Beginner sound system tuning tutorial

Get better mixes, faster with my 3-step guide to perfect EQ:

Often it’s best to learn to tune a sound system by ear, it helps you develop your ear and question what sounds good.

But our ears can be inconsistent and there are problems that can be difficult for you to hear at first.If you’re serious about getting a great sounding system then you should be using measurement software to give you hard data.

If you get some practice and have a process to follow then you can add measurement software into your workflow pretty easily. That’s why in this video I want to give you a measurement and tuning workflow to get you started using data and your ears to EQ your system, and remove the guesswork.

The most important thing is that you get started, that’s the fastest way to learn how to tune systems.

We’ll cover:
Setting the gear up so you know how to get a measurement.
Verifying that everything is working so you don’t chase a silent speaker with EQ.
Using the software to verify that your EQ is doing what you need it to.

My equipment:
Sonarworks Calibrated Measurement Microphone
Focusrite 2i2 usb interface
Lenovo ThinkPad laptop
Xlr female to Jack male cable
Smaart V8

00:00 Introduction
00:35 Free EQ Guide
01:22 Equipment you need to tune a PA
02:54 Setting Up for system tuning
04:44 Final checks before tuning your PA systen
05:47 Measure and EQ your PA system

Discount links for sound system tuning book:

[MichaelCurtisAudio]

Great job here, Andrew! The trace you use in the video is from Nathan, which he modeled after some L-Acoustics traces.

The one I'm using these days I stole from Michael Lawrence, who stole it from Dennie Miller : )

[marcokleiner]

what an awesome video man! thanks a lot! this is exactly the information I was looking for, I will try making my first transfer function measurement in a few days.. one thing I would add from my experience as a live sound guy with 'simple' RTA ist the importance of mic placement relative to speaker placement. if you measure in the 'power alley' between two stacks or expirience comb filtering effects moving the mic 1m can give you very different results.. so in the end you still need to walk the room and try to project the influence of the human sound absorbers that are going to populate the listening area :-)

[josuastangl]

Wow your channel is a gold mine, subscribed!

[TTAN-]

Awesome video! Need more system tuning tutorials please 🙏🏼

[wattscharliedoing]

When tuning were you doing it separately for both left and right speakers? Or was that reading in the video the combined signal of both?

[RBAudios]

Thank you andrew so much for this appreciate it...🙌

[tallakbertin]

Could you use a bus or a matrix on your console instead of a separate sound card? I have both, it’s just a little less equipment to have to bring

[AlexandreLollini]

I like to do a second pass with both speakers playing pink (different random signals left and right) just because some rooms have those strange effects, then I simply use a slow decay spectrum analyser display and do the last adjustments (only down for the new peaks) and usually this gives me a more appealing sound, and usually this one last does not change when thare are a lot of people in the room. When I adjust speakers individually this setting is not reliable, even if it "sounds well" on the first listen. Also it's good to walk while listening music to spot weird changes and resonances (or modes).

[matthewcselby]

on Step 4 "Measure & EQ" - what do we do with the db level from these two sources "mic and ref"?

do we gain match these to a healthy level in the green only on the first measurement per speaker and then leave that gain the same when capturing different distances?

second question - if it's the same gain, do we keep that gain structure when measuring the other speaker[s] so that the trace levels match? Gain levels from PA L near, middle, far vs PA R near, middle, and far.

[biswakarmasound]

Sir How to Manage 2 Type Sub. I mean 2 /3 types bass reflex sub, example - 1) Front Loaded
2) Hornload
2) Revers speaker sub

In one venue. How to manage it

[SammytheSalmon]

What would you recommend one does to get a PA tuned for a 4-piece pub/function band who get around 2 hours to set up? Maybe just reference track over EQ calibration?

From getting through the door, to finishing sound checking. Keeping in mind that the room is noisy with punters, we ask the pub to turn background music down, but then the landlord is staring at you wanting to hurry up setting kit up and finishing sound checking because some landlords are a-holes and don't understand the process to setting up for live sound.

[simonshawmusic]

Thanks for the video! I have a question, if the idea is that we are testing each side of the PA system individually (lets assume a small PA-Center subs and two tops) and take measurements, how do we then apply EQ from the master on the mixer as it would be applying this EQ to both sides of the PA?

Or is the idea to test each side individually to assess if there are any inherent problems with the PA and then EQ with the PAN centered using a summation of all the speakers in the room? (the limiting factor being only one EQ for both main speakers and subs)

thanks again

[chemdrum]

This was a great video! Question: before EQ-ing the system, would you first balance the system(tops vs subs) with music just to get a general balance of lows and highs?

[alanp]

Very nice and well explained tutorial! Thank you for that!

Just wanted to ask if the delay compensation is a big deal to tune the room (?)... because i could do all this except the delay compensation just with my mixer. Without an aditional laptop and audiointerface..

[tveitmorten]

Ha! I play this venue from time to time, and to be fair, I’m not surprised that you’d have to boost that lo-end that much, because the sound has been quite harsh a couple of times. You often work there?

[enochzhang]

Thanks for the video, very concise and easy to understand.
I'm curious, should I put my RTA mic in the front to adjust my EQ, or the whole center or back of the room?

[BestialShow]

Hello! Where we can find, the ideal graphic? Thanks 🙏🏻

[박규민-oz]

What level should I level the gain of the measuring microphone on the sound card?

[kenners]

2:01 if you have a digital mixer (I’m on an SQ6), do you need the sound card for this as well? Or can you use the sound card within the mixer to execute this properly?

[ThalamusGhipopotamus]

Why don't you use one mixer for measurements, but only with an audio interface?