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Post by vmirjamali on Sept 11, 2016 19:09:12 GMT -5
Hi,
I'm curious if anyone else is getting fairly boomy sounding lows with the emotiva 4s? I'm comparing this to my Rythmik LV12r which is obviously a deeper bigger sub, but still was expecting accurate base with this so curious if it's just me. The lows remind me of my old Z5500 which emphasized the lows vs accuracy. Wondering if the 5s or 6s would fix this issue ?
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hemster
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Post by hemster on Sept 11, 2016 19:51:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure I understand... are you comparing the low-frequency extension of the Emotiva Airmotiv 4 with that of the Rythmik LV12r? If so, this is not a valid comparison since the Airmotiv is a monitor whereas the Rythmik is a sub. Apples to oranges.
That said, the 5s or 6s will go deeper than the 4s but again, they must not be compared with a sub. The 6s sound great without a sub and for music I don't use a sub with my 6s but for movies I do. YMMV.
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stiehl11
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Post by stiehl11 on Sept 11, 2016 19:53:05 GMT -5
Having owned the Airmotiv 4s before and my daughter still owns them I can say that they are absolutely not producing the bass that your Rythmik sub is producing. At best they're only capable of producing around 60Hz while your Rythmik is capable of 20Hz or lower. The best thing that you can do is not send them any signal less than 60Hz and you'll have a better sound. If they still sound boomy after that there should be a switch at the back that will allow you to cut the output of the low pass amplifier inside the speaker by up to -4db. If either of those don't do the trick then speaker placement may need to be looked at.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 20:58:34 GMT -5
What? The LV12r is a powered subwoofer that is spec'd down to 19 Hz at -2dB's and for bass only up to about 200Hz max, although in most systems it would be cut off LPF at about 80Hz or so. It is very good for music and movies but needs two to five main speakers for 2 channel or 5.1 etc. The Airmotiv 4s is a powered studio monitor speaker and plays from near about 58Hz at -2dB's up to the highest frequencies. It can be used by itself or with a sub to extend the lower bass. They should be at least 4-6" or more from the rear wall. How are you comparing them? Is the Rythmik sub in a system with main left and right speakers? Are the main L&R speakers bookshelf. towers? We need more info? What the heck is a Z5500? The 5.1 Logitech system with separate powered sub that is spec'd down to about 30Hz? This was about a $300 5.1 system which have probably produced fairly poor low bass. You seem to be comparing apples, oranges and peaches here. Please, we need for you to give us lots more info. Exactly how are you comparing the LV12r and Airmotiv 4s? Are these in the same room, system, different sound sources, etc.? I own the original Airmotiv 4. It has very respectable bass for such a small driver and is not meant to play much below 50Hz and thus would not have the clean low distortion bass of your Ryhtmik sub at below 80Hz and down. The Airmotiv 4s is designed mainly for near field computer sound system use. It is also great for a small 2 channel sound system in a office, den or smaller room. Mine is played thru a Emotiva XDA-2 (preamp/DAC) which lets me control the volume. I have the Airmotiv 4 and also a 8" high quality small Mirage Omni 8S sub both connected thru the XDA-2. The low bass on the 4 rolls off using the shelf filter on the rear panel and the sub is rolled off above about 90Hz using the sub dial. This gives a nice blend of the fairly low bass from the 4 and the lower bass from the sub. By itself the model 4 is very impressive down to about 50Hz at -2dB's carefully tested by me and virtually flat from 50-120Hz, very fine performance. If you place the model 4 (5 & 6) on a stand (titled if necessary) or on sound absorbing feet the bass will usually be cleaner. A sub if properly set up will give lower bass extension but many folks are happy with one or all three of these models. By itself the 4 IMO is a great little computer sound monitor and produces up to slightly over 90dB's into the adjoining room. The bass down to 50Hz is quite good for this class. The model 5 has the same tweeter but a larger mid/bass driver and more power so it will play somewhat louder and with slightly lower bass. The model 6 has a larger tweeter and mid/bass driver and again better lower bass and more power/louder. Many folks here find the 4 a very nice near field (computer) speaker. My system with the 4's and sub it very impressive (clean and tight) down to the 30Hz range. Some use these Airmotiv powered monitors as the 5 speakers in a 5.1 system (of course with a sub(s), however, the power cords can be a negative issue. The 5's and 6's are of course heavier. None of these three models or the better performing Stealth 8 (down to about 30Hz by itself great performance) will give you the very loud and lower bass of the $600 Rythmik LV12r sub, especially below 30Hz (they are not meant to).  |
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Post by garbulky on Sept 12, 2016 11:50:50 GMT -5
Your answer - the airmotivs do produce bass. But it's not the best. Compared to my axiom m80's the bass is more uneven when you play a frequency sweep. A good amount of the lower bass comes from its port. To expect a 4 inch speaker to produce low very accurate bass is maybe optimistic. The 5 may be better but not by a large amount. Ideally you want to integrate your rythmik and the airmotiv 4 together for best results.
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Post by drtrey3 on Sept 12, 2016 12:14:20 GMT -5
I have my 4s at the office and listen to them regularly. They do not have amazing low bass, but what they have is pleasant and not loosey goosey. I have mine pretty close to the back all and the rear panel adjustments are all set at 0. So I would experiment with placement with JUST the monitors till you are happy with the bass you do hear, then add the sub to take care of the below 60 or even 80 hz.
Trey
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 22:11:54 GMT -5
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Post by vmirjamali on Sept 15, 2016 13:49:03 GMT -5
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Post by garbulky on Sept 15, 2016 14:11:45 GMT -5
You are right Chukie. But I personally thought the bass from the airmotiv 4 was pretty darn amazing for FOUR INCH DRIVERS!! I was just responding to his comment about bass quality. You just aren't going to get that last bit from 4 inch driver. |
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Post by vmirjamali on Sept 15, 2016 14:15:49 GMT -5
So I played around with my setup and I realized that the issue was one of break in time, and my DAC believe it or not. Whenever I connect it to a digital dac aka my pc it works amazing. But when i use an analog dac like the micca origin+ I have to increase the volume to like 50% on it for the channel imbalance and for the sound to come through properly.
For those of you on the fence about getting a dac or using your pc dac like the alc1150 just use your pc dac. Same audio quality, free, and sounds amazing.
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Post by garbulky on Sept 15, 2016 14:22:29 GMT -5
So I played around with my setup and I realized that the issue was one of break in time, and my DAC believe it or not. Whenever I connect it to a digital dac aka my pc it works amazing. But when i use an analog dac like the micca origin+ I have to increase the volume to like 50% on it for the channel imbalance and for the sound to come through properly. For those of you on the fence about getting a dac or using your pc dac like the alc1150 just use your pc dac. Same audio quality, free, and sounds amazing. Oh my goodness...... okay well in that case I believe you have a setup problem. The airmotivs have a volume knob on each speaker. They need to be both turned to FULL volume. Then you adjust the volume using your speakers. That may solve your channel imbalance problem. I have heard several dacs and they completely stomped all over onboard PC sound cards. Just no competition really. |
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Post by vmirjamali on Sept 15, 2016 19:14:06 GMT -5
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Post by garbulky on Sept 15, 2016 20:56:04 GMT -5
It says "anything above $2 buys you more features not sound quality." I love it! I guess I need to ditch my stuff now  But on a serious note .... seriously....a good dac will perform better. Don't buy in to this double blind bs. |
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Post by garbulky on Sept 15, 2016 21:02:23 GMT -5
You'll also find double blind tests saying - not just dacs - but all electronics including amps, preamps, etc are indistinguishable from each other - as long as some minimum specs are met - which most on the market do meet.
The good news is that if you are in the crowd where this finding is true - and you've personally found no difference....this is great news! You don't have to spend much money to find audio nirvana! But if you find different, well bad news for your wallet! I personally find that electronic gear tend to have their own sound.
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Sept 15, 2016 21:43:32 GMT -5
You'll also find double blind tests saying - not just dacs - but all electronics including amps, preamps, etc are indistinguishable from each other - as long as some minimum specs are met - which most on the market do meet. The good news is that if you are in the crowd where this finding is true - and you've personally found no difference....this is great news! You don't have to spend much money to find audio nirvana! But if you find different, well bad news for your wallet! I personally find that electronic gear tend to have their own sound. Unfortunately for my wallet my ears are very good. Very true post though and many people simply buy audio on the hype, reviews, features, etc. All things being equal in a controlled environment with everything the same the differences between pieces of audio gear can be ever so slight that in blind listening tests they are nearly indiscernible. |
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Post by vmirjamali on Sept 16, 2016 4:21:16 GMT -5
Luckily I'm not in that group I set up my own build but I'm now satisfied. I talked to micca and they informed me to use the micca origin+ dac I have to keep it above 50% as they require more amplication to enrichen the sound. They were right on that. Sounds great, although so does my onboard pc dac when I compare them. So that's that. I'll keep the micca origin+ though as I like the volume knob feature. Want to know something ever crazier? I bought a fmod 100hz (12db rolloff) high pass filter in preparation for an incoming Rythmik L12s (unlike the sb2000/1000 it doesn't have a built in 80hz HPF built in) only a low pass cross over which will become my low end. Playing the same music on the 4s with these crossovers, everything sounds so much cleaner and refined. Just the way I like it. It confirmed my idea that the super low end while nice, isn't as clean as my ears are used to sadly. I've been spoiled by having nice direct servo subs. For any other search engine lurkers, the FMOD high pass filters have zero noise or added distortion. They do lower the noise by 1-2db though, which is a good tradeoff. Get them, they are worth the $20-30. |
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Post by nwobhm on Sept 16, 2016 11:28:52 GMT -5
I'm not going to lie - this is one of the strangest threads I've encountered in a while... I feel like maybe we are being punked. |
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