HT in a small 10x12 room at around Rs 3.5L

[k-pad]

Yes, same conclusion based on my experience.

Thanks so much bro. Will PM you.

So, this happened today. Dropped by Amrut's place this evening. Lovely set-up and I had a good time.
We even found out that we have common friends

He has done a great job of making his 5.1.2 work in his (very wide) room.
The TV and LCR on the long wall works really well in his room.
The Q Acoustics 3090i Centre is piece de resistance of his HT set up, delivering crisp dialogue, which I'd say is even a step above my MA Radius 225s.

The stereo set up, driven by the Audiolab 6000A to me, was the real surprise.
Despite unhelpful room dimensions, and the proximity to the back wall of the QA 3050i floorstanders, he has done a wonderful job to mitigate issues and has juiced up a great stereo set up.
In the close to an hour of music we listened to, not once did I feel the need for a subwoofer. Those puppies were singing and how.

Finally, my impressions on my doubts:
1. Side surrounds bring a lot to the table, and from the few clips we saw, I realised that a lot of mixes have prominent surround channels.
Not just effects, but the side surrounds even go a long way in placing voices, besides helping in better immersion. Will definitely be investing in a pair of surrounds.
2. For Atmos, Amrut has .2 and the effects were immediately visible, mostly in terms of immersion. Heights/ceiling speakers are surely a good option to take that immersive feeling to the last mile. Will definitely explore a workaround in my room to host them.

Thanks again, @amrutmhatre90

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Was great meeting @k-pad Glad you liked the things I have done. It takes time, but one surely reaches those goals what we look for. Its an awesome journey.

I was noob, learnt a lot slowly with time and mistakes too, infact still learning!

Special thanks for the little gift he got me, I owe you one waiting to listen your setup.

 

[liverpool_for_life]

From where you started and where you ended, either I am crashing your home, or flying you down to my home if you have the time

Latter is way too much, even though I'm fortunate to have the time. I'm just a hobbyist who's still getting his feet wet, so to speak. You're very welcome to visit, once this version is done (video calibration and final passive room treatments still pending).

 

[k-pad]

Latter is way too much, even though I'm fortunate to have the time. I'm just a hobbyist who's still getting his feet wet, so to speak. You're very welcome to visit, once this version is done (video calibration and final passive room treatments still pending).

Will take you up on that, sir
But whenever you are in Bombay, please do ping. Would be lovely to catch up.

 

[k-pad]

Hi all,
A question:
In a small room (10x12 as the title says) and a long-wall set up, if I am looking for great surrounds, which won't muddle the pitch of the voice coming from the centre, but will only truthfully replicate the original mix, should I look for directional/monopole surrounds (In my case, MA Radius 45, which @raghupb highly recommends as even mains even though it has tweeters facing backwards, or the straight-forwards MA Radius 90s) or would diffusive surrounds (Like the MA Bronze FX, which has dipole/bipole functions?)

In short, if I am set on having atmos speakers, which should be my surrounds speakers?
1. Something that is simple and directional? or
2. Something that is diffusive and gives dipole/bipole options.

PS: I have enough space to not restrict the conversation to backwall/sidewall. My couch will be pulled in, and closer to the middle of the room than a wall...
Thanks and regards

 

[k-pad]

What should the height of listener level side surround and rear surround speakers be, ideally?

Most places I read, they say place surrounds and rears a couple of feet above ear-level.

But the Atmos Installation Guide says this:
As in the past, the placement of all listener-level speakers should follow these recommendations, which are based on ITU-R BS.775-3:

• All listener speakers should be at the same height, typically 3.9 feet (1.2 meters), which is ear level for the average seated listener (as defined in ITU-R BS.1116-1).

If possible, the height of the rear speakers should be the same as the height of the front speakers. If the room design makes this impractical or impossible, the rear speakers may be positioned higher than the front speakers. However, we suggest that the height of the rear speakers not be more than 1.25 times the height of the front speakers.

Regards

 

[rshri]

Rear speakers slightly above ear level has been the norm since 5.1 DVD sound days. Since height/ceiling speakers have appeared at home theaters, the new norm is to keep them exactly at ear level. So my take is - Keep at slightly above ear level when you don't have height/ceiling speakers.

 

[liverpool_for_life]

What should the height of listener level side surround and rear surround speakers be, ideally?

As close to the height of the fronts as possible.

Most places I read, they say place surrounds and rears a couple of feet above ear-level.

These are a relic from the "no-height-speaker" days.

If possible, the height of the rear speakers should be the same as the height of the front speakers. If the room design makes this impractical or impossible, the rear speakers may be positioned higher than the front speakers. However, we suggest that the height of the rear speakers not be more than 1.25 times the height of the front speakers.

The rears in my room will likely end up at this 1.25x position.

 

[k-pad]

As close to the height of the fronts as possible.
These are a relic from the "no-height-speaker" days.

Makes sense. I guess this is also where the "no-dipole with object-based set-up" argument also comes in...

The rears in my room will likely end up at this 1.25x position.

Come to think of it, I might not be able to place side surrounds at listener-level, due to a desk on one side.
But will try to limit the height...

Thanks, bro!

 

[k-pad]

Dear Good Sirs,
@amrutmhatre90, @liverpool_for_life, @Love4sound, @Enkay78, @aeroash

After weeks of procrastination, the UMIK-1 is finally on the mail and I am ready to REWk'n'roll

Would be much grateful for links to any beginner tutorials on how to get started with REW.
(Right now reading the two posted by ASR's Amir)

Regards

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Dear Good Sirs,
@amrutmhatre90, @liverpool_for_life, @Love4sound, @Enkay78, @aeroash

After weeks of procrastination, the UMIK-1 is finally on the mail and I am ready to REWk'n'roll

Would be much grateful for links to any beginner tutorials on how to get started with REW.
(Right now reading the two posted by ASR's Amir)

Regards

Congrats, you could have taken mine for time being
Tons of videos on YT, I don't even know where to start

First thing you could learn is to setup and measure only front 2 channels and subwoofer, then maybe integrate it with front channels for even response.
Enjoy, it is a long learning curve, I guess @Love4sound knows a lot more than most.

 

[aeroash]

Dear Good Sirs,
@amrutmhatre90, @liverpool_for_life, @Love4sound, @Enkay78, @aeroash

After weeks of procrastination, the UMIK-1 is finally on the mail and I am ready to REWk'n'roll

Would be much grateful for links to any beginner tutorials on how to get started with REW.
(Right now reading the two posted by ASR's Amir)

Regards

Although onboarding is with miniDSP, there is a detailed guide on REW at 23 minutes.
All the best, Cheers!

 

[Love4sound]

Dear Good Sirs,
@amrutmhatre90, @liverpool_for_life, @Love4sound, @Enkay78, @aeroash

After weeks of procrastination, the UMIK-1 is finally on the mail and I am ready to REWk'n'roll

Would be much grateful for links to any beginner tutorials on how to get started with REW.
(Right now reading the two posted by ASR's Amir)

Regards

Awesome. It will be little difficult at first as it’s not plug and play software. Also Asio4all plug-in which makes the measurement process a little easy and simplified compared to Java is very buggy and won’t work properly at times. Refer the official set up guide for initial set up and let’s pick things from there once u get the umik

 

[k-pad]

Congrats, you could have taken mine for time being

Haha, could have! And thank you so much for the generous offer...

Enjoy, it is a long learning curve

...but for this exact reason, decided not to bother you and just invest in one and take the plunge.

First thing you could learn is to setup and measure only front 2 channels and subwoofer, then maybe integrate it with front channels for even response.

Sure, will do.
In fact, first two steps I have marked to begin with are the following:
1. Just run the estimations using room dimensions, and
2. Start with my desktop speakers.
Will keep things posted here...

 

[k-pad]

Although onboarding is with miniDSP, there is a detailed guide on REW at 23 minutes.
All the best, Cheers!

Thank you very much. Will go through.

 

[k-pad]

Awesome. It will be little difficult at first as it’s not plug and play software. Also Asio4all plug-in which makes the measurement process a little easy and simplified compared to Java is very buggy and won’t work properly at times.

Thanks, bro.
From what you say, lemme try without Asio first...

Refer the official set up guide for initial set up and let’s pick things from there once u get the umik

Sure thing.
Hoping to really tame the b(e)ass(t)

 

[Enkay78]

I feel this is the best https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/gettingstarted.html

Reading it all at first can be confusing and heard to comprehend. So I suggest trying all the functions and getting a hang of what each do. As you start trial and error, you will start comprehending more about REW functions. Don’t start interpreting at that stage. Continue to refine. Set up and make a TEST BUNDLE comprising of basic functions. And compare with a standard results. See if you make errors or correlating well.

A time will come (which May takes just few days or weeks, depending on you efforts, interest, and time invested in REW) when you will become fairly confident of you measurements. That’s the time when you start the REAL measurements.

Enjoy the journey.

 

[k-pad]

I feel this is the best https://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/gettingstarted.html

Reading it all at first can be confusing and heard to comprehend. So I suggest trying all the functions and getting a hang of what each do. As you start trial and error, you will start comprehending more about REW functions. Don’t start interpreting at that stage. Continue to refine. Set up and make a TEST BUNDLE comprising of basic functions. And compare with a standard results. See if you make errors or correlating well.

A time will come (which May takes just few days or weeks, depending on you efforts, interest, and time invested in REW) when you will become fairly confident of you measurements. That’s the time when you start the REAL measurements.

Enjoy the journey.

Thank you, sir!
You have made it sound so scary and yet so friendly, so, please, if you don't mind, I want to submit my thanks to you in the form of a personalised meme.

I hope you enjoy it. No offence meant to you or the other person who has been named in that meme.

 

[liverpool_for_life]

Would be much grateful for links to any beginner tutorials on how to get started with REW.

Find linked Austin Jerry's (AVSForum member) REW 101 guide. Incredibly comprehensive. Enjoy your journey towards better sound!

 

[k-pad]

Find linked Austin Jerry's (AVSForum member) REW 101 guide. Incredibly comprehensive.

Thanks, bro.

Enjoy your journey towards better sound!

Is that a typo I spy there?
Did you mean "enjoy your journey towards better measurements"?