MP3 Sinus tones  - To help you set up the subwoofer...

- And to help understand sound waves

The idea behind having a subwoofer is that we like to extend the frequency range from existing loudspeakers. Also we want realistic bass reproduction when watching movies. Besides the fact that most DVDs and movie soundtracks have a separate channel for the subwoofer, only very few loudspeakers are able to actually play full level bass in a e.g. 40 m² room. The best frequency to cut a subwoofer is often around 60-70 Hz for many good speakers. From this frequency down, the need for moving air at the same level as the higher frequencies increased dramatically. However, if the sync and phase between subwoofer and main speakers is incorrect, you will damage the overall sound reproduction. We have made this guide below in the hope it will help you achieve a perfectly balanced sound reproduction in your home - and remember; by having a subwoofer system, you are free to tune in the base as you like - if you have only a pair of speakers; the sound is fixed and static without flexible bass tuning to match the room. This is one often overlooked fact and benefit we get from owning a good sub where phase, level and frequency easily can be tuned in and often exceed the sound from even good and big loudspeakers without support from a sub! (Note: Always use good sounding drivers for subwoofer - you do hear the details down there too and a woofer must be able to reach up as well as down in order to connect to your side speakers correctly!)

Hele idéen med en subwoofer er at den skal matche eksisterende højttalere og forlænge frekvens området nedefter. For at få en perfekt overgang mellem dine eksisterende højttalere og subwooferen kan du downloade en tone fra området hvor dine side højttalere begynder at rulle af nedefter, f.eks. 70Hz. Bemærk at mange producenter lover at højttaleren spiller med fuld niveau ned til mellem 20 & 40 Hz. Oftest er det langt fra tilfældet. Erfaringer viser at det bedste match for subwooferens deling ofte forekommer ved 60-70 Hz. Ved f.eks 70Hz er det samtidigt relativt let for vores ører at høre tonen klart og dermed let at tune subwooferen ind ret præcist. Forkert subwoofer indstilling kan medføre et usammenhængende og plumret lydbillede eller delvist ophævelse af bassen fra side højttalerne. Vi har lavet denne guide for at du lettere kan optimere dit surround eller 2.1 setup. (Husk på at detaljer høres i selv i den dybeste bas, så det gælder altså om at have en så velopløst bas som overhovedet muligt og ikke en der er hård som et bræt der peaker voldsomt inden for et smalt frekvensbånd).

3: When you hear one tone, e.g. 60 Hz being lower than the rest, turn up the frequency a little until all tones are equally high.

At this point you should no longer touch level and phase. When all are equally high reproduced and in phase you are set to go.

Typical error in a subwoofer setup: The crossover frequency is set too low and and you compensate by turning up the subwoofer too high on the volume.

File format: MP3    Each tone last 15 seconds    350KB

  10 Hz

You can not hear, but feel and see it on the woofer

If you hear port or driver noise on these tones, it is not a problem but only natural. Music is normally not recorded at those frequencies. What we subjectively hear as a 20 Hz tone is often 40-50 Hz measured objectively. A sound wave of 20 Hz is 17 meter long when carried through air. Now just imagine how many times it bounces back from the walls in a 4-5 meter wide room - and with different time intervals before we collect and accept is as a tone! Humans hear best between 100 - 5000 Hz. On each side of that spectra, we loose information quicker and that is why we need something extra on the sides to compensate. At the same time we are very sensitive around 1-4 KHz and that is why we do not like increased response in that area. Look at that when selecting loudspeaker - if the manufacturer publish it - not many show response curves for some reason?! - but that's another story.

100 Hz

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110 Hz

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  10 Hz

Kan ikke høres, men mærkes og ses på membranen

Det vil være helt normalt at opleve støj fra enhed og port ved så lave toner. Egentlige musik indspilninger med så dybe toner fremkommer yderst sjældent. En tone vi oplever som 20 Hz er ofte 40-50 Hz når den måles. Vi har ganske enkelt meget svært ved at skelne så store bølgelængder præcist. En 20 Hz tone er 17 meter lang når denne transmitteres gennem luft. Forestil dig nu hvor mange gange denne tone rammer vægge, gulv og loft før den kommer til dit øre og accepteres som en tone . og endda med tidsforskydning fra de forskellige overflader i rummet. Mennesker hører bedst toner mellem 100 - 5000 Hz. På ydersiderne af dette spektre, begynder vi at miste information og behøver lidt hjælp i form af eksempelvis lidt ekstra bas.

100 Hz

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110 Hz

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