How Good are Your Speakers? Measuring Sound Quality

We built a Super Accurate Sound Measuring Box of Science (SASMBS for short) to test speakers, so let's talk about measuring sound quality!
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Episode Credits:
Host: Julia Zhang
Writer: Anthony Chow
Editor: Barret Murdock

[@slimshadythe111]

no one was wearing a lab coat, so i dont think this was scientific.

[@mapletyndall475]

Kureiji I

[@darkdevlink]

........ im waitin for the punch line

[@mlgplayer-tz5lh]

Kureiji fuck u

[@davemat1747]

Warning: This comment section occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), viewer discretion is advised

[@bernsteiner88]

dave mat That’s fine man, I lab it :)

[@samharris3508]

I feel as if the Julia comments are getting more and more creepy. NCIX might need to balance it out by putting that homeless guy they have sleeping in their studios on 3 times more than Julia.

[@harrisoncanning5462]

SickBabySeals that would be a poor business decision... half of these people would leave

[@CANOOB18]

You do know they promote Julia for the view$$ right? They don't mind the comments as long as the money rolls in.

[@Big_Tex]

He has a name sir, it's Barret.

[@harrisoncanning5462]

Fiasco no she is legitimately good at what she does, she's not boring. It would be stupid for them not to capitalize off of the creepy crowd unless she was actually in danger.

[@CANOOB18]

Harrison Canning I'm in agreement with you fool.

[@Cokeman439-Minecraft]

Who else can overclock their ears up to 25000 Hz?

[@darkdevlink]

you gotta get them hz it sounds better the more ya got

[@KingNChakky]

incoming thirst in comments

[@paradiddlepedro]

This actually is not very scientific given the way acoustic waves propagate. This box is much too small for any accurate measurements below 800hz or so and it's only really accurate on the highs. this is why anechoic test Chambers are so massive. please look it up. it's better to just do measurements outside with high spl levels and above the ground.

[@haris525]

Yes but they are in Canada they can always use the NRC

[@paradiddlepedro]

haris javed I hope you're joking lol.

[@sylvainpaquette6132]

No you don't need a large room to reproduce bass. If that was true you wouldn't have bass in headphone or 40hz in a small room.

[@sylvainpaquette6132]

Frequency response is just a part of the equation. They need off axis measurements, impulse response, thd etc. Their setup won't say much and they should simply had use a gated sweep tone measurement outside on the lawn. This box is of no use that's for sure. I think they should let this to pro and move to something else.

[@paradiddlepedro]

Sylvain Paquette no one said you needed a small room to produce bass. You need a large room to accurately measure it. As well as that box only being anechoic above (guessing from size in video) 800 hz. that's where it'll start to get accurate. I guarantee that dip just above 100 Hertz is from a mode Inside the Box. You can get a lot of info from on access frequency response. but first it has to be accurate.

[@phatdunny]

my head hertz

[@remoteviewer8524]

My daughter's boyfriend was recently amazed listening to a KZbin video he was into on my modest PC audio setup, identifying sounds he'd never heard before. For most of his adult life after listening to mp3s through a mobile (cellular) phone or flat screen TV his hearing was attuned to the crappy stuff that passes for audio these days. Thank deity I didn't play a CD and put the DT880's on his head. :)

[@AdityaParabDC]

Played 1:55 "Ooooo boy" like a zillion times!!!

[@undeny]

pathetic...

[@gaatjeniksan3068]

Rommy Rava love the speling

[@shutdahellup69420]

Aditya Parab 1:56 to be precise

[@erikdravn]

Probably the BEST video you guys have done! I'm an audio engineer and this played to my likes rather nicely. It also has almost sold me the first set of speakers! lol

[@Javierm0n0]

i've been eying Kanto speakers for a while but i'm poor so i had to settle for making passive filters for my budget bookshelf models x.x

[@flos3328]

So you measured the frequency response. Now the REW allows for impulse testing, too. Would love to see some testing in the time/frequency domain, as well.

[@Code-n-Flame]

I use Mackie CR3s as PC speakers lol little OP but they sound amazing for the price.

[@t_timson]

More, we need more of these explanatory videos from NCIX, also it was really nicely shot, excellently written and well presented

[@JoshuaDemersProductions]

I did find this video facinating! I've been an audiophile my whole life and I've always just used my sensitive ears to determine accuracy. Now I know of another way of testing equipment. Thank you.

[@ChrisKramer_]

i think it would be cool if you guys could do a full video explaining frequency charts in detail. yes, i know that headphone quality is very subjective to the listener, but i would like to be able to look up reviews on headphones and actually be able to understand them :P

[@maxmurden3063]

These Julia comments are getting out of hand...

[@sujimayne]

Perhaps, but when Julia's on, something else is getting _in_ my hand!

[@Javierm0n0]

nah it's not hormones it's an inability to control ones self and not understanding what is or isn't socially acceptable.

[@TMM6900]

todays lighting is on point

[@Imkaranvalvi]

Very nice video NCIX

[@EXSwitchback]

I actually bought some new speakers last week, (Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II 2.0), and happened by this video while researching info on dying HDDs. It was the perfect thing to test them out and help me understand the frequency differences. Thanks! (They're ace!)

[@itsdeonlol]

Speakers are very important!

[@Ldunk]

Your best video ever.

[@georgf9279]

I could be wrong but i heard before, you should adjust the volume of each speaker to hit 100dB at 1kHz. This makes the graphs more comparable since a smaller speaker - like the cellphone - would get a better frequency response the quieter it plays.

[@Patrick73787]

SOUND is the most underrated aspect of PC gaming. I'm glad I still have my Sound Blaster ZxR in my rig.

[@dukedurell]

Very informative I can show this to people that insist on buying cheap crappy speakers ! :)

[@PixelSlayer8]

nice and very informative video.

[@zerosubscribersvideos1543]

that's a sexy speaker you got

[@Javierm0n0]

I love that yall went into this!

[@Trifler500]

Now we need a review of 2.1 speakers on the market.

[@johnkramps8305]

Wow... that was quite the class on sound. Thanks!

[@ethanliu007]

Loved this video! Very insightful and interesting topic. Hope to see more kinds of videos like this!

[@WowzersNoWay]

Julia

[@picklesnorf101]

This video was awesome! Thank you so much for producing this.

[@pategustavo4392]

SASMSBS is my gender

[@haris525]

Great video - I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Canada has a lot of great places for speaker testing. You can always do your testing at the NRC

[@AndrewGillanders]

please do more speakers, this was a great review

[@anujitganguly2029]

nicely done people - please do the "other" video that she was talking about, how to equalize

[@rhoharane]

Confirmed. Anthony is actually an audio file.

[@TheAsfv]

Sick gti 2:14 👍

[@phgodts]

Sorry Julia, but flat and wide response is only a part of a lot of others components in sound quality. But its a start

[@z0phi3l]

This one is easy, buy speakers or headphones from companies that specialize in audio and not from gadget or fashion brands Bought Klipsh speakers because at the price they are 100% better than their "competition"

[@AdityaParabDC]

Who else thought their laptop fan just ramped up at 3:05?

[@dive_whale]

No because I don't have a laptop, I have a desktop

[@Kswhajakky]

i can t even hear my fans while watching videos... bro your laptop sucks ... just buy a pc or a better laptop

[@mythoughts9724]

Thank you for this, I wouldn't even have know about Room EQ Wizard if it wasn't for this video.

[@warlockboyburns]

Philosophy comes into speaker design

[@mrpositronia]

all well and good but that's only a part of it. sound quality is also determined by the amplifier, not to mention the speaker's response times, soundstage etc.

[@philiprobbins]

Now if only there was a way to test headphones like this, I have loads of them and can't decide which ones have the best sound.

[@cameronbeyer7687]

Why no studio monitors as a control? Should have used a Yamaha HS-5 or 8

[@gdsnuff]

Your eyes! 👍

[@Ledabot]

Oh dear. That alarm clock right in my ears gave me painful flashbacks to highschool.

[@tudajfor]

Yeah. Go Manny.

[@kinghorsehead9130]

0:15 channeling your inner bill nye the science guy (the good one, mind you)

[@Big_Tex]

Just waiting for some immature creep to say "I'd like to measure Julia's sound quality.... If you know what I mean."

[@DaybreakPT]

kmfurr1 Haha good way to pretend you didn't want to say that AND say it! Well played, gent! ;^)

[@CANOOB18]

You must be fun at parties.

[@JohnnyStashh]

and anus... if you know what i mean?

[@Big_Tex]

I like to maintain plausible deniability.

[@nelsoncheng2674]

kmfurr1 LOL

[@Staycalm2010]

Sound is like spaghetti bolognese. Every one has the own recipe which you either got from dear mum, or your own concoction, but which one you prefer is down to personal taste. As with speakers all have their own tone(taste) but which you prefer is up to you. the test still has merit. It help visualize weaknesses, but I wouldn't use it solely to decide which speaker to buy. Trust you own ears and try before buy.

[@LEGENDGAMES-SD]

as always great Tech News

[@sonicsound84]

If you ever do a video on room EQ how to I will definitely watch it.

[@parascraps5796]

Nice video!

[@antoniosorribas7506]

Great video! It is helpful information to see the frequency response when you're looking for speakers but this can be very misleading if you think you're finding out how GOOD they are. You can have a very wide frequency response with an EQ matching you (considering everyone's ears and likes are different) but still find that some frequencies doesn't sound as good as you might expect, you can definitely spend double of your money on speakers or headphones that purely looking at this might seem better and afterwords finding out that even though they have a better frequency response they actually sound worse, sound quality depends on many more things and it doesn't matter how much knowledge you have, you won't know how good they actually sound till you hear them. As a sound engineer I don't expect people to know this and I'm not criticizing the video, I think is great, just a bit misleading.

[@XepptizZ]

Fascinating

[@stupidusername38]

sound proof room means nothing in testing frequency of sound of a speaker in a room. sound proofing just reduces volume leakage. A treated room with bass diffusers in the top corners of the room will reduce sound bouncing back to the listener. your speakers frequency are coloured, no speaker is perfectly flat.

[@InfernoPhoenixFX]

Can we focus on the video, boys? This is a tech channel not a porn channel.

[@TV-xc5ut]

i bought a new main monitor and found out it doesn't have built-in speakers. which speakers should i get? below $100. thanks

[@billyjoelaw5437]

That's a nifty box if I've ever seen one

[@firedruid]

I really liked this video

[@BradwithHR]

Can someone train themselves to hear at audio file levels or is that more natural?

[@poeticsilence047]

Will that said video be coming out another time?

[@caseybever]

Get a matched pair of earthworks mics, flat response 20-20k.

[@DevCasey]

I was hoping you included Audio Engine's A2

[@kevingeorge4373]

This is the first time iam looking through the comments. And surprised lol any one else?

[@paulgudu9228]

Treble this includes all high pitched noises such as bell cymbals bird tweet and Adele's magical voice

[@Wintie]

upvoted for Jerry

[@stupidusername38]

software alone can't compensate for the shape of your room. you need a certain type of mic AND software to do that. Google ik multimedia ARC 2 or Sonarworks calibration software.

[@tahamudassir3474]

Fans with benefits

[@davidchen5463]

If you wanna equalise your audio, Sonarworks has the best software in the market

[@usernamenotavailable]

man I'm jealous at the guy who's going to marry Julia

[@DjOzKid]

How do I test my speakers? Can you give me links to software that you used?

[@Valfaun]

rule of thumb: my speakers are decent until i hear better ones, at which point they become garbage

[@goodboybud4804]

I've got something to measure. And it hertz 😰

[@hurley621]

Nice into linus

[@ArisuVEVO]

the examples were awesome lmao

[@BradwithHR]

Also- really enjoyed this video. Very interesting stuff!

[@GrumpiestKitten]

Your measurement box is garbage. The pressure chamber effect is going to boost everything in the bass which makes these measurements useless since you would listen to these speakers in a 10x10x3 meter room, not in a tiny wooden box. There is no way that book shelf goes down to 20Hz under normal conditions. Throw away that box, put the speakers on a normal table in a normal room and measure with the mic at the normal listening position.

[@phritz114]

cool! how did you guys build the box?

[@kusaluprety232]

KZbin, PLEASE fix the scam bot issue.

[@tehalexy]

as a guitarist, ive heard that the presence knob is crying :D

[@Kineticartist]

as a audio nerd this video had me going

[@Shuvojit69]

Those 2 speakers are nice 😛

[@jimmypatrick4409]

Click bait, cause Julia !

[@jonjones5342]

yup

[@1112Hades]

I have nightmares of that alarm sound since that means I got work in the morning

[@lissandrodanny6709]

I did love how Julia says SASMBS, and also, as "techy" as this was suposed to be, I don't think it was a good test. You guys tested 3 gadgets that obviously don't fall into the same category

[@allbrancereal_]

Its creepy how I bought this foam yesterday from Arrowzoom...

[@True-X]

I watched the video but I didn't hear a word you said. I'm drunk af. sorry. At least you got an entire view! Good night everyone.

[@mahimahoo9178]

JBL lsr305 check em out best speaker for the money.

[@ChrisD__]

Moon Wizard JBL Platinum Series speakers are really good too. Their super old though.

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Why does pink noise on my speakers sound like ocean?

[@vinicius401]

What happened to Esther?

[@kuyache2]

Julia is ncix to ashley jenkins of the know ^_^ glad to hear news/entertainment from their voices #NCIXYoDawg "line knows who?"

[@spacecadet2827]

big fat old school sony speakers and an eighties solid state home system. they have TOO MUCH bass if i set the graphic badly

[@hwoccurrence]

It's funny how much money some people spend on their computer and TV, yet they buy cheap crappy speakers and use intergrated soundcards. A good audio interface will outlast many graphic cards. If you want a good sound experience invest in an audio interface that suits your needs combined with a couple of active studio monitors. To treat your rooms aucustic is just as important.

[@DesocupadoXtremo]

I never watched a video of julia without watching one of asa akira after

[@runescapefan0001]

Julia > Asa Akira

[@rockhard90s]

I am here for nostalgic purpose ;)

[@tanakattack5965]

Where can i download new drivers for my ears?