Parametric EQ for mains

[RBIngraham]

Richard, I think you missed what I was talking about here. Yep, there are tons of different methods to do EQ, and whatever works for you and what you feel comfortable with is what you should use. I was only pointing out something that I've seen few engineers have a good grip on (this includes more than a few touring guys). With the advent of software du jour for ETF, impulse response, pink with RTA and a host of other stuff what I see most times is poor placement of the calibration mic for measurement. Theaters, by and large, don't suffer quite as badly from poor acoustics. I know there are some tough venues out there but arenas and such are the worst. The square boxes they are modeling most churches on today (with the fan shaped back wall) is an acoustical nightmare. Unless you understand critical distance and set your mic inside those boundaries the only tool that will work is impulse response. Pink noise with RTA is completely useless in a highly reverberant environment since the reverberant component makes it impossible to get a good curve.

I see. Sorry I thought you were jumping on the RTA is a worthless tool bandwagon here. And my point only was that they all have their time and place. (even if some of them don't measure time..)

[RBIngraham]

Yeah, I was responding to this comment:

"RTA is much better than people using a 58 and repeatedly saying "yup" .."check 1,2,3" as a method to set EQ. There is still a huge world of people out there that still do this because they cant afford or understand the tools. I take multiple measurements with Smaart throughout the venue to get an better profile of how my speakers are interacting with the room. To some people, a BBE sonic maximizer is the only time alignment tool they know."

And I'm the asshole.

I've tried these things a long time ago (BSS Varicurve, Peavey Autograph, DEQ2496 Etc, etc) as well as recently and they simply are not required. It has nothing to do with not knowing how to use them, not being able to afford them or not having access to them or anything of the sort.

I don't believe that they set up your mains any quicker when you consider that you have to set up a measurement mic to tune the system. It takes maybe three to five minutes tops to tune a rig by ear, and you can walk around the entire venue during that time. This is also usually done in an empty room, so when the room fills up with people that move around and the temperature and humidity in the venue change, you really can't break out your measurement mic in the middle of a show and start blasting pink noise through the system.

They are not a substitute for experience, and they aren't a necessity that people can't afford or miffed about how to use them.

And yes, I definitely have mixed from the worst possible mix positions, like in an isolation booth with a sliding window at the top of theaters. I regularly run 6 monitor mixes from FOH. I'm often part of a two man crew, sometimes I'm solo pulling in gear. I get all kinds of issues like PA stacks that are behind the band, mis-matched,irregular, offset, backset on one side etc. Funny thing is that I've never found myself crying in my poutine because I couldn't afford or figure out how to use an RTA or Smaart system.

I wouldn't say I disagree with you totally. I still work that way often and I get fine results.

It was more about your insinuation that anyone that would bother to use measurement tools is somehow a lesser human. Maybe take it down a notch? With the exception of rigging, no one will die if the sound is bad. In the grand scheme of things what we do isn't really all that important to human existence, hardly worth telling folk they are a poor excuse for a human being in my not so humble opinion.

Anyway, as I've said they are all tools and they all have their place.

And just because I don't have a test mic in the room doesn't mean an RTA is not usable for other things. Or any of the other more sophisticated tools than an RTA. In fact if you keep your test mic up, some of them allow you to monitor in real time.

Some really slick systems will even allow you to have multiple test mics up in the space, take averages and give you some real data and then you can see and hear what is happening as the room fills up with people and as the humidity level rises in the room. Of course that **** costs some real bucks and you have to know how to use it. Or it will be worthless.

Will any of that replace an experienced engineer? Hell no. Of course not.

Anyway seems like everyone is using the most extreme examples to make some kind of point. Not sure why. Yes, there are fools that only set up systems by ear because they don't have the money or expertise to know how to use SMAART, an RTA or whatever tool of choice you like. There are also some that I'm sure know very well how to use them but choose not to do so. Rick Southern that I mentioned before would be a great example. And there of certainly plenty of folks that spend so much time looking at their computer screens while tweaking the systems that they miss the big picture and at best have a bland sounding system and worst it is unusable. (I could give several stories of those as well...)