How to ANALYZE & EQ Any Room | Step by Step Tutorial
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- Опубліковано 23 січ 2025
- In this video, I'll show you a step-by-step process for using a measurement microphone to analyze problems in your room, or in this case, sanctuary! There are many RTA microphones available, in this video I'll be using the Sonarworks mic. Also, you'll learn how to generate pink noise with the Behringer X32 and more!
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As is mentioned in the comments, it would be best to put your Left & Right Mains on a Matrix instead of using Room EQ on the Main Bus. We do not livestream but it could get messy if you are using room eq on your main bus 😅
Great vid quality! If may may make a suggestion... If you send your LR mix to a matrix then you can do your volume offset there, but not only that, you will also be able to do your room correction EQ on the matrix. That will allow you to send your LR mix to other places (Example: Livestream) without having your room EQ messing with it. Then just output that MATRIX to your PA instead of the LR Mix. Thanks for the vid!
Thanks!! I’m excited to put that to use 🙌
You can also do it the other way round ..
Or just use an irig stream on the monitor outs. Even easier!
@@magicmaui77 how do ya mean
@@seljoypro definitely an option!
Hi Chris, I really liked your video, the methodology of how you do an EQ quickly.
I would like to have your opinion on the alignment of the subwoofers with your line arrays?
Thank you in advance.
You can also use a stereo graphic eq as a insert on your master bus ch. to fine tune your frenquency adjustments.
Our church can't afford bass traps, so they ask us fat people to sit in the corners. Just kidding, great video!
🤣
Very good video, very easy to understand. I will try this on the next gig.
Thanks for watching! 😁
nice vide! in really explains the very basic concept of eq room treatment quite nicely. I would have added the small caveat that after finishing you should always move the measuring mic to different places and see if the corrections you made still make sense. or, if you can, use several mics (middle, on axis of one side of the mains front and back) at the same time when designing your correction eq. This is really important because every spot in the room sounds different and comb filtering effects, and other distortions that come with the use of several loudspeakers in one room can lead you to correct for the peculiarities of just one small spot :-/. In the end I recommend leaving your meters, walking the room and trusting your ears to finally verify that your corrections are actually working. Thanks again for this very easy to replicate process you showed with the video!
Good info! 🙂 I’m happy with the sound but it’s always a work in progress 😅 Thanks for watching and sharing your insights!
I think to truly eq a room the sound tech must have the ears for it!!!!! Pink noise is 2% correct!!! And Some churches or venues are still using the analog sound desks than digital!!!
I’m old school analog desk are so much warmer and mixing a rock or worship music if you have the money to upgrade all digital equipment and re learning how to use the equipment!!!
A great video about this!! My church is Salvation Army and we don’t have digital desk I wanted one but the budget is the situation!! Our online streaming is 110% perfect without all those digital media etc !!! We recorded it and then we upload to facebook and perfect video and audio!!! Recording and streaming at the same time caused a lot of gilches video dropouts and freezes !!! A Microsoft pc using OBS studio and worship program audio from the Yamaha desk into usb works 110%
Best video ever! Very easy to understand how to eq a room. I appreciate you for explaining it in a simple way. Would the same process work doing it with front fills.
Could you do a video on gain structure getting good levels from the source to the board then setting proper levels for main speakers/front fills etc….
You’ll want to enable every speaker that might have an impact on the listening position. Front fills, monitors, or any speaker that might be within earshot of the RTA mic should be considered when doing any correction. Otherwise, you might end up making your Main L+R mix sound great but when you enable the front fills they are too bright 🤔
I muted our stage wedges because they are going to be relocated soon. I’ll do another correction when they’re back but the process is the same. We’ve had sides in our sanctuary previously but I found they were unnecessary for our setup. Most people at our church sit in the back when they don’t want volume 😂
Gain Structure will be pretty consistent. All inputs (instruments, vocals, etc..) need to be around -18 on the board. Then the overall volume from your PA will mostly be personal preference. A rock band at 110db might sound great but a preacher at 110db might rip your ears off 😅
@@heychrisgreen Thanks for responding back I really appreciate it. The church I do sound at it's somewhat the same space of your church, the only difference it's narrow and wide with a middle aisle, 2 line arrays, 2 power 12in speakers that are on stands and 2 subs on stage. I use the x32 board but soon we'll be upgrading running out channels lol. Once again thank for explaining how to Eq the room in a simple way without using any software like Smart. My gain structure have to be better so I have to work on that.
What would be the first step Eq the room then work on gain structure.
@@zebmccall2610 definitely get your gain structure correct first.. the faders are only as accurate as your gain levels. It’ll solve many issues for you to get that right first. The room EQ should be last if you consider the signal flow. Instrument > Mic Pre / Gain > Track Level > Busses/Groups > Output
You will be better off addressing things earlier in the chain. Room EQ is applied to your output signal so save that for later. Your RTA mic, pink noise, and overall mix need to have proper gain structure which is why I mentioned the db meter and -18 in the video so much 🙂
@@heychrisgreen Cool! Gain structure first then Room EQ awesome. For your Busses/Groups did you create a Drum bus, Band bus, and Vocal bus all in Stereo > Output
Good technique in your video, but the Sound ID microphone has an EQ profile of its own that you need to consider.
They are all basically flat up to 3k, but they differ after that point.
Might be worth checking out the profile for your mic using its serial number and allowing for its natural response.
Thanks for the clear video!
i just quest abaut sonarworks mic cal file.which file i download to put in the smaart 0, 30 or 90 degree for measure and tunning speakers?
I've seen a lot of videos for live sound mixing because i serve in my church and this is probably the best one i have seen.
So clear to the point very easy to understand and give me the confidence to attempt this.
Hi Chris, I was searching very hard for a video on how to treat your church sanctuary when I came across yours, its very helpful but I have a presonus board, are you able to provide me step by step instruction how setup for the treatment?
Would it not be possible to mount the subwoofer into the front of the stage below the pulpit and cover it with acoustically transparent cloth?
Awesome video! Thanks!
We’ve talked about building a stage extension for the pulpit to sit on that could also have the sub underneath but nothing definite just yet. That would essentially sit on top of the steps like a U shape. I’ve been under the stage many times and there’s only a couple of feet between massive framework. If we wanted to drop it inside there’d be a lot of wood cutting and new carpet for sure. The altar is often used for times of prayer so it wouldn’t be a popular decision to place the sub there at the moment 😅
I’ve been in a church that had their sub mounted in the ceiling that worked out pretty great. This church is very bright so unless we purchased a white subwoofer it would stick out. If we do any construction or try out what you’re recommending I’ll definitely put a video together so we can see the before and after. Thanks for watching! 😁
Great tutorial Chris G. The X32 is a nice looking table unit! I still use my Tascam Neo 2488 but hmm gonna look into the X32 friend!!. I will also invest in the room mic to calibrate my room! Good stuff bro!!.
How to dealt with with echoes room can eq solve that to eliminate some echoes?
Awesome video!
Very interesting. Always want to know what was about with the pink noise test. Thanks.
You should ring out the harmonics that cause major reverb(playback a notch of a single freq sweep). and you don't need a special mic to EQ. simply play pink noise on left channel and compare its loudness against a single hz band on the right channel, continue with all bands. Your ears will perfectly EQ balance the speakers.
Great video. Unfortunately I don’t have the X32 but I use the XR18. Could you please show me how you would tune a room using the xr18? Since there is no built in generator for the pink noise, which app would you use to generate the noise and what would your process be to tune a room. Thanks
Following
Here’s a website that has a downloadable pink noise file: www.audiocheck.net/testtones_pinknoise.php
When using an analog console or one without all the built in features, I would use my laptop, pink noise file, audio interface, and the behringer RTA mic to analyze..
Open up your DAW like Studio One.. open an EQ plugin like FabFilter ProQ3 or stock EQ.. assign your RTA mic to channel one of your interface.. arm the RTA mic for recording but turn on the software monitoring icon.. this will allow you to see the mic’s frequency response on the EQ plugin.. blast the pink noise file through your PA (could use your phone with the right adapter, or play it through your laptop on a DAW track) and use the EQ graph on your laptop to see what’s going on in your room.. Hope that helps a little 😅 just trying to cover all the basis but this needs its own video I’m sure
Hi, you can use Matrix output to mains so you can attenuate dbs without using a fx slot and the main LR will be at 0 :D thanks for the video, well explained
Thanks for the tip! 🙏 I’ll definitely be doing that 😁
I have it like that right now it helps a lot
What you have flatted it's actually the overall system response when it is made of: PA, acoustic venue, RTA microphone, but the RTA mic will surely not be used in event. So when you will use real microphones, they will introduce coloration, altering the source, and the overall system response will be different, and you will have to adjust the PA again. So the best method is to neutralize the system already with the most important microphone used in the event, placed exactly where it should be.
Did you test the sound in multiple locations after you set up the EQ?
Yes 😁 I only took the initial measurements so that my eyes can see a confirmation of what I think my ears are hearing.. this room will never be a flat frequency response but it generally helps to know if there’s an overwhelming amount of bass or low mids.. we have service every Sunday morning so the EQ is a constant tweak as we have different instruments and songs being performed.. I’m happy with the results for sure!
So I play in hotels with my cover band almost every day. We always bring our own PA Mains+Subs but the venues are all different and in many cases we play outside. The main mix coming out of the master out is calibrated with tonal balance control using references on the master eq of our mixer, but what do I do with the PA to have an optimal performance every day? We don’t have a sound guy. Thanks! Any advice would help.
P.S. we don’t have an option to run pink noise in every venue before the show
Step1: get rid of all loud sound sources besides the PA. EDrums but natural drums. Modellers but guitar and bass amps. Inearmonitoring but monitor speakers.
Step2: adjust your channel eq and volume faders to have a good, feedback free sound in a good sounding venue. Record a few stereo tracks of your set through the LR out or the headphone out.
Step 3: put a stereo 31 band graphic eq between mixer out and PA. At a new venue play back the recorded songs through your mixer during sound check. If it sounds boomy or harsh adjust only the graphic eq. Leave your channel faders alone if possible. Be aware that the sound changes if the venue gets crowded
Chris, can you show us same on presonus studiolive 3?
I used Soundcraft 16-channel mixer with JBL PRX 800 series tops and subs. Is it safe to connect bass guitars and electric drums directly to the mixer, or could that overload the system and cause issues with the sound?
Not at all! Just turn your Gain knob down all the way before you plug them in. Then as the drums and bass are playing gradually increase the gain until the LEDs on your mixer are reading a healthy signal. Most mixers will have green lights to indicate a good signal, yellow for the “sweet spot” and red for clipping
@@heychrisgreen Much appreciated for the response.
When we connect bass guitars and drums to the mixer, most of the bass seems to come from the top speakers. However, when we lower the low frequencies on the mixer, the subwoofers don't deliver enough bass. How can we resolve this issue?
@@heychrisgreen
Much appreciated for the response.
When we connect bass guitars and drums to the mixer, most of the bass seems to come from the top speakers. However, when we lower the low frequencies on the mixer, the subwoofers don't deliver enough bass. How can we resolve this issue?
Try a 18 inch duel subwoofer. That will make sound a lil more better. That way u can place it in another location
Great Video Chris thanks for sharing your process. I had a question. Instead of using the parametric EQ, could you have used the 31 band Graphic EQ to tune the room instead or do you use that as a secondary measure to address mic feedback?
Great! So I only used the parametric eq because it tends to be more forgiving for our church service context. The graphic eq would definitely be a good choice for ringing out those feedback areas or big spikes but I am looking for a wider and more generally-cushioned effect.. at least for now 😁 the limitations of the amount of bands in the parametric is also a bummer
What is the name of the application on your phone?
DB Meter 🙂
@@heychrisgreen Thank you !
I'm very confused. After the line array was installed, didn't the contractor shoot the room and adjust the system controller? If the arrays were properly hung (to keep as much energy as possible off of walls, and focused on the audience) and commissioned (time-aligned, and reflections accounted for) properly, this exercise shouldn't be necessary.......
Very good lesson. Thank you❤
Why using the old x32 firmware?
Cuz I’m retro like that 😎
Jk it’s been updated since making the video 😁
You would be a lot better sending the LR buss to a matrix and attenuating with the matrix bus and use the matrix for your system tuning and save the main eg for taste.
Nice presentation 👏
Thanks for watching 😁
your x32 firmware looks original, you need an update. they have DCA spills now
Great video bro. I'll watch Michael Curtis a lot and learn from him as well. He suggests not a flat curve like a studio but more of a downhill curve from left to right where it's a little more low end and a little less high end. I think that's the standard in the live sound industry because people generally like a little more bass lol
That makes sense to me! Thanks for sharing 😁
The problem with this approach is that the measuring device is time blind. So it can't tell the difference between reflections, coupling, or otherwise. This means that at best, it will tell you only what it hears at that point in space. The second part of the problem is that most issues CANNOT be solved by EQ. You can mask it at that single point in space, but it cannot solve the problem elsewhere. You truly need a time sensitive measuring sytem that can extrapolate, and show where the real issues are. SMAART is sold at its price point for a reason. It can tell you where you are having time related issues, so that you can negate the data.
You have to work with truly linear systems for years to be able to hear what a linear system sounds like ( not as good as one would think ). With that experience, you can get away from relying on a SMAART rig, look at an RTA, and weed out reliable bits of data. Most of what you are seeing is bad data, so you have to hear what correlates. Unless you can hear the correlation, you can't fix it with EQ.
You solve biggest issue - listening fatigue. Once you try it, you can't go back
Mastered music should absolutely be quieter than what you're playing live. One of the main goals of mastering nowadays is perceived volume maximization. Open up a DAW and throw your normalized board mix into it along with the recorded/mastered version of the same song. The latter will be perceivably much louder.
@ 9:05 FYI - White noise has equal power per frequency, while pink noise has equal power per octave.
Tune using the matrix
Send Main LR to matrix
This is so wrong you need to start using SIA Smaart, take a few classes before you start teaching people. You cannot EQ room you can EQ a loudspeaker. Once you move your measurement, a few feet that RTA curve is going to change because of reflections off of everything in the room. The way to go about this is to put your measurement microphone about 10 feet in front of your loudspeaker and use an FFT analyzer that windows out the reflections, like SIA Smaart. Then maybe you want to turn up the volume of some of your microphones and find the room resonances and EQ some of that out. I'm sorry this method is very wrong.
…could have at least said “hello” 😂
@@heychrisgreen I just saw this in my notifications, but I thought I replied already already. I said something like. "hello CHRIS I'm sorry I gave you such a thrashing. I've been using Smaart long time. In fact I was one of the first users. However, the way you did it with the RTA is what we were doing when we didn't have Smaart. Your method is an OK way to rough things in".
NICE VIDEO
update fw and get mixing station
🫡
You might want to update your x32...
I prefer to live dangerously 😎
A decibel is a proportion
The loudest I’ve mixed is at 103-105 peak
Why didn't you mention anything about the frenquency of the white or pink noise and why you choose 447.7 hz ? That's very important because the dictates how much high, mid or low end that shapes the white or pink noise that would eventually pass throught your main Pa to the RTA mic? Even though u explained the difficulties in achieving an absolute flat response, if the sound source being used is not producing a balance level of db's across the entire spectrum (or close to it), it defeats the purpose entirely. If you dont use your ears and sweep that frequency knob, and find that sweet spot, then your liable to not really be hearing the true sound of the room once you start mixing your input channels. This explaination of the frequncy knob should be included in this tutorial. Pink & white noise also have slightly different characteristics which I know u know. Thats for the readers.
when the room is filled with people, the response will be different
That might be the advantage of having cushions on the pews that will absorb sound like people would, although, to a lesser degree.
Sees the church room...oh this one is easy. Try our converted catholic church with archways, full concrete floor and stone walls.
Sorry but leveling the eq to pink noise is not a good method. It may have been 30 years ago. Use something like smaart and get a target curve. Flat is not good
Exactly this is so wrong and it's leading people down the wrong path. You can't EQ a room, you can EQ a loudspeaker. And yes, you need an FFT analyzer like Smaart to do this. And you can do it faster than what we just witnessed.
I hate to say it, but I agree. One of my leturers back in uni taught us to do it this way (my batch went though lots of terrible changes which meant poor quality teachers). However, in real life I often found the results extremely poor, often harsh and I unfortunately still have friends from that course that try to do it that way (because they thought it's a gold standard) at actual gigs and always came out disapointed. I threw that method into the trash after doing it ONCE, thankfully at a gig in that course.
The best sounding rigs I found were done with Smaart and by people that know wayyy more than I do. The next best one was with a handful of sound designers I got to work with that had golden ears... They did everything by ear, with music they knew.
Yea, no this isn’t a great method.
That aside? I’d also go as far as to say you can’t event really eq a loud speaker, anymore than a room. However, I’m fully willing to admit that I’m just splitting hairs at this point 😂😂😂
@@williamsmith1796 yes you can EQ a loudspeaker. The Smaart FFT time windowed measurement takes the room out of the equation. Take a synergetic audio concepts class, and you will understand. Or SIA Smaart class.
I thought the curve the speakers had before he did anything looked pretty good, I like warmth in the low mids and clarity around 5k so that looks like a good starting point out of the box. I probably would’ve just hit a LR matrix with a graphic to pull those more extreme peaks down 1-3db not 5. Vocals are usually 1-2k heavy no matter what so I wouldn’t want much more there, especially with the lectern close enough to the PA to get in his mic.
😮
AM MAKIN A CHURCH _ I NEEDED SUCH IDEAS_ GOD BE PRAISED_
Anybody from NJ?
Wow, 20 minučių konkrečios nesamonės.
DO NOT use phone to measure anything! Phone microphone could be useful IF there is no rest of phone, especially firmware, AGC built in. I've tested few phones, comparing to measurement microphone and couple db meters. Phones can be acurat up to 93-94dB (+- 2-3dB), above that AGC makes measurement noise with accuracy jumping to +-10dB. Even cheapest dB meters, especially when U calibrate it (ask your friends for calibrated one to compare or calibration tool) will be better.
Thanks for the info! 😁
Pretty troubling to see "system tuning advice" from someone who doesn't even know how to use a matrix....
Don’t be troubled 😁
Why are hating everyone has they own way. If you don’t like it then do it differently. No need to bring someone down.
I bet this guy's church sounds really good! There are many ways to create a good sounding environment. This is just one way to bring about his desired result. Heck, you can also tune a room without all this modern gear. This is a good video.
Thanks.
Let us be nice with our words. Is his approach right, yes! Are there other or smarter ways, yes! You have your own approach does not mean someone else's is wrong.
Bro pls do not use a Behringer consol
Are you kidding me , I can’t afford a beginner x32 this video is useless!