Anyone used those sound tuning cds?

[realysm42]

You know the ones you see for sale in the accessories sections of websites.

Do you find them much use? Would you recommend or are they just a gimmick?

[The Grand Wazoo]

Could you post a link to one for us please Martin?

[realysm42]

Here's an example:

http://www.whathifi.com/news/isotek-releases-ultimate-hi-fi-set-up-disc

Would you guys use this, or your own music and do you have a criteria you check against. I don't know, for example you check your treble first, then vocal reproduction then bass, then the music as a whole etc.

[Reid Malenfant]

Can't say I have ever bothered, I just plug in a function generator if I want to know what it can do :D

Something similar to this (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ISO-TECH-IGC2231-FUNCTION-GENERATOR-FREQUENCY-COUNTER-/270933933047?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement _Equipment_ET&hash=item3f14ebbbf7) :cool:

[realysm42]

As per usual Mark, you'll have to help me lol.

Does that measure your system's perfomance and interaction with the room or take a synthetic reading straight from the unit it's analysing (I have no idea how it works)?

[Reid Malenfant]

No worries Martin :) Well it's easy to test if your speakers are in phase as you'll have virtually no bass at all if they aren't. So that's that little test out of the way.

Most of the other tests such as bass depth & room interaction could be tested with the function generator.

All it is is a piece of test kit designed to produce sine, square or triangular waves & this can be fed into your pre amp or integrated amp & thus to the speakers. It'll output waveforms from below 1Hz to well over anything you can hear - 2MHz.

As the frequency can be varied it's not hard to adjuct it in the bass & mid frequencies until you can actually hear a room mode. Easy to hear as all of a sudden the tone will get a good bit louder due to room reinforcement.

In a whole lot of respects it's far handier than a test CD :cool:

If you want to hear a stereo image then play your own music :eyebrows:

[realysm42]

Nice, so it puts your various components through their paces to see what they can and can't do; looks useful.

[Reid Malenfant]

Indeed, handy for testing, repairing or even designing amplifiers & speakers etc. Effectively anything that isn't front end kit :)

[hifinutt]

i use the isotek cd reguarly , it does sound better afterwards , especially when new kit introduced