Setting the Subwoofer / LFE Crossover for Best Performance
Setting the correct bass management on receivers and processors is essential to getting the most out of your audio system. While some systems recommend 80Hz (the standard THX setting for Select and Ultra2-based systems) this is not always the best setting for all theater systems.
Bass Management Should Be Crossed over at the Best Setting for Your System
Just because THX specified a suggested LFE cutoff frequency, doesn’t mean it is always appropriate for all room/speaker implementations or that it must be blindly followed. Many times its easy to forget what a subwoofer is meant to do. It is meant to act like a subwoofer, not a woofer. The purpose of a subwoofer is to reproduce very low frequencies that most loudspeakers cannot reproduce with authority on their own. In the 5.1 Digital realm, the LFE channel was introduced as a means to alleviate the demand placed on the other channels to deliver low frequencies with ample amounts of «oomph» without limiting the dynamic range. When using an LFE/subwoofer cutoff (-3dB) at 80Hz / 24dB/octave slope, the frequencies slightly above the 80Hz setting are high enough to still have directional perception, especially if the sub is located in close proximity to the listening position. This makes it easier to locate the sub in the listening room and / or reinforcing standing bass waves in the listening room (above 60Hz) by coupling with the bass output from the main speakers if they are configured large.
Selecting the Right Crossover for Your System
Selecting the right crossover for your system is a process that involves much listening and experimentation. Sometimes it can be easy (such as when a loudspeaker manufacturer tells you where to set it) and sometimes it can be more difficult. On systems that offer a flexible bass management system, shoot for setting the crossover frequency for at least 10Hz above the lowest frequency your main speakers can reproduce cleanly.
There are a whole host of caveats we have to mention here, and we recommend looking at our other articles dealing with loudspeaker setup and configuration. In essence, you are trying to attain a smooth transition from the lower capabilities of your main speakers to the subwoofer. The goal is to not accentuate, or bump, the frequencies in the crossover setting location, but arrive at a seamless blend from mains to sub. In addition, we prefer crossover settings below 80Hz whenever possible so that the subwoofer frequencies are not directional. On some satellite systems, you may find that you have to set the crossover to 100Hz. This is OK, provided it nets you the best overall response.
What About THX Systems?
THX is almost a different beast altogether. A THX Select or Ultra2 system is specifically designed to have the bass management set at 80Hz. While you are free to alter the crossover frequency of a THX system, you will not be utilizing the system as it was intended to be heard. In addition, THX processing and DSP assumes (and sometimes initiates) an 80Hz crossover setting for the LFE. While a THX system may not be desired by everyone, we actually recommend those systems (assuming THX speakers in conjunction with a THX receiver/processor) be configured as recommended.
Conclusions
We highly recommend experimenting with the variable Bass Management / Crossover settings in your receiver / processor to arrive at the best setting possible for the marriage between your loudspeakers and subwoofer, especially if you are using quality «large» tower type speakers with inherently good bass extension. You will find the addition of a sub is much more useful as a compliment to your main speakers, producing deep, non-directional bass tones.
Keep in mind that setting the LFE too high can allow your sub to play up to almost 100Hz, which can cause a bass bump between your main speakers and sub; increasing the chances of:
Unwanted and unnatural sounding standing bass waves.
Identification of the subwoofer as a point source rather than a discrete member.
Excessive bass boom.
We recommend following these simple guidelines and then experimenting on your own to get the best possible sound performance out of your system.
About the author:
Gene manages this organization, establishes relations with manufacturers and keeps Audioholics a well oiled machine. His goal is to educate about home theater and develop more standards in the industry to eliminate consumer confusion clouded by industry snake oil.
lfe crossover frequency что это и зачем это нужно? Аудиокарта ASUS Xonar DX/XD/A
Homo habilis Оракул (70053) ну почему же. при настройке сабвуфера может пригодиться.
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Pulseaudio no LFE (subwoofer output) in 2.1 or 4.1 configuration
I’m using pulseaudio with a 6-channel USB sound device (which reports itself as a «CM106 Like Sound Device»). I added the following to ~/.config/pulse/daemon.conf :
enable-lfe-remixing = yes lfe-crossover-freq = 50 If I open pavucontrol and, under the configuration tab, select «Analog Surround 5.1 Output,» everything works fine as best I can tell, except for the fact that I don’t have 5 speakers. (I can test by moving the speakers around to different output ports and playing surround sound test files.) Unfortunately, if I select either «Analog Surround 4.1 Output» or «Analog Surround 2.1 Output», I get no sound out of my subwoofer. Is there any way to make my subwoofer work with fewer than 6 channels?
asked Dec 9, 2017 at 20:00
user3188445 user3188445
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What version of Pulseaudio are you using? This [1] states, it should work with Pulseaudio 7.0 and later. I have the same trouble as you with an Asus Xonar U7 USB soundcard with Pulseaudio 11.1 on Gentoo Linux. An interesting thing is that I get no subwoofer channel output at all on any of the output jacks. [1] voices.canonical.com/david.henningsson/2015/12/15/…
Feb 27, 2018 at 12:02
Using pulseaudio 11 on arch linux.
Feb 28, 2018 at 17:11
3 Answers 3
It is the complete setup.
Copy the daemon.conf file.
cp /etc/pulse/daemon.conf ~/.config/pulse/ Uncomment ‘enable-lfe-remixing’ and set yes.
enable-lfe-remixing = yes Copy the default.pa file.
cp /etc/pulse/default.pa ~/.config/pulse/ Add at the end of the file this load module.
load-module module-combine channels=6 channel_map=front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe Open alsamixer > select the sound card which manage the woofer ( F6 ) > unmute the bass speaker .
Finally reboot your computer / laptop.
If you are looking for test it. I recommend the Woofer and Subwoofer Test web page then click on the link ’80-89Hz’ or any greater than 50Hz.
The original solution: Andrea Grandi
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answered Mar 31, 2018 at 6:56
Israel Alberto RV Israel Alberto RV
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The problem isn’t that the subwoofer doesn’t work, as that problem has been fixed. The problem is that the subwoofer doesn’t work in 2.1 or 4.1 mode. If you can answer the question, please explain how to make a subwoofer work with only 2 or 4 normal speakers instead of 5. Otherwise, I think you are only explaining how to work around an old bug that has previously been fixed.
Apr 1, 2018 at 19:09
I know that’s an old thread, but I also know that some people like me, still have this problem. I found a solution, a really easy one and it worked great after messing around with the config files.
In /etc/pulse/daemon.conf I commented the following lines :
#enable-remixing = yes #remixing-use-all-sink-channels = yes #remixing-produce-lfe = yes #remixing-consume-lfe = yes #lfe-crossover-freq = 80 then restart pulseaudio
pulseaudio -k This ONLY works if you have a real multichannel sound system (5.1, 4.1, etc.). Upmixing is only a solution for stereo sound systems «fake multichannel» (that’s why the lfe doesn’t work, at least, for me).
The crossover is useless in a true multichannel system like I use, because the av-receiver already does the job. The only thing pulseaudio does now (in a 5.1 configuration for example), is send the 6 channels to the av-receiver and the av-receiver will do the job perfectly fine and send each channel to the right speaker.
I hope this will help people having this issue.
Перевод «crossover frequency» на русский
It should be noted that the crossover frequency from masters programmes to PhD programmes varies considerably between the six fields of science.
Следует отметить, что в шести научных областях частота перехода из магистратуры в докторантуру весьма различна.
In this frequency range, those changes can only be due to room resonances, or — if you use a subwoofer — to a mismatch between the subwoofer phase/ position/ crossover frequency and your main speakers.
В этом частотном диапазоне эти изменения могут быть вызваны только резонансами помещения или — если вы используете сабвуфер — несоответствием между фазой/ положением/ частотой кроссовера сабвуфера и вашими основными динамиками.
It should be noted that the crossover frequency from master’s programme to PhD programme varies considerably between the six fields of science.
Следует отметить, что возможность поступления в аспирантуру после получения степени магистра в целях получения затем степени кандидата наук неодинакова в шести указанных научных областях.
The crossover frequency in the four remaining areas is much higher.
В четырех других областях эти возможности намного шире.
Предложить пример
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Spacer DNA might, therefore, in some sense be favoured by natural selection because of its effects on crossover frequencies.
Следовательно, естественный отбор может в каком-то смысле благоприятствовать спейсерной ДНК в связи с ее влиянием на частоту кроссинговера.
crossover frequencies of physical persons and (or) move their goods across the customs border.
частоты пересечения физического лица и (или) перемещения им товаров через таможенную границу.
Therefore, frequency division can be carried out by the simplest passive electric crossovers (frequency filters).
Поэтому, частотное разделение может быть осуществлено самыми простыми пассивными электрическими кроссоверами (частотными фильтрами).
Even if a stretch of DNA is not itself transcribed, it can increase the frequency of crossovers between genes simply by occupying space between them, and this is a kind of phenotypic expression.
Даже если отрезок ДНК не транскрибируется сам, он может повышать частоту хромосомных обменов просто за счет увеличения расстояния между генами — в этом и состоит его фенотипическая экспрессия.