SQ Seminar hosted by Mark Eldridge - DFW Area

Hello everyone. This is a copy of the post I started on DIYMA and wanted to also post here to see if anyone is interested. Check there for more details as they arise.

Hi David,

Robert Ables called me this afternoon and told me about the DIYMA meet and greet that you put together, and some of the topics you discussed. I read through the threads that Robert forwarded to me also. It sounds like you have a really enthusiastic group going. I'll definitely have to start participating in some of the forum discussions.

Robert and I also discussed the Advanced Sound Quality seminars that I teach several times a year, and that it might be something that the DIYMA group would be interested in attending. I have been planning at least one prior to the T-Town Invitational, and if it makes sense to have it in the DFW area, and there are enough people that would attend, we can arrange for that possibility.

Attached is a sumary of the possible topics that can be covered in the class. It can be a one, two, or three day class, depending on what the attendees want to cover, and how much time they want to spend with hands-on practice and demonstrations. The classes I have put together are very practical, with only enough theory to explain the topics. There are numerous demonstrations and practice sessions also. We get very intensive, an ddig as deep as anyone wants to into each topic. No SQ related topic is out of bounds. We can cover anything you want to discuss. Handout notes are also included, and I ahve many different test CD's, tools, and book information available too.

And, I don't do PowerPoint presentations in these SQ classes... They bore me as much or more than anyone else...

If we can organize a class sometime between now and Labor Day weekend before the Tulsa event, we can also set up a tweak and tune session at my facility in Tulsa a day before the show (Thursday or Friday) so that anyone that attends the class can get their system really dialed in for the event.

If you're interrested, and think some of the others in the group would be, let me know, and we can get a class put together. I promise you, it would be a lot of fun, and you would learn more about car audio sound quality in two days than you can from any other source.

Give me a call any time.

Thanks!

Mark Eldridge


There is also a menu of the topics that could be covered but I can't copy it till I get back and upgrade my Office.

Mobile Soundstage Engineering
Advanced Sound Quality Workshop Topics

- This is a very abbreviated list of topics that can be covered in a one to three day course.
- Additional, more advanced topics (not listed here) are also available for subsequent courses.
- The times listed with each topic is an average time required to adequately cover each, with some hands-
on practice time included. The actual time needed to cover each will vary depending on how much class
time can be dedicated to it, the coverage detail desired, and the amount of hands-on practice is desired.
- One, two, or three day courses can be created by choosing from the listed topics.

Introduction and Overview (15 minutes)

Why Do We Do What We Do???
Workshop Curriculum Overview - What We Will Do in the Workshop
What Really Matters…


The Many Parts of Music (30 minutes)

Definitions and Terms
Instruments and Vocalists
Amplified and Un-Amplified Performances
Performance Venues: Studios, Clubs, Concert Halls, Etc.
The Emotional Involvement - What is it about the music that gets our blood pumping?


Our Audio Reference (1 to 2 hours)

The standard with which we compare audio system performance

What is an appropriate reference, and how do we get one?
Live Performances
Live vs. Recorded Music
The Recording and How It Affects What We Hear
The Listening Room and Environment
Near-field, Far-field, Car-field?
The Sound Reproduction System - Studio, Home Audio, Headphone Systems, Etc.
So what is the “perfect” reference system?
Listening Critically to Recordings


Using Your Ears 101 (1 to 2 hours)

A simple setup to teach yourself how to recognize acoustical problems
Equalization, crossovers, Signal delay, etc.
Comparison of analyzer measurement techniques with adjustments made by ear


Tools, Tools, Tools……. (1 to 3 hours)

CDs and Software
Acoustical Analyzers: (RTA, TEF, etc) How they work, how to use them, how to interpret the data
Other useful tools – oscilloscope, Radio Shack amplifier, DVM, etc.
Books, Articles, the Internet, and other sources of “information”
Your Ears - Definitely the most important and effective tool in your arsenal!!!!!
Using the Tools Most Effectively
Analyzing the Data




The Human Hearing System (1 hour)

Why We Hear What We Hear
Anatomy and how each part of the hearing system contributes to the aural experience
Do We All Hear the Same Things?
Hearing loss and how it affects what we can hear
Frequency Threshold Shift (a.k.a Listening Fatigue)
How We Localize Sounds – Spatial Responses
Localization Demonstrations
What is Ambience, anyway???
Perception of Frequency Response
Loudness Effects
Psycho-Acoustics
Distortion – How much is too much?


The Vehicle’s Acoustical Environment (2 to 4 hours)

Defining the Problem Areas
Reflective surfaces, absorptive surfaces, cats and dogs living together….
Near Field vs. Far Field – What do we really have?
Pathlength, pathlength, pathlength
Relative locations of tweeters, mids, and other drivers
Comb filtering, and other acoustical issues
Reflections Good and Bad…


Acoustical Treatments (1 to 3 hours)

What’s the purpose?
Types of Acoustical Treatments
Basic Acoustical Treatment Philosophy
Controlling “Bad” Reflections
Controlling Speaker Dispersion Patterns
Recognizing and Finding Reflections
Diffusion


Car Audio System Design (2 to 4 hours)

Vehicle Selection – If you have a choice
Important vehicle interior considerations
Basic System Configuration
How many speakers are really needed?
What are your goals for the system?
What are you willing to give up to attain your goals?
How Far Are You Willing to Go?
Equipment Selection Questions
Speaker Locations - General Philosophy
Speaker Locations – Specific Recommendations and Techniques for all speakers

Speaker Placement Experiments and Testing
(This is a very extensive part of the curriculum, and must be covered in great detail with lots of time dedicated to hands and ears on demos and experimentation)

Enclosure design, size, and construction considerations
Aperiodic Subwoofer Systems
Mid-bass and Midrange enclosures




Component Selection (1 hour)

Signal Processors
Front Stage Speakers
Midrange and Tweeter
Horns vs. Conventional Drivers
Subwoofers
Mid-Bass Drivers (if needed)
Everything Else…


System Level Setting and Gain Structure – The Most Important Tuning Step!!! (1.5 hours)

What is it?
Why is it so important?
The Important Factors
Tools Needed
The Steps on How to Do It


System Tuning Tips and Techniques (2 to 4 hours)

Crossovers
Equalizers
Signal Delay
Dynamic processors
Multi-channel specific tuning
Using psycho-acoustics to your advantage


Speaker/Enclosure Frequency Response Testing (2 hours)

Consistent and realistic measurement techniques
Interpreting the data
A realistic approach to addressing some response problems


The Listener/System Interface (30 minutes)

Keep it simple
Make it easy to deal with
Ear/Hand coordination
Computers and analyzers are great, but trust your ears!


Competition Specific Topics (2 to 3 hours)

Installation Presentation
RTA / SPL Tuning and adjustments
Photo Book guidelines
Specific rules interpretations

This is a RARE,RARE opportunity that is being offered here and I hope many of you will be able to avail yourself of this. Please post if you are interested, and if enough people show interest we can go forward. This won't be a ragtag put together deal like at my house. We are talking professionals here with more knowledge of our sport than you could hope to gather anywhere else. It's not cheap, but then neither is what is being offered. Foos
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Hey Mark I would be interested but you know Im in the WI area. Where would the workshop be and how can I get in contact with you. Thanks

David e-mailed me and said he had started this thread here. Thanks, David... You beat me to it.

If you are interested, please check out the thread on the DIYMA forum also.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42833

Discussion of holding an Advanced SQ Seminar started there only a few days ago, because several guys wanted to learn more about SQ before the USACi event and the T-Town Invitational in Tulsa happen on Labor Day weekend. Things have developed quickly. And, we need to keep working quickly, because the seminars are going to happen in the next several weeks.

We will probably be holding two of the Advanced SQ Seminars.

One will definitely be on the Thursday and Friday (August 28, 29) before the T-Town Invitational. This one will be at my facility in Bixby, OK. It's only four miles South of Car Toys, so everything will be in very close proximity.

The second we're still working on finalizing, but it will be on a weekend. We're trying to organize it on either August 9, 10 or August 23, 24. That depends on when people wanting to attend can make it. We will hold this one either at my facility, or maybe in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, again depending on the needs of people that want to attend.

If you are competing in the T-Town Invitational, there is a really good discount on the attendance fee that you can take advantage of for the seminar.

We can also spend some time in each persons car, tweaking and tuning, etc.

For pricing and more information, you can e-mail me directly at:

meldridge@mblsound.com.

I'm putting together a document with more specific information on hotels, food, directions, etc.

If you're interested, get in touch with me directly, and also post your thoughts on the forums, so we can get this fully developed really soon. It's coming up quick.

Mark Eldridge
Mobile Soundstage Engineering
meldridge@mblsound.com

please call me or pm me. I am in

Getting close to the time for the Advanced SQ Seminar and the T-Town Invitational...

I'm making final preparations for the August 28, 29 Advanced SQ seminar. Burning CDs, printing materials, T-Shirts, etc... All of the demos and experiments are ready to roll, and I've been getting very closely re-aquainted with the reference system. I've also got a few new ideas for demonstrations tht have been added.

We need to get moving on registrations, and unfortunately, my website hosting company is still making some changes to the system, and I will not be able to get a new page added for those that want to attend to register on-line. So, until I can get that up, if you are planning to attend, simply e-mail me directly an meldridge@mblsound.com and I can send you a PayPal invoice link.

Get in touch with me if you have any questions.


Mark Eldridge
Mobile Soundstage Engineering
meldridge@mblsound.com
(918) 810-2535

Mark,

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this seminar. However, is there any way I could buy an electronic version of these notes for the course and possibly whatever cd's you are giving out to the participants? Let me know what is available. Thanks in advance!

X2

ok x3

Hey guys,

I really would like to say that the notes/outline and the CDs would really help just by themselves. But unfortunately, this class is a very intensive hands, eyes, and especially ears-on workshop environment. The outline posted in this thread is not complete, but it's pretty close. All of the subjects listed are detailed and explained using numerous sound and visual demonstrations, doing test measurements, and allowing everyone in the class to experience first hand what happens.

For example, trying to explain in words on paper what it sounds like when you have a reflection that combines destructively with the primary arrival sound is impossible to do. But set up a demonstration and let everyone hear the difference with and without the reflection explains it in only a few minutes.

Same goes for tuning techniques. We could discuss it for weeks in the forum, and we'd still not get close to what you can learn in only an hour first hand, with the demonstrations I have developed to teach the techniques.

The CDs are simply a bunch of musical tracks I like to use for tuning, as well as some of the Autosound 2000 setup and test CDs. Call A2000, and get all of their CDs, and you'll have most of what we use in the class. Their number is (209) 465-3450. And get the Tech Briefs while you're at it.

I'll be doing more of these seminars as there is demand for them. It looks like there will be on in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and possibly one in the St Louis area. All it takes is a minimum of 12 attendees, and covering expenses, and we can do a seminar just about anywhere.

Honestly guys, I'm not being evasive about this. People have asked about buying a DVD recording of the seminar, but even that won't give you the experience needed to fully understand everything we get into. And believe me, if it could be taught appropriately via video presentation, I'd have it done already. My neignbor does video production for a living, and has offered to film the class, but I know from personal experience in trying to learn things like this from books and video that it is not effective, and leaves many things not fully explained. It's just one of those things that absolutely must be experienced in person.

And something else I've learned over the years is that an investment in knowledge is worth probably 100 times what you'd spend in time, energy, trial and error, materials, etc if you try to learn it on your own. Believe me... This one I know absolutely is true. On many occasions in te past, I spent a lot more than I should have simply because I didn't want to make the investment in learning from someone else. The Autosound 2000 seminars and workshops, the TEF analyzer class, several acoustics classes, etc, have all paid for themselves many times over since taking them.

It's just that I know this is an important aspect to understand, and if I'm going to take someone's money to try to teach them something, it has to be done effectively, and be done right.

OK, I'm off the soap box now...

Come to one of the SQ Seminars if you can. I promise you, it will be worth way more than you'll pay to attend.

Mark Eldridge
Mobile Soundstage Engineering
meldridge@mblsound.com
(918) 810-2535

If Matt will carpool with me I would love to go.

Mark...do you have a time schedule planned for Th and Fri? I would have to cut out at lunch on Friday to head home. I've got vacation starting Sat.

I am planning on starting at 8 AM and going until whenever everyone wants to on Thursday evening. Start again at 8 AM on Friday, and wrap up the formal seminar no later than 6 PM, because the competitors' meeting is at 9 PM from what Chris said the other day. I'm planning on Friday afternoon being mostly hands-on practice sessions, and competitor's cars final tweaking.

I'd bet that most of the people attending would probably like to front load the seminar on Thursday, so they could have some time Friday afternoon to prepare for the show. So, if you were to miss something, it wouldn't be much. We could cover it another time if needed.

I'll let you know soon...sounds like I can make that work for sure. Thanks Mark...I'll respond to the email you sent me to let you know.

ironmaiden wrote:

If Matt will carpool with me I would love to go.

I will be leaving from Jackson on Wednesday at noon and will be returning home Monday if you would like to ride with me.

Andy Jones and I already have a room booked and you could crash with us.

let me know.

I'm jealous that I cannot go to this one. When will the Dallas/Ft.Worth seminar take place? I'll be in Texas probably around Houston as far as I know starting the beginning of december. As soon as you get dates for other seminars let me know. I have vacation days available but I've already signed up for training with work the next 3 days so there is no way I could make it to this one. Thanks Mark!

We just set the dates for a DFW Advanced SQ Seminar for the weekend of October 25, 26. It will be based on the same basic outline as this one in Tulsa next week.

We will definitely be additionally focused on getting systems tweaked for the Finals, which are only a couple of weeks after that.

Mark Eldridge
Mobile Soundstage Engineering

Where will this be located in DFW and what is the cost for the seminar?

Rick Sellers wrote:

ironmaiden wrote:

If Matt will carpool with me I would love to go.

I will be leaving from Jackson on Wednesday at noon and will be returning home Monday if you would like to ride with me.

Andy Jones and I already have a room booked and you could crash with us.

let me know.

Thanks Rick That is one of the kindest offer ever. Unfortunatley I cannot get off work. I tried like hell to get off for ESN but no such luck. I really need this too. Tuning is my weakness for sure and there is going to be so I need to learn. I swear I think I enjoyed competition more prior to going to work in the buisness. If something changes I will let you know. Thanks again for the invite and thanks to Andy as well for the invite to ESN. You guys are great.