Basic setup but works great for me.

 

You'll be very disappointed with mine. It's just a laptop that lives under my passenger seat. Then a UMIK-2 that lives under my seat. That's it.... nothing extra, nothing special, nothing fancy. Not even worth a picture. 😃 But I'll follow along to see what other ppl have to offer.

 

I just run a dual screen because I like to look at REW's and not the Helix's RTA 🤷‍♂️

 

I use autonomous AI commonly referred to as “Jeffrey”. 😂

 

I've been thinking a lot about building a "Tunning Cart". Currently i use a foldable table and load it down with the needed equipment for the particular project... I tend to jump around a lot between my SMARRT setup vs JL Max vs REW with two mic on a rotating fan (Thanks to ErinH for that idea)... i use to use an external graphics card plgged into one of the laptops to drive a set of wall mounted 55" screens for tunning but purely out of laziness i just now use two laptops and one external 42" monitor...

I bet after getting to see some of the crazy cart set ups that are about to be displayed in this thread will motivate me to build something cool, easy to hide away when not in use and allow me to keep all of my Input/Output analyzer equipment in one spot

 

Care to share a photo of your oscillating rig? How do you deal with motor noise... Just crank it up more?

 

tools

 

Daily driver - Laptop, Behringer UMC204HD, Earthworks M23 or UMIK-1 for quick stuff.

When I get lucky and have access to the JL Max

 

atm Im using only this tool,...gotta get new sound card to get back in the tunning game

 

After playing with the TuN/MAX, I decided to build a much cheaper version which Im calling the MIN (LOL).

Have OpenSoundMeter, Smaart, REW and TuN to play with.

Im in the middle of building multi mic holders.
The bar is to copy what MAX does using all the mics on the same plane.
The other contraption is for Dirac, which need to measure 8 additional point in a cube around the central position.

Upgrades to come, might include going to a 7 mic array and binaural.
J.

 

After playing with the TuN/MAX, I decided to build a much cheaper version which Im calling the MIN (LOL).
View attachment 382695
Have OpenSoundMeter, Smaart, REW and TuN to play with.
View attachment 382696
Im in the middle of building multi mic holders.
The bar is to copy what MAX does using all the mics on the same plane.
The other contraption is for Dirac, which need to measure 8 additional point in a cube around the central position.
View attachment 382697
Upgrades to come, might include going to a 7 mic array and binaural.
J.

Now that's what I'm talking about. Will keep an eye out for your updates.

 

This is my tuning rig that i have shown before and i have been using for some time now. I have built it up over a few years.

• up to 9 mics i can arrange in anyway
• Smaart V9
• Two styles of USB audio interfaces. One for MM and light duty work and the big rig for full array support. I could add more mic's to the array if need be.
• What is not shown is a custom Excel program i wrote to calibrate all my mic's using the EW M23R as the reference mic and the Smaart TF function capability. Actually the whole microphone chain including cables and XLR ports are all included in the full measurement system calibration.

I like it and it seems to work pretty good. The EW mic is used for IR/TF measurements.

 

This is my tuning rig that i have shown before and i have been using for some time now. I have built it up over a few years.

• up to 9 mics i can arrange in anyway
• Smaart V9
• Two styles of USB audio interfaces. One for MM and light duty work and the big rig for full array support. I could add more mic's to the array if need be.
• What is not shown is a custom Excel program i wrote to calibrate all my mic's using the EW M23R as the reference mic and the Smaart TF function capability. Actually the whole microphone chain including cables and XLR ports are all included in the full measurement system calibration.

I like it and it seems to work pretty good. The EW mic is used for IR/TF measurements.

View attachment 382704

Are you feeding your multiple Audio interfaces into eachother like a daisy chain and then only one of those connecting to your PC? If so, is it a pretty straightforward process? I recently picked up a Motu 6 and have been wondering if i can use my Motu 6 along with my Motu 4 and run a total of 6 xlr mics... I have not had time to experiment with my idea and honestly feel a little silly spending additional monies to build a "Side" rig that leverages SMAART when i already have a MAX but you know how this stupid hobby generates those "What if" questions in the back of your mind

 

For those that have posted setups with multiple mics, do you still have to make adjustments by ear once you complete tuning with the mic arrays?

 

Absolutely, i do. The measurement establishes a working baseline to then do ear tuning for me anyhow

 

Finished the mic holder.
3/8 bolts some holes and its ready to play.

Mics are 20, 30 and 45 cm apart from the center one.

This is the one for Dirac.
Dirac takes one measurement at a time, but I left 3 mics to show how its easy to do the cube around the center mic with consistency.

J.

 

Took the MIN for its first test run.
Did a bunch of experiments to put the theory into practice after reading the Smaart manual, watching all the YouTube videos and taking the Level I operator exam.

This is the setup I came up with.
The laptop is runing both Smaart and the MiniDsp pluging, but I sent Smaart via HDMI to a 55" tv and keept the MiniDsp plugin on the laptops screen.
Hooked a USB mic to the Mac just for fun.

Im waiting on the 8 channel soundcard and more mics to play, so hold on to yours seats, its about to get bumpy.
New gear is here.

J.

 

@doitor @AudioGal what software are you using with your mic array for EQ duties?
I bought a Pro license for REW and live RTA averaging works pretty great so far. Are you using mic weighting in your averages?
Please talk more about how you’ve integrated an array into your tuning flow.

 

Ive been using Smaart (which is the gold standard in pro audio) and OpenSoundMeter.
I like OSM more mostly because its easier to setup and use. And a big plus is that its a shareware (free to download and use but you could paypal if you want).
As far as tunig flow, I follow what JL Audio recomends on the TuN/MAX Videos on YouTube.

1. System Design.
2. System Installation
3. Initial Configuration (Signal routing).
4. Channel/speaker identification confirmation.
5. Impulse Measurements (Initial Delays). (Using only the central microphone)
6-8. Define Targets (using the array)
6-8. Apply HPF and LPF (using the array)
6-8. EQ to target (using the array)
9. Adjust levels (using the array)
10. Optimize channel interactions (phase). (Using only the central microphone)
11. Listen

J.

 

IMO, if you're only using one mic and you have experience with it and how the measured response correlates with what you hear, as long as it's consistent, it's less important.
But if you're running multiple mics in an array, you'd like for it to measure symmetrically, as a variation in responses could affect your average.

 

Does this count?

 

Does this count?

Absolutely! Can I ask why you designed it offset to the side as opposed to centered on the seat? Do you find that gives a better result on balance/soundstage?

 

A question - which might sound n00bish, but here goes anyway:

With some of the software that's mentioned - in the context of IR - is the intent that you're taking an established IR of a room (like a concert hall, as you would for a pro audio/recording reverb plugin) and then attempting to recreate the room's response via TA and EQ of the output in the DSP as part of the system?

If so - I'm highly interested in how to execute such an approach.

 

Its much simpler than that.
In car audio you use it to set the delay on each speaker.
You play each speaker by itself, see which ones arrives last and delay the rest to match.
Pro audio takes the concept to a whole new level with simulations, like you mention.

J.

 

Here is mine. Comes complete with an air conditioned shop, a JL Max, and even has a Jeffrey Hald. Everyone should have a Jeffrey Hald. As a bonus, others can use it on the weekends. It works like a vending machine, just insert a few Benjamin's and out pops a killer tuned ride. It will even helps you troubleshoot if need be.

Disclaimer: This is not my equipment

 

Wish we had one of these Jeffrey set ups around here, the dude knows all the tricks for tuning these F series cabs/trucks [emoji1689]

 

New rig.
Tried a few configurations based on other people’s builds and this layout yielded the best result thus far.
Knocked out my best tune ever, and did it in about 45 minutes.
At least for me, multimic is The Way.

 

Forgot to post the last version of the "el cheap-o" mic holder.

J.

 

Forgot to post the last version of the "el cheap-o" mic holder.
J.

I love my 3D printer, but I think I'm going to go the Doiter route for my next rig. It's just too easy.
Home Depot has some 'furniture grade' pvc pipe with a variety of fittings that I think would look pretty slick.
Am I seeing correctly, that you've done away with using set screws to hold the mics, and it's just the zip ties that keep them from sliding down?

 

Small upgrade.

J.

 

playing around with this

 

Got an octacapture and isemcon just recently. Subbed

 

For all of you playing with mic arrays you might want to take a look at the attached pdf.
The AES (Audio Engineering Society) actually has a technical committee for automotive audio and they came out with a white paper to try and standarize measurements in car.
They basically take Geddes "The Localized Sound Power Method" article to the next step.

J.

 

And here´s the original article for those that havent read it.