When I was in college, I spent lots of time reading Harry Olson's Acoustic Engineering books. I build speakers but had no way of evaluating them afterward. They either sounded good or they didn't and it was difficult to know why.
Decades later, I'm seeing some amazing stuff coming out of the diy community and it's really cool to see how people are turning their listening rooms into laboratories - doing their own measuring, modifying, etc.
So, for someone just diving into this, I wish there was a sticky that explains how to get into doing your own acoustic measurements.
What equipment do you need, software, techniques, microphones, etc.
Decades later, I'm seeing some amazing stuff coming out of the diy community and it's really cool to see how people are turning their listening rooms into laboratories - doing their own measuring, modifying, etc.
So, for someone just diving into this, I wish there was a sticky that explains how to get into doing your own acoustic measurements.
What equipment do you need, software, techniques, microphones, etc.
REW 's help file, and Smaartlive's manual are my go to's for learning what you ask....
ARTA's manual looks good too
ARTA's manual looks good too
There are so many different tools and things to consider! It would be very wrong to just say "use software X and microphone Y and you're good."
Call me old fashioned, but you want this book: Testing Loudspeakers: Amazon.de: D'Appolito, Joseph: Fremdsprachige Bucher
The book explains what's behind all the tools out there. Once you understand this, it's a matter of trying different software packages (and find the one you like most), and to find a measurement microphone and audio interface that fit your needs and budget (or rather the best compromise between the two).
Call me old fashioned, but you want this book: Testing Loudspeakers: Amazon.de: D'Appolito, Joseph: Fremdsprachige Bucher
The book explains what's behind all the tools out there. Once you understand this, it's a matter of trying different software packages (and find the one you like most), and to find a measurement microphone and audio interface that fit your needs and budget (or rather the best compromise between the two).
As others have suggested if you want to get going fairly quickly then reading the manual that comes with measurement software like REW is a reasonable starting point. However, if you want a steadier and more thorough introduction then the primers and handbooks available in the Bruel and Kjaer library might be preferable. They talk around professional hardware rather than the more affordable consumer hardware we DIYers normally use but since they are essentially a set of text books rather than user guides the topics are covered more thoroughly.
These are great suggestions, thanks! I'll start by reading the REW manual and I have the Testing Loudspeakers book on order.
I'm a musician so one of my first questions will be if I can make use of my existing gear to pull this off. I have a nice Grace mic preamp, a great but very specialized hypercardiod Shoeps mic and a decent tascam USB I/O device.
I'm a musician so one of my first questions will be if I can make use of my existing gear to pull this off. I have a nice Grace mic preamp, a great but very specialized hypercardiod Shoeps mic and a decent tascam USB I/O device.
However true this all above, most of us stick to an affordable USB audio interface with microphone amp (+phantom power) and dual channel synchronous measuring. Offerings from Focusrite and Behringer come to mind. But the Tascam and the pre could be just fine, check if the interface is dual channel.
As for test microphones the discussion starts for real. Your hypercardioid won't work I'm afraid. Cheap options with limited accuracy can be had from $40 (Dayton, Behringer and others), they do a fine job when designing crossovers. For total system evaluation though, microphones with some form of certified response curve are required. Those start at a few hundred and end at well over thousand dollar (Earthworks, NTI, B&K). Start with a cheap one or spend a few hundred on a mike that will last your DIY career.
To top things up install REW, ARTA of some other software package for gated measurements. Furthermore, you'll need some usual things like an amplifier, wiring, stands, impedance box and some indoor space for your measurements. That's really all to it. We've come a long way from the acoustics labs of the previous century.
As for test microphones the discussion starts for real. Your hypercardioid won't work I'm afraid. Cheap options with limited accuracy can be had from $40 (Dayton, Behringer and others), they do a fine job when designing crossovers. For total system evaluation though, microphones with some form of certified response curve are required. Those start at a few hundred and end at well over thousand dollar (Earthworks, NTI, B&K). Start with a cheap one or spend a few hundred on a mike that will last your DIY career.
To top things up install REW, ARTA of some other software package for gated measurements. Furthermore, you'll need some usual things like an amplifier, wiring, stands, impedance box and some indoor space for your measurements. That's really all to it. We've come a long way from the acoustics labs of the previous century.
Last edited: