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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!jlilien
From: jlilien@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Joel Lilienkamp)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Equalizers and Spectrum analyzer
Message-ID: <478@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Aug-83 12:32:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.478
Posted: Mon Aug 29 12:32:56 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Aug-83 08:03:49 EDT
Reply-To: jlilien@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Joel Lilienkamp)
Organization: System Development Corporation, Santa Monica
Lines: 51

Everyone in this group is talking as though the world would still be in
the stone age were it not for equalizers.  (I am assuming graphic equalizers
in this discussion)  My friend has an ADC Sound Shaper (don't remember which)
and the associated spectrum analyzer, and have made the following observations:

	1) How does one adjust for limitations in the speaker or the room
		design?  Can this be done with a graphic equalizer at all, or
		only approximated?  Assuming it is theoretically possible, are
		there people that know how to do this?  Then once it is
		adjusted, do you leave it like that forever?

	2) How does one compensate for a poor mixing?  You certainly have no
		control over what comes out of what channel, and you can only
		compensate for general tonal weaknesses.  In other words, you
		MIGHT be able to make the guitar or flute to sound a little
		louder, but you certainly can't move them around the room.

	3) How do you compensate for a poor mixing and limitations in the
		speaker and the room?  One seems as though it would change from
		time to time, while the others are static.

With the spectrum analyzer, the following can be added:

	1) There are two modes, line and microphone.  Line mode is useless
		except as a toy (it performs in this role quite well)

	2) In microphone mode, there is a setup that can be used to connect
		a pink noise generator through the stereo, picked up on
		the microphone and played.  The problem I noticed seems to
		be in the microphone provided with the spectrum analyzer.
		Since the whole unit only cost $140 or so, the microphone
		couldn't have cost more than $10.  It shows.  The microphone
		is extremely sensative to room position (I guess I beleive
		that, but it makes the whole question of setting the equalizer
		for the room moot, since in reality you are setting it for
		one spot in the room), direction (sensitive to single degrees
		or less), and even volume the pink noise is played.  With
		these problems, and the simple directions that came with the
		thing, I have concluded there is no practical way to use the
		stuff.  Someone said they were handy for testing, but the
		average stereo owner does little or none of that sort of
		testing.

One final note, even if it were possible to set this thing up so that you
were able to compensate for room and speaker defficiencies, you still are
not finished.  Everyone who will ever come and visit you will ask you, as
they are taking you system out of adjustement, what those slide levers are
for.  Hence you have to set the thing up all the time, or else take the
knobs off when it is adjusted.

	Joel