Mesuring speaker response and room acoustics

[mksharan]

I got the UMIK-1 microphone from minidsp.com for measuring the speaker response and room acoustic. I ordered it online and came here without any hassles.
This microphone comes with a calibrated file and gets connected to the laptop using USB connection. Though there are many software for measuring the room acoustic, I downloaded the recommended version REW (Room Eq. Wzard) from Home Theater Shack for free.
Apart from that one does not need any other hardware. The output of the laptop is connected to your sound system.

Setting up is very simple and the REW propgram makes the test signal which is fed to your sound system and the microphone measures the response and plots the response as a function of frequency.

Here is a photo of my setup :

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks. How much did the mic cost?

Further details and experiences would be great.

Shouldn't the mic be where your ears would be, with all furniture in place?

 

[mksharan]

The mic costs 70 usd (along with stand and the cable; software u can download for free). I also ordered a mini DSP 2X4 board for 99 USD. (Shipping costs 40).

Initially I am trying to see the woofer and the mid driver matching/cross-over of my 3 way Sonondyne system(Uranus model of 80)
For measurement, I feed the line out from my laptop to my pre-amp. The output is then fed to the miniDSP. The 4 outputs are then fed to 2 amplifiers with signals going to woofer and mid-range.
Running the frequency response, I could clearly see that the cross-overs and matching was way-off. I could quickly correct it in the mini DSP and it improved the base response considerably.
I intend to fine tune and listen to it for some time and then will set the passive cross-over.(will post the results later on, right now playing with the system). Later on, my plan is to build a open-baffle system and will use the mic and miniDSP for setting the cross-overs.

Yes, you are right, the mic should be placed in the listening position. These are early days and doing this measurement makes a woopish sound, not liked by the other family members:sad:

 

[kapvin]

Thanks. How much did the mic cost?

Further details and experiences would be great.

Shouldn't the mic be where your ears would be, with all furniture in place?

UMIK-1 | MiniDSP

should come in under 7k landed at your doorstep.