Hey everyone,
We have official dates for the Dallas/Fort Worth area two-day Mobile Soundstage Engineering Advanced Sound Quality Seminar. It will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26 in Arlington, TX (Directly between Dallas and Ft Worth). This will be two VERY full days of non-stop, hardcore SQ action, starting at 8:00 AM each day, and we will go until everyone has had their fill.
We had an absolutely Awesome seminar in Tulsa last month, and this one will be just as great, if not better! We will be detailing everything in the outline at the bottom of this post with classroom presentation, many actual demonstrations, and lots of time for attendees to get their hands and ears on the gear for practice sessions. It is a TON of information presented in a format that no other training class can offer, and every bit of it is directly geared towards developing practical application skills and knowledge that can be used when designing, fabrication, and/or tuning high-quality car audio systems.
We've got several different audio reference systems, many different practical demonstrations for setting EQs and crossovers, setting speaker placement, finding and controlling reflections, lots of acoustical experiments, etc. You will not be bored in this class!
The class is designed to touch on the theory just enough to get deep into what really makes car audio systems sound great. We cover things like the acoustical characteristics of the car's interior, reflections, absorption, speaker placement, all of the electronic tuning issues (EQ, crossovers, delay, etc), and we get into the details of music, and establishing a great audio reference. Again, check out the outline below...
We promise you'll get more out of this seminar in two days than you can find anywhere else in several months, or maybe even years.
The attendance price includes extensive hand out notes, several test CDs, a t-shirt, and some serious tweak and tune time on your car audio system.
Another bonus for everyone here that competes in USACi SQ... The Finals is only a couple of weeks after this seminar, so it is perfect timing to learn more about how to, and definitely get some help with tweakingyour system for maximum performance before the show. We will spend some quality time in everyone's vehicle.
Seminar LocationWe’ve found a great location for the seminar at the Crowne Plaza – Arlington, located just Northeast of the I-30 and Hwy 360 intersection, very close to Six Flags. It is centrally located in the DFW metroplex, and is easy to find. The hotel website is
www.cpsuitesarlington.com if you want more information and/or to make reservations. The site can also provide a map to get there.
For anyone that might be flying into DFW, the hotel has a shuttle service that can pick you up at the airport.
The seminar will be in a 25 X 35 space, so we’ll have plenty of room to set everything up. And, the hotel can section off an area in the parking lot outside the meeting room area for us to use for tweak and tune work on everyone’s cars.
We have blocked out 10 two-room suites for seminar attendees, with a discounted price, but the block reservations end on October 13. So if you are going to attend and need a room, make your reservations early to get the discount. If you want to share a room to reduce the cost, please let me know as soon as you can, and I’ll try to coordinate getting in touch with one another. I’ll leave it up to you to make your own reservations.
There are many other hotels very close to the Crowne Plaza as well, which may have lower nightly prices. A quick hotels.com search will give you some other options.
Live Music PossibilitiesWe may have a very rare opportunity to hear some incredible live music during one of the evenings. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is performing each evening in the Morton H. Meyerson Music Hall in Dallas on October 23 – 25. If enough people want to go, I can arrange to get tickets. The performance starts at 8:00 PM. Saturday is probably the best night to attend. If we do go, we would have to dress up nice, possibly coat and tie (Hmmm... Not sure where my tie is...) And the tickets are around $75, which is pricey. But if there are enough people interested, this would be an incredible opportunity to experience the very best in live, un-amplified classical music.
There are also several live acts performing around the DFW area; some blues, rock, etc. We can look into some of them also, if you prefer. What ever you guys want to do is fine with me. I just really want to hear some live music that weekend, if possible.
This is a serious seminar for anyone that is truly serious about learning all they can about designing, building, and tuning great sounding car audio systems.
It’s coming up quick, with the USACi Finals only three weeks after the seminar, so let me know as soon as possible if you’re interested in attending, either by e-mail reply (meldridge@mblsound.com) or by phone, (918) 810-2535.
Thanks, and hope to see you there!
Mark Eldridge
meldridge@mblsound.comMobile Phone (918) 810-2535
Mobile Soundstage Engineering
11110-J South 82nd East Place
Bixby, OK 74008
www.mblsound.comAdvanced SQ Seminar Outline
Introduction and Overview 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 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 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 Our Ears 101 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……. 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 SystemWhy 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 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 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 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 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!!!
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 Crossovers
Equalizers
Signal Delay
Dynamic processors
Multi-channel specific tuning
Using psycho-acoustics to your advantage
Speaker/Enclosure Frequency Response Testing Consistent and realistic measurement techniques
Interpreting the data
A realistic approach to addressing some response problems
The Listener/System Interface Keep it simple
Make it easy to deal with
Ear/Hand coordination
Computers and analyzers are great, but trust your ears!
Competition Specific Topics Installation Presentation
RTA / SPL Tuning and adjustments
Photo Book guidelines
Specific rules interpretations
Calendar
Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:37 pm by big bass joel
Subject: DFW Advanced SQ Seminar - October 25 & 26 
