate -18 to -12 mark ) from within the preferences window .

:sn:


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

EarlK said:


> Chris,
> 
> > Since you are driving line level into a mic level input ( with its' greater sensitivity ) at this point ( in the gain structure ) , you are quite likely best to take that number down to 10 ( from 18 ) .
> > Driving line level signal into Mic level inputs is a recipe for creating overload ( clipping ) .
> ...


I'm confused about the following statement..."Once the Win7 panel is adjusted, go back to REW ( which has been blasting PN Noise all this time ) and reset it's input levels ( to the appropriate -18 to -12 mark ) from within the preferences window.".

Where within the preferences window should I reset the input levels? Did you mean t say output levels? I thought that making adjustments on the previously displayed windows was adjusting the input levels.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

> I can understand your confusion since the necessary adjustment box ( under the input device menu) , is greyed over .

> You'll need to explore the options in the Win7 , Recording , "Advanced Tab" that allows programs ( such as REW ) to take control of input levels . 

> Here's a pic of the Win7 Audio Control Panel you must access ;










> To lift the "grey-veil", you'll also want to explore other options within that "Input Device" pull down menu ( rather than the "Default Device" currently being used by REW ) . 

:sn:


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Earl,

My advaced tab looks almost identical to yours, except I had CD quality chosen, and I did have the option turned on that allows applications to take exclusive control over it. I also have the option to choose even a higher Hz (24 bits, 192,000 Hz - Studio Quality), but I'm not sure if I should do that or not. For the time being, I've selected 48,000 Hz, DVD quality to match your settings. I'm posting a pic of my advanced setting for you to review.

Regarding the selection of other input devices, I've copied the preferences page and selected the drop down box so you're able to see my choices. When I select the top 2, the greyed out Input Volume is still greyed out. When I select either of the bottom 2, I keep getting the following error:

Input device error


Message:
javax.sound.sampled.LineUnavailableException: External Mic (IDT High Definiti does not have any lines supporting PCM_SIGNED 48000.0 Hz, 16 bit, stereo, 4 bytes/frame, little-endian
Level:
SEVERE
Stack Trace:
External Mic (IDT High Definiti does not have any lines supporting PCM_SIGNED 48000.0 Hz, 16 bit, stereo, 4 bytes/frame, little-endian
roomeqwizard.dB.L(Unknown Source)
roomeqwizard.Q.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.JComboBox.fireActionEvent(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.JComboBox.setSelectedItem(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.JComboBox.setSelectedIndex(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicComboPopup$Handler.mouseReleased(Unknown Source)
java.awt.AWTEventMulticaster.mouseReleased(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Component.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.JComponent.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicComboPopup$1.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Component.processEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Container.processEvent(Unknown Source)
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java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.retargetMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
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java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(Unknown Source)
java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(Unknown Source)
java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(Unknown Source)
java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
java.awt.EventQueue$2.run(Unknown Source)
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java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
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So, for some reason, I'm not able to change the Input Volume in the preferences tab. I'm not sure if would make a ton of difference anyway since it's currently set to .25. What do you think?


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

Chris said:


> ,,,,snip,,,,,For the time being, I've selected 48,000 Hz, DVD quality to match your settings. I'm posting a pic of my advanced setting for you to review.
> 
> Regarding the selection of other input devices, I've copied the preferences page and selected the drop down box so you're able to see my choices. When I select the top 2, the greyed out Input Volume is still greyed out. When I select either of the bottom 2, I keep getting the following error:


> I don't have Win7 ( I'm on WinXP ) / I just keep captured pics on hand for educational purposes .

















> Look closer at the pic that I posted ( the middle one above ). It says "*2-channel"* ( stereo ) while yours doesn't . 
> Change your* (mono) setting *to match my pic .


> Then once you're in stereo , that error message should disappear if you try to choose either of the bottom 2 selections .
> Choose "External Mic" for now .
> Alternately , see if you can get any SPL input by trying that " IDT stereo mix " . "Stereo Mix" ( in the WinXP world ) is typically an internal digital Wave stream ( meaning , you don't want to use it if you want to bring in signals from outside the computer ) .

> You should also use the Right input for REW measurement purposes ( to keep in step with recommended practises ) .
> You should want to be able to control input volumes ( for your RS SLM ) from within REW, so that you can more easily avoid clipping errors in the future .

:sn:


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

EarlK said:


> > I don't have Win7 ( I'm on WinXP ) / I just keep captured pics on hand for educational purposes .
> 
> > Look closer at the pic that I posted ( the middle one above ). It says "*2-channel"* ( stereo ) while yours doesn't .
> > Change your* (mono) setting *to match my pic .
> ...


Earl,

I made a mistake with posting a screen shot of the advanced settings. I initially clicked on the recording tab to select the microphone, then closed everything after I verified it matched your settings. Then I decided to take a screen shot of it, and I guess I was in too big of a hurry because I ended up taking a screen shot of the "speakers and headphones" in the playback tab.

Here's a new screen shot. I did not make any changes to the settings.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

> Okay ( you're in 2-chnl recording mode ) , good !

> Now the problem is that I no longer have a usable "working-theory" as to why you are getting those JAVA error messages .

> So I guess for now ( till that gets cleared up , by someone like JohnM ) use the WIn7 input volume control to avoid "clipping" your REW input .

:sn:

PS: 
> I think you should start a new thread ( to get JohnMs attention ) about those JAVA error messages .
> Post the whole JAVA message & point out that ( Win7 ) is ( indeed ) in 2-chnl mode .


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

EarlK said:


> > Okay ( you're in 2-chnl recording mode ) , good !
> 
> > Now the problem is that I no longer have a usable "working-theory" as to why you are getting those JAVA error messages .
> 
> ...


Very interesting...

I went to REW so I could copy the error message into a new thread I started, then realized that I no longer am getting the error. 

Here's a new screen shot of the preferences tab with the new settings. 

Also, when I first open REW I'm getting a message that I don't ever remember getting. I'm posting that pic too. I think I just need to recalibrate my sound card (with the loop back option) and use 48k as the sample rate in the preferences tab. Am I correct?

Thanks so much for all of your help. I would have given up on this long ago without assistance from all of you.


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## EarlK (Jan 1, 2010)

This flash screen is one of Johns' friendly warning screens that pop up to remind the user to do or change something / when things are out of whack .

You should have on hand, a soundcard calibration for each sample rate that might get used .

So yes, run one for 48K .

:sn:

PS : & yes, you're welcome ( for the help ) .


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

Ok, I finally got around to redoing everything.

1) Recalibrated my sound card with 48hz
2) Set my individual devices within the preferences page
3) Set the input levels correctly to avoid clipping errors
4) Recalibrated my SPL
5) Remeasured all speakers individually using the multi-channel inputs on my AVR and captured the graphs with 1/6 octave and set the parameters to only the required limits. 

I hope this will now provide some meaningful pictures.

Please let me know what you think. The pics of the center and rear look much better than last time.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Looks like you've got the hang of it! :T

Regards,
Wayne


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

So for the subwoofer, what adjustments would you make? Should I set the higher frequencies (>=100hz) lower, or set <100hz higher?

Do any of the graphs look so horrible that the speakers could not be EQ'd? How about the sound card? That looks weird to me compared to my old sound card.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

The soundcard cal trace indicates some form of EQ was active, it should be pretty much perfectly flat apart from a roll-off at the lowest and highest frequencies, your trace has a 6dB dip at about 250Hz, you need to track down the source of that EQ and disable it.


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## Sweetmeat (Nov 19, 2011)

JohnM said:


> The soundcard cal trace indicates some form of EQ was active, it should be pretty much perfectly flat apart from a roll-off at the lowest and highest frequencies, your trace has a 6dB dip at about 250Hz, you need to track down the source of that EQ and disable it.


Ok, I found the sound card's EQ and turned it off. Here's my new sound card measurement. I'll remeasure the speakers when I have more time.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Sweetmeat said:


> Here's my new sound card measurement.


Perfect


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