Can you post the measurements you have taken Chris?
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,883
I'm Martin.
Can you post the measurements you have taken Chris?
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Senior Member
Location: Seaton, Devon, UK
Posts: 13,264
I'm Adrian.
Not sure if you have got the MiniDsp yet or not as you mentioned you were going to wait. If you are doing the measurement on a MacBook the built in microphone is actually quite good and you could measure the speakers using this with REW, REW just defaults to the built in Mic. Alternatively if you have a simple webcam, you can use this as it will have a built in microphone, these are also usually quite good and can be surprisingly sensitive.Originally Posted by bumpy
I have looked into this a little and have settled on the Minidsp microphone (approx £100) and REW software (free). The microphone plugs directly into the USB port of a computer so no need for additional boxes.
But, one question still troubles me "what is the microphone listening to?" cant be the sound of silence
It would at least give you an idea for now.
Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.
Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner
Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive
Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp
Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones
Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links
I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.
Senior Member
Location: limerick
Posts: 223
I'm charles.
In addition to REW and also very good is : http://www.holmacoustics.com/holmimpulse.php and its free too. Favoured by Earl Geddes.
I am happy with Omnimic V2 but it ain't free. Comes with a special CD with different signals that you can play from your computer or CD Player through your DUT. Uses burst tones for freq. response and will also provide CSD's and spectrograms. A bass decay function can identify room modes and helps with proper subwoofer placement. Excellent if using a DBA
The wavelet spectrograms are great for comparing the performance of various horns and waveguides.
A waterfall plot (CSD) gives RT60 of the whole system including room, clearly indicating where the biggest room problems lie. The desireable RT60 for the average room is around 400ms. This is the time it takes for the sound to decay by 60 dB. You can then introduce bass traps and absorption panels and compare results. This feature is essential for optimising the speaker and room system and has a dramatic effect. This is a very underrated and often overlooked approach to great sound. No power or speaker cable at any price can totally transform your system in the same way. None of this is difficult to DIY.
About $300 and for a little more get an extra CD and cable which allows you to measure the T&S and electroacoustic parameters in less than a second.
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