MCACC Reference Guide MCACC (Multi-Channel ACoustic Calibration system) Reference Guide • Introduction - MCACC - Advanced MCACC - MCACC Pro • The Essence of MCACC - Phase Characteristic - Measurement Precision - Reproduction Frequency • MCACC • Advanced MCACC • MCACC Pro • MCACC/Advanced MCACC/MCACC Pro Feature Comparison • Technical Details 1
MCACC Reference Guide Introduction Optimize Speakers’ Characteristics Optimize Room Acoustic & Source Condition Optimize AV Receiver’s Performance MCACC was originally introduced in 2001 as the world’s first automatic sound acoustic correction technology. With the addition of Phase Control technology which compensates the phase lag of the low-frequency signals, multi-channel sound is now further optimized to bring out the best from your home theater.
MCACC Reference Guide MCACC—Acoustic Field Correction at All Levels AV Receiver Speakers Introduction Source The Essence of MCACC Auto Phase Control Plus Speaker Adjustment Phase Control MCACC Equalizer Speaker Polarity Check Standing Wave Control Independent Dual Subwoofer Output Full Band Phase Control Advanced MCACC Subwoofer Equalizer MCACC Pro Feature Comparison Technical Details 3
MCACC Reference Guide The Essence of MCACC Introduction Pioneer is dedicated to making your home theater experience as close as possible to what the sound creators and studio engineers intended when they created the original sound tracks. Developed through a rigorous pursuit of the ideal multi-channel audio reproduction, the MCACC technology focuses on three main features—phase characteristic, measurement precision, and reproduction frequency—which sets it apart from other similar technologies.
MCACC Reference Guide MCACC Acoustic Calibration by MCACC Create the optimum acoustic environment with Pioneer’s MCACC, developed with the expertise of professional recording studios. The system — complete with custom microphone — automatically compensates for differences in speaker size, level and distance, and equalizes response. Before Calibration After Calibration Speaker distance, sound pressure level, and frequency response are all uneven.
MCACC Reference Guide Advanced MCACC Acoustic Calibration by MCACC Create the optimum acoustic environment with Pioneer’s MCACC, developed with the expertise of professional recording studios. The system — complete with custom microphone — automatically compensates for differences in speaker size, level and distance, and equalizes response. Before Calibration After Calibration Speaker distance, sound pressure level, and frequency response are all uneven.
MCACC Reference Guide Standing Wave Control Standing Wave in a Typical Listening Room Introduction Acoustic standing waves occur when the sound waves from your speaker resonate with those reflected off the walls. Depending on the speaker placement, your listening position or the shape of the room, standing waves have a negative effect on the overall sound, especially in certain lower frequencies. Standing Wave Control effectively decreases resonance and prevents inaccurate EQ-setting calibration.
MCACC Reference Guide MCACC Pro Acoustic Calibration by MCACC Create the optimum acoustic environment with Pioneer’s MCACC, developed with the expertise of professional recording studios. The system — complete with custom microphone — automatically compensates for differences in speaker size, level and distance, and equalizes response. Before Calibration After Calibration Speaker distance, sound pressure level, and frequency response are all uneven.
MCACC Reference Guide Standing Wave Control Standing Wave in a Typical Listening Room Introduction Acoustic standing waves occur when the sound waves from your speaker resonate with those reflected off the walls. Depending on the speaker placement, your listening position or the shape of the room, standing waves have a negative effect on the overall sound, especially in certain lower frequencies. Standing Wave Control effectively decreases resonance and prevents inaccurate EQ-setting calibration.
MCACC Reference Guide MCACC/Advanced MCACC/MCACC Pro Feature Comparison Speaker Adjustment (size, level, distance, crossover) Advanced MCACC MCACC • • 3D 2D Phase Control • • • Auto Phase Control Plus • • — Speaker Polarity Check • • — Standing Wave Control • • — Subwoofer Equalizer • • — Independent Dual Subwoofer Output • — — Full Band Phase Control • — — Precision Distance • — — The Essence of MCACC • 3D Equalizer Introduction MCACC Pro MCACC Advanced MCACC MC
MCACC Reference Guide Technical Details Introduction Speaker Adjustment MCACC applies the most suited test signal for each item to make measurements. Speaker Size Detection Low Frequency Linearity Measurement Output Power Power maintained at lower frequency: detected as Speaker Large Speaker A Speaker B The Essence of MCACC With MCACC, the speaker size is detected by a general method using frequency characteristics.
MCACC Reference Guide Crossover Frequency Adjustment Comparison of Subwoofer Output Timing of LFE assigned to SW from each main speaker Other Brand Front Interference Less power SW output Center Mix Result Introduction Using the measured result, one suitable parameter is set for all the speakers. This helps to prevent cancelling out of the bass sound caused by a phase shift. Other manufacturers use separate filters for each channel.
MCACC Reference Guide 3D Time-Axis Compensation Before Calibration Introduction As shown on the 3D graphs on right, the frequency characteristics change with the passing of time. So if compensation is made on the same point of the time-axis, there will be some difference due to reverberation. To solve this problem, Advanced MCACC adopts the 3D Time-Axis Compensation which takes into account this change along the time-axis.
MCACC Reference Guide Standing Wave Control 2 1.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 −0.5 −0.5 −1 −1 −1.5 −1.5 0.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 2 1.5 1.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 −0.5 −0.5 −1 −1 −1.5 −1.5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 Standing wave: When the sound wave emitted from the speaker reflects off the wall, ceiling, or floor, the incident wave and reflected wave interfere and cause a phenomenon that intensifies or weaken the wave.
MCACC Reference Guide Three-Step Processing within the AV Receiver Full Band Phase Control While Phase Control’s bass management technology controls the LFE channel timing and phase within the AV receiver, the Full Band Phase Control’s technology has further evolved to control the phase of all the units of the multi-way speaker system. With a normal multi-way speaker system, the audio signals are separated with the network filter inside the speaker and routed to each unit.
MCACC Reference Guide Front Align—Additional Feature for Full Band Phase Control Front Align Setup Image 180 0 Frequency −180 Centre Phase characteristics Frequency characteristics 100.0 180 [dB] 0 20.0 1k 100 Frequency [Hz] 20k Surround Phase characteristics Frequency characteristics 180 [dB] 10 100 1k Frequency [Hz] 0 20k Frequency −180 Frequency characteristics 100.0 [dB] 20.0 Phase characteristics 10 1k 100 Frequency [Hz] 20k Frequency characteristics 180 100.
MCACC Reference Guide The Synergy of Accurate Distance Adjustment and Full Band Phase Control SBL FR Amplitude C Impulse response after compensation with SP distance adjustment and Full Band Phase Control Amplitude Amplitude 0.0 SL SR Impulse response after compensation with SP distance adjustment 0.0 0.
