Wondering if anyone has found a decent Mac application within the last two years that has worked well for them. I can borrow a PC laptop if needed, but prefer to use something for Mac.
I have a Focusrite Saffire sound card, http://www.focusrite.com/support/saffire/saffire and am really only looking to do two fundamental things:
1. Pink noise / RTA measurements for basic loudspeaker measurements. Nothing fancy, just 1/3 octave to get an idea of driver polarities and room acoustics. Probably will do some experimentation with bass response, as I have a DCX2496 and would like to use it to its fullest.
2. FFT / distortion measurements of amplifiers and preamps. I have a FFT module in my Tek scope, but its only good to maybe -55dB.
A wave generator would not be required, as I have most of the test tones I need. I am not opposed to paying for the app, but don't want to drop $500, either. Any suggestions, or would it be best to pursue to the PC route?
I have a Focusrite Saffire sound card, http://www.focusrite.com/support/saffire/saffire and am really only looking to do two fundamental things:
1. Pink noise / RTA measurements for basic loudspeaker measurements. Nothing fancy, just 1/3 octave to get an idea of driver polarities and room acoustics. Probably will do some experimentation with bass response, as I have a DCX2496 and would like to use it to its fullest.
2. FFT / distortion measurements of amplifiers and preamps. I have a FFT module in my Tek scope, but its only good to maybe -55dB.
A wave generator would not be required, as I have most of the test tones I need. I am not opposed to paying for the app, but don't want to drop $500, either. Any suggestions, or would it be best to pursue to the PC route?
Mac-the-Scope will turn your Mac into an ocilliscope and more. I'm pretty sure that there are some simple RTAs, i use FuzzMeasure which is more sophisticated than that. For a simple RTA & SPL meter i use Studio Six Audio Tools on an older iPhone i gotten given as a tip (also gets used as a Remote for the G5 iMac music server).
dave
dave
Yes. I really like it. It sounds good too. I prefer it with bus power, but at some pint i'll probably build a really nice supply for it.
nlike others i looked at (and own -- an Alesis), it has a very nice compact rectangular aluminum enclosure. I also have an Edirol USB unit in the same chassis.
Like most pro stuff you need to deal with the stereo phone jacks for output. Also without software that specifically accesses it (pure vinyl does) only 2 of the outputs work.
dave
Thanks but it looks like I would need to buy an external 1394 card with the TI chipset. Warning was on Edirol's site, confirmed by some very p'd off users.
Indeed, Chris' dayjob is making your crackberry's software work.
BTW. He is quite isolated from the usual audio lit... feel free to send him interesting or relevant pdf articles.
dave
Don't do Macs anymore.
Condolences to you then.
And what are you doin' in a Mac sw thread?
dave
PS: i read today that Apple in now the largest seller of mobile PCs just passing HP
Just got back confirmation that Fuzzmeasure does not provide the standard FFT plots, instead they provide 2nd and 3rd harmonic full range distortion plots. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll see how the demo does.
Quite a bit more money to get all the plug-ins for Mac the Scope, but it does have the features.
Quite a bit more money to get all the plug-ins for Mac the Scope, but it does have the features.
Room EQ Wizard is written in Java, is Mac compatible (in addition to Windows and Linux), and is actively being updated. A major update to v5.00 was released just a couple weeks ago.
No luck so far. Room EQ Wizard refuses to permit calibration of the sound card; I get back errors about impulse response, and no matter what I do cannot get around it. Even trying an uncalibrated FFT, I get meaningless results- certainly nothing like their screenshots. I verified clean sine wave outputs and clean sine inputs, but still garbage results.
Mac the Scope, far as I can tell, will do RTA but not FFT.
Fuzzmeasure does not do FFT.
Any other options?
Mac the Scope, far as I can tell, will do RTA but not FFT.
Fuzzmeasure does not do FFT.
Any other options?
This is a long shot but the NIH has some public domain (boy have we paid for it) programs with FFT capability in JAVA so they are browser not platform based. Start by looking for NIH-IMAGEJ (I might have this wrong, it's been a long time).
Well, I have never been one to insist Mac or Win was the answer for everything; use whichever platform performs the task best.
In this case, I have had much better results with AudioTester and Arta on the PC. Specifically, running as a spectrum analyzer, with low emphasis on mic-RTA. Might even experiment to see how they perform in a virtual machine, so I can still use the Mac at home. Prices are more than reasonable, and I can use full functionality in demo mode for now.
In case anyone ventures down the same path.
In this case, I have had much better results with AudioTester and Arta on the PC. Specifically, running as a spectrum analyzer, with low emphasis on mic-RTA. Might even experiment to see how they perform in a virtual machine, so I can still use the Mac at home. Prices are more than reasonable, and I can use full functionality in demo mode for now.
In case anyone ventures down the same path.
Have you checked out Baudline? To me it looks very promising, but I don't know that much anyway.
baudline signal analyzer - FFT spectrogram (and it is FREE)
baudline signal analyzer - FFT spectrogram (and it is FREE)
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