my tweakend

[Confused]

I notice you are using Acourite. I have tried REW, it produces a nice graph etc, but I have a family low confidence in it as every time I run it I get an error message about levels, which obviously reduces my confidence in the results. I took a look at Acoirite, and notice that it's 340 Euros. Not a fortune, but quite a lot of cash in comparison to "free" alternatives.

Do you just use Acourite for the frequency curves? Any other observations, is it worth the cash?

[thumb5]

For what it's worth, I have the same concern when I use FuzzMeasure (and REW occasionally before that): it's always telling me to turn up the volume beyond a level I'm comfortable with before it's happy that the received level is high enough. I suspect the problem in my case -- apart from being a scaredy cat -- is that the sensitivity of the UMIK-1 microphone might be rather low.

[Confused]

For what it's worth, I have the same concern when I use FuzzMeasure (and REW occasionally before that): it's always telling me to turn up the volume beyond a level I'm comfortable with before it's happy that the received level is high enough.  I suspect the problem in my case -- apart from being a scaredy cat -- is that the sensitivity of the UMIK-1 microphone might be rather low.

Interesting.  I too am using a UMIK-1 microphone.  This at least gives me a few clues as to where to look for a fix.

[thumb5]

I did do some research on this a while back and discovered that the UMIK-1 sensitivity/gain is adjustable. The switch is hidden under an end cover, if I recall correctly. Also, depending on date I think the microphones were shipped with different gain settings. If it would be helpful I can dig it out for you...

The UMIK-1 sensitivity can be adjusted as follows: "Rotate the ring at the rear of the mic (i.e. ring around the USB connector). It will come out and allow you to *slowly* pull the microphone PCB board. You can then use the small DIP switch to modify the gain. See the rear of the PCB. There is table showing the gain settings."

The default setting seems to be either 12 dB or 18 dB. I believe it was originally 12 dB but was later increased to 18 dB to work better with Dirac Room Correction Suite.

[Antoine]

REW is an incredibly powerful tool for acoustic measurements, the right setup is of course mandatory to get to good results.

Did you guys check the recording volume of the mic in Windows?

PS. There's WAY too much bass in the measurements shown on the previous page.

[thumb5]

PS. There's WAY too much bass in the measurements shown on the previous page.

Looks as though the microphone is too close to the back wall...?

[Antoine]

Don't know but the mic should be there where your ears are when you yourself are listening.

[completeluxury]

actually... he doesnt give a shit unfortunately!

although in a revelation, im moving the listening room. im going to put them in the theatre which means i now have full carpeting, all 4 walls instead of only 3 and i can put up full acoustic treatment.

You have 1st class set up.  Have you tried eq for the subs?  I just got the basic DSpeaker Anti-mode for my Genesis sub, and it flattens things out straight away at the listening seat.

$400, and they are tiny - hides behind the sub.  Worth every penny. 40hz is a tough node to deal with any other way.

because its a room mode the best way to tackle it is to try treat the room. when i get to the new room im going to have proper traps in the room to try eliminate the modes. Using a filter made by acourate is basically a full range EQ to equalise both channels

[completeluxury]

I notice you are using Acourite.  I have tried REW, it produces a nice graph etc, but I have a family low confidence in it as every time I run it I get an error message about levels, which obviously reduces my confidence in the results.  I took a look at Acoirite, and notice that it's 340 Euros.  Not a fortune, but quite a lot of cash in comparison to "free" alternatives.

Do you just use Acourite for the frequency curves?  Any other observations, is it worth the cash?

I use REW as well, but i dont use it for the frequency curve - it has a very easy to read reverberation graph and also the waterfall graph makes it really easy to determine the time delay in the room!

What i can say in comparison of the 2 is that REW measures both channels at once compared to acourate which measures them individually. this is important!

take a look at the graphs i posted and take a look at the null in the room at 100hz which is only on ONE channel. a program like REW wouldnt pick that up.

Acourate will help you determine if you have room problems a lot better because of the individual channel measurements, and if you make small changes along the way you can tell if they are working or not because of it.

I cant say for sure but i dont think a filter made by REW would be particularly good either. if you look at my graphs you can see the speakers frequency plot is very rarely the same between channels, and when you put in a target curve into acourate it equalises each channel individually to smooth them out.i think (not 100% sure but i think so) REW makes one overall filter based on the joint measurement.

The filters generated by acourate can be used in a bunch of different programs. basically any media player that has a convolver will work. eg - jriver, hqplayer (even when upsampling to dsd)

edit - i think people will genuinely be surprised by how much the room affects their speakers. we pay more for interconnect cables than we do for software that can help us sort out one of the most important parts of the listening room - the room itself.

[completeluxury]

REW is an incredibly powerful tool for acoustic measurements, the right setup is of course mandatory to get to good results.

Did you guys check the recording volume of the mic in Windows?

PS. There's WAY too much bass in the measurements shown on the previous page.

antoine thats my lovely rooms modes!

nothing to do with the subs gain unfortunately

the new room will have enough treatment to combat this