Calibrated microphones – now on sale- 5 options

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
otto88

otto88

Member
Joined 2007
#1
At PE for $40 Parts-Express.com😀ayton EMM-6 Electret Measurement Microphone | Dayton EMM-6 EMM6 measurement mic measurement microphone mic microphone electret mic electret microphone speaker mic test microphone test mic recording mic recording microphone Audio_M
And 4 options at Cross-Spectrum at Cross·Spectrum - Calibrated Dayton Audio EMM-6 Microphones for Sale

According to Dayton EMM-6 RTA mic with unique calibration file - AVS Forum
At PE “All you get is a paper graph though, so you have to scan it and use SPL Tracer to build the file”

While Cross-Spectrum provide “calibration files (.FRD format) on a mini-CD ROM for use in many popular audio measurement programs”

Between the Cross-Spectrum options:

I personally don’t see huge value in a calibration curve going beyond 20 kHz.
But < 20 Hz might be good for he men subs, checking room gain. That’s if a mic may be out much, at that ultra low Hz end . . anyone know?

This would be my first measurement microphone, in what situations would calibration at 45° and 90° be?

And I appreciate the value of Polars in measuring speakers, placing the mic at different angles to the speaker - but can’t visualize a polar calibration. What is that?
 
#2
The calibration text file for each mike is available online from PE for free. Just a few seconds to download once you get your mike with serial number. I already have an ecm8000 but not calibrated so I will buy the Dayton because it is much cheaper than getting my ecm8000 calibrated. Freight is free from PE if you add a few more items. My trouble is limiting myself to a few because PE has so many great deals!
 
#3
I had mine calibrated independently and it didn't match the PE graph. It wasn't too far off though. Above 100Hz it didn't stray more than like a dB at any one point if I remember correctly. PEs would have still been useful for general work.

Thought you might like to know.

Dan
 
#4
Just placed an order to buy one. According to PE site, once I receive the EMM6 all I have to do is to download the calibration file which corresponds to the EMM6 serial no. Could this approach gives me a more accurate that reflect the EMM6 I bought? I have to check this out myself once I receive it.

Cheers
 
#7
these mics, even though 'omni' still have off axis HF rolloff. But more important than the polar response is knowing its inherent sensitivity (xx.xx Pa/mV or somesuch). You need this number to know what dB SPL you are measuring.

My impression is that the Dayton mic isn't calibrated in a standard way, and so isn't extremely accurate. If you don't care about being +/-1dB, it is okay. I don't like that kind of uncertainty, so I got my mic calibrated. If I did it again, I would probably buy one from cross-spectrum. He seems like a very scrupulous guy - and he isn't doing mic cal's for the money...
 
#8
cuibono said:
these mics, even though 'omni' still have off axis HF rolloff. But more important than the polar response is knowing its inherent sensitivity (xx.xx Pa/mV or somesuch). You need this number to know what dB SPL you are measuring.

My impression is that the Dayton mic isn't calibrated in a standard way, and so isn't extremely accurate. If you don't care about being +/-1dB, it is okay. I don't like that kind of uncertainty, so I got my mic calibrated. If I did it again, I would probably buy one from cross-spectrum. He seems like a very scrupulous guy - and he isn't doing mic cal's for the money...
Click to expand...

+1. That's where I had mine done.
 
#12
otto88 said:
Thanks Cuibono and dantheman.

So that means Cross-Spectrum’s Premium, or Premium+

Premium+ also gives calibration at 45°/ 90. Only an extra $5, but (how) is that useful?
Click to expand...

Hi guys, this is Herb from Cross-Spectrum. I got an email from a reader about this question who pointed me to this thread.

The main purpose of the off-axis measurements is to (obviously) give the response of the measurement to signals that may be reaching the mic from off-axis directions. It's mostly useful for room-acoustics type measurements (digital room correction, reverberation time measurements, etc) where a significant amount of sound energy may be arriving from various directions. Since most mics (esp 1/2-inch mics) will have a high-frequency roll-off at off-axis directions above 6 kHz or so, I provide the data to help people interpret data at those orientations. If all you're doing with the mic is on-axis loud-speaker measurements, the off-axis data may not be useful to you at all.

As for the usefulness of my measurements vs the Dayton stock measurements: I've been processing Dayton mics for almost a year now - they measurements have gotten better over that period and their data are much closer to my measurements then they used to be (particularly there sensitivity measurements which used to be off from mine by a consistent 2-3 dB, but now are only off my about 0.5 dB which is likely well within the error range of our calibrators). Their data has also gotten more useful since they started allowing people to download off their site.

I believe that my data above about 5- kHz and below about 50 Hz are more accurate than the stock curves, but not by much anymore. If all you need is 20Hz - 20 kHz on-axis data, you're probably better off just buying the mic straight from PE and saving $30. If you need the value-added information I can provide, well, you can buy from me. 🙂
 
#13
Reverberant said:
Hi guys, this is Herb from Cross-Spectrum.
Click to expand...

Herb

Thank you very much for your cheap offering. People should opt for individual calibration. Saving $30 is not worth the hassle when you need to rely on exact data.
I bought one of your Dayton's with the bells and whistles option today, mainly to have a second mic to make sure my measurements are correct.

One question: what is the reference you're using and how do you make sure it's accurate?

Best, Markus
 
#14
markus76 said:
Herb
One question: what is the reference you're using and how do you make sure it's accurate?
Click to expand...

My reference mic is an ACO Pacific 7052 mic (ANSI Type 2) that I have calibrated by a NIST-traceable lab (Scantek). I have two Type 1 mics (B&K 4189 and BSWA 201) but the ACO is actually the flattest out to 20kHz so I use it. I include a copy of the ref mic frequency response with my report. I need to get that ACO recalibrated but I'm using it so much that I'm hesitant to be without it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom