Some info on SMS-1 (Subwoofer Management System)

[DTB300]

http://www.audioholics.com/cedia/cedia2004/VelodyneSMS1.php

For those interested...some small info on the SMS-1 from CEDIA. This unit is for management/EQ of ANY subwoofer.

Dan

 

[Reverb2009]

Yep, saw that yesterday at audioholics.com, sound like it will be a really good product.

 

[attyonline]

Very cool device. Any firm info on price yet?

 

[DTB300]

$699 MSRP - People are guessing street price to be in the 5-Hundreds...

Dan

 

[attyonline]

I am getting one! There has been an ongoing effort at the AVS Forum to organize a group buy for a better per unit price. No news yet but I hope it happens.

 

[garmtz]

I am dealer for Velodyne in The Netherlands. If anyone has any questions about the product, I am willing to answer them all.

 

[KCWolfPck]

Hey, while we are on the subject of equalization....is there a similar product to this that will automatically eq the whole frequency range?

Thanks!

Scott

 

[MarkNewbie]

Ok, here is where my name will make sense to all of you. Can you folks explain to me exactly (in laymans terms) how this thing works. I have been looking at the MBL sub and some others as I am thinking I would like to add a bit of bass punch to my system. Appreciate all of your comments here.

atty - if they are organizing a way to buy them at some kind of bulk pricing, I would like to talk to you about that.

 

[KCWolfPck]

Mark,

In laymans terms....every listening room is different. Room dimensions, wall locations, building materials, furniture locations, etc... all have an impact on what you will hear. All of these things will cause some frequencies to be louder and some to be quieter.

What this devise will do is make test tones at different frequencies and "listen" to your room through the microphone. It will then automatically adjust each frequency so that there is a flat response across the subwoofers frequency range. That way, you won't hear some frequencies louder than others.

That's the best way I can put it....I'm sure someone else is better with words than I.

 

[Reverb2009]

Mark,

When you buy a new piece of gear, like a receiver or preamp, it is setup for a flat frequency response. But every room is different and depending on what objects you have placed in it (like, chairs, tables, coffee table, ETC.) will put peaks and dips into what should be a flat frequency response curve. You can correct this with acoustical treatments placed in your room, but this doesn’t usually get past the WAF. But now we are seeing more and more system's coming out with auto EQ’ing, you place the mic in your listening position and activate the unit, it will play a series of tones to evaluate your room. After it has finished its job it will plus or minus dB your frequency curve to get it flat.

Doing acoustical treatment is best, but sometimes not an option, so some thing like this is a grate alternative.

 

[htsource]

I wonder the effectiveness of these auto EQ'ing and its accuracy. I have a Denon 3805 receiver which has room EQ, but to my ears anyway, I found FLAT with no EQ works the best. It maybe just I'm adjusted to the sound and FLAT with EQ is just TOO FLAT, maybe?

Simon

 

[attyonline]

The Denon EQ setup is grossly inferior to the Velo. The Velo is parametric with full adjustment of each of eight bands of EQ. The gripe on the Denon is that it is not transparent, which you would expect on a $1200 receiver. With distortion and time delay anomalies, I never cared for the sound of the mass market EQ receivers. OTOH, the Velo just deals with frequencies below 100 hz, where the most room induced distortions occur. BTW, this is similar to the approach taken by Meridian and Lexicon in their processors which cost $6K and up. Even at this price level, the big guys do not try to EQ the entire audio range because state of the art EQ cannot do full range without gross distortion artifacts. This type of performance in the bass range for under $700 is remarkable which explains the great anticipation for this EQ.

 

[DTB300]

OTOH, the Velo just deals with frequencies below 100 hz, where the most room induced distortions occur.

I believe the SMS-1 will go up to 199Hz in its setup - but I could be wrong here. It also has 8 Bands of Parametric EQ that can be done through auto-EQ but then tweaked later on for your tastes. I also believe each band has a "Q" setting too.

Garmtz...please just in here and correct anything I may have mistakenly posted...thanks.

Dan

 

[DTB300]

Hey, while we are on the subject of equalization....is there a similar product to this that will automatically eq the whole frequency range?

Tact puts out a product to do the entire range.

http://www.tactlabs.com/

Dan

 

[DTB300]

Here are some threads on the SMS-1 unit:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=579573

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=579618

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=495331

Dan

 

[MarkNewbie]

Mark,

When you buy a new piece of gear, like a receiver or preamp, it is setup for a flat frequency response. But every room is different and depending on what objects you have placed in it (like, chairs, tables, coffee table, ETC.) will put peaks and dips into what should be a flat frequency response curve. You can correct this with acoustical treatments placed in your room, but this doesn’t usually get past the WAF. But now we are seeing more and more system's coming out with auto EQ’ing, you place the mic in your listening position and activate the unit, it will play a series of tones to evaluate your room. After it has finished its job it will plus or minus dB your frequency curve to get it flat.

Doing acoustical treatment is best, but sometimes not an option, so some thing like this is a grate alternative.

Is the Mic wireless and do you have to leave it in the listening position all of the time? Thanks for the explanation Joe and KC.

 

[Reverb2009]

Is the Mic wireless and do you have to leave it in the listening position all of the time? Thanks for the explanation Joe and KC.

As far as I know, it is not wire less, and NO you do not need to leave it set up. It is only for calibration, once the unit is setup your good to go.

 

[taylode]

To bad you can't rent this. Buying it for a one time shot seems such a waste.

Dennis

 

[Reverb2009]

To bad you can't rent this. Buying it for a one time shot seems such a waste.

Dennis

I hope your referring to the Mic, because the unit itself must stay inline, between the preamp and sub at all time's to work. And if you make any changes to your room, like upgrade to a bigger TV or rearrange the furniture you will want to re-run the calibration again with the Mic in your listening position.

 

[taylode]

I hope your referring to the Mic, because the unit itself must stay inline, between the preamp and sub at all time's to work. And if you make any changes to your room, like upgrade to a bigger TV or rearrange the furniture you will want to re-run the calibration again with the Mic in your listening position.

Oops, my mistake. I misunderstood the earlier post and thought this was just for initial set up.

Dennis