Making Movies Sound Better With Bass EQ

@richardsim7 just listened to last weeks podcast, where you asked about the filtered movies lol.. You should have reminded them about Bass EQ.. I mentioned it to @Phil Hinton a while back and seeing as they all have noticed the filtering and disagree with the fact it's happening, I'd have thought this easy fix should be major discussion point for them :)

Don't they use MK subs with weak low end? Maybe they aren't arsed.
 
Don't they use MK subs with weak low end? Maybe they aren't arsed.
I know Phil has a 4 sub system including a BK Monolith, not sure what the others have. But even with 20hz capable subs, BEQ is worth while IMO.. Any additional ULF is better than a 30 or 40hz roll off :)
 
I know Phil has a 4 sub system including a BK Monolith, not sure what the others have. But even with 20hz capable subs, BEQ is worth while IMO.. Any additional ULF is better than a 30 or 40hz roll off :)

Ah ok defo worth it for Phill then.

There's just some that just aren't interested at all. That fella in the US, that the Youthman youtube guy visited. Has about 20 subs in his room, asked him if he was on it....wasn't interested.... I mean what the f?
 
Ah ok defo worth it for Phill then.

There's just some that just aren't interested at all. That fella in the US, that the Youthman youtube guy visited. Has about 20 subs in his room, asked him if he was on it....wasn't interested.... I mean what the f?
Yeh, more money than sense springs to mind lol. Buy decent subs, and limit their performance :( probably owns a supercar as well and never driven it fast :D
 
Ah ok defo worth it for Phill then.

There's just some that just aren't interested at all. That fella in the US, that the Youthman youtube guy visited. Has about 20 subs in his room, asked him if he was on it....wasn't interested.... I mean what the f?

Probably doesn't want to go against the director's intent.
 
Hell, here's a more modern example

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Given that none of us has actually experienced an Alien breaking out of the ground and shooting people with lasers, who's to know that the massively neutered low end of the new UHD of WotW isn't what it would actually sound like.

lolz
 
Hi, welcome to the forum.

1. Yes. It can go below, I believe.

Thanks, I used to have an IB subwoofer and a buttkicker setup but I moved a few years ago and sold almost everything but two subs and the EQ equipment (there were eight 15s in the system). I have an off the shelf subwoofer now but I designed a ported box for the two subwoofers I kept from the old system and it looks promising on paper. It might put it together and have access to low LFE content again. The Elemental Designs eQ.2 can filter down to 10Hz, they aren't in business anymore which might tell you how long I've had it, but it's been great and a game changer for the systems I've used it on. I have it on a Dayton SUB1500 now along with the Behringer 1124p and it took that sub from drab to getting every possible low Hz out of it. It still starts rolling off around 23Hz even though I have it boosted like mad underneath the curve.

2. The minidsp has input filters and output filters. You load all of your personal configuration (EQ, delays, levels, etc.) into the output slots in the minidsp (leaving the inputs untouched) and you save that configuration out somewhere. Then you use BEQ designer to merge each of the filter files stored in the repo with your custom file that you just saved. You tell the tool where your recently exported settings are and it loads your settings, does the merge and outputs the combined file. This creates ~2.5k files each of which has the appropriate filters for the movie on the inputs, and your personal filters on the output.

It's very simple once you get it set up. It takes about 5 minutes every week or so to resync and merge the latest changes to the repo (new and updated movies) and about 5 seconds to load a file per movie.

Gotchya, that's clever how the device has both input and output filters. I didn't know about the repo file, so that sounds good too. I have a computer in my AV rack that's being used to store security camera videos and other files, it would be perfect to put the minidsp software on it for BEQ. I use RealVNC on the computer to remote in from another computer or from my phone.

It does seem like sound engineers are putting less bass on tracks these days. I understand why they might do it, they won't want to blow up a bunch of people's Bose subs. BEQ does seem really interesting and clever to get low LFE bass back into people's systems that have better subwoofers. I wish this was around when I had the IB system with buttkickers, I would have enjoyed that a lot more.
 
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Probably doesn't want to go against the director's intent.


But we're not.... *IF* studios didn't re-mix the bass down for home media, BEQ wouldn't be needed. The directors intent is there on the big screen with BIG bass, not rolled off at 30-40hz

If you compare some old releases, even on DVD to the newer mixes, they've neutered the bass for the later Bluray re-release, it has ZIP to do with director intent.
 
But we're not.... *IF* studios didn't re-mix the bass down for home media, BEQ wouldn't be needed. The directors intent is there on the big screen with BIG bass, not rolled off at 30-40hz

If you compare some old releases, even on DVD to the newer mixes, they've neutered the bass for the later Bluray re-release, it has ZIP to do with director intent.

I was joking.
 
Well the local speaker shop gave me a good quote on a ported enclosure I designed for two 15 inch subwoofers I kept from my old IB system that I mentioned in a post above. I have a Behringer NX3000 arriving on Friday, got a new one $100 off with a Memorial Day sale. Noctua fan and copper heatsinks for the NX3000 arriving Friday too . So the Dayton SUB1500 I mentioned earlier will be replaced in a few weeks once I get everything installed. MiniDSP 2x4HD and BEQ is happening.
 
Just watched Thor ragnorok for the first time since being completely underwhelewed upon its release.

bassEQ boosting by around 20db below 50hz

Listening at reference level on my Processor, Bass really hit hard and sounded like it should have done in the first place!!

I don’t use basseq often, only on films that are completely neutered, but the soundtrack on ragnorok went from a 4/10 to pretty much 10/10 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
 
It took me a while to catch up, but I've finally got BEQ designer on an old laptop, plus my 'base' MiniDSP sub correction file so I've now got the full set up. I've loaded my next two films in slots 2&3, left slot 1 as the 'standard' one and also put 'Altered Carbon series 2' in slot 4.

Only had a very quick check to make sure it's worked and I can see that the PEQ on the input has different slopes on each slot and obviously 'flat' on slot 1, so I think I'm good to go. I do have a slight house curve on my subs as I loaded a Harman 6dB curve into my Arcam as part of the Dirac calibration, so I hope this isn't too much to use with BEQ on top. I have plenty of headroom on my subs though.

Hope to try out a film tomorrow night and maybe a few episodes of Altered Carbon too: I often find Netflix content a bit 'light' on bass, so will be interesting to see how it works out.

Lastly a big shout out and 'thank you' to @mattkhan for all his work on this program/project.:thumbsup:
 
It took me a while to catch up, but I've finally got BEQ designer on an old laptop, plus my 'base' MiniDSP sub correction file so I've now got the full set up. I've loaded my next two films in slots 2&3, left slot 1 as the 'standard' one and also put 'Altered Carbon series 2' in slot 4.

Only had a very quick check to make sure it's worked and I can see that the PEQ on the input has different slopes on each slot and obviously 'flat' on slot 1, so I think I'm good to go. I do have a slight house curve on my subs as I loaded a Harman 6dB curve into my Arcam as part of the Dirac calibration, so I hope this isn't too much to use with BEQ on top. I have plenty of headroom on my subs though.

Hope to try out a film tomorrow night and maybe a few episodes of Altered Carbon too: I often find Netflix content a bit 'light' on bass, so will be interesting to see how it works out.

Lastly a big shout out and 'thank you' to @mattkhan for all his work on this program/project.:thumbsup:

Hey Kelvin congratulations :thumbsup:

I'm not sure if you have preset options on the Arcam but if you did, I would make one flat without a house curve for when you use BEQ. That's what I do with my setup. I have a specific preset when I watch movies with BEQ I just click on that preset and it loads instantly. That preset has no house curve at all so allows the BEQ to do what's intended to do. As you say you have alot of headroom in your sub's which shouldn't be an issue but I always like to be safe than sorry :smashin:
 
Thanks @mkohman one of the limitations of my Arcam is that it only has a single slot for Dirac. I'm otherwise very happy with it after a recent recal with Dirac V3, as the other Arcam AVR limitations aren't relevant in my set up, so I'm sticking with it for a good while yet. :)

However, I think that if it proves to be an issue, then I can re-do my Dirac target curve for a flatter one and then use my 'Slot 1' on the MiniDSP to apply my own house curve on the input PEQ for content without a BEQ file. Effectively using my MiniDSP to give me extra 'presets'.
 
Thanks @mkohman one of the limitations of my Arcam is that it only has a single slot for Dirac. I'm otherwise very happy with it after a recent recal with Dirac V3, as the other Arcam AVR limitations aren't relevant in my set up, so I'm sticking with it for a good while yet. :)

However, I think that if it proves to be an issue, then I can re-do my Dirac target curve for a flatter one and then use my 'Slot 1' on the MiniDSP to apply my own house curve on the input PEQ for content without a BEQ file. Effectively using my MiniDSP to give me extra 'presets'.
That's a very good idea actually and what I would probably do in your case. I know it's all extra work but I think it's best to play it safe especially if you like cranking the volume up when watching movies :p
 
I stick to about -10db below these days to preserve what's left of my hearing. :) It would mean another session with REW to optimise the sub delay, etc which I'm quick at but starting to get bored of doing, so I'll prefer just to crack on watching films, etc now if I can. Fingers crossed it's good to go with current settings as it's the best it's ever sounded on content that doesn't need BEQ (or have a file yet).
 
I stick to about -10db below these days to preserve what's left of my hearing. :) It would mean another session with REW to optimise the sub delay, etc which I'm quick at but starting to get bored of doing, so I'll prefer just to crack on watching films, etc now if I can. Fingers crossed it's good to go with current settings as it's the best it's ever sounded on content that doesn't need BEQ (or have a file yet).

In that case I would leave as it is and I'm sure after a few familiar movies you will soon decide whether you need to re tweak or not :smashin: I know what you mean about constantly messing around with REW and settings etc lol..sometimes you just want to sit, enjoy a movie and not worry about all that :rotfl:
 
Tried 'The Snowman' and a couple of episodes of 'Altered Carbon' last night, with great results. They both had decent bass, rather than anything over the top. So far I don't think I need to reduce my house curve to use with BEQ, so that's a bonus. I just need to make sure I've got my next few films pre-loaded in and remember which slot I've used before I point the remote at the MiniDSP. :)
 
Awesome. The thing to remember about BEQ is that it doesn't affect your in room response at all. It's not "turning the bass up" in your room. It's all about affecting the content. This is why the BEQ goes on the input side of the minidsp. You're affecting the input signal.

The output doesn't change, your EQd response is your response. The difference is that you're now making use of that response.
 
Yes I understand that, it's just that some people had suggested that it's better to not have a large house curve as well as BEQ. From the brief use so far it doesn't seem to be an issue for me, but maybe because my house curve isn't too extreme.

It's a good result as I'm getting a little tired of running REW and just want to watch things now it's all sounding (and looking) so good after my recent calibration/tweaking. :)
 
Yeah, that was exactly the point I intended to make.

People often run an extreme house curve to compensate for the lack of bass in movies. A large house curve is a like a generic BEQ. That works if you don't have the content. Once BEQ restores (restores, boosts, whatever, I'm not getting into the rationale here) that content, the house curve on top of the restored content is too much. A lot of people give up here.

I know you know this, but it's useful for the thread, I think. If you run a hot house curve pre-BEQ then you will more likely find that the bass is overcooked. It's why I recommend two profiles, one shallow one that you merge with the BEQ files and one steeper one that you use for non-BEQ stuff.

It sounds like you've got a good balance out of the gate, which is good (you clearly did your research). I would say that you'll still likely hit a few titles where there's an overblown bit. I watched the original Robocop the other night and there's a few 9Hz spikes that I could feel the wind from in my room. If that happens it's better to just trim the bass down for that movie rather than try and re-balance everything from REW onwards.
 
Useful to know Conrad: I'll have to try to research incase there is a film coming up like that. A really rough and ready option is to turn my iNuke gains down 1 click each, which is about 4 dB, as a quick fix.
 
Its a shame that unlike the inputs and outputs you cant rename the miniDSP config slots that would make things a little bit easier to remember the different configurations
 

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