measurement programs, mics and mic preamps.

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I am an old school high-end car audio installer from back in the day. I have an Audio Control SA-3052A real time analyzer I used back then, but am looking for the latest and greatest in programs to use to measure speakers (before and after completion) and tweak my systems (home and car) using my laptop. The Audio Control unit still works fine, but I woulkd like to get into something I could put into my large laptop bag and carry with me. I am planning on building some speakers in the near future and would like to start rounding up some of the supplies to complete a nice set. I have read about some that also have crossover design programs with them. I don't know how much I would use that, since the new speaker project will be actively triamped, but it would probably come in handy some day. I am not trying to start a WHO'S BEST thread here, just looking for some input on the plusses and minuses from the guys that use this equipment on a regular basis. I want to buy whats' best for my needs the first time, so I don't have to do it again later.
Thanks,
James
 
I am not trying to start a WHO'S BEST thread here... I want to buy whats' best for my needs...

LEAP and LMS from Linear X are the best for your needs and both happen to be the best and most expensive of them all. However, SoundEasy is the best value for money. It does all sorts of measurement, analog active/passive and digital filter design. Any enclosure design you can think of and it does baffle diffraction modeling too. It does listening room modeling as well as some other nifty stuff like design emulation through your multi-way soundcard.

:)
 
f4ier said:


LEAP and LMS from Linear X are the best for your needs and both happen to be the best and most expensive of them all. However, SoundEasy is the best value for money. It does all sorts of measurement, analog active/passive and digital filter design. Any enclosure design you can think of and it does baffle diffraction modeling too. It does listening room modeling as well as some other nifty stuff like design emulation through your multi-way soundcard.

:)

I'd have to disagree with the comment that LMS is the best. LMS is a somewhat limited swept sine measurement system, still based on an ISA arch. Other, cheaper systems have surpassed LMS in performance and flexibility, IMHO. Praxis is probably the best under 1k as far as measurement systems. If you want to spend a bit less money and get a software xover modeling program, the two most common high quality, relatively inexpensive programs are SE and lspCAD.

I don't have enough info to make a comment on leap. It used to be the leader, and still may be. For a long time leap had the reputation as the best, but then languished as the others improved. It has been recently updated, so it's probably quite good.

hth


:whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko: :whacko:(sorry, those are courtesy of my 3 yr old son)

mark k

check out my testing site at www.ncdiyaudio.com
 
I'd agree that LEAP and LMS are grossly out of date!
I've just ordered Praxis for use at work, though I use True-RTA and Sample Champion at home.

Make sure your sound card is up to it though. A low cost but very good quality external USB one is the Transit from M-audio.
 
No I'm not a LEAP user. In a previous employment I made use of an external audio development and measuring company which used LEAP and it seemed to be very high priced for what it did.

It seems to be very well respected, so perhaps it has attributes which are not immediately obvious.
 
Ouroboros said:
I'd agree that LEAP and LMS are grossly out of date!
I've just ordered Praxis for use at work, though I use True-RTA and Sample Champion at home.

Make sure your sound card is up to it though. A low cost but very good quality external USB one is the Transit from M-audio.


I too have just bought an m audio transit. I've been trying to get a laptop measurement system up and running and the m audio system seems to work pretty well so far.
 
I have the older versions of LMS and Leap. If anyone is thinking of buying them a word of warning DON'T

Good program, but LinearX has bad business practices. There is an expiry date in both programs. They don't tell you that when you are giving them your money. I upgraded my hardware key twice to get it running again at a price of about 100 dollars each time. The last time they told me that there would be no more upgrades. I told them that this information should be told to people so that they may make an informed decision. The reply was that "nothing lasts forever", nice comment isn't it?

They will never see another dime from me for any product they make. I want to warn others of the deceptive practices at LinearX.
 
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