User manual

PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 32
High-frequency “tilt”
The target curve is the desired measured response of loudspeakers in a room, In contrast to
measurements made of a loudspeaker during its design under anechoic (measured in free space)
conditions. While high-quality loudspeakers are usually designed for a flat on-axis anechoic
response, these same speakers when placed into a listening room will tend to have a downward-
sloping or “tilting” response at high frequencies, due to the effects of limited dispersion at high
frequencies and greater acoustic absorption.
A completely flat in-room response is therefore usually not desirable and will tend to sound thin
or bright. Start with a target curve that follows the natural behavior of your speakers in your
room, and then experiment with greater or lesser degrees of tilt in the treble region to obtain
the most natural timbral balance.
Low-frequency adjustment
A completely flat response at low frequencies, with complete elimination of peaks due to room
modes, may sound light in the bass. Often, a slight increase in the target curve below 100 Hz will
give a more balanced sound, yet without introducing audible irregularities in bass response.
Magnitude response dips
In some cases, it may be helpful to adjust the target curve to follow dips in the magnitude
response. This can occur where, for example, the listening area is very close to the speakers and
the measurements exhibit a dip caused by the vertical response of the speakers themselves. In
such a case, adjusting the magnitude response to follow the dip will avoid making the speakers
sound worse elsewhere in the room. (You may also wish to try a different set of measurement
locations.)
Unlinking channels
Usually, the corresponding left and right channels (front left and right, surround left and right,
and rear left and right) should remain linked for target curve adjustment, to ensure that both
sides produce the same response across the listening area. In certain unusual circumstances,
such as where the magnitude response dip discussed in the previous point shows up on only one
side, you can try unlinking channels and making separate adjustments.
4.2.4 Saving and loading target curves
To allow you to experiment with different target curves, you can save a target curve to a file and reload it at a
later time. The default directory for these is C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\Dirac\OEM\MiniDSP\Targets,
but you can store them in any location in your file system. To save the target curve of the currently displayed
channel or group of channels, click on the Save Target button.
To load a target curve, click on Load Target. The currently displayed channel or group of channels will have its
target curve updated. (Loading a target will erase the current target curve, so be sure to save it first if needed.)