[ItsonlyaHONDA]

When I was a youngin, when ever some one said something illiterate we would say "Who learned you how to spoke?". I'm completely REW illiterate 😔 so I want to spark a conversation with some of you fine young/old folks/farts 😃 (jk, dont hang me) about REW. Maybe a why, when, where you decided you needed REW in your life. How you learned, who taught you, how you do it.

I'm sure there's different methods, maybe some one can shoot some of their skills this way. When I got my car back last year from the installer it was a blank slate. I undid the crossovers, re set gains, re-did the input EQ, then I Helix Auto just about Everyting. This was/is new to me. My tune was done in my jobs parking lot before a night shift when I had a lil time. Took a while... half hour here and there for months. Then the finicky UMIK-1 was always cutting out on a constant mid measurement 😡. I'm a busy man with hardly any play time to my self. I got it sounded how I like, but I feel I cheated.

I bought a UMIK-2 a whiles back and a couple weeks ago I started playing with REW. Took a few mesurment just to play with it while I was waiting for my wife to get her nails did 💅. I realized I didn't know WTF I was doing. I brought the Laptop in to the house yesterday to email the pics to my self. I'll post them.

I want to dive in (when time allows) and finish where the Helix Auto tune left off. Hand jerk here n there to see if I can squeeze a lil more out of the tune.

My system consist of rear and front sub. 3 way on my doors, 2 way centre.

I take my measurement in the driver seat waving the magic stick around my face. My TA is also set in between where mine and the wives head reside. So basically a 2 seat tune, kinda. I know there should be an average between both seats but I got to learn to REW first. Plus Fvck her seats response I already compromised my TA.😃

This is a measurement with everything playing. I forgot to turn the sub down when I took this measurement. When I did the auto tune I brought the rear subs down to the front sub level.

That hump at 1xxhz wast there when I did my tune but since I didn't turn the sub down I get some rear deck rattles. I think that was what it was. I also tuned my sub flat initially but I didn't like it and after some playing. I seemed to like a peek at 40hz

I took this today in the parking lot before my shift started. With the rear sub at like 1/3rd volume.

NO centre with and withoug the sub up in volume.

I had read a bunch of REW tutorials but I didn't read them before taking the mesurments and I just kinda shot from the hip. Matter of fact I just barely learned how to make the measurement look squiggly instead of like the stair way to heaven.

These are the settings I have set up. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. 😕

I just want to learn to REW before I dive in face first into hand jerking a tune.

If you gotta story of how you learned, please share. You got some pointers for me, please share. Any input or criticism is welcomed.

Sorry for the long post I'm at work n bored. It's about to be midnight, and I still got 6 hours to go. I'll end it here so I don't loose my progress.

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

These are all left and right playing together. I was just taking test measurement to practice.

Midbasses with front sub

Both subs and midbasses

Add the mids

 

[MaximumEnnui]

You aren't alone.

Like a lot of powerful freeware, I find REW extremely difficult to use. What has taught me some basics was 1) going through Andy's guide, then when I upgraded software for my DSP 2) following MiniDSP's Dirac Live guide, then 3) for my home stereo trying to make a multiple subwoofer array using MSO, and verifying bass response after Audyssey corrections.

I've found most helpful are long form step-by-step guides I can follow along to which allow me to follow step by step. See if Jeff Mery's videos have any topics you'd be interested in.
Jeff Mery

FWIW your results from Helix's auto tune look like everything is summing well together and reasonably smooth.

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

You aren't alone.

Like a lot of powerful freeware, I find REW extremely difficult to use. What has taught me some basics was 1) going through Andy's guide, then when I upgraded software for my DSP 2) following MiniDSP's Dirac Live guide, then 3) for my home stereo trying to make a multiple subwoofer array using MSO, and verifying bass response after Audyssey corrections.

I've found most helpful are long form step-by-step guides I can follow along to which allow me to follow step by step. See if Jeff Mery's videos have any topics you'd be interested in.
Jeff Mery

FWIW your results from Helix's auto tune look like everything is summing well together and reasonably smooth.

I was just re reading Andy's guide. There's alot to soak in there. Thanx for the Jeff tube links. Those are new to me 😃

 

[Speedhunter]

16 averages, 50% overlap and 1/12 RTA?!
Hann window; are you using non Rew (non periodic) test tone?
I didn't understand well your post...do you know how to use RTA or you need a guide?

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

16 averages, 50% overlap and 1/12 RTA

Yes, is that right or wrong. Should I use more averages? I don't know what 50% overlap means, 1/12 is that not good enough? Where should it be.

Hann window; are you using non Rew (non periodic) test tone?

I'm using Helix WAV file mono pink noise on a thumb drive straight into my cars USB input. I tried using REW pink noise but my car didn't register the laptops sound output.

I didn't understand well your post...do you know how to use RTA or you need a guide?

I'm trying to learn. I've read alot of guides a while back. But they seem kinda dated. If you got some links to more recent guides. I'm down for some reading. I don't know what I'm doing. REW is new to me.

I'd also like to know how other ppl learned, and how they have their settings. I'm gonna keep on reading and watching videos. But if you have some pointer for me I'd greatly appreciate it 😃

 

[Forddenial]

I learned how to "REW" by skimming the tutorials, getting confused, mildly understa ding and then getting mad that i only have a cell phone....so i started looking for apps to put together my own "REW machine"

These are my main 3 apps

Spectroid: get a waveform reference and check it against the other two apps'

Audiotool:

Room Acoustics meter: L/R sine sweeps and measuring

From the top of my steering wheel and using the phone mic (still can't get my S21 5g to recognize the external Dayton Audio iMM6)
Set a "flat" EQ using the pink noise from audiotool and playing with the HU until the waveform was as flat as possible

Time-aligned by ear and got it close

In R.A.M. i ran L/R sinesweeps over and over while tweaking gain and time alignment on the HU until i got even measurements on each side.


Then, i forget who it was, asked me if i calibrated my phone mic...............................crickets

Don't have REW, can't afford a laptop, but i am going back over the tutorials as well, and look forward to hearing what ya'll say about @ItsonlyaHONDA 's work (ya'll probably never used the apps i am) and i'll muddlewit that to work with what i have.
Thanks to all who help and contribute

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

I learned how to "REW" by skimming the tutorials, getting confused, mildly understa ding and then getting mad that i only have a cell phone....so i started looking for apps to put together my own "REW machine"

These are my main 3 apps
View attachment 359084

Spectroid: get a waveform reference and check it against the other two apps'

Audiotool: View attachment 359085

Room Acoustics meter: L/R sine sweeps and measuring

From the top of my steering wheel and using the phone mic (still can't get my S21 5g to recognize the external Dayton Audio iMM6)
Set a "flat" EQ using the pink noise from audiotool and playing with the HU until the waveform was as flat as possible

Time-aligned by ear and got it close

In R.A.M. i ran L/R sinesweeps over and over while tweaking gain and time alignment on the HU until i got even measurements on each side.


Then, i forget who it was, asked me if i calibrated my phone mic...............................crickets

Don't have REW, can't afford a laptop, but i am going back over the tutorials as well, and look forward to hearing what ya'll say about @ItsonlyaHONDA 's work (ya'll probably never used the apps i am) and i'll muddlewit that to work with what i have.
Thanks to all who help and contribute

You gotta work with what you got. I have a UMIK-1 that likes to cut out half way throught a measurement you can have to get you started. It works but it's annoying AF. You can snatch up a refurbished Asus for cheap on Amazon. Then we can learn to REW together.

 

[Muu]

REW is pretty awkward to use, but you pays ya monies takes ya choices.

I think where many people go wrong is jumping into advanced stuff without really understanding first principles.

 

[grtpumpkin300]

What other software could we use other than REW. I've been struggling to understand REW to the point I haven't had the confidence to even plug in my umike1 for fear of destroying something. I would think tuning a car stereo should not be this difficult.

 

[RickWilson]

Not that I can offer much besides some basic strategies that I use with REW and it’s EQ/RTA tool but feel to DM me if you need some help with basic set up and use of the EQ tool.

not offering to help tune everyone’s system but happy to help get you through the basics. I made a few message REW / EQ guide for @Dgan21 that was crude but I’ll let him comment on if it was helpful or not.

or if you spend $250 or more on Resonix products, Nick has an FB group going that is releasing weekly content on using REW/helix/winisd software that is exclusive to the group. It’s well worth the investment so far.

 

[BobTheBirdTurd]

What other software could we use other than REW. I've been struggling to understand REW to the point I haven't had the confidence to even plug in my umike1 for fear of destroying something. I would think tuning a car stereo should not be this difficult.

I haven't tried it, but I think JL Tun 4 has some capability.

 

[Dwarteacher]

I also learned from Jeff Mery and a few others on Youtube.

I started reading Rew Documentation, then realized after an hour That I had no interest in reading all these pages.

I started learning tuning from the Audiofrog guide, but now I do my own thing with the tips I picked up from the guide.

I still have trouble with the target curve overlay in the EQ tab, so for the past year, I have never used it.

Over the past two weeks I have been playing with In REW EQ tab for filter export to the MiniDsp 8x12.

So instead of using a target curve generated using Jazz spreadsheet, I have been playing with the room curve setting to create a target curve and Crossover slope from the driver measurements.

You gotta work with what you got. I have a UMIK-1 that likes to cut out halfway through a measurement you can have to get you started. It works, but it's annoying AF. You can snatch up a refurbished Asus for cheap on Amazon. Then we can learn to REW together.

I have the same issue with my Umik1, which drives me crazy.

A temporary fix is to go into the preference tab/soundcard then, switch the input device from the Umik then switch back. The Umik will work until the next time you get the dreaded no input device found or whatever it says.

My current laptop I got for tuning I got from Walmart 2 years ago is a Lenovo Ideapad 1l for $135.


Lenovo Ideapad 1i, 14.0" Laptop, Intel Pentium N5030, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC Storage, Cloud Grey, Windows 11 in S Mode, 82V6001DUS - Walmart.com

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

I also learned from Jeff Mery and a few others on Youtube.

I started reading Rew Documentation, then realized after an hour That I had no interest in reading all these pages.

I started learning tuning from the Audiofrog guide, but now I do my own thing with the tips I picked up from the guide.

I still have trouble with the target curve overlay in the EQ tab, so for the past year, I have never used it.

Over the past two weeks I have been playing with In REW EQ tab for filter export to the MiniDsp 8x12.

So instead of using a target curve generated using Jazz spreadsheet, I have been playing with the room curve setting to create a target curve and Crossover slope from the driver measurements.


I have the same issue with my Umik1, which drives me crazy.

A temporary fix is to go into the preference tab/soundcard then, switch the input device from the Umik then switch back. The Umik will work until the next time you get the dreaded no input device found or whatever it says.

My current laptop I got for tuning I got from Walmart 2 years ago is a Lenovo Ideapad 1l for $135.


Lenovo Ideapad 1i, 14.0" Laptop, Intel Pentium N5030, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC Storage, Cloud Grey, Windows 11 in S Mode, 82V6001DUS - Walmart.com

I'm gonna star watching the Jeff videos tonight at work. I re-read the whole AF tuning guide last night. Very informative but he used a very basic REW set up. Which kinda made me feel that I wasn't really doing much wrong.

My fix for the UMIK-1 was to buy the UMIK-2. The 2 has not given me any issues. The laptop I use is my wifes old work laptop. And by old I mean she used it for a year then decided she wanted a Mac book pro instead. So I got a hand me down 1k$ Asus something or an other. Damn thing is wiered. It has a screen for a mouse pad.

 

[Dwarteacher]

You can check out Nerijus videos in the meantime.

He has one on taking your first measurement with REW

PSSound shares a lot of info on his Patreon page if you don't mind the paywall

I do like the Idea of a Let Learn REW Together thread.

Nerijus Kochanskas - YouTube

Pssound | Creating video | Patreon

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

Here's one that I book marked and read a while back. I will be revisiting this one again.

First-timers guide to measuring your system

OK. I've had some requests how to measure your car audio system and how to work with RoomEQ as well as fine-tuning your system for optimal staging and tonality. Rather than explaining it all in private chats I might as well do a quick guide as more people can learn and members can refer to this...

www.diymobileaudio.com

And one about pink noise.

RTA, CORELLATED OR UNCORRELLATED PINK NOISE?

Friends , this is a topic that has me dizzy to say the least. I want to know which for individual speaker and side tuning for example left midbass only,left tweeter only then left complete side only which of these 2 pink noises do I use? I ask Audiofischer they give one answer I ask a...

www.diymobileaudio.com

 

[grtpumpkin300]

I can sympathize with newbies as I am one of them. It's very frustrating when you don't even know where to start. I've watched many videos and tons of reading over the past couple years and just keep getting more frustrated and intimidated. The biggest obstacle I have is how to connect my laptop to the mic and the dsp. I've never seen an explanation on the proper sequence or different ways to connect the devices. I believe everyone thinks it's common knowledge, like tying your shoe, and it's not mentioned. I'll give an example. What if your laptop only has one usb port. With this scenario you can't connect your dsp and your umik- 1 simultaneously. What to do? Lets say you have 2 usb ports and there both being used by the mic and the dsp. At this point how do you generate the needed tones from REW for it to do it's magic. I actually thought I didn't need to connect my laptop to my system to play tones or pink noise and that I could just use my test cd to generate what's needed, only to find out that this will only get you so far. I assume I probably need to connect my laptop to my 3.5mm aux jack VIA the laptops headphone output. These are the very basic things that keep me from getting anywhere with my setup. Totally lost on the hardware basics and then I start looking at all the intimidating REW videos and all the technical jargon, I just end up walking away.
Hope to be hooking up with a few on here in the near future so I can literally be schooled on how to get started. Then the fun will begin.

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

I can sympathize with newbies as I am one of them. It's very frustrating when you don't even know where to start. I've watched many videos and tons of reading over the past couple years and just keep getting more frustrated and intimidated. The biggest obstacle I have is how to connect my laptop to the mic and the dsp. I've never seen an explanation on the proper sequence or different ways to connect the devices. I believe everyone thinks it's common knowledge, like tying your shoe, and it's not mentioned. I'll give an example. What if your laptop only has one usb port. With this scenario you can't connect your dsp and your umik- 1 simultaneously. What to do? Lets say you have 2 usb ports and there both being used by the mic and the dsp. At this point how do you generate the needed tones from REW for it to do it's magic. I actually thought I didn't need to connect my laptop to my system to play tones or pink noise and that I could just use my test cd to generate what's needed, only to find out that this will only get you so far. I assume I probably need to connect my laptop to my 3.5mm aux jack VIA the laptops headphone output. These are the very basic things that keep me from getting anywhere with my setup. Totally lost on the hardware basics and then I start looking at all the intimidating REW videos and all the technical jargon, I just end up walking away.
Hope to be hooking up with a few on here in the near future so I can literally be schooled on how to get started. Then the fun will begin.

I ran I to a similar situation. I tried hooking up 3.5mm to USB into my cars USB input. But the car didn't register it, just said "unrecognizable source" or something along those lines. I don't think I have an 3.5mm input. I'm gonna have to double check. Is there a way I can go USB from my laptop to the USB input of my car? I can't replace my head unit and it's my main source. Going straight into the DSP is not going to work, due to my high level out of the factory head unit needed some de-EQing with the input TRA.

I use a thumb drive with pink noise into the cars USB input. Do I need to use the the tone generator from REW to get it's full benefits? What am I missing by not using it that way? I thought I was good doing it my way. 😒 one of the links I posted shows how to hook up the laptop to your source but it dosnt work for me.

There is so many gaps in the guides, and some of this stuff is outdated to the systems of today. I have many questions and I don't know how to ask them. How do you put multiple measurements into a single graph? Like tweeter/Mid/midbass. When ever I click on one the one that was selected disappears.

I'll figure it out. I still have videos to watch and stuff to read. I'll continue to update here when I learn something new.

Since I decided that the Honda isn't getting any upgrades and I'm keeping it as is. The tunning will be the upgrade.

 

[grtpumpkin300]

The comment about using the rew software tone generator I had read in Hanatsu's first timers guide. I find a lot of this is still vauge in the sense that it assumes we already know how to do simple things with it.
Teaching is a skill that many lack. You can't assume that the person your teaching knows specific things on the subject.
Applied logic comes to mind.
(2) First-timers guide to measuring your system | Page 5 | DiyMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum

 

[JLyon1]

I ran I to a similar situation. I tried hooking up 3.5mm to USB into my cars USB input. But the car didn't register it, just said "unrecognizable source" or something along those lines. I don't think I have an 3.5mm input. I'm gonna have to double check. Is there a way I can go USB from my laptop to the USB input of my car? I can't replace my head unit and it's my main source. Going straight into the DSP is not going to work, due to my high level out of the factory head unit needed some de-EQing with the input TRA.

I use a thumb drive with pink noise into the cars USB input. Do I need to use the the tone generator from REW to get it's full benefits? What am I missing by not using it that way? I thought I was good doing it my way. 😒 one of the links I posted shows how to hook up the laptop to your source but it dosnt work for me.

There is so many gaps in the guides, and some of this stuff is outdated to the systems of today. I have many questions and I don't know how to ask them. How do you put multiple measurements into a single graph? Like tweeter/Mid/midbass. When ever I click on one the one that was selected disappears.

I'll figure it out. I still have videos to watch and stuff to read. I'll continue to update here when I learn something new.

Since I decided that the Honda isn't getting any upgrades and I'm keeping it as is. The tunning will be the upgrade.

It looks like you’re viewing your measurements under the SPL & PHASE tab, click the ALL SPL tab to view all your measurements at once.
I’m learning REW partly because I came here in August asking if I should buy new speakers and you said that I should buy a Helix DSP and study the forums, lol. So I bought the Helix and am studying the forums! My UMIK-1 disconnects whenever I bump the cord, too, so I’m just super careful with it while measuring.