Measure your room acoustics and digitally compensate for it ...

[Sisyphos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do they calibrate for the response of the mike so you aren't correcting for that along with your speakers? Different mikes sound quite different. See ya Steve

There is a calibration file for the Behringer ECM 8000 and another one for a mic called WM-61A (just googled it and it's probably a Panasonic mic). I don't know if there are other calibration files available.
But a good measurement microphone should have an almost flat response anyway.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do they calibrate for the response of the mike so you aren't correcting for that along with your speakers? Different mikes sound quite different. See ya Steve

Sisyphos is correct.

Good small diameter, omnidirectional measurement mics are so flat through most of the range that there is not a huge impact on the final result.

TacT supplies a file with each of their units for the included mic, which appears to be very similar to the Behringer ECM8000. Almost all of those mics use the same Panasonic mic capsule, which if one believes the measurements done by folks on the home theater forums, is suprisingly consistent for its low cost.

Mics that sound different usually have very different FR curves, and aren't designed to be flat at all. All audiophiles really need to register at this site run by Rycote (the folks who make the "dead cat" furry windscreens):

http://microphone-data.com/

and check out how lumpy the response can be for many mics that are fairly well regarded. "Classic Neumanns" and many mics designed to sound like them at lower cost (Chinese clones) have a "presence peak" starting at about 5 to 7 kHz rising to ~3 dB "hot" at 10 kHz and back to flat by the 15-20 kHz range where the response generally drops like a rock, anyway.

That's why a lot of classical recordings by Telarc and others with a minimal-minking philosophy were done with the B&K (now DPA) omnis, which are extraordinarily flat.

 

[sejarzo]

After sending the unit to TacT and waiting six weeks, all I got was yes, it is not functioning properly all of the time, and it might take a $160 DSP replacement, or a $500 to $600 motherboard replacement to be sure it worked 100% of the time.

Not a huge confidence builder, when the manufacturer cannot determine the exact cause of the malfunction after all of that time!!!

Luckily, the seller has agreed to refund my money and then deal with the issues.

So I might just try ARC after all!

 

[SonicDawg]

For a similar software in English, try Room EQ Wizard (google it!)

 

[heatmizer]

Room EQ Wizard is pretty good especially for freeware.
I would recommend the smaart live 30 day demo personally