[randyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsperber /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting. I assume you didn't pay sales tax. They were willing to take my check in their office last Sunday, but the invoice definitely was from their London office.

No sales tax. I have the unit now and have run into some trouble. The level calibration apparently is in the unit so it is independent of the preamp. I have very sensitve main speakers and no way to adjust levels on the amp. The problem is that for the front three speakers the signal is too hot so I am pretty much left with either changing speakers or getting a less powerful amp (or one with level controls).

 

[Erik Garci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by randyb /img/forum/go_quote.gif The problem is that for the front three speakers the signal is too hot so I am pretty much left with either changing speakers or getting a less powerful amp (or one with level controls).

Can you run the signal through your pre-amp temporarily, and use the level control on your pre-amp?

like this: SVS ==> PRE-AMP ==> AMP ==> SPEAKER
instead of this: SVS ==> AMP ==> SPEAKER

 

[randyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Garci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you run the signal through your pre-amp temporarily, and use the level control on your pre-amp? like this: SVS ==> PRE-AMP ==> AMP ==> SPEAKER instead of this: SVS ==> AMP ==> SPEAKER

That is a good idea actually. I will try that-THX!

 

[HugoFreire]

Bump for a fantastic product.
I will have one someday.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

What do they expect someone to do if their headphone rig is better than their 5.1 speaker rig? I would need to borrow a nicer 5.1 sound system to program the Smyth, because my Jamo speaker rig and my Velodyne rig are basically mid-fi level.

 

[Foe-hammer]

That is the biggest crutch with the SVS.

 

[n3rdling]

You could always go to a show room and borrow their setup, or a friend's, etc. HPA, what exactly do you expect them to do? Package a hi fi speaker system with it?

 

[Erik Garci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would need to borrow a nicer 5.1 sound system to program the Smyth,

Or you could borrow just one or two nicer speakers, because the SVS can let you move the speaker to each location. Or, instead of moving the speaker, you could simply turn your head, so the sound arrives from a different direction.

 

[Erik Garci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n3rdling /img/forum/go_quote.gif Package a hi fi speaker system with it?

They are already packaging headphones with it, so why not a speaker system too?

 

[royalcrown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsperber /img/forum/go_quote.gif True. Find a friend (or audio store) with a terrific sound room willing to let you do a calibration on their premises. Then take home the profile and from now on listen through headphones instead of through your speakers. You won't be listening to the "rather terrible" large cathedral ceiling effects on sound any longer. Instead you'll believe you're actually listening in the profiled environment you "cloned".

I'm confused.

If you can do that, why don't they just sell the units pre-adjusted with some optimal room configuration? Surely they have a very good room they test and develop the equipment on - why do they not just set it up with that configuration then, so you don't have to bother with room adjustments?

 

[jcx]

I believe they do have "default" settings but the idea is to capture the sound at your ears in the room - your personal hrtf

Head-related transfer function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[dsperber]

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalcrown /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm confused. If you can do that, why don't they just sell the units pre-adjusted with some optimal room configuration? Surely they have a very good room they test and develop the equipment on - why do they not just set it up with that configuration then, so you don't have to bother with room adjustments?

The personalization has two parts... both of which involve the characteristics of YOUR OWN EARS (since the calibration is done through measurements made by microphones inserted in your ears):

(1) ears/room/loudspeakers - this determines how your personal hearing system takes in all of the characteristics of the room and loudspeakers in that room, and

(2) ears/headphones/amp - this determines the linearity (or not) of your headphones/amp and how your ears hear what your particular headphones/amp produce, in order to determine an equalization curve so that as best as possible the subsequent SVS-induced sound through the particular headphones/amp sounds for any given source content like the room/loudspeaker listening environment it is trying to duplicate would also sound.

There is no such thing as "best" or "default" personalization which they can package and distribute, just as there is no "best" or "default" pair of prescription eyeglasses which all of us can wear and have the same perfect vision. And this is because your ears and auditory canal physical characteristics influences how sound appears to calibrated microphones placed inside your ears, for a given known test sweep signal.

An SVS personalization is for you, and you alone.

 

[Liver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsperber /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is no such thing as "best" or "default" personalization which they can package and distribute, just as there is no "best" or "default" pair of prescription eyeglasses which all of us can wear and have the same perfect vision. And this is because your ears and auditory canal physical characteristics influences how sound appears to calibrated microphones placed inside your ears, for a given known test sweep signal. An SVS personalization is for you, and you alone.

I've wondered why a default mode is not offered as well. The whole "eyeglass" analogy fits with having a default.

Eyeglasses have the same design from person to person. A certain prescription will get you most of the way there. May be a bit blurry, but acceptable to pass the driver's test, and much better than where you started. If you want the perfect vision then get your exact numbers.

Same with headphones. A certain default set up will get you most of the way there. I mean, most people have ears in the same location (i.e. on the sides of their heads) and they do package a headphone (stax right?) with the kit.

So the headphones are constant. There should be a default setting that will get you most of the way there, and then the option to tweak it to your head and liking.

I mean all headphones are the same design. None of them take into account personal anatomic or frequency sensitivity (or lack of) from person to person.

So I'd think a default setting would be easy to make. Yea, won't be 100% individualized, but would be more than good enough for most people.

 

[Erik Garci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liver /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I'd think a default setting would be easy to make. Yea, won't be 100% individualized, but would be more than good enough for most people.

I suppose you could use a setting that was personalized for someone whose head happens to be similar to yours. The more similar, the better.

 

[Liver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Garci /img/forum/go_quote.gif I suppose you could use a setting that was personalized for someone whose head happens to be similar to yours. The more similar, the better.

clothes, cars, life insurance, shoes, medicine, etc can all be normalized for certain standards of deviation. why not this?

to get the best fit in clothes, shoes, life insurance, etc, you have to have it completely personalized, but the default setting is good enough for most.