# Newbie HELP - BFD filter lights blinking



## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Today is a rare day when i have some time to finally hook up my recently acquired BFD. I am new to sub eq adjustment and have just plugged in a DSP1124P to my Yamaha RX-V861 receiver along with a PC to use REW with a RS-33-2055 digital spl meter.

My connections are thus: 
Receiver RCA Sub Pre-out to BFD XLR-input - BFD XLR-output to RCA Line-in on Subwoofer 

SPL Meter RCA to PC Line-in - PC Line-out to Receiver Aux L/R in.

BFD Settings:
Operating Level: -10dBV (button pushed in)
Filter Mode: PA
Filter Select: 4
Channel #: 1
Engine L/R: Coupled
In/Out: Bypass (flashing)

Problem #1: No sound from Subwoofer. No Level Meter LED's at all. Filter LED's L/R 2-9 constantly lit 1, 10-12 flashing.

I cannot seem to get my Levels set and since this is the first step i am basically stuck here and cannot go any further. 

BFD was bought used so i have no idea what settings were changed from factory settings, it seems to me the problem might lie here.

Any advice appreciated 

GF coming home at 6pm:sweat:

Thanks.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

If I remember right, in bypass mode, it should show the actual level... 

Maybe double check what the trim is set to on the LFE channel? If it's set low, say -5,-10 I've seen it register very low on a BFD before...

The blinking LEDs for the filters mean that they are set to Auto, I believe. In an attempt to identify feedback.. If they're set to Off or PA they won't blink. In bypass mode, whether those filters blink or not doesn't matter.

Maybe double check cabling too.. 

Good info here:
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/bfdguide/


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Thanks Zeitgeist,

I'm assuming you mean the LFE setting on the receiver as i don't believe there is a setting on the BFD.

LFE on receiver is set to 0 (it only goes down from there) Speaker level on sub at 0 ( +10 makes no difference).

I am able to set channel number on the BFD to 4 (Filter also set to 4 or 5) and i no longer get any flashing lights on the filter LED's, instead i get no lights on the filter LED panel or the level LED panel.

I switched cable from I/O (1) to I/O (2) with no change. Cables remain attached from sub-out on receiver to BFD XLR-in, BFD-out to Sub LFE-in.

Sub is in bypass mode letting receiver control crossover, volume on sub is max. 

Still no luck.

2.5hrs to GF gets home:sweat:


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

Yes, I meant LFE setting on receiver.. OK, that to me makes it sound like the BFD isn't detecting the level at all..

Maybe try and toggle the +4/-10 switch, it should be -10, but toggling it shouldn't hurt.
With a different selection on the BFD, and no blinking, that just means those filters are set to OFF.

I don't imagine you have a volt meter / multimeter? Would help to check the actual XLR cable to make sure you see some voltage. Just to rule out the cable and verify there is signal.

I'm assuming that you know the LFE out works when connected to the sub directly?

Also, where did you get the BFD from? Used?

I saw your mention of PC, and SPL meter. When you're testing for levels- are you playing a DVD? or using the PC to generate tones?


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Hi, 

Toggling makes no difference and correct i don't have a volt meter. Cables are brand new XLR to RCA from Monoprice , who have been good in the past.

Yes the sub works fine when connected to the receives, pre-out RCA directly. I bought it from ebay advertised as good working condition.

Yes i have a PC hooked up to an SPL via line-in and line out from PC to Aux-in on receiver. I am just playing music (MP3) from the PC's line-out as the first instruction in REW was to check levels (on the BFD i assume) using a bass heavy track so thats as far as i got. I have not used any test tones yet.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

I've never had a problem with monoprice cables... Hmm.

Do you have another pre-out that you could feed to the BFD, to confirm if it's really not seeing a signal?

I'm starting to wonder if there is a problem with the BFD.


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Yes, i was thinking the same thing. Is there any way i can use my soundcard (http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-141-BL-E757-TR-X58-SLI-Mainboard/dp/B002C97096)
on the PC to test the BFD?


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

Yep. You can just use one of the line-outs and run that to the BFD.

You'd need to go from headphone jack to RCA, then RCA to XLR.


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Ok, running the PC line-out at max volume(playing a techno track) via headphone to RCA spliter, L channel going to RCA/XLR into BFD input (R channel to receiver AUX to monitor sound), output XLR/RCA to sub LFE. 

Nothing on the BFD Levels LED, nothing from sub either.


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

Ok.. i've had enough with this BFD (Big [email protected]#$! Doorstop) it's going in the garbage! I might try a new one sometime but nothing from flea-bay ever again.

Thanks for your patient advice Zeitgeist.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

consciousness said:


> Receiver RCA Sub Pre-out to BFD XLR-input - BFD XLR-output to RCA Line-in on Subwoofer


Try connecting via the BFD's 1/4" TRS connectors, you can use RCA to mono 1/4" adaptors as shown in the REW Getting Started help. And make sure the input and output connections on the BFD are the right way around, easy to get wrong


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

consciousness said:


> Ok.. i've had enough with this BFD (Big [email protected]#$! Doorstop) it's going in the garbage! I might try a new one sometime but nothing from flea-bay ever again.
> 
> Thanks for your patient advice Zeitgeist.


If you purchased it recently, you do have options via paypal and what not... If the seller said it worked, and it really doesn't -- you do have some protections..

I think that BFDs are relatively reliable...

And completely agree with John M's checking in/out. I've gotten it backwards before.


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## consciousness (May 19, 2011)

I was too exhausted to reply last night :yawn: ...GF wanted some attention too :kiss: So finally decided to ditch the "superior" XLR connection to the BFD and jimmy'd a TRS connection with what i had lying around (RCA cable to RCA/1/8 headphone splitter into female to male 1/8 headphone cable into 1/8 to 1/4 stereo TRS jack!!:whew can u believe there was no hum. So i will pick up a regular RCA/Mono 1/4 TRS cable later.

After getting a Level signal on the LED panel and sound from the sub i discovered as you mentioned that i would need to Trim the DVD input on the receiver from 0 to +6 (this was a new discovery), then had to increase sub level to +10 (max) and even then my levels were low at the normal highest listening level, i then decreased all other speaker channels (L,R,C,SL,SR) to -5 or so to enable me to increase volume until sub was just below clipping when playing TRON in DTS on a bass heavy scene.

All filter LED's are off, "Filter Select" is 5, Channel is 4, "Filter Mode" is PA. L/R are coupled, in/out is in bypass (flashing).

Hopefully i now have a solid foundation to begin building a graph and making the necessary adjustments, which of course is where the fun begins. I am sure i will be looking in on the Forum Members for more help but hopefully will be able to follow the guides with some success.raying:

Thanks all.


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## swingin (May 11, 2011)

Question, where does one start without a laptop or any kind of graphs? Its all hooked up fine, the subs are working fine, I just need to know where to start. I got two PC-13 Ultras hooked up. I have the BFD in auto now and it shows #1-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 blinking, # 2 steady, and 3&4 have no light at all. How should I go about starting in the auto mode? Or should I use a preset? I just don't get the manual..

Should the in/out light be on or off?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

The BFD's automatic mode is for controlling feedback problems in a PA setup, not for EQ.


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## swingin (May 11, 2011)

JohnM said:


> The BFD's automatic mode is for controlling feedback problems in a PA setup, not for EQ.


And so I would start??

Does anybody know if I can do anything with the BFD without a laptop? I mean beside a doorstop..


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Until you get some kind of measurement of how the subs are behaving there is nothing you can do with the BFD - difficult to decide how to set the filters until you know what you are trying to correct. Start by getting a measurement of the response of the subs in your listening position, if you don't have a PC to run REW to do that you can try the manual method described in the BFD Guide sticky.


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