Auto Room Equalization?

Yes, I agree with you Erik 100%, EQ is only one tool in the box!

I do know I had a Behringer unit in my system about a decade ago. For many weeks I played around with the Auto Correction function when I got it...and played around...and around... I could only get results that I had to tweak mightily...even when I ignored the bass and tried it from 200 Hz up...in the end I had to walk away from Auto Correction with it.

But, honestly, I think it was just the overall state of my system and room at the time, not really the Behringer's fault. Since that time, my system's overall performance level has grown by leaps and bounds. Every component in my system has changed hands. I bet if I put it back in my system now that I'd likely get a Whole lot closer to a satisfactory result, and comparatively right off the bat, I think.

But, even my manual EQ has gotten far easier to dial in, so I myself don't feel like I'm missing too much with Auto anyway. But, yes Auto can definitely save you about a decade's worth or so of trying to get fully acclimated to using a manual, parametric EQ that has 14 fully adjustable and fully overlapping bands per/ch, I can tell you that!

But, I'd say that the better your system performs and is dialed into the room quite apart from EQ, the better your system will benefit from EQ, whether manual or Auto - and you wouldn't have to twist my arm that that would most definitely include room treatments.

Regards

I did not like Audessey. I eventually ended up with Room Equalizer Wizard or REW  (a free audio analysis program)+ a calibrated mike from UMike and load it all on a laptop and measure. The end result was far better. Audessey did weird things with my music and I never could get it to sound natural. Audessey is as simple as you can get and works OK for enough people that they can claim it as an advantage and it is better than nothing. I had an Integra 50.4 with it and I parked it until I sold it off as I never could get it like I wanted. Currently it is REW for analysis of what I have to work with and a Xilia xp3060 to make it all right.
  Audessey was my attempt to do things the easy way but it did not allow me to know what was wrong. It imposed it's canned idea of what was right on me and I did not happen to like those results. As other posters are saying good sound is far more than room EQ alone. Good sound can happen right out of the box but great sound requires work.

From several things I've read, people seem to be much happier with Dirac than Audessey in general.

From what I have seen of the target curves, Diract is closer to what I'd use. So is JL's sub curve.

I think Dirac has trial software you can use on your PC for a limited period of time too.

Best,
E

hate 'em all.they all screwup in varying ways.
manual setup with ears, spl meter and test disc.
:)

   Just as Stereo and Home Theater are very different there isn't a single answer. The only constant is that every room has its unique issues and peoples taste differ widely. For some Room Correction and or Equalization can be a good place to begin their manual adjustments.

   A flat response is what a reviewer might be looking for when assessing the performance of a speaker. While certain frequency adjustments might be to ones taste, generally it has a tendency to make well designed speakers sound like compressed AM radio. In the low frequencies cutting frequency spikes can be very beneficial.

   Having a sound reach your ear when the sound engineer designed it to maybe the more important goal of Room Correction as it pertains to Home Theater. If you have the room, placing identical speakers at the same distance and height from the listening position with the EQ off will give you a new found sonic base line for surround sound.

   The typical issue with frequency equalization with Stereo is usually the boosting of mid to low bass, hence the Bass knob and the Loudness button on early receivers.

   There is a small but growing number of audio systems such as Kii Audio that address room issues using another method. Voxativ's Hagen Absolut system is yet another interesting product. Both were quite impressive under show conditions. For me they imposed a quality that left me undecided.