# Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - College Station, TX



## Mark Eldridge (Jul 23, 2008)

Mobile Soundstage Engineering will be presenting another one of our very successful Advanced SQ Seminars in College Station, TX on January 24, 25 (Saturday and Sunday). 

The Advanced SQ Seminar is designed for anyone that is interested in learning everything they possibly can about the design, installation, and tuning of high-end sound quality mobile audio systems. Whether you are an installer, enthusiast, SQ competitor, work for a manufacturer, etc, and whether you are new to the field, or have many years experience, this class will give you more information in two days than you can find anywhere else in several years of searching! 

Like the seminars earlier this year, it will be an intensive, very full two-day seminar, jam packed with everything that can possibly be covered regarding the design, installation, and tuning of high-end and SQ competition mobile audio systems. A very abbreviated seminar outline is at the bottom of this post. 

We 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 with which to compare our car audio systems. 

The class format is based on presentation of the topics, with many actual demonstrations, and lots of time for attendees to get their hands and ears on the test gear for practice and technique learning 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!

We promise you'll get more out of this seminar in two days than you can find anywhere else! 

The seminar will be held in the Zachry Engineering building on the Texas A&M University campus in one of the large classrooms. (Kinda weird that I will be teaching a class in one of the rooms where I took engineering classes when I was in school there...)

We will start at 8:30 each morning, and go until everyone has had enough, usually between 6 and 7 PM Saturday, and around 4 PM on Sunday

There are many affordable hotels very close by, and we'll try to see and hear some live music on Saturday night if possible.

The attendance price includes extensive hand out notes, several test CDs, and a t-shirt. 

For pricing and more information on the seminar, either e-mail me at [email protected], or call me at (918) 810-2535. 

If you’ve got questions about the seminar, please contact me, and/or post them here so everyone else can see the answers too. You can also check the other threads from the Tulsa and DFW seminars to see what people thought about the class, and probably get some other questions answered as well.

Make plans to attend if you can. This one is in the middle of the Waco, Houston, Austin triangle, and is easy to get to.

Many thanks to Chris Witmer for scheduling the classroom for us to use for the seminar. We'll have plenty of space to set up, and the room acoustics will allow us a lot of freedom to do any demonstrations and tests that we want to.


Again, please give me a call or e-mail if you have any questions.

Thanks!


Mark Eldridge
[email protected]
Mobile Phone (918) 810-2535

Mobile Soundstage Engineering
11110-J South 82nd East Place
Bixby, OK 74008
www.mblsound.com


*Two Day Advanced Sound Quality Workshop Outline *


*Introduction and Overview *

Why Do We Do What We Do???
Workshop Curriculum Overview - What We Will Do in the Workshop
What Really Matters in a Great Sounding Audio System… 


*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 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 vs. Recorded Music
The Recording and How It Affects What We Hear
Listening Critically to Recordings
The Listening Room and Environment 
Near-field, Far-field, Car-field?
The Sound Reproduction System - Studio, Home Audio, Headphones, Etc.
So what is the “perfect” reference system?


*Using Your Ears 101 *

A simple setup to teach yourself how to recognize acoustical problems
Equalization, crossovers, Signal delay, etc.
Comparison of analyzer measurement techniques with our ears


*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 System*

Why We Hear What We Hear
Do We All Hear the Same Things?
How We Localize Sounds – Spatial Responses
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 
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?
Equipment Selection Questions
Speaker Locations - General Philosophy
Speaker Locations – Specific Recommendations and Techniques 
Speaker Placement Experiments and Testing
Enclosure design, size, and construction considerations
Mid-bass and Midrange enclosures


*Component Selection *

Signal Processors
Front Stage Speakers
Subwoofers
Mid-Bass Drivers (if needed)
Everything Else…


*System Level Setting and Gain Structure *

_The Most Important Tuning Step!!! _

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


*Advanced System Tuning Tips and Techniques *

Crossovers, equalizers, etc
What works best in different situations
Acoustical analyzers vs your ears…


*Competition Specific Topics *

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


*You Name the Topic / General Discussion *

This is open to any topic brought up by the class that you feel needs to be covered. Anything Sound Quality related is fair game…


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## TXwrxWagon (Sep 26, 2008)

*Re: Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - Colledg Station, TX*

Mark, as we discussed @ the DFW GTG is this the "final" date or the "SuperBowl needs to reschedule date?" LOL

Thanks for everything this weekend.... look forward to this Seminar...

Rob


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## Chris_Witmer (Dec 8, 2008)

*Re: Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - Colledg Station, TX*

Directions from your address to Texas A&M University Campus:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=&daddr=University+Drive+and+Bizzell+College+Station,+Texas&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=30.64561,-96.339065&sspn=0.120512,0.134926&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16

Texas A&M University Campus Map pinpointing Zachry Building at the corner of University Drive and Bizzell Street:

http://campusmaps.tamu.edu/?mi=185&zoom=15&view=hybrid

Parking on Campus "Area 51" <--parking lot directly across the street from Zachry Building

http://campusmaps.tamu.edu/?mi=337&zoom=15&view=hybrid 

More info to come!


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## Mark Eldridge (Jul 23, 2008)

*Re: Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - Colledg Station, TX*

Yep, January 24, 25 are final dates.

Like I said in the other thread, it was going to cost me a lot more than I can afford to have the NFL reschedule the Super Bowl, and all of the $700 billion bailout money has been spent. The NFL isn't very reasonable when you ask them to simply reschedule a football game...


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## Megalomaniac (Feb 12, 2007)

*Re: Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - Colledg Station, TX*

LOL Rescheduling superbowl sunday.


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## doitor (Aug 16, 2007)

*Re: Advanced SQ Seminar - January 24, 25 - Colledg Station, TX*

I went to the DFW one and let me tell you this seminar is going to be the best investment in your car audio life.
Mark not only loves and breathes car Audio, he also happens to be an engineer, so he can go as deep as you want on any subject and he has the ability to explain it in words even a mexican doctor can understand.

Jorge.


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## drtool (Nov 26, 2007)

I too went to the DFW event. If you have ever wanted to get all the knowledge in one place this is it. I can Highly recommend this class. It will be the best investment in car audio you could make.
Wayne


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## W8 a minute (Aug 16, 2007)

This sounds great. It's just not at a good time. Please keep us updated on future classes.


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## Mark Eldridge (Jul 23, 2008)

All right... Last chance to get registered for the College Station seminar this weekend. A lot of you have been asking for this seminar in the Houston, Austin, San Antonio, DFW area, and this is probably the only one we will be presenting in the area. So, give me a call or send a direct e-mail to me, and get registered if you are interested in attending. 

(918) 810-2535

[email protected]


Thanks!


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## Chris_Witmer (Dec 8, 2008)

This seminar was awesome! It takes a special person to explain the ins and outs of SQ and Mark has that ability. As Jorge has stated above, Mark explains all aspects in terms an engineer, "a mexican doctor", or an average Joe can understand. He brings all the tools necessary to help you understand and will dive as deep as you want to go. Mark, thank you again for making this happen!

- Chris


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## narvarr (Jan 20, 2009)

Hey Mark, when is your next seminar in Texas? I don't want to miss out on another one.


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## Mark Eldridge (Jul 23, 2008)

Well, Rick Paul, who attended the CS seminar last weekend, is working on coordinating one in Houston now. He was so enthusiastic about what he learned at the seminar, that he took it upon himself to start organizing one in Houston to help grow SQ knowledge in the area. Not sure when it will happen, but I'll post as soon as we know for sure.

We're also considering a seminar in the Tulsa area again, since people from the OK, AR, MO, KS adn North TX area have been asking about one. This one would be at the MSE facility in Bixby, just south of Tulsa.

And, we've been talking about doing one June 4 & 5, the Thursday and Friday before the Texas Showdown in Tyler. But, the middle of the week makes it difficult for many people to attend, so we'll see what develops on this one.

I'll post as soon as any of them develop. And shoot me a direct e-mail so I can get in touch with you directly when one does firm up.

[email protected]

Thanks!


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## trunks9_us (Oct 25, 2007)

I cant believe I missed this I so wanted to be here for this Now I am mad for not reading this part of the forum. I might have to go talk to chris about it so he can keep me updated.


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## ///Audience (Jan 31, 2007)

trunks9_us said:


> I cant believe I missed this I so wanted to be here for this Now I am mad for not reading this part of the forum. I might have to go talk to chris about it so he can keep me updated.


agreed!!!


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