Calibration in 2020 + of loudspeakers

[JinMTVT]

Been absent for quite a few years, cleaning up the basement i stumbled upon my ECM 8000 + Preamp that i originally bought to use with PC based softwares for measurement and tuning of loudspeakers an complete systems.
Should i sell those or keep it ??

What is the new good stuff for DIY measurement/tuning for systems, setups and rooms ?

I plan on working on living room and HT systems in the next few years ( finally ) so don't want to sell things i'll need when i get there.

But same time, would like to learn about the new methods
you guys might have developed or found .

Thanks for your time

[markbakk]

The ECM actually does quite well for designing normal crossovers as it measures fairly straight up to 5-7kHz. The top end of this microphone shouldn't be trusted however as variations are, well, huge. And then again, checking the ECM on a modern tweeter with known response mitigates that (you can make your own correction curve). I'd keep it for now. You can always move up to a Dayton with correction curve or even a calibrated mike from NTI, Earthworks or otherwise

The preamp could or could not be an issue. Most systems use USB audio interfaces and those often have good balanced and phantom powered microphone amps. Apps like ARTA that require a time reference need dual channel full duplex AD/DA conversion to not only get the amplitude but also the time lag/phase right.

As for software, REW is quite the sh&$%t around here. I prefer ARTA for loudspeaker measurements. Apps like VituixCAD, Speakerworkshop, Xsim and Boxsim are popular for simulating crossover design. They all have their merits and cons. REW obviously is better for room measurements and corrections.

[JinMTVT]

Thanks for the reply maat, greatly appreciated

So i'll probably keep the ECM for now and sale the Berhinger old style preamp.


Are there other ways to do all that ?
Like new hardware pieces that have built in things to help with calibration
during either the loudpseaker design/building phase
or the room calibration ?

IIRC, some amplifiers came with some mic and auto tuned quite a bit of stuff, that stuff should be quite up in quality nowadays ( experience is with circa 2010 stuff )

There was a quite large project from a guy in here,
full digital crossovers and tons of different add on boards.
Wasn't there a plan to make a measurement device within that project ? been a while i haven't looked it up.

thansk again !

[wintermute]

I've no experience but have it on good authority, that both Sonarworks and Dirac live are fantastic for room correction. But I believe they are rather expensive.

REW is basically free!

Tony.

[markbakk]

Thing also is: you have to know what to do. Basic understanding of room acoustics, perception and speaker design to the least. Considered all of that, learning to use REW with a sound card and a microphone really is one of your lesser worries.

[JinMTVT]

ahha indeed