Can we fix mismatched speakers? || Sound System EQ

If you have different speakers on left and right, can you use EQ to make them match? ‪@MichaelCurtisAudio‬ joins me to walk through the process and the tools to make it work... without spending any money.
Check out Michael's Audio Survival Toolkit here: www.producedbymkc.com/audioto...
Find my Live Mixing Field Guide - EQ, Compression and FX cheat sheet available here livemixingfieldguide.com

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Thanks again for having me on, James! Was a blast to finally work with you in person. I appreciate the opportunity to come on and share.

[@AttawayAudio]

Super pumped to have you on!

[@stephencase5160]

@@AttawayAudio I've been running church sound for over 20 years in a lot of different settings. I'm used to McGyvering solutions on the fly, as you say. I appreciate the common sense approach you take to making things sounds as good as they can, and just how relatable most of your videos are.

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

@@pmlaaudio468 Yes. You would point up when doing SPL measurement during a show or taking an impulse response. But if you're measuring a specific source (a speaker) from a magnitude and phase perspective you want to point the mic at it.

[@FlatLineStudios]

Thank you for bringing your expertise to the channel. I love watching Attaway BECAUSE it's filled with the techno babble I crave!

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

@@FlatLineStudios You're very welcome!

[@captaincoxyboy]

Two of my favourite KZbin advisors on Sound, not watched yet but had to comment, best wishes from the U.K 🙏

[@germanboza]

Love to see you here Michael! Two of my favorite channels together! 👏👏 I’m already half way through the book you recommended, I’m loving how simple and straight forward it is.

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Aren't collabs a jam : )? Michael Lawrence's book is amazing, so glad you're loving it.

[@matthiazH]

yeah! 2 of my favourite youtubers on the same video !!! great job! well done 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Thanks a ton, Mat. James is the man : )

[@danielfmyers]

Recently subscribed to Michael’s channel. Good stuff and great teaching format.

[@urjeff123]

The two very best audio guys in one screen! Awesome vid!

[@AttawayAudio]

Thanks Jeff!

[@VCustomShop]

Nice collaboration guys! Enjoyed the information!

[@stephencase5160]

One of your best videos ever!

[@AttawayAudio]

Thanks! Goes to show surrounding yourself with people smarter than you is a good thing :)

[@johnmatt5660]

I love the collaboration, both of your channels are my go to audio sources.

[@AttawayAudio]

Michael is one of my heroes :)

[@giovannisc09]

What a great time! I really enjoyed this video! And I learned a lot

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Glad it was helpful to you!

[@Thomas.Hoermann71]

Really great video. Thanks for sharing those insights. I always thought I need to work with a graphic eq and tune all the frequencies in detail to flatten the curve. But obviously this is wrong. You processed the big rocks. For me this is really helpful cause I am doing sound for different bands in different venues on different PA‘s and here it is even more necessary to have confidence about the sound of the PA.

[@AttawayAudio]

i like the big-rocks analogy a lot

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

James I cannot get enough of your content it's just the best. Never stop, I appreciate what you do for the world of live sound. I have a question, I've never had the privilege of using Meyer boxes in person, are they really as good as everyone says?

[@AttawayAudio]

They're in the top tier of speaker makers, so yes. But that doesn't mean others in the same price range aren't just as good. A lot of times, finding the speaker that fits for your space and needs is more important than which company makes it

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

@@AttawayAudio Fair enough, thanks for replying!

[@callumallinson814]

Wow two of my favourite sound/system guys in one room! Great video guys! Question: Would you recommend getting one quality measurement mic with a calibration file or three less quality mics without a calibration file? Looking at Sound ID's reference mic vs a couple Behringer ECM8000's. Thanks!

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Thanks a ton! I would recommend getting at least one quality mic that you can rely on for SPL measurement (I used Audix mics in this video, but I just snagged the iSemcon EMX-7150 and love it). That mic will run you $330, but is worth it in the long run. Even though the EMX-7150 ships with a calibration file, I don't use it. I spent the extra money for the durability, low sensitivity, and build quality. If I had the choice on a gig to tune with 1 or 3 mics, I like having 3, but I understand shelling out ~$1,000 isn't something folks can do right off the bat, so I'd go ahead and get the EMX-7150, then one or two of the ECM8000's that you can still use for tuning. Just make sure and match preamp gains. Then later on you can replace them with nice mics, then use the cheap mics on dusty outdoor gigs : )

[@callumallinson814]

Haha legend thanks Michael 😊👍🏻!

[@mark12.31]

Michael is the man! I mean, so are you, James. But, yeah.

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

James IS the man.

[@willcastilloe]

Great video , thanks! ...

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

You're welcome!

[@JoseMontoya-iu3tl]

Awesome video, where can I get the target curvatures that are being used in this video?

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Right here! - drive.google.com/open?id=1wLFuF0yMybNNJE1NM2KD65b66SdNF_IV&authuser=michael%40producedbymkc.com&usp=drive_fs

[@markq23]

Great video!😊👍 Did you eq the subs to the target curve aswell in a similar way to the mains? I get that you turned up the level of the subs to match the curve but what if they have a big bump at say 80hz. Would you use eq to level that out so you could a smoother fit to the curve?

[@AttawayAudio]

yes sir!

[@ItzTooSik]

The target curve section was of massive interest to me. If I want that curve to be my goal should I use pink noise? I don’t use SMAART but I do have a couple of RTAs.

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

If you're doing a two-channel measurement you can use any signal type, but I use pink noise 95% of the time. If you don't have SMAART, start with Open Sound Meter for free. An RTA will give you the frequency response of what that mic is hearing, but with a single channel measurement you have no idea if you can trust that data. I've got a tutorial on Open Sound Meter here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGSZiHt5fp6dZs0 And here's one on how to set up your measurement rig - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bprad513otRriq8

[@jeanpaulawoundza6644]

This video i love it

[@anwiseru9064]

the xtec eq1 effect adds 0.71ms of latency when inserted when the transformer parameter is on it isn't entirely flat, it cuts a little lows and highs around 10k personally i would use the builtin EQ for main outputs because of the xtecs latency, but what do you think?

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

As long as we account for latency when syncing mains with another source it's a non-issue.

[@jasonlapasinskas5302]

Love seeing both of you in one video👍🏻 Where can we get that Michael Lawrence target curve file? Thanks

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Here you are! - drive.google.com/open?id=1wLFuF0yMybNNJE1NM2KD65b66SdNF_IV&authuser=michael%40producedbymkc.com&usp=drive_fs

[@jasonlapasinskas5302]

Awesome. Thanks guys!

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

@@jasonlapasinskas5302 You got it!

[@xplodesound.7]

Sir please make one video for phase reading

[@BazSoundVenueTech]

You can have the matrix linked, but then change the link preferences so the EQ is seperate

[@alvaciemoore711]

I'm an audio enthusiast. I have my own sound system. But recently I have been looking at many youtube videos on sound system tuning using smartt, open sound meter, REW etc. Everyone seems to have different ways of how they go about this but in the end their objectives are the same. In this video you said that the measurement microphone (unidirectional) should be pointed directly to the projected axis of the speaker. What I'm trying to understand is what happens to off axis response of the speakers? Not everyone is sitting on axis. Or i'm guessing that the idea is to get the on axis response of both speakers at the same audible level and equal measurement distance to determine how they interact at that point in the room, then perhaps use eq or delays to try and fix and issues? I guess it would be wrong to place the microphone slightly off axis since in reality, a speaker sound different as you move to the side. I would really like a recommended book or tutorial on how to go about doing it.

[@urjeff123]

What's a good staring point for a crossover with qsc K12 and 18 subs

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

100Hz is what QSC recommends. But remember the KW181 and KS118 already have low pass filters built in, so you won't need filters there. Just a HPF, second order butter (12dB per octave) on the K12.

[@mattclark1003]

What was the Meyer box you had up there?

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

I'm honestly not sure, but looked like a CQ1?

[@matthiazH]

there would have been difference if the system was tuned before the speakers were put in their respective places?

[@AttawayAudio]

No, but order of operations is important, meaning you can't fix a speaker placement/direction problem with EQ

[@ladjkaoz]

nice,thats a lot of subs, 🥰😍

[@newmeutube1]

Legends 👌👌🍻🍻

[@AttawayAudio]

Pretty pumped to have Michael join me!

[@obidavekenobe]

smaart is crazy expensive, can we do this using something on a shoestring budget like Room EQ Wizard?

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

I'd recommend using Open Sound Meter, which you can download for free then pay what you want (similar to REW). I've got a tutorial on that software on my channel. - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGSZiHt5fp6dZs0

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

SMAART also now has subscription pricing with v9, so that makes things much more affordable in the short term.

[@AttawayAudio]

Room EQ Wizard works, and so does Open Sound Meter.

[@michaeltablet8577]

Great video! My church didn't have budget for bass traps so they just asked fat people like me to sit in the corners. Just kidding. Your videos are always helpful! God bless you!

[@AttawayAudio]

It's just following Taylor Swift's advice... "shake it off" 🤣🤣🤣

[@randomschittz9461]

Haha, I laughed so hard at this comment. I thought you were serious at first.🤣

[@blessedson69]

It's all about the low end!

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Keep the bottom : )

[@morganbelle357]

For me, the most important part in matching two different speakers was missing: The phase trace. It's nice to have some similar spectral curve for every speaker by its own, but if the timing differences are not aligned, you will end up by having lots of comb filters. And most of your signals will always be on both speakers at the same time, so your vocals will not sound nice even with similar spectral curves. This is a problem which could (at least up to a certain degree) be fixed with allpass filters, which are not part of a X32. But i was hoping this would at least be mentioned in the end of the video. Thanks for the video!

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Great point, Morgan. You're right in that I got hyper-focused on tonality at the expense of not addressing timing over frequency. I should have at least addressed it at the end, thanks for bringing that up.

[@brianbauer3148]

The step count comment is no joke😆

[@allenpendleton8767]

That looks about like something you would find at a church. Churches have the most messed up audio of anyone.

[@RHill79]

Hey I live in south Arkansas blahahaha 😂😂😂

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Just a playful jab :D! I went to school at OBU.

[@MarcelGavalier]

I have to say that you spent so much time to get target curve and after all you revert major majir broad changes to “Get it by ear” i think kt was bad move. Maybe you need to know something like “ok i like lows at 3db but target is 12 db.. so every sundey i rise 1 db up to get the sound smooth transition from “old” curve ti the “new target” curve.

[@AttawayAudio]

Target curves are dependent on context. Room size, LF power, PA type and directionality all play into it.

[@MarcelGavalier]

@@AttawayAudio I have to disagree, but not forcing you to share my though. In fact target curve is somenthing "where you want to have the sound" I stick with my "liking" of sound balance for long time with no reason to hold target curve stricct... but one day i give a shot. And yes it was way way worse then i like.. but day by day week by week i start like that balance a lot more then "my old balance" i do not tell that this curve is the best, but it keep me consistent every event. Even outdoors...

[@michaelcarter9610]

What if you just have 2 mains ,2 monitors ,1sub and a analog mixer don’t understand your terminology

[@MichaelCurtisAudio]

Watch this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn_Omauke7OIhLc