The Ultimate Subwoofer Calibration Guide With Harmon Target Curve

[@TWISTEDBULLET]

Amazing subwoofer calibration guide! This is the best method I've ever used! Thank you!

[@hdmoviesource]

Great to hear and thank you so much for your donation.

[@davidt8438]

I’d like to congratulate Carl for one thing that seems to elude all other people who do videos like this. He actually answered all the questions people have after they watched this video. So often people have a question or problem that either isn’t addressed in the video or they, for one reason or another didn’t get it. Carl answers each person with what I see as great answers. Good job for taking the time to do the hard work Carl.

[@mastergunna71]

Great video, this is exactly what I needed.

[@hdmoviesource]

Enjoy!

[@juanorfi3708]

This a great calibration video. May i suggest a short version?

[@hdmoviesource]

LOL, yeah, I should do shorter video, the problem is a start speaking and then think that I can make it longer, LOL.

[@Yakena1]

I haven't been watching your channel other than commenting on the movie reviews on Reddit. All I can say is you went "full in" on going down the rabbit hole LOL! I have new subs delivered in the last few days the arendahl 2Ss x2 and I will give this a go after the holidays as my sub location for one is on hold for the xmas tree. For the interim I will co-locate the subs and just do a avr generated calibration. I will do a separate sweeps and save them so I can do this calibration and can plug the calibration in when the subs location is finalized in the new year. Have a great christmas season and cheers from Japan!

[@hdmoviesource]

Thanks, let me know how it goes.

[@CustomPCBuilderUK]

I purchased MultEQ-X for £123.74 last week, looking forward to delving into all the tweaks and features now possible.

[@hdmoviesource]

Nice, let me know how it goes.

[@parupudiphanindra3126]

Me too. From India

[@hdmoviesource]

Nice.

[@christiandickey]

Carl.... Holy shit does this make a huge difference. Apparently I've been adjusting my subs wrong for years. What a tremendous find brother 👍 I've got to re-watch quite a few things now. This was an immediate sound difference.

[@hdmoviesource]

Awesome!!! Great to hear! Need to watch all your movies again now, LOL.

[@drsuresh9]

Thank you for the new Sub calibration method. How does your system measure in stereo mode with Front speakers at-10dB settings. Please post a small video if possible. I wish to see how the Sub and front speakers match graphically.❤❤❤

[@hdmoviesource]

My bass in stereo will measure quite high, about as much as the point one channel sweep. It's a large increase.

[@martinmares8998]

Thank you for the video. There is a lot of good info in the video. Personally, I use a house curve for my subs(4) that I learned from Home Theater Gurus and I love how it sounds in my room, with my system, and the rest of my speakers. Some of your viewer may be familiar with this house curve, 10dB gradual rise starting at 100Hz and leveling out at 30Hz. The target level for the house curve is 75dB, and 5.7 LF Rise Slope (dB/octave). HC match range 18Hz to 105Hz, 6dB Individual Max Boost, 10dB Overall Max Boost, 1dB Flatness Target. When I'm all done level-matching my speakers, Post-EQ Sub Alignment, sub distance tweak, and finding the best Sub/Speaker XO for my room(100Hz), my system sounds awesome. This HC provides 104dB peaks in the 30Hz region at -10 MV. Bass is tight and chest thumping at even -30 MV. Everything blends wells and all speakers sound cohesive. I watched movies in physical media at -13 MV and streamed media at -10 MV and it sounds awesome. I calibrate subs and adjust level in MultEQ-X so that I end up with a trim of -11 in the AVR. I then increase to -6. The gain knob in all my subs is at the 12'oclock. Plenty of headroom and no clipping issues. In the miniDSP, the gain in the Input is at -4, and outputs at 0.

[@hdmoviesource]

Yeah, that's the curve I used to use. It can definitely sound good. Sounds good.

[@magnushallin1]

Thank you for this fantastic video! Is this calibration making the bass 10dB higher compared to your previous videos/calibrations?

[@drrobertmorsebestmoments4448]

Excellent, excellent video, this method rocks! My subs are unlocked!!!

[@hdmoviesource]

Thank you.

[@cafiveohsrockbandremix9254]

Initially I thought this method might produce anemic bass, but using the FR (or FL) channels to calibrate to the target instead of the LFE channel makes sense. I’m looking forward to trying this method out to see how it sounds! Also, your tip about lowering FL and FR channel levels in 2 ch stereo setting is gold. I’m always so underwhelmed with the bass when listening to music in stereo and now I understand why! Great video!

[@hdmoviesource]

Awesome, great to hear. Yeah, I really noticed the difference between movie bass and music bass was so different. I'm really glad these Denon receiver's have this 2 channel setting.

[@cheekster777]

Thank you Carl.

[@hdmoviesource]

As always, thank you Cheekster!

[@danmaier2077]

Hi Carl, I've been waiting for your video ❤

[@hdmoviesource]

Thanks Dan, this calibration method is amazing, I hope you enjoy!

[@danmaier2077]

@@hdmoviesource Yes Carl, I will definitely try! It also works with my minidsp 2X4 HD or ? I see that you have something else now !!

[@hdmoviesource]

@@danmaier2077 Yeah, it works the same. Even more imports are made for a Mini-DSP 2x4HD.

[@danmaier2077]

@@hdmoviesource OKAY, Thank you for your reply Carl . I will definitely try this out.

[@hdmoviesource]

@@danmaier2077 Once you get the levels right it's spectacular bass.

[@jerzyboy1210]

This is amazing. I'm still learning about all this. Where exactly would the steps in this video fall in the grand scheme of things. Before or after room correction?

[@hdmoviesource]

I would do this after and see if you can turn off any subwoofer calibration that and automatic system has done.

[@Game_Impala]

I’d really like to hear your thoughts on how you could implement this with A1 Maestro that OCA developed. How does this sub calibration method sound compared to that? I’ll try it on my own, but I’d like your perspective, also.

[@hdmoviesource]

Good question, I haven't tried his method yet. I'm sure he's using the same target. So, I think it may sound similar, but using a Mini-DSP sounds better in my opinion.

[@tomconnell7154]

I have so MANY questions being new to this - I have a Sony AZ5000ES receiver and there is absolutely NO bass mgmt at all in their room correction software. I have the MiniDSP 2x4HD and I also have 2 Monolith THX V-2 subs. May I ask what you set your knobs on the back of your subs to....or is this trivial and does not have to be specifically set ?

[@mikewong3389]

You did this after MQX calibration or before? If before, then the LFE level adjustment entered after the MQX calibration? But we need to align the sub before the MQX and input the EQ to Mindsp isn't it?

[@hdmoviesource]

I calibrated MQX before, then the sub. I make sure my subs run slightly hot in volume compared to the calibrated levels. Then what I do is lower the volume as needed in the receiver so the levels match.

[@HiFinest343]

This is the third or fourth variation of bass optimization. What are the key differences between this one and the others in terms of process and performance?

[@hdmoviesource]

A target that follows the target of your main speakers. That's the big one, but it also has far better balance that my previous calibrations.

[@m1ndfields33]

A bit of a newbie question since I'm kinda new to REW and miniDSP.. but should I do all the things you said AFTER having done room corrections with Audyssey MultEQ-X or before? I have the feeling that doing the REW, MiniDSP stuff before would end up in MultEQ-X lowering the levels again from 0db to like -9.0db. Regardless, great vid and hope this question made sense btw.

[@hdmoviesource]

With Audyssey MultEQ-X you can turn off the calibrations that Audyssey does, so you can disable their calibration on the sub, and start from scratch.

[@VoodooZ]

love your detailed videos. New sub for that! Been following OCA for a while and his A1/Nexus project so I dig that stuff more and more. fyi, you don't seem to have the 1meg sweep file you're using in your video in your gdrive... I can get it from OCA directly but just a heads up. I'd love if you would start automating some of this somehow like OCA using REW's API.

[@hdmoviesource]

I have the 1M sweep file, but OCA switched to his new sweeps because the old ones have leak issues. I would love to automate my way of doing things, but I'm not sure how it all works to be honest.

[@VoodooZ]

@@hdmoviesource Oh. that's the one he was referring to then... I've been following his A1Evo and Nexus threads and he did highlight that but wasn't sure if it was before your video or after. But like you said, I might just rely on REW's sweeps for calibrating as I just added a second sub and looking forward to applying your stuff to compare to Nexus

[@hdmoviesource]

REW for sweeps should be perfectly fine. I actually just did a calibration using the Spatial Audio Calibration Toolkit. Sounds really good.

[@ElectroPineapple]

Since you mention OCA, did you try his A1 Evo (Nexus) calibration? I’m using only one Sub and his calibration sets my fronts to large and I use LFE+Main. Curious how these settings impact the method you’ve shared.

[@hdmoviesource]

I haven't tried it no.

[@dannykl6883]

Great work Carl, I bought a Minidsp it’s still sat in the box a year later lol .. all this stuff is just way beyond me do you do home calibrations?

[@hdmoviesource]

I've done a couple yes. I can do a remote calibration.

[@dannykl6883]

@@hdmoviesource that sounds good what is the best way I can contact you?

[@dannykl6883]

@@hdmoviesource sounds good what would be the best way for me to contact you? Thanks

[@hdmoviesource]

info@hdmoviesource my name is Carl.

[@andrew1977au]

I stumbled across this issue recently when I was doing full sweeps, I noticed that the bass being crossed over to the sub was way lower than the .1 channel.

[@hdmoviesource]

How much lower? -10 db?

[@krishnataveras8734]

Great video like always. One thing I dont understand is how the dips or knulls in your signal always end up almost flat. My EQs never flatten the signal enough to follow the target curve as good as yours do. What do you think I am doing wrong?

[@hdmoviesource]

It depends if you allow your EQ to use boosts or not. I have powerful subs and feel as though I'm okay with boosting here and there. You could try and it and see how it sounds.

[@christiandickey]

I noticed in your mini dsp software that you had peq enabled on your subs. Is this something we need to know about?

[@hdmoviesource]

The PEQ is enabled, unless disabled. Even if you remove all PEQs it will say enabled unless you manually disable them.

[@kixxoff928]

There are no 1MM sweep files in the folder :(

[@hdmoviesource]

I removed them because they had issues.

[@CustomPCBuilderUK]

Seems like there are no plans for a MultEQ-X Black Friday Sale this year? Unless they (Audyssey) are waiting until the very last minute to announce it...

[@hdmoviesource]

yeah, that would have been nice for many. Still worth it either way though.

[@BelindaKelly-i8f]

Hi Carl, Are the Harmon curve downloads Windows only? I have a Mac, is there somewhere I can get them for this calibration? cheers

[@krishnataveras8734]

the curve files are just .txt files with a bunch of info in them. I dont think it maters whether you use windows or Mac.

[@hdmoviesource]

The curve is a text file, should be able to download them from my google drive.

[@hdmoviesource]

Yeah, doesn't matter.

[@bmbrown9111]

I just finished following you on this guide and I must of done something wrong because this is the most anemic I’ve ever heard my subs. Either that or they were just way over boosted from the receiver setup. Admittedly I was having a hard time following the part where you were aligning SPL. Probably messed that up. Have to try again another day.

[@hdmoviesource]

It’s easy to mess up the SPL part, so just go back over it and it should sound better.

[@bmbrown9111]

@@hdmoviesource Did a couple practice cals and think I got a handle of what your doing with the SPL alignment. Went through and redid this on my subs and although I was able to implement it I think my subs are probably the biggest problem. There pretty cheap Sonys and roll off pretty heavy after 40 hz. I imagine this sounds pretty good with better subs. Also I don’t generally listen super loud like anywhere near reference levels so that could be part of it to. I’m going to run it for a while and see how I like it.

[@hdmoviesource]

Okay, very good to hear. Yeah, I think balance is so huge when it comes to home theater setup.

[@bmbrown9111]

⁠@@hdmoviesource Left my subs like this for a couple weeks and they just don’t sound like much is going on. When I sweep them there right on that curve which is weird. I decided to check the what the SPL was just using the SPL meter and tone generator and found that the level difference between the center channel using the speaker cal frequencies in rew and the sub range when measuring the same channel wasn’t nearly as Much of a difference as I would have expect considering what the sweep response was. I then decided to sweep my center with subs turned on and the filters engaged and the SPL dropped drastically. Not really sure where to go from here but the only way I’ve been able to get decent bass is to just boost the level of sub using the tone generator until they finally seem to come to life.

[@kixxoff928]

this seems like very cool stuff and you are doing super good job! But the explanation is so inconsistent and complicated. It sounds like you provide very detailed clarification why you do something and why you like it more this way, but more detailed step-by-step clarification what to click and HOW to do things - is missing. The suggestions for -10'ish on stereo and lowering LFE for movies - are brilliant though! I just upgraded subs from 2xPB1000 to 2xArendal 1V and am somewhat struggling with bass management. Room is crap - apartment, open space living room, different ceiling hight.

[@hdmoviesource]

Thanks for the tips!

[@kixxoff928]

​@@hdmoviesource What settings on the AVR and on the SUBs are you using before calibration? Like - switch off Audyssey, did you change the LPF to 250..? Maybe I missed all that? Questions: 54:12 you clicked add to data. Shouldn't you save the file again and upload it to miniDSP? My AVR is Denon 4700 (MultEQ XT32) and I am not sure if I can upload any data to it like you are doing. So is the information you are giving after 57:00 applicable?

[@ninohowald627]

👌

[@hdmoviesource]

thanks.