User manual VELODYNE DIGITAL DRIVE

[. . . ] Digital Drive TM Series USER'S MANUAL F e a t u r i n g S o f t w a r e Ve r s i o n 2 . 0 Caution! . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual i At t e n t i o n ! . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual ii Vo r s i c h t ! . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual iii At t e n z i o n e ! . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual iv Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s Congratulations . . 9 ­ A Word About Subwoofer Outputs . . 9 ­ A Word About Interconnect Cables . [. . . ] Raise the volume on your receiver/processor until the DD test sweep (a tone that sweeps from 20Hz up to 200Hz) can be heard from your system's speakers. Continue to raise the volume until the "SYSTEM RESPONSE" graph on your TV shows the response of your full range speakers (the right hand portion of the graph) at approximately 76 dB (or a comfortable listening level). This is shown below: . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual 20 9. Now use the DD remote control to unmute the subwoofer, then use the volume up and down keys to match the level of the subwoofer to your full range speakers. That is, the "SYSTEM RESPONSE" graph should be relatively flat (although at this point there will be peaks and valleys that will be addressed next). The screen should now look something like this: . www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual 21 About Room Placement. Room placement is the first step in equalizing your sub(s) to your room. Subwoofers operate at extremely low frequencies, which are primarily omni-directional (that is, you can't usually tell where they are coming from). Placing the sub in the room is a trial and-error process. The goal is to find the best location(s) that result in the minimum number and severity of valleys in the frequency response curve. This is because peaks in the response curve are easy to address with an EQ, but valleys typically are not easily fixed because they represent a cancellation of soundwaves that more power to that frequency will usually not fix. As a general rule, placing the sub(s) in the corner(s) of a room will add to the overall amount of bass the subwoofer produces, but that bass may not necessarily be as low in distortion compared to a position away from the corner. The worst location for a subwoofer is typically far away from any walls, and close to the center of your room. When using a pair of Velodyne subwoofers in stereo, it is preferable to place each subwoofer by the satellite of the same channel. If moving your satellites is an option, they too can contribute to peaks and valleys and should be likewise placed through experimentation. Now you can begin moving your subwoofer around the room to find the best placement position. You need to find the best tradeoff between appearance and room response. Be sure the room is in the configuration that it will be in when you typically listen e. g. doors opened or closed, curtains open or closed, etc. As you move the subwoofer, refer to the "SYSTEM RESPONSE" graph to minimize peaks and especially valleys in the response curve. As an example, you might find a location that smoothes the graph as follows: . NOTE: The subwoofer should be turned off when physically moving the unit. www. velodyne. com Digital Drive User's Manual 22 TIP: Here's an easy way to find the optimal position for the subwoofer without moving it to multiple positions in the room. Start by setting the subwoofer up in your listening position. Now, move the microphone around the room and observe the response graphs for different room positions. [. . . ] This has been implemented by simply not erasing the previous graph until the new graph overlays it, allowing the user to see the effect of the new settings. Previously, the TEST button showed the user the graph screen but the only function was to press TEST again to return to the settings screen. Now the graph screen is fully functional, and pressing test again puts the user at the field where they left off on the settings screen. When the volume up or down buttons are pressed, the Velodyne light will blink faster as the volume increases, and slower as the volume decreases. [. . . ]