Correction for this video: The calibration level of the pink noise should be -20dB RMS, not peak level. That translates to about -7dB peak, which makes it much easier to hit the right target without maxing out your speaker volume.
Hey Tall Guy! I just wanted to thank you and report back to let you know I finally got around to buying a Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen. I previously could not get my Antelope Discreet 8 Synergy interface to play back my movies and games in 5.1 surround through the Antelope interface. I literally tried "everything" under the Sun to get it to work. I previously submitted a support request to Antelope's audio engineers who told me that 5.1 playback with "their drivers" was only possible through a DAW. Today, I installed the Focusrite Control software, plugged in the Scarlett 18i20 and WOW! in just a few minutes I had all my games and movies playing through my Adam 5.1 surround system with ease! It's just unbelievable how much of a night and day difference there is driver-wise between Antelope and Focusrite. If you are reading this and you are a "Windows" user, then trust the person who fought with Antelope drivers for over two years; don't buy an Antelope interface!... buy a Focusrite instead! The Focusrite drivers just work! Thanks again Tall Guy for the video series on 5.1 surround. I learned some new things and it lead me down the path to finally getting an audio interface that actually works perfect for my DAW, movies, and gaming in 5.1 surround! I was frustrated for so long, but now I'm so excited! Good drivers make or break your audio interface!
@@phinyx Hey Onyx! After you get all setup and the Focusrite Control software installed, you'll need to go to Windows Sound Panel. Conveniently enough, the Focusrite Control menu has a shortcut to it as well. From there highlight the Focusrite USB Audio speakers. Now at the bottom left hit the Configure button. The next screen is the Choose your Configuration area with Stereo, Quadrophonic, 5.1 Surround, 7.1 Surround options. Select what you want. There's also a Test button to use on this screen as well. Hit Next a few more times and then the Finish button. That's it! Now you are all good to go for surround sound in Windows for movies and games running through your Scarlett interface! Sorry I'm not a Mac user, so I can't help you on that side but... it should all work just as well for the Mac. Also for surround movie playback you can use VLC media player or my favorite is Cyberlink's PowerDVD player. A last word of caution. Sometimes when I have done driver updates in Windows, my 5.1 selection in the Surround options gets defaulted back to Stereo and I have to go back in and save it back to 5.1. Just something of a minor annoyance to watch out for.
that is encouraging. I am setting up my studio as a film production suite. All for myself and members of a movie making club in the UK. Using Resolve for editing, vfx, colour grading and delivery. I have Nuendo 12 for audio production, as I don't feel Fairlight cuts it yet. I have a pair of Adam Audio T8V for front left and right. I am thinking T5Vs for centre and rear as dialogue on the centre channel doesn't need an 8 inch woofer. The T series 10 inch sub and the focusrite 18i20. Having playback of Netflix etc as 5.1 was something I didn't think you could do, still thats great news. But I am concerned with the SMPTE layout, as that may not be acceptable for the film festivals I want to send our feature films to.
Very Good Video!!! My setup for home 5.1 mixing is LCR - Genelec 1031, surrounds are cheaper, and the Genelec 1092 subwoofer. They are all calibrated to the film standard (surrounds -3, LFE +10) through an Avid Omni controller, using the film channel routing. Thanks for a very concise explanation and description!!
Great video. With this working from home happening, I'm now looking to try to get some 5.1 setup in my tiny 10' x 8' room just so I can do some premixes before hitting the mix theater I use from time to time. This has really helped. Now, I just need to figure out a new desk and some speaker stands etc. Lots to do. This is a great video though.
I managed to check my calibration and all sparkers are putting out the same SPL. L/R/C/LFE/LS/RS. So, they're all level with each other on the DB meter. So, from here... how to I account for the +10 db LFE bump I'm hearing happens after we deliver?
Hey Tall Guy, My question for you is what is the volume setting for each item in the chain? Should my PC volume be at compacity then feed that signal into my audio interface at compacity then adjust my monitors with my SPL meter from there?
On the topic of 110° vs 135° (side vs rear): Most audio formats support both, allowing you to specify if you have a 5.1 mix with L-R-C-LFE-LS-RS or L-R-C-LFE-LR-RR. Ideally, the player will then be able to make some corrections as it knows what itbis connected to. I'm sure my controller does but of course, this probably only applies to a small number of users. Personally, I like the rear-speakers for 5.1; also, I don't really have any room to set them up differently.
This is true, and new formats like Atmos are also better about correctly compensating for this, but you can still end up with small differences in sound quality when listening on a different layout than the content was mixed on.
Great tutorials! thank you very much :) I have a question. I work on a PC (win 11), have a RME UCX and Adam AX7 5.0 system (soon the sub). I would like to hear mixes in surround from 2 sources: blu ray discs and digital content (netflix, bluy ray download, etc). How could I setup my equipment to easily just hit play (netflix for example) and that it translates to my RME (all the channels) in the SMPTE order that I have configured the hardware outputs (LRC LFE LsRs) of my RME. And in the other scenario of blu ray discs, how could I do this asumming I have a blu ray drive connected to my main board through USB. Is there a software that can decode the AC3 for example and translated easily to my RME interface? Hope my question is clear and dont get you confused. Thank you again!
"Surround Sound, Up and Running"(Ch. 2 pp 60) says the LFE should be 4db louder than a main channel if using a SPL meter due to the phenomenon of in-band gain. The LFE will only read 10db louder if you put a low pass filter on the main channel to match the frequency output of a properly filtered LFE.(EQ set at 110hz with 24db/8va slope)
Yes, that's why it's better to use an RTA rather than just an SPL meter, since the SPL meter doesn't distinguish between different frequencies beyond basic weighting. I explain it in a bit more detail in my dedicated LFE video and show how to calibrate that way.
How do you have your "output settings" in the Focusrite Control app set? If I do "system preset", my regular web browsing and music listening seems to play through all channels and the sub. When I have it set to "direct routing" I can utilize 5.1, but music playback through Windows doesn't route to the LFE channel. Do I just need to switch back and forth all the time or is there a better way?
@AlteraSound I have just bought the MOTU ultralight Mark 5 for surround sound. I have a pair of Adam Audio T8V, now I am thinking a T7V for centre and T5Vs for side/rear, and the sub that Adam Audio says works well with the T7V. Do you think the 7 is fine or would you recommend the 8 for a total match at the front, I am just thinking the dialogue doesn't need and 8 inch woofer, but if I need to place a little reverb from the front monitors, so no dead air at the centre when there is no dialogue, obviously I wouldn't put direct sounds into the centre. What's the advice? Thanks.
For post-production audio you should be fine with the T7V. Surround music often uses the center channel for kick and bass, where you definitely do want the extended low-end, but for films it's generally just dialogue and some SFX.
Thank you so much for this as there is not much content on this. Tomm I am unboxing and setting up a 5.1 setup. I am really confused on hooking up the sub for a yamaha hs8 sub. It wants me to hook it into my monitors which sounds like a crossover setup. But with it just being lfe I only plug one balanced cable into it correct?
The pass-through on the subs is designed to do the bass management for a stereo system. If you're in 5.1, you'll want to hook the sub up separately and ignore the sub's outputs.
Generally the preferred options are 80Hz, 100Hz, or 120Hz. I'd assume that 10" mains are capable down to 80Hz, but I'd recommend checking their frequency response to make sure you're not losing anything if the crossover is set that low.
Officially you're supposed to angle it slightly away from the channel you're measuring. For the left and right channels, aim at the center channel. Aim at the left or right when measuring the center. Aim at the opposite surround channel from the one you're measuring.
Hmmm... interesting. With an Antelope Discreet 8 interface, the software never allows for a 5.1 "Configure" ability in Windows for the Antelope software like you demonstrated for the Focusrite 18i20. I previously sent this question about 5.1 output to Antelope Support and this is what they came back with: "The device is not 5.1 compatible on surround sound playback from OS." It's pretty disappointing the Antelope Discreet cannot do what the Focusrite 18i20 can do considering the Antelope is three times the price. This is why I'm currently using a SoundBlaster card with 3.5mm splitters to XLRs that pipe into the Discreet 8 preamp inputs on the back side to get 5.1 surround in games and movies. Now I'm thinking I should have bought a Focusrite instead! uhhhh... Also the VUDU app in the Windows store also plays back 5.1 just like Netflix and Hulu.
thank you for comment. i was considering the discrete 8 for my surround setup but ig its not suitable. thank you and i hope u get ur surround sound setup sorted out soon :)
@@joederbyshire_ Yep! Do not buy an Antelope interface. Their drivers do not work nearly as good as the Focusrite drivers do in Windows OS. Today I setup the Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen and installed the Focusrite Control software and BOOM! in a few minutes my movies, games, and DAW were working perfectly through the Scarlett 18i20 interface in 5.1 surround. (I have 3 Adam A7Xs and 2 Adam A77Xs). Antelope drivers suck on Windows and so does Universal Audio (Apollo) by the way. The hardware from UA and Antelope is all good quality stuff, but what's the point if the drivers don't work worth a crap! Focusrite drivers for Windows in 5.1 surround is the freak'in bomb! Straight out of the gate they just work!
Hello， thanks for sharing. May I ask if the sound card on the motherboard like the Realtek alc4080 which supports 7.1 channels output can be used as an audio Interface? Cause right now I connect a 5.1 av amplifier through the S/PDIF Out of the Realtek alc4080, and it can only output 5.1 audio when I watch Netflix and movies, the DAW like an audition or resolve Fairlight can't output 5.1 audio in a 5.1 mixing project.
Most motherboards only support consumer audio drivers, so DAWs don't generally play nice with them. You can use third-party drivers like ASIO4ALL to bridge the gap and allow your DAW to talk to the consumer output on your board.
I'm a little confused. You have a video entitled: "Building a Pro Mixing 5.1 Setup on a Budget - Part 1 (Choosing Equipment)." Where is the PART 2 of this video series? Is this supposed to be the second video?
This is the second part, apologies for the confusion. The first part covered equipment, this is the second part meant to cover how to calibrate that equipment.
Correction for this video: The calibration level of the pink noise should be -20dB RMS, not peak level. That translates to about -7dB peak, which makes it much easier to hit the right target without maxing out your speaker volume.
Hey Tall Guy! I just wanted to thank you and report back to let you know I finally got around to buying a Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen. I previously could not get my Antelope Discreet 8 Synergy interface to play back my movies and games in 5.1 surround through the Antelope interface. I literally tried "everything" under the Sun to get it to work. I previously submitted a support request to Antelope's audio engineers who told me that 5.1 playback with "their drivers" was only possible through a DAW. Today, I installed the Focusrite Control software, plugged in the Scarlett 18i20 and WOW! in just a few minutes I had all my games and movies playing through my Adam 5.1 surround system with ease! It's just unbelievable how much of a night and day difference there is driver-wise between Antelope and Focusrite. If you are reading this and you are a "Windows" user, then trust the person who fought with Antelope drivers for over two years; don't buy an Antelope interface!... buy a Focusrite instead! The Focusrite drivers just work! Thanks again Tall Guy for the video series on 5.1 surround. I learned some new things and it lead me down the path to finally getting an audio interface that actually works perfect for my DAW, movies, and gaming in 5.1 surround! I was frustrated for so long, but now I'm so excited! Good drivers make or break your audio interface!
@@phinyx Hey Onyx! After you get all setup and the Focusrite Control software installed, you'll need to go to Windows Sound Panel. Conveniently enough, the Focusrite Control menu has a shortcut to it as well. From there highlight the Focusrite USB Audio speakers. Now at the bottom left hit the Configure button. The next screen is the Choose your Configuration area with Stereo, Quadrophonic, 5.1 Surround, 7.1 Surround options. Select what you want. There's also a Test button to use on this screen as well. Hit Next a few more times and then the Finish button. That's it! Now you are all good to go for surround sound in Windows for movies and games running through your Scarlett interface! Sorry I'm not a Mac user, so I can't help you on that side but... it should all work just as well for the Mac. Also for surround movie playback you can use VLC media player or my favorite is Cyberlink's PowerDVD player. A last word of caution. Sometimes when I have done driver updates in Windows, my 5.1 selection in the Surround options gets defaulted back to Stereo and I have to go back in and save it back to 5.1. Just something of a minor annoyance to watch out for.
@@phinyx Cool! Glad it's all working for you. Happy to help. :)
that is encouraging. I am setting up my studio as a film production suite. All for myself and members of a movie making club in the UK. Using Resolve for editing, vfx, colour grading and delivery. I have Nuendo 12 for audio production, as I don't feel Fairlight cuts it yet. I have a pair of Adam Audio T8V for front left and right. I am thinking T5Vs for centre and rear as dialogue on the centre channel doesn't need an 8 inch woofer. The T series 10 inch sub and the focusrite 18i20. Having playback of Netflix etc as 5.1 was something I didn't think you could do, still thats great news. But I am concerned with the SMPTE layout, as that may not be acceptable for the film festivals I want to send our feature films to.
Very Good Video!!!
My setup for home 5.1 mixing is LCR - Genelec 1031, surrounds are cheaper, and the Genelec 1092 subwoofer. They are all calibrated to the film standard (surrounds -3, LFE +10) through an Avid Omni controller, using the film channel routing.
Thanks for a very concise explanation and description!!
Great video. With this working from home happening, I'm now looking to try to get some 5.1 setup in my tiny 10' x 8' room just so I can do some premixes before hitting the mix theater I use from time to time. This has really helped. Now, I just need to figure out a new desk and some speaker stands etc. Lots to do. This is a great video though.
Be been looking for something just like this, explained at my level. This is a great video!
Aggregate devices for 5.1 will produce latency for 5.1 monitoring???
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful.
Very informative. Just what I am looking for.
I managed to check my calibration and all sparkers are putting out the same SPL. L/R/C/LFE/LS/RS. So, they're all level with each other on the DB meter. So, from here... how to I account for the +10 db LFE bump I'm hearing happens after we deliver?
Good video!
Discovered your videos today, incredibly useful and informative. Thanks for providing this info.
Hey Tall Guy, My question for you is what is the volume setting for each item in the chain? Should my PC volume be at compacity then feed that signal into my audio interface at compacity then adjust my monitors with my SPL meter from there?
Incredible video man! I can't wait for the mixing part of things
i have some question, how to processing EQ and Phase between five speaker, make it FLAT & In Phase although my speaker without DSP (EQ, Delay,...)??
On the topic of 110° vs 135° (side vs rear): Most audio formats support both, allowing you to specify if you have a 5.1 mix with L-R-C-LFE-LS-RS or L-R-C-LFE-LR-RR. Ideally, the player will then be able to make some corrections as it knows what itbis connected to.
I'm sure my controller does but of course, this probably only applies to a small number of users. Personally, I like the rear-speakers for 5.1; also, I don't really have any room to set them up differently.
This is true, and new formats like Atmos are also better about correctly compensating for this, but you can still end up with small differences in sound quality when listening on a different layout than the content was mixed on.
Great tutorials! thank you very much :)
I have a question. I work on a PC (win 11), have a RME UCX and Adam AX7 5.0 system (soon the sub). I would like to hear mixes in surround from 2 sources: blu ray discs and digital content (netflix, bluy ray download, etc). How could I setup my equipment to easily just hit play (netflix for example) and that it translates to my RME (all the channels) in the SMPTE order that I have configured the hardware outputs (LRC LFE LsRs) of my RME. And in the other scenario of blu ray discs, how could I do this asumming I have a blu ray drive connected to my main board through USB. Is there a software that can decode the AC3 for example and translated easily to my RME interface?
Hope my question is clear and dont get you confused.
Thank you again!
"Surround Sound, Up and Running"(Ch. 2 pp
60) says the LFE should be 4db louder than a main channel if using a SPL meter due to the phenomenon of in-band gain. The LFE will only read 10db louder if you put a low pass filter on the main channel to match the frequency output of a properly filtered LFE.(EQ set at 110hz with 24db/8va slope)
Yes, that's why it's better to use an RTA rather than just an SPL meter, since the SPL meter doesn't distinguish between different frequencies beyond basic weighting. I explain it in a bit more detail in my dedicated LFE video and show how to calibrate that way.
in Sounds my Soundcard cant be configured. How can i configure it to be 5.1??
How do you have your "output settings" in the Focusrite Control app set? If I do "system preset", my regular web browsing and music listening seems to play through all channels and the sub. When I have it set to "direct routing" I can utilize 5.1, but music playback through Windows doesn't route to the LFE channel. Do I just need to switch back and forth all the time or is there a better way?
Please guide us on
How can we connect and route speakers with interface and monitor controller?
Yeah that's what I really didn't like about this tutorial. He just kinda says but never step by step or configuring showing us how.
@AlteraSound I have just bought the MOTU ultralight Mark 5 for surround sound. I have a pair of Adam Audio T8V, now I am thinking a T7V for centre and T5Vs for side/rear, and the sub that Adam Audio says works well with the T7V. Do you think the 7 is fine or would you recommend the 8 for a total match at the front, I am just thinking the dialogue doesn't need and 8 inch woofer, but if I need to place a little reverb from the front monitors, so no dead air at the centre when there is no dialogue, obviously I wouldn't put direct sounds into the centre. What's the advice? Thanks.
For post-production audio you should be fine with the T7V. Surround music often uses the center channel for kick and bass, where you definitely do want the extended low-end, but for films it's generally just dialogue and some SFX.
wonderful
Can anyone suggest an app to set delays for studio monitor I'm..using davinci resolve.... On windows
does stienberg ur44c qualify for a 5.1 interface ,
Thank you so much for this as there is not much content on this. Tomm I am unboxing and setting up a 5.1 setup.
I am really confused on hooking up the sub for a yamaha hs8 sub. It wants me to hook it into my monitors which sounds like a crossover setup. But with it just being lfe I only plug one balanced cable into it correct?
The pass-through on the subs is designed to do the bass management for a stereo system. If you're in 5.1, you'll want to hook the sub up separately and ignore the sub's outputs.
If I have 10" mains and a 12" sub, where do you suggest I set my crossover on my sub for 5.1?
Generally the preferred options are 80Hz, 100Hz, or 120Hz. I'd assume that 10" mains are capable down to 80Hz, but I'd recommend checking their frequency response to make sure you're not losing anything if the crossover is set that low.
Thanks so much for this!!
Do you point your mic at the center channel and leave it there througout?
Officially you're supposed to angle it slightly away from the channel you're measuring. For the left and right channels, aim at the center channel. Aim at the left or right when measuring the center. Aim at the opposite surround channel from the one you're measuring.
Hmmm... interesting. With an Antelope Discreet 8 interface, the software never allows for a 5.1 "Configure" ability in Windows for the Antelope software like you demonstrated for the Focusrite 18i20. I previously sent this question about 5.1 output to Antelope Support and this is what they came back with: "The device is not 5.1 compatible on surround sound playback from OS." It's pretty disappointing the Antelope Discreet cannot do what the Focusrite 18i20 can do considering the Antelope is three times the price. This is why I'm currently using a SoundBlaster card with 3.5mm splitters to XLRs that pipe into the Discreet 8 preamp inputs on the back side to get 5.1 surround in games and movies. Now I'm thinking I should have bought a Focusrite instead! uhhhh... Also the VUDU app in the Windows store also plays back 5.1 just like Netflix and Hulu.
thank you for comment. i was considering the discrete 8 for my surround setup but ig its not suitable. thank you and i hope u get ur surround sound setup sorted out soon :)
@@joederbyshire_ Yep! Do not buy an Antelope interface. Their drivers do not work nearly as good as the Focusrite drivers do in Windows OS. Today I setup the Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen and installed the Focusrite Control software and BOOM! in a few minutes my movies, games, and DAW were working perfectly through the Scarlett 18i20 interface in 5.1 surround. (I have 3 Adam A7Xs and 2 Adam A77Xs). Antelope drivers suck on Windows and so does Universal Audio (Apollo) by the way. The hardware from UA and Antelope is all good quality stuff, but what's the point if the drivers don't work worth a crap! Focusrite drivers for Windows in 5.1 surround is the freak'in bomb! Straight out of the gate they just work!
Hello， thanks for sharing. May I ask if the sound card on the motherboard like the Realtek alc4080 which supports 7.1 channels output can be used as an audio Interface? Cause right now I connect a 5.1 av amplifier through the S/PDIF Out of the Realtek alc4080, and it can only output 5.1 audio when I watch Netflix and movies, the DAW like an audition or resolve Fairlight can't output 5.1 audio in a 5.1 mixing project.
Most motherboards only support consumer audio drivers, so DAWs don't generally play nice with them. You can use third-party drivers like ASIO4ALL to bridge the gap and allow your DAW to talk to the consumer output on your board.
I'm a little confused. You have a video entitled: "Building a Pro Mixing 5.1 Setup on a Budget - Part 1 (Choosing Equipment)." Where is the PART 2 of this video series? Is this supposed to be the second video?
This is the second part, apologies for the confusion. The first part covered equipment, this is the second part meant to cover how to calibrate that equipment.
NEED MORE INFORMATION ON 5.1 PLEASE
need help to configure 5.1 with 18i20
Did you workout before making this video?
Yeah.. you are fancy aren't you.