hello. i don't have any "fancy" measuring equipment, and i wanted to measure some of the parts express 87cent speakers whilst trying some of the mods to see which ones work well...
is there an easy and simple way for me to do this? i have some boxes i but out a while ago that i could probobly use...
any ideas? i've never measured speakers before and this is mostly all new to me and i want to do this right
is there an easy and simple way for me to do this? i have some boxes i but out a while ago that i could probobly use...
any ideas? i've never measured speakers before and this is mostly all new to me and i want to do this right
Not easy or simple, but it doesn't have to be too expensive. Cheapest route may be www.speakerworkshop.com plus a Behringer ecm800 mic and a compatible preamp (or the Apex clones), and a wallin jig-2. Not too expensive but it will hurt your brain.
Praxis in demo mode (which is free) can measure the T/S parameters of your speakers, and measure their frequency response with RTA using a mic etc as in the above system. I find this easy to use, it sort of holds your hand as it leads you through the steps you need to perform the measurements. It won't hurt your brain quite so much, but it will still hurt. You will say, "but what does it all mean?" and be met with a deathly silence.
Look here
Look here
If you are searching for changes to TS parameters, you could try Joe D's method from the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook. You could download SW to use your PC as a sine wave generator and a good DMM to measure the impedance characteristics. It will be an hour or two of writing down points, but for me, it was worth it to learn the what's and why's of the equations.
If you want frequency response, there would be more required. At least a mic/jig if you're lucky.
Sandy.
If you want frequency response, there would be more required. At least a mic/jig if you're lucky.
Sandy.
would this work...
hello...thanks for all you guys help...this forum rocks..
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_011_002_003_000&product_id=270-101
this is the mic i am looking at getting tonight...just so i can do some basic tests...
how do i go about setting this up? how far away should the mic be from the woofer? would it be good for me to guess 1 meter since most (all?) frequency responce graphs say 1m/1w?
i'm listening to one of these right now (the 80ish cent drivers from parts express) that are coated with dilluted elmers glue...it sounds pretty good...
thanks so much for helping a n00b like myself...
hello...thanks for all you guys help...this forum rocks..
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_011_002_003_000&product_id=270-101
this is the mic i am looking at getting tonight...just so i can do some basic tests...
how do i go about setting this up? how far away should the mic be from the woofer? would it be good for me to guess 1 meter since most (all?) frequency responce graphs say 1m/1w?
i'm listening to one of these right now (the 80ish cent drivers from parts express) that are coated with dilluted elmers glue...it sounds pretty good...
thanks so much for helping a n00b like myself...
My first measurements were made with something very similar. They need power, eg a battery, to bias the built-in FET. Tie-clip mics use a similar insert, but have a battery compartment to bias the FET, so it would be self-contained. Some soundcards, like my old Turtle Beach Fiji, have (jumper?) options to provide this bias, again leading to a self -contained unit. Check your soundcard specs.
Hello,
I am too looking to make similar measurements. I was planing on using the out put of my sound level meter. Would this be fairly accurate, or should I too get a condenser microphone? (I am assuming that is what my meter uses.) I figured weighting C would give the full output range but I am not sure? If this is suitable it may save others from having to buy any additional equipment.
I am too looking to make similar measurements. I was planing on using the out put of my sound level meter. Would this be fairly accurate, or should I too get a condenser microphone? (I am assuming that is what my meter uses.) I figured weighting C would give the full output range but I am not sure? If this is suitable it may save others from having to buy any additional equipment.
Cheapest way is get panasonic capsole and get audiotester; total cost $5. Just search for my name and mic (or similar) and your should find a microphone thread started by alvaius I believe. If you find the thread you will see I used a 9V battery, a cap, and resistor, but if you use audiotester and mic input on your sound card you don't even need this setup. All you need is straw capsole soldered to wires that go straight to sound card.
I could never get SpeakerWorkshop to work, with the capsole.
I could never get SpeakerWorkshop to work, with the capsole.
Yes it is good. But it did not pick up any sound from my capsoles AND it did not tell me that it didn't. Nor, is there a place where you can select input or I could not find it or I forgot already.
Audiotester let's you select input easily, it actually changes it for you in the control panel. Let you know exactly the range that the input has to be in. Just easier to learn how to use, Speaker Workshop didn't tell me what was wrong I just have to assume input was not to it's liking. Audiotester is good for impatient easily agitated people such as myself. I don't like to use software where I have to finds its G-spot so I can get it to function, that's all I was saying.
Audiotester let's you select input easily, it actually changes it for you in the control panel. Let you know exactly the range that the input has to be in. Just easier to learn how to use, Speaker Workshop didn't tell me what was wrong I just have to assume input was not to it's liking. Audiotester is good for impatient easily agitated people such as myself. I don't like to use software where I have to finds its G-spot so I can get it to function, that's all I was saying.
Thanks Jimmy154
The information in the thread was helpful to me. Doesn't directly tell me if I could use the output on my sound meter. But gives a cheap alternative. I believe the audio out of the meter was somewhat distorted or altered so it would probably not be at all acceptable.
Here is the link to the tread Jimmy154 refereed to
thread about testing
This thread also has information and links to various testing programs.
Does the 9 volt battery go dead when not in use?
The information in the thread was helpful to me. Doesn't directly tell me if I could use the output on my sound meter. But gives a cheap alternative. I believe the audio out of the meter was somewhat distorted or altered so it would probably not be at all acceptable.
Here is the link to the tread Jimmy154 refereed to
thread about testing
This thread also has information and links to various testing programs.
Does the 9 volt battery go dead when not in use?
It really isn't that important but it just looks like the 9 volt battery completes the circuit threw the Mic and the 2.2K resistor. I thought their might be an affect like a parasitic draw off the battery. I can remove it or put a switch on it for when it is not in use so it really isn't much of a factor.
Jimmy154, This may be the reason you couldn't get the Speaker Workshop to work ?
Speaker Workshop harware requirements
I couldn't find your Audiotester, Thanks anyway.
Speaker Workshop harware requirements
I couldn't find your Audiotester, Thanks anyway.
mgmopar said:
No that's not my problem. You see, audiotester requires you to record and play at the same time also. I would imagine this is the case with most if not all FR measuring programs.
Let me know how Speaker Workshop works for you. Audiotester is easy to find. If you cannot even find audiotester chances are very good you cannot get Speaker Workshop to work. Good luck finding the Speaker Workshop G-spot, you sexy beast.
I'm not sure how good this will be for measurement. Unidirectional mics usually work by phase cancellation between front and back of the diaphragm, which leads to compromises in the FR, and to odd off-axis effects.
OTOH, this doesn't look like a typical unidirectional, and there are no figures or graphs supplied to show its polar response, so the description might be misleading.
mgmopar said:
The output of your SPL meter will work, but if inexpensive, it will not have flat response. You want to use C weighting or some other flat weighting scheme (Not A-weighting). A representative response for the Radio Shack SPL meters may be found at:
http://www.etfacoustic.com/micpreamp.html
I have compared My RS SPL meter to my Behringer mic and it measures very much like the ETF Acoustic file in the link above.
Almost all soundcards have a mic input that provides a 5V bias to power electret microphone capsules. The problem is that the quality of this input is very low. In all the computer I have tried connecting an electret mic to, the signal was very noisy and contained a large amount of hum. I built the wallin mic preamp, but when it didn't work well on first power up, I was left with a $40 paperweight. If I had an oscilloscope, I would have tried to fix it, but I decided not to waste my time replacing components until I found the one that is bad.
I was tearing my hair out trying to use Speaker Workshop until I got my Behringer ECM-8000 mic and UB-802 preamp. Now making measurements is simple.
BTW, you want an omnidirectional mic for measurements. Directional microphones change frequency response depending on distance from the source. The bass range becomes more and more pronounced the closer you get to the source. An example, these are frequently the reason for FM announcer tubby voices.
Thanks Ron E
So I take it the meter output is worth a try. I would think it would eliminate the need for a separate preamp due to the spl range setting changing the output of the meter (It is an analog radio shack meter your link refereed to). It would seem by their explanation, it is not very good for the higher frequencies. I don't know if their calibration file would work with other programs. This would explain the questionable result when I used it in the pass for a pickup, hooked up the line input of a EQ with a spectrum analyzer bar display. (I try to do it with what I have available, before PC's are what they are now)
So I take it the meter output is worth a try. I would think it would eliminate the need for a separate preamp due to the spl range setting changing the output of the meter (It is an analog radio shack meter your link refereed to). It would seem by their explanation, it is not very good for the higher frequencies. I don't know if their calibration file would work with other programs. This would explain the questionable result when I used it in the pass for a pickup, hooked up the line input of a EQ with a spectrum analyzer bar display. (I try to do it with what I have available, before PC's are what they are now)
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