Room EQ Wizard Basics | Setup & measure your subwoofer

Want to take measurements of your subwoofers but don't know where to start? My Room EQ Wizard Basics video has you covered. I'll go over everything you need to get setup and start measuring, as well as how to configure Room EQ Wizard so you can start taking measurements quickly and accurately any time you want to. If you enjoy this video, feel free to give a thumbs up and consider subscribing. Also, check out my Amazon Affilate links below!
Items used in the video
UMIK-1 Measurement Mic: amzn.to/3jLfTYT
Amazon Basics 15-foot HDMI Cable: amzn.to/3jLfTYT
Amazon Basics USB Extension Cable: amzn.to/3jLfTYT
Amazon Basics Mic Stand: amzn.to/2FgaaLz
SVS PB-2000 Pro Subwoofer: www.anrdoezrs.net/click-10019...
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
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Audio Technica M40X Headphones: amzn.to/3fOz6qz
PreSonus Eris E3.5 Studio Monitors: amzn.to/30sVOyb
Audio Technica AT2020 Condensor Microphone: amzn.to/30xUn1v
BenQ EX2780Q Monitor: amzn.to/2BfBW90
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My Home Theater System
Pioneer SP-FS52 Floorstanding Speakers: amzn.to/3jpREzs
Pioneer SP-C22 Center Speaker: amzn.to/32zytgQ
Pioneer SP-BS22 Speaker Pair (L/R surround): amzn.to/3fM5ryl
Polk OWM3 Speaker Pair (ceiling mounted Atmos): amzn.to/3fMwBFk
SVS PB10-ISD Subwoofer (linked to PB-1000): www.anrdoezrs.net/click-10019...
Denon X2300W Receiver: amzn.to/2CuemWI
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TIMESTAMPS
Intro - 00:00
About REW - 00:16
What You'll Need - 00:52
Subscribe and Stuff! - 01:45
Where to get REW - 02:06
Measurement Mic Files - 02:21
REW Mic Setup - 02:39
Input/Output Setup - 03:32
Setting Measurement Level - 04:48
Measurement Settings - 06:22
Reading/Adjusting Response Window - 08:10
How-to compare multiple measurements - 09:39
Checking overall bass level - 11:23
Audyssey off/on comparison - 13:14
Wrapping up and NORM! - 13:57

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

Whoops! I mislabeled the before and after Audyssey measurements in the video! Needless to say, those measurements aren't labeled correctly.

[@welderfixer]

Brad, great start with this video series and thank you. We need all of the help we can get. As we all know, there is so much to do to get our HT systems and room properly tuned. And, calling it complicated is likely too mild of a term. Just running Audyssey correctly is an okay start, but certainly NOT the best route to achieve the "better than the cinema" sound we all would like. Huge amounts of praise must bestowed upon John the creator of the free Room EQ Wizard software and the numerous guys and gals who have posted videos and documents about how to use it. Learning to use it takes ton of time and I'm hoping to be able to save up enough $ soon to buy a second hand laptop with HDMI to run it on my recycle bin built 5.2 system.

[@dutchgrower2971]

You are awsome, everytime i use REW i take a little peak at this video,to fresh things up again, you explain it so fine, i am Dutch and i would have not be able to do this without this video, keep up the good work 💪

[@dceldeen]

Thanks for this quick tutorial! I needed to get my sub dialed in for both 2 channel and HT since I have a separate 2 channel system with passthrough for HT for the front speakers and sub. This was perfect with the Dayton Audio EMM-6 mic and Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Also helped me identify a hole around 90hz in the key listening spot which some wall baffles resolved because of the long room with vaulted ceilings. 💯

[@sebastianengelhardt5012]

Nice Vid!! Thanks for your work.. Perfect explained and easy to understand.

[@ryanstroeder7908]

dude good job on these videos

[@Edwin-E]

this is informative video. Thanks.

[@shaolin95]

How do you specifically select a sub LFE channel to send the signal with REW?

[@BoredSilly666]

Great Video Thanks. What setting did you have the Crossover at please?

[@delali2631]

Great video! Can you make one on how to add EQ to the measurement to make it flat please. By the way your video was easy to understand 👍🏽

[@connarsquires9419]

Great video! What is the relevance of the HDMI cable!

[@johnlim7720]

Great video...what are your thoughts with regards to using a miniDSP 2X4HD? A lot of reviewer's seem to recommend it. Also which do I run first? REW then Audyssey or Audyssey first then REW? Thanks.

[@mariusm5187]

Great video. What receiver do you have?

[@HardProducah]

Thanks for the great vid! Question: when you do the full sweep: 20 to 20khz. Is it only by using 1 sub, or do you let the mains also sweep?

[@russ6366]

Great video!! I was really intimidated to use this until I watched your video. Thanks for the content. I’m doing this this week. 👍 BTW, is that Evergrey on the outro?

[@edicharana406]

Nice video! Did you quit the approach you mentioned in an earlier video about adjusting the sweep level from -12db to -30db? Thanks!

[@sveneisenhauer1]

Great video! What is the relevance of the HDMI cable (seen it this suggested 2-3 times now)? My laptop doesn’t have HDMI and my amps don’t have HDMI ‘INPUTS’ (I am not an HT guy), so just use -say- my 3.5mm headphone ‘OUT’ from the laptop? Thanks.

[@aaronwhitehead6015]

What a great video

[@SavageAirCinema]

Spent a few days getting to know this program with some trial and error. Finally was able to get a nice house curve from my front speakers and subwoofer. What a difference!! So much smoother. Just need to figure out a way to calibrate my sides and rear speakers. I'm able to measure them, but the ASIO file can't be applied to EqualizerAPO.

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

If I remember correctly, the file type you need to select is “Generic” instead of miniDSP2x4 HD in the first section in the EQ window. Then you want to output to a text file. I can verify this later today when I’m at the computer. I have used Equalizer APO to EQ my studio monitors, but it’s been a while.

[@SavageAirCinema]

@@HomeTheaterGamer you are correct. But, it's when I apply the text file to EqualizerAPO.. it's like the file isn't being read,, no difference.

[@wrthomas69]

really trying to learn this. What version of REW are you using? I'm on 5.1 and interface is much different. Also when I start to measure I'm only getting sound from the L speaker.

[@dutchgrower2971]

Ok you adjust the volums of the main and sub , do you do that with the trim levels i n the avr , or are you using master volume

[@wrthomas69]

I have a umik1 from Cross Spectrum Labs (individually calibrated), do I use the narrow band or one third octive calibration file, both are 90%.

[@torqueofthedevil8145]

I’d love to know why Audyssey created that Null and how you fixed it. Great video, thanks.

[@Rj0222lj]

Audyssey automatically adds midrange compensation. You can disable it by either 1) purchase the Audyssey app or 2) set the speakers setting to Flat instead of Reference in the menu. Assuming you have a denon or Marantz

[@EVMANVSGAS]

thanks for the quick start guide for REW. Getting my mic in tomorrow to give it a try.

[@michaelbested123456]

In the beginning where you set front left and subwoofer volume with the spl, do you raise the volume for the front on the avr and the sub volume on the subs gain knob?

[@williamkobling8397]

If you a calibrating a subwoofer for a stereo system and there is not a Home Theater receiver to cable to, what can be done to measure the subwoofer? Not sure how to generate the test tones of the amplifier I am using or the subwoofer itself. I plan on connecting the subwoofer to the high level speakers binding posts on my amplifier.

[@paulgreenwood69]

So I’ve got 2 subs and a AV receiver. To setup my subs, what’s the very first thing I need to do after they are placed correctly? I’ve got the dsp microphone and REW.

[@ryanragan8899]

Can I use my audessey mic for this?

[@rodneydavies6471]

Great video. Can you make one with rew plus the minidsp? Thanks

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

I will eventually. I don't currently have a miniDSP but will be looking at getting one soon.

[@robertschuster312]

Check home theatre gurus ep 7, Steve def knows his stuff

[@luke9822]

What about for Macbooks which do not have an HDMI output? I'm assuming different instructions?

[@andreemilsen369]

I always align and eq my subs before roomcorrection software....maybe I should try it the other way around 🤔

[@morbus74]

When you are setting the right measurement levels and for example subwoofer level is too low, do you raise the level from amplifiers subwoofer settings, or from the subwoofers gain adjusting..?

[@derekharkins5519]

Yeah he didn’t explain that. I just set up REW and am using this method. I did the L channel and raised it to 75 on the remote as he instructed. Then did the sub and it was reading about 66. I tried messing with the settings in the AVR and it didn’t seem to change it much. And because I ran Audyssey I don’t want to touch the gain on the sub itself so I’m kinda stuck on how to proceed

[@JohnWolf-kz6bh]

Let me start out by saying I enjoy all your tutorials. They have helped me better understand and use Audyssey and REW and I feel I've got the "sweet spot" pretty dialed in. However, as with most audiophiles always searching for that next improvement, have you done any work or posted any tutorials regarding the expansion of the sweet spot. It's a bummer that only one person gets the REAL experience.

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

Thanks for the kind words and comment. It’s always been really difficult to widen that sweet spot with REW, but with the latest beta release they’ve added cross correlation time alignment, meaning you can now take multiple measurements across your listening area and then EQ based off of the average of those. It’s surprising how easy and effective it is. I’m planning on doing a tutorial at some point. I have some videos I need to get out before I can get in the tutorial groove again.

[@JohnWolf-kz6bh]

Thanks for the quick reply. 👍🏻

[@rmari-sw4sm]

Do I set the volume on my laptop to 100?

[@KrisCortez]

Does the output need to be set to L, R or L+R before making a measurement? I'm getting more spl when both LR is selected. Which one would give me accurate results?

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

If your front left and right speakers are level matched, then any of those would be fine honestly. The L+R reading should be about 6dB higher than either the left or right just by themselves, but I've found it to be no more accurate than the reading of the individual speakers.

[@makimoko]

When running the measurements, did you setup the AVR to not output frequencies below 200 Hz? Otherwise you would be measuring subwoofer + speakers no?

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

For the purpose of this video, I chose to measure the subwoofers along with the speakers to show potential issues at or near the crossover point, which is where common issues arise for many people. If I was just focusing on EQing the subs, I would disconnect the front left and right speakers entirely, but for this video, that wasn't needed.

[@Mike_v_E]

@@HomeTheaterGamer if I want to run an EQ on just the subs, do I need to unplug the speakers? Or will the crossovers do the work?

[@aspjake123]

How did you disable Audessey?

[@dabesrobert5638]

yo do more, all different qualitties of everything, use pound shop 3.5mm speakers with bt heaphone mic. Your good at saying what your on about. Remember ultimatly pc gamers want presision. on everything from virtual atmos to 7:2:3 (think thats right) gl bro sick

[@steveschwier4782]

How did you choose your subs for measurement. It looks like you where measuring your front right and left speakers bass output?

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

Good question. As long as you have a crossover active in your receiver and front left and right speakers set to small, your subwoofers will take over below the crossover point and show up in the measurements. If you want isolate just the subs, you can either max out your crossover in your receiver (so something like 250Hz), or use ASIO4ALL and select “Output 4” for just the subs.

[@steveschwier4782]

Thanks.

[@lefamiglia2392]

This video only checks the subwoofer of main speakers. How about the LFE sub?

[@TylerStout]

I think using REW is pretty easy but knowing what to do with REW to fix issues is a lot harder but definitely cool to just change settings and see what it does. Dynamic EQ is one that depending on volume level does a lot. I bet with some tinkering of the phase on your subs along with distance in the AVR you could get that null near the crossover fixed but it could be just issues with your room that only treatment or placement could fix.

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

Thanks for the comment! The vaulted ceilings and openings definitely make it tricky. I’ve tried many different positions and/or phase combinations and that null is so darn persistent. Being able to see what’s going on in REW helps a ton though, and when I get time I’ll see if I can get a better response and make a video about what I’ve found.

[@michaelkreisel3573]

@@HomeTheaterGamer you can’t eq nulls. What you can do is move your subs and/or treat your room. I had a similar null and after making a few acoustic panels it vanished 👍

[@reviewgodusa9613]

@@michaelkreisel3573 how do you know where to put the panels?

[@michaelkreisel3573]

@@reviewgodusa9613 if you go to home theatre gurus KZbin page he has a very good video explaining how sound waves bounce around. Episode 21-24

[@decaf77]

@@HomeTheaterGamer would you recommend using an RCA splitter for dual sub calibration? Or run each sub independently (sub 1 and sub 2) off the AVR?

[@dadevastator24_77]

Is this done before or after room correction?

[@DF-et4gs]

He's analyzing with or without room correction throughout the whole video.

[@TyTimp]

When I pull up the SPL meter and generator with speaker cal selected, the sound coming from my speaker is ear piercing loud and the SPL meter is only reading 30 dB. I can't figure out why. There's no way I can reach 75 dB. Same with the sub.

[@aleXtreme_]

When I follow your guide REW measures my L or R or both front speakers. I want to measure my 4 subs. How can I do that, so frustrating

[@nickbataila]

On your AV Receiver, set front speakers to Small. All low frequency will be sent to subwoofer. Took me 2 days to find out this.

[@akyhne]

@@nickbataila That's a bad solution.

[@akyhne]

If you are on Windows: Install ASIO4ALL. It's an emulated sound card. Open the software, and choose YOUR GPU HDMI as output. Then you have as many channels, as your AVR supports.

[@beartube86]

I’m pissed I lost my audssey mic to my receiver 🤦🏾‍♂️ I had to order another I can’t add the second subwoofer

[@OffTheWallReviews]

I like the channel but not a good learning video. You need to tell poeple what you are doing. "I turn up the volume" to what? The gain on the sub, the volume on the receiver? Remember for some it's the 1st time doing this and have not done it many times like yourself. Love the channel keep up the good work.

[@sg1ds919]

I agree.. A video from start to finish so we can see ever step he dose. What to look for, what not to look for etc....

[@dutchgrower2971]

True Paul, also he is not anshering any questions, and thats anoying, its like he s offering realy sweet candy, but you just can not reach it😢

[@undercrownhiphop9422]

I calibrated my SPL to 76 db SPL and when I’m the RTA it shows 76 peak in the top right display. But on the graph it’s only peaking at 65db. Why?

[@hellonwheelsuknow6556]

Whatever it is that he is playing the sound from would be what was turned up to meet the required spl levels. These videos would be sooooo long if every step was explained in detail. But yes, it would be easier if there was more detail.

[@Shoaibexpert]

How do we create a Parametric EQ to correct the EQ curve for use with Equalizer APO? Thanks

[@iyona14granturismogt6gtspo7]

You are using db(c) I believe you are supposed to use db(Z) Weighting.

[@veerachaiaudiosound7895]

I can not install

[@Pinnkong]

drop the background music !!!!!!

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

I'll be sure to do that on a video over 3 years old. 😉

[@BenB0MB]

I just want to lower my bass lol

[@michaelcorlet2998]

Slow down to fast and miss out information.

[@haraldpost]

This was not helpful. I cannot measure my sub using this method, as I am not able to chose LFE channel..

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

Have you tried using ASIO4ALL to access the individual channels (including LFE?)? May I ask why you want to single out just the LFE channel as opposed to running the sweep through the left or right front channels and let the receiver bass manage the signal?

[@haraldpost]

​@@HomeTheaterGamer Thanks for your reply! Yes I've. Unfortunately ASIO4ALL produces terrible crackling sound when I do freq. swipes in REW. It is unusable. I actually tried with a different computer a few months ago, and ASIO4ALL did the same thing! It appears to be flawed. So I resorted to the Java driver and physically unplugging my mains and doing L+R with only subs active. (Apparently when you choose EXCL: in REW it means some wasapi driver thing that should give you multichannel using the Java driver, but for me it doesn't work for the LFE channel for unknown reason.)

[@HomeTheaterGamer]

That’s really interesting with ASIO4ALL. I’ve never run into that issue myself. Have you tried upping the sample rate within ASIO4ALL? I seem to recall it sometimes defaults to some crazy low number like 128. WASAPI issues are a different story. I could spend a whole hour talking about my issues there. Haha. Most of the time if I’m doing sub calibration I stick with JAVA and like you, unplug the mains. Running into REW issues stinks and it’s made even worse because troubleshooting, especially remotely or through comments, is just really difficult. This stuff can be super frustrating when things don’t work the way they should.

[@haraldpost]

​@@HomeTheaterGamer Yes. Very frustrating. I spent the better part of two evenings adding a third sub to my system. Getting parts. Fan modding an iNuke 3000. Getting more parts.. XLR, speakon, mic stand.., soldering XLR to an RCA cable for unbalanced connection from minidsp 2x4HD.. having issues with zero signal. Studying parts schematic for iNuke 3000.. studying balanced amplifiers (opamp) so understand the schematic. After unsuccessful attempts I got suspicion of the XLR plug in the PCB. It is kind a big and I can't see what it is doing.. Using the DMM I figured out the XLR plug in the PCB *connects to different points* when using a 6,3mm phono v XLR!! (i.e. *not possible* to solder an XLR connector to the end of an RCA signal cable instead of using RCA->Phono adapter.) So I soldered back on the RCA plug I had cut off... now the sub is working. And REW decides to stop working the LFE channel.

[@haraldpost]

@@HomeTheaterGamer I've solved the issue I had with ASIO! Turned out the crackling disappeared when I upped the buffer size from default 512 to 1024! Yey!

[@southpaw9995]

You need to tell people how to actually setup up the equipment before getting into REW. ( E.g. like hdmi from your laptop into the AVR). Also, the output device in preferences DOES need to have your AVR selected from the drop down options. (Eg. Denon, marantz, yamaha AVR). It says signal generator audio output not available. I just stopped watching at that point.