How do you calibrate a 5.1 speaker system?

[Navid]

I used to have an Audigy 2 ZS and it came with a software that let me calibrate balance and rear front speakers.
Now, I have X-Fi and cannot find such utility on its CD. The 2 ZS utility does not work with X-Fi either.

Is there a free utility that can do that?

 

[stu1811]

In the start menu find creative and select thx setup console. This enables you to set distances for each speaker.

 

[Navid]

But, that is not what I am looking for!

With Audigy 2 ZS, there was a utility that would walk you through the calibration process. It would play a sound and would tell you to adjust the volume of each speaker until you heard the sound coming from the center hence calibrating the setup.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'm not familiar with the X-Fi's setup, but if your speaker system is decent enough, you might want to consider getting an SPL meter to calibrate it.

 

[NanoStuff]

If your speakers aren't physically correlated, no amount of software calibration will fix that problem; thus the lack of a phantom center.

A cheap RadioShack SPL meter would work for leveling out the amplitude, but it's no substitute for proper positioning.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
If your speakers aren't physically correlated, no amount of software calibration will fix that problem; thus the lack of a phantom center.

A cheap RadioShack SPL meter would work for leveling out the amplitude, but it's no substitute for proper positioning.

How do you achieve proper positioning?

 

[Slammy1]

What type of speakers are we talking here, and what source material do you want to calibrate? I mean, computer or real speakers (sorry, it had to be said not that my speakers are so great) and DiVx or mp3 or games?

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
If your speakers aren't physically correlated, no amount of software calibration will fix that problem; thus the lack of a phantom center.

A cheap RadioShack SPL meter would work for leveling out the amplitude, but it's no substitute for proper positioning.

How do you achieve proper positioning?

That's more complicated than I can think to explain, but the general idea is to obtain parallelism; that is the left side of the system should match the right in proximity to the walls and objects of significant size. The second most important thing you should consider is how far the speakers are away from you. Try to bring them in as close as possible without inconveniencing yourself too much. That will give you a good start as far as balance and correlation are concerned. Without an SPL meter and a good parametric equalizer however you're almost certain to have significant problems with bass regardless of positioning, but you're probably not willing to push your system to the EQ tweaking level.

 

[Navid]

I'm sorry guys for not providing enough information.

My speakers are Logitech Z-640. This is for playing games. The front speakers are on my computer desk. The rear speakers are on two stands behind the user (that would be me most of the time).

I am just annoyed that I could adjust the balance and rear front settings so easily with Audigy 2 ZS and now that I have upgraded to X-Fi, it seems like I cannot.

I occasionally listen to music too. But, the main job of these speakers is gaming.

Thanks,

Navid