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Topic: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000 (Read 139098 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #250
I have just started using the MathAudio RoomEQ plugin for Foobar on my PC, output going to Dx3Pro via USB. As the output level going to the DX3Pro is now significantly lower, I am wondering if it is OK to increase the signal to the DAC by upping the Preamp gain in the Foobar settings? The screenshot below shows Foobars VU meters playing at a very low level now. Should I just up the preamp settings such that the VU meters are at a more normal level. (Prior to the use of the MathAudio plugin, I had the preamp settings at - 6db as I read somewhere that this is best to avoid any chance of clipping.) Unfortunately my knowledge of digital clipping/gain matching between Foobar and DAC is minimal (at best!)...
Anyway, any help or advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Ideally, you should set all Foobar's gain/volume controls to 0 dB. After that adjust the position of the "Room EQ gain" slider in accordance with the instruction (see step 15 at https://mathaudio.com/room-eq.htm ). Use the volume knob of your audio amplifier to adjust the comfortable volume. All digital volume controls on your PC reduce the signal-to-noise ratio, so it is better to not use them at all (set all of them to 0 dB).

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #251
Great, many thanks for your help. Have been reading up on digital volum, gain matching etc, so think I now have a clearer picture of what is going on. One thing that I am still wondering: presumably if I leave Foobars Preamp gain at 0, as opposed to the -6db previously, even if some tracks are over compressed/too high (gain wise), any digital clipping that may occur will only cause a lack of fidelity ie there is no chance of damage to tweeters, as with analogue clipping in an amplifier? (Not too fussed about a few badly mastered/levelled tracks sounding rough but definitely not keen on any risk to speakers!)
Also, thank you so much for a truly awesome product. I am what I like to call a "budget audiophile" and given all I needed to buy was a second hand UMIK-1, RoomEQ is by far the best improvement to my system in the last ten years. Took me a couple of tries to get my twin subs and Tannoy V12s dialed in, volume-wise, but I have to say that the improvement in clarity is fantastic. Also, thankfully my amplifier, a Lazarus H-1A has plenty of headroom to run it. Reckon my system is now the best I've heard... And all for well under £1k.

Thank you! 👍

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #252
Great, many thanks for your help. Have been reading up on digital volum, gain matching etc, so think I now have a clearer picture of what is going on. One thing that I am still wondering: presumably if I leave Foobars Preamp gain at 0, as opposed to the -6db previously, even if some tracks are over compressed/too high (gain wise), any digital clipping that may occur will only cause a lack of fidelity ie there is no chance of damage to tweeters, as with analogue clipping in an amplifier? (Not too fussed about a few badly mastered/levelled tracks sounding rough but definitely not keen on any risk to speakers!)
Also, thank you so much for a truly awesome product. I am what I like to call a "budget audiophile" and given all I needed to buy was a second hand UMIK-1, RoomEQ is by far the best improvement to my system in the last ten years. Took me a couple of tries to get my twin subs and Tannoy V12s dialed in, volume-wise, but I have to say that the improvement in clarity is fantastic. Also, thankfully my amplifier, a Lazarus H-1A has plenty of headroom to run it. Reckon my system is now the best I've heard... And all for well under £1k.

Thank you! 👍
If you adjust  the "Room EQ gain" slider in accordance with the instruction, digital clipping will not happen.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #253
Fantastic. Thanks for your help. Had read several conflicting posts on various sites re digital gain/clipping... Your advice (and revisiting step 15) has made it much clearer...and simpler.
Many thanks again. 👍

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #254
Loving the improvement in clarity using RoomEQ generally but now thinking adding a third sub as I have a BK XXLS400 that I use with my AVR as it goes deeper than the two 10" subs that I use for stereo which don't reach much below 40Hz. I would be placing the Bk between the two 10" subs (which have both left and right main speakers on top of them.) Just wondering what I should set the BK crossover at prior to measuring with RoomEQ. I would like to make sure that the BKs location is not audibly noticeable, so wondered if setting it's crossover somewhere between 40 and 80Hz might be best? Anyway, thanks again. Any advice most appreciated.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #255
Use Room EQ to measure the frequency response of your room with a few different settings of your sub. Compare the resultant "unprocessed" frequency responses. The best setting of your sub corresponds to the flatter "unprocessed" frequency response.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #256
Thanks. Settled on a 40Hz crossover for the central BK sub as there was no real gain from having it any higher. Am I right in thinking that the phase setting is irrelevant as RoomEQ accounts for phase differences? It has a dial from 0-180 and I just left it in the middle of the range. Am loving the introduction of deep bass without the integration faff prior to MathAudio. Thanks again! 👍 X

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #257
Thanks. Settled on a 40Hz crossover for the central BK sub as there was no real gain from having it any higher. Am I right in thinking that the phase setting is irrelevant as RoomEQ accounts for phase differences? It has a dial from 0-180 and I just left it in the middle of the range. Am loving the introduction of deep bass without the integration faff prior to MathAudio. Thanks again! 👍
The correct phase setting can improve the "unprocessed" frequency response near the cut-off frequency, so you may want to make a few measurements with different phase settings and choose the phase setting which corresponds to the best "unprocessed" frequency response.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #258
Thanks. After a bit more tweaking of levels, crossovers and phase settings I have arrived at the RoomEQ setup shown in the screenshot below. Presumably it is best to try to keep the lowering of the slider to a minimum (to maximise SNR)? Not quite sure what the best compromise is as, if RoomEQ is set to normal resolution, the slider can generally be set much higher. Presumably this compromise of SNR vs response flatness, is really down to personal preference and audio hardware capabilities? Reckon will spend the weekend playing with settings and see what I prefer. Many thanks for all of your help.

X

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #259
Thanks. After a bit more tweaking of levels, crossovers and phase settings I have arrived at the RoomEQ setup shown in the screenshot below. Presumably it is best to try to keep the lowering of the slider to a minimum (to maximise SNR)? Not quite sure what the best compromise is as, if RoomEQ is set to normal resolution, the slider can generally be set much higher. Presumably this compromise of SNR vs response flatness, is really down to personal preference and audio hardware capabilities? Reckon will spend the weekend playing with settings and see what I prefer. Many thanks for all of your help.
Your "unprocessed" frequency response became much better than the previous one. Yes, the best position of the vertical slider depends on the audio hardware capabilities. If you move the vertical slider down, you improve the frequency response. If you move the vertical slider up, you reduce the amplitude of the speaker diaphragm movement (too large amplitude results in non-linear distortion if your speakers are not powerful enough). The best position of the vertical slider corresponds to the maximum 'fidelity' and 'transparency' of the sound. Try a few positions of the vertical slider to find the best one. See steps 10 and 11 at https://mathaudio.com/room-eq.htm  for more details.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #260
Thanks. This is pretty what I thought. I would like to think that my main speakers will be okay as they are actually made for high power/PA applications and therefore made to handle high excursion. I am actually more concerned for the two small subs underneath them as they are relatively low power and made hi-fi/home audio use....Anyway, have been testing at fairly high volume (due to my neighbours still being stuck in Holland post Covid). Anyway, absolutely loving the sound with a bottle of wine... and no sign of driver over excursion as yet. Many thanks. 👍

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #261
... Quick update... Settled on the -15db slider setting as it seems like a good compromise and still gives me a frequency response down to 20Hz. Minor tweaking of the BK sub phase has tightened up the bass too. Quite a stunning difference pre and post MathAudio...
Many thanks for your help and an amazing piece of software.
My shout for beers if any of you are in Edinburgh any time.
Nice one. 👍


Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #263
STRANGE PROBLEM WITH ROOM EQ 2.7.8 IN "HIGH RESOLUTION" MODE & "SOLUTION" (PROBABLY NOT THE BEST...)

Hello @k2k , I am experiencing a strange problem when playing .WV (WavPack) files having Room EQ v2.7.8 in the DSP chain: I am having 1 or 2 micro-pauses every second (having Foobar output buffer lenght at its default).

This problem occurs only when 1) I am playing .WV file, 2) I have the DSP chain running above 48kHz rate (to be honest, I never tested over 96kHz, so I should say that I have the problem at 88.2 and 96kHz rate) and 3) Room EQ is in "high resolution" mode.

The original WV files I am using are all recorded at 44.1kHz and I up-sample to 96kHz using the "Resampler DSP component" as the first component of the DSP chain. These WV files are perfect and the WAV and FLAC derived from those can be perfectly played.

The problem (the micro-pauses) does not occur setting Room EQ in "normal resolution" mode and/or playing any other audio format I regularly use (as FLAC, APE, MP3, SACD.ISO) in "high resolution" mode.
As well as the problem does not occur increasing the Foobar Output Buffer to 1000ms (in my case)

You can find more details about the troubleshooting of this problem in my original thread " BUG: No way to play WavPack !!! - Problem with FB 1.6.9 and 1.6.8" at https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?topic=121991.new#new

Happy to support your further debugging / testing as you will instruct me.
Looking forward for a definitive solution (if possible)...
Regards, Andrea

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #264
Can you please tell me, if the Room EQ software will only work through my laptop line audio and/or USB outputs?
I ask because I have a home-network based audio system.
The problem of network based systems lies in the fact that they substantially delay the sound. This fact creates a problem for the Room EQ's measurement subsystem. If your DAC has a USB input, try to temporarily use a USB cable to measure your room. After that you should be able to use your network system exactly as you did it before.
Network based systems are very common these days. Would it be possible to measure the delay first and then do the normal measurements? Cheers.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #265
STRANGE PROBLEM WITH ROOM EQ 2.7.8 IN "HIGH RESOLUTION" MODE & "SOLUTION" (PROBABLY NOT THE BEST...)

Hello @k2k , I am experiencing a strange problem when playing .WV (WavPack) files having Room EQ v2.7.8 in the DSP chain: I am having 1 or 2 micro-pauses every second (having Foobar output buffer lenght at its default).

This problem occurs only when 1) I am playing .WV file, 2) I have the DSP chain running above 48kHz rate (to be honest, I never tested over 96kHz, so I should say that I have the problem at 88.2 and 96kHz rate) and 3) Room EQ is in "high resolution" mode.
The interrupted audio stream is the result of the CPU overload. Room EQ consumes more CPU in the "High resolution" mode. Room EQ also consumes more CPU when it processes the high-sample-rate audio. Make sure that the buffer size is no less that 500...1000 ms. If this doesn't help, you have three options: (1) use the "Normal resolution" mode, (2) don't use upsampling, (3) use a more powerful computer. In my opinion the option (2) is preferable.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #266
Network based systems are very common these days. Would it be possible to measure the delay first and then do the normal measurements? Cheers.
A delay of 200 ms (or smaller) is acceptable. We tested two network based systems a few years ago and the delay of each of them was too large (more than 500 ms). Unfortunately we did not test modern network based audio systems, so I don't know whether or not they can be used for Room EQ measurement.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #267
A delay of 200 ms (or smaller) is acceptable. We tested two network based systems a few years ago and the delay of each of them was too large (more than 500 ms). Unfortunately we did not test modern network based audio systems, so I don't know whether or not they can be used for Room EQ measurement.
I tried to measure the delay and it is the 250-300ms range over Powerline. With a more direct network connection it could be even less. Maybe UPnP devices can just be added for Room Measurement?

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #268
I tried to measure the delay and it is the 250-300ms range over Powerline. With a more direct network connection it could be even less. Maybe UPnP devices can just be added for Room Measurement?
You can try to use VST or VST3 versions of Room EQ for room measurement because they can handle the delay of up to 500 ms. A demo version of Room EQ VST/VST3 is enough for measurement. You can use it with a demo version of Reaper: https://reaper.fm   See the instruction at https://mathaudio.com/images/reaper.png  Use the "Save preset" button in Room EQ VST/VST3 to save the result of your measurement, then use the "Load preset" button to load it to the Foobar's version of Room EQ.

 

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #269
I tried to measure the delay and it is the 250-300ms range over Powerline. With a more direct network connection it could be even less. Maybe UPnP devices can just be added for Room Measurement?
You can try to use VST or VST3 versions of Room EQ for room measurement because they can handle the delay of up to 500 ms. A demo version of Room EQ VST/VST3 is enough for measurement. You can use it with a demo version of Reaper: https://reaper.fm   See the instruction at https://mathaudio.com/images/reaper.png  Use the "Save preset" button in Room EQ VST/VST3 to save the result of your measurement, then use the "Load preset" button to load it to the Foobar's version of Room EQ.
Thanks, I figured it is easier to rebuild my asio usb audio signal path.

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #270
Is there a way to ensure that RoomEQ loads the last used configuration file? I have different files for different amplifiers and for some reason RoomEQ always loads the same file. I would have thought that the default would be the last used one. Thanks in advance. 👍

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #271
Is there a way to ensure that RoomEQ loads the last used configuration file? I have different files for different amplifiers and for some reason RoomEQ always loads the same file. I would have thought that the default would be the last used one. Thanks in advance. 👍
Simply click the "Apply" button (see the question No 18 at https://mathaudio.com/room-eq-faq.htm ).

Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #272
Thanks. But I can't see an "Apply" button!

Tbh This is such a minor issue that it doesn't really matter. It is no problem to load the relevant configuration file when Foobar starts.


Re: MathAudio Room EQ for Foobar2000

Reply #274
Doh. Sorry!