Audyssey Restores the Balance

Audyssey, the company behind the room compensation system that is appearing in more and more AV receivers and pre-pros, introduced its latest technology: Audyssey Dynamic EQ. it's designed to compensate for the loss of sound quality that results as the volume level, is reduced.

A natural result of the limitations in human hearing, this effect was treated in the past, but not very well, by so-called loudness controls. These boosted the bass and (sometimes) the treble in an attempt to make up for the ear's loss of sensitivity at lower volumes. But loudness controls are a crude solution, and could not perform a precise correction. In fact, they often "corrected" the response even at high levels, and many less than knowledgeable users left them all the time.

Using digital processing, however, it's possible to properly restore the correct subjective tonal balance at any playback level. Audyssey Dynamic EQ does this. It leaves the response essentially untouched at reference level and progressively boosts it as the volume is reduced. In Audyssey's demo it proved remarkably effective. It could not restore, of course, the sheer impact that more elevated levels produce, but it did go a long way in compensating for the wimpy balance that you often hear at family- and neighbor-friendly volume settings. Apartment dwellers, in particular, will appreciate its benefits.

Audyssey Dynamic EQ will be available initially in eight new Denon products, including the AVR-3808, AVR-4308, and AVR-5308 AV receivers and the AVP-A1HD separate pre-pro. It must be activated by a professional installer.

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