# What sound mode should I run REW with?



## jmalto (Jan 26, 2008)

Hi all,

I am diving deeper and deeper into understanding REW and I think I have the basic calibration/setup process down and running preliminary graphs, but a lingering question in the back of my mind is what sound mode on my Onkyo NR3007 receiver should I be using to run these test tones? Right now I have a MobilePre using a 1/4" TS cable to a single RCA being split into a Y-Cable that plugs into the front of my Onkyo's AUX1 port. Should I be running in all channel stereo (no Pro-Logic or anything like that), Stereo mode, or should I be disconnecting all my speakers except say the center or front 2 mains? This is the only part that is still a little confusing for me. 

Thanks for the help guys.


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

Hey there jmalto,

Use no processing – i.e., you want straight stereo. Also, be sure and turn off your main speakers before a taking subwoofer measurement.


Regards,
Wayne


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## laser188139 (Sep 19, 2009)

I've always followed Wayne's advice to use stereo mode, but I have only a 2.1 setup so the choice is simple. 

It appears the Onkyo 3007 offers the front A/B speaker selection I have on my Denon. If you don't have any Front B speakers connected (and are not using front high speakers), then you can switch from A to B, instead of having to disconnect the mains to hear the sub alone. 

If you want to measure the center speaker, the clever suggestion is to use Dolby PLii cinema and drive both L and R AUX channels. The Dolby logic will see the identical signal in both channels and merge these into one output on the center channel. One should be able to use this mode as well to measure the left and right separately, when driving just one of the AUX L or R channels, but I've not tried this and with Stereo you know what the result will be. 

Bill


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2010)

Are you double checking the Audyssey setup? I think the answer would depend on what you were doing. For trying to blend stereo with a sub or try and optimize speaker placement, then just stereo. If you wanted to setup a surround system old school style, then I think you would want to do each speaker separately and try and match the db levels all the same and or EQ it if you have the settings.

I was playing with it this weekend and it looks like I got a 40-80hz room gain I gotta deal with.


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## jmalto (Jan 26, 2008)

Hey Wayne, always good to see you in one of my posts 

Good info from everyone, thanks guys. If you have a 7.1 setup and are trying to optimize the room for all listening positions or just get all the speakers as flat as possible would it be best to run each individually or just run all of them with PIIX? Right now I am focused on fixing some sub issues, after that I want to get the entire package setup best as possible.


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## glaufman (Nov 25, 2007)

While PLII is ok for getting access ot the center channel (and surround as a mono) I wouldn't advise PLIIx for testing the rears in a 7.1... perhaps that's just because I don't know the algorithm, but it's probably also because I know many receivers having dithering and decorrelation functions that come into play. Much better to drive these discretely.


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## GregBe (Apr 20, 2006)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> Hey there jmalto,
> 
> Use no processing – i.e., you want straight stereo. Also, *be sure and turn off your main speakers *before a taking subwoofer measurement.
> 
> ...


Hey Wayne...why should we do this? I would think it would make sense dealing with your mains and subs at the same time, since maybe the interaction between the two might cause a peak or dip you may want to deal with. Curious on your thoughts.

Greg


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

Sorry, probably should have been a bit more complete in my comment. You want to see your sub response first. That way when you add your mains, you can see what they’re adding to the picture vs. just the sub. It’s especially crucial if you’re equalizing. The EQ only works for the sub, and you don’t want to be trying to sub-EQ a problem that’s actually being caused by the mains. Make sense?

Regards,
Wayne


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## Twanvlem (Jan 9, 2013)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> Sorry, probably should have been a bit more complete in my comment. You want to see your sub response first. That way when you add your mains, you can see what they’re adding to the picture vs. just the sub. It’s especially crucial if you’re equalizing. The EQ only works for the sub, and you don’t want to be trying to sub-EQ a problem that’s actually being caused by the mains. Make sense?
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


Hi,
I have the same question, it is clear to me that that we use the EQ only for the sub.
But how can I merge the sub to the main speakers.
I use a Onkyo 709 and have set the lowpass to 80 and the LFE at 120Hz
Should I measure with the SPL the sound level from the sub (say 76db 40 Hz) and after that diconnect the sub and adjust the sound level of the main to the same level (76db at 500 Hz)?
Hope you understand what I mean.

Regards,
Twan


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

Welcome to the Forum, Twan!

For measuring subs, run REW’s Check Levels routine, using the sub only. For a main speakers measurement, run the Check Levels routine with the left, right or both speakers (depending on what you intend to measure). For a mains + sub measurement, run the Check Levels routine with both the mains and sub. In other words, if you intend to measure both mains and subs together, there is no need to do the Check Levels for both separately.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## randyc1 (Jul 20, 2011)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> Sorry, probably should have been a bit more complete in my comment. You want to see your sub response first. That way when you add your mains, you can see what they’re adding to the picture vs. just the sub. It’s especially crucial if you’re equalizing. The EQ only works for the sub, and you don’t want to be trying to sub-EQ a problem that’s actually being caused by the mains. Make sense?
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


What about EQ like XT32,.. Is that EQ'ing just the subs ???


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