Home theatre setup for movies and music only playback

So like many here on the forum I have a home theatre multichannel system which I use for TV and movies (ATV, Netflix etc...) and is also my primary music listening system. My A/V receiver (SONY STR 1060 7.2) is calibrated for movies and I often wonder if I'm really getting the most of it for pure music listening. Additionally I live in a townhouse with my neighbour on one side but fortunately the walls are thick concrete so never had any problems but I do manage my low frequency rolled back a few dB as to not blow them away.

Any tips on finding a middle ground when it comes to calibrating a home theatre for both movie playback and music?

Daniel John said:

So like many here on the forum I have a home theatre multichannel system which I use for TV and movies (ATV, Netflix etc...) and is also my primary music listening system. My A/V receiver (SONY STR 1060 7.2) is calibrated for movies and I often wonder if I'm really getting the most of it for pure music listening. Additionally I live in a townhouse with my neighbour on one side but fortunately the walls are thick concrete so never had any problems but I do manage my low frequency rolled back a few dB as to not blow them away.

Any tips on finding a middle ground when it comes to calibrating a home theatre for both movie playback and music?

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Im not sure there is a difference in the calibration for movies vs music. Are you running some special DSP mode on your AVR that is geared toward movies?

LuvMyQuad said:

Im not sure there is a difference in the calibration for movies vs music. Are you running some special DSP mode on your AVR that is geared toward movies?

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For music I don't set any DSP mode. But I guess my questions does not really have an answer as you point there's probably not a lot of difference when it comes to calibration for music vs. movies.

Also I have a single source for my multichannel music which is the OPPO over HDMI to receiver. I'll need to double check my settings for SACD, Blu-ray audio and DVD-A.

Daniel John said:

Any tips on finding a middle ground when it comes to calibrating a home theatre for both movie playback and music?

Click to expand...

I am in a similar situation. For me music is most important. I set the system up accordingly, first making sure it plays as flat and accurate as I can. Any dynamic range controls are set to max, with no artificial compression in place. I use the "flat" calibration as a starting point then tweak the frequency response in my Yamaha receiver to what sounds best.

For movies? They sound good with the above setup.

You've an Oppo, just set the crossover at 80hz, make sure the speakers set is is correct. The only difference I see is if you had an EQ, movies would be different settings, to get better dialogue

I use familiar music as my setup guide and just go with those settings for movies. There are times I adjust the sub and center levels for video media, but I just make those adjustments on the fly as needed. Seldom are they the same from movie to movie anyway. And a lot of my viewing is over satellite, which is probably even more variable.

leevitalone1 said:

You've an Oppo, just set the crossover at 80hz, make sure the speakers set is is correct. The only difference I see is if you had an EQ, movies would be different settings, to get better dialogue

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My AV receiver has good bass management I have set the OPPO to 80hz. Just wondering if i should turn it off on the OPPO and let the receiver handle it. Took me a while to figure out how to get DSD from the OPPO - for a while I was only able to get PCM.

Daniel John said:

So like many here on the forum I have a home theatre multichannel system which I use for TV and movies (ATV, Netflix etc...) and is also my primary music listening system. My A/V receiver (SONY STR 1060 7.2) is calibrated for movies and I often wonder if I'm really getting the most of it for pure music listening.

Click to expand...

There is no separate calibration needed for movies and music. Calibration is intended to assure that your speakers are outputting at the same level and have the same delay and (optionally) similar EQ -- all as measured from the listening position. Those factors are agnostic to input.

Daniel John said:

My AV receiver has good bass management I have set the OPPO to 80hz. Just wondering if i should turn it off on the OPPO and let the receiver handle it. Took me a while to figure out how to get DSD from the OPPO - for a while I was only able to get PCM.

Click to expand...

If you pass everything digitally from the Oppo, you should turn off all of its DSP (including bass management) and just let the AVR handle all the signal processing.

ssully said:

There is no separate calibration needed for movies and music. Calibration is intended to assure that your speakers are outputting at the same level and have the same delay and (optionally) similar EQ -- all as measured from the listening position. Those factors are agnostic to input.

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Makes sense. Thanks!

Daniel John said:

My AV receiver has good bass management I have set the OPPO to 80hz. Just wondering if i should turn it off on the OPPO and let the receiver handle it. Took me a while to figure out how to get DSD from the OPPO - for a while I was only able to get PCM.

Click to expand...

You don't want to use DSP for Blu-ray movies because the audio is lossless DSP ucl's are meant to be used 4 lossy material. if you're using HDMI base management happens in the AVR not not in the Blu-ray player. if you're using the analog jacks than the oppo controls the audio. I was incorrect in the first statement I didn't realize at first you were using HDMI

Sent from my VS425PP using Tapatalk

ssully said:

If you pass everything digitally from the Oppo, you should turn off all of its DSP (including bass management) and just let the AVR handle all the signal processing.

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Absolutely. Since you have a digital receiver connected via HDMI, output should be set to bitstream from the OPPO.

Depending on the rolloff (the point at which the bass response dips dramatically) of your main speakers, try and set the sub crossover to as low as possible. My Totem Mite speakers (made in Montreal) will handle down to 50Hz comfortably and the sub picks up the rest.

Once you have set a flat response for the room without any bass booming (unless that is your preference) you should not have to adjust anything except the volume for both music and movies.

I have the advantage of 5 identical main speakers which eliminates any variation in tone or volume between centre, main and surround speakers which can happen with some home theatre speaker sets.

leevitalone1 said:

You don't want to use DSP for Blu-ray movies because the audio is lossless DSP ucl's are meant to be used 4 lossy material. if you're using HDMI base management happens in the AVR not not in the Blu-ray player. if you're using the analog jacks than the oppo controls the audio. I was incorrect in the first statement I didn't realize at first you were using HDMI

Sent from my VS425PP using Tapatalk

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DSP is Digital Signal Processing . Bass management is DSP (99% of the time), so is room calibration/EQ, so is Dolby Pro Logic II or other upmixers, and quite likely, input is being upsampled (e.g, to 96Khz) if needed. That's DSP too. Pretty much any function you use on a modern AVR involves DSP.

You might be thinking of a subset of DSP functions, like 'Concert Hall' or 'Jazz Club' modes that attempt to emulate rooms. Those are just one button on modern AVR remotes. All the others are DSP too.

In any case, it is not true that DSP is 'meant to be used for lossy material'. DSP is meant to be used for any material, lossy or lossless.