#31 Re: Speaker design/test software
Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:47 am
Sounds very low.
Here's a test. Open REW, and click the "levels" button at the top. With the mic input gain all the way up on the soundcard, tap on the side of the microphone with a fingernail. You should get red lights flashing on the soundcard to indicate the input is being overloaded, and the level meters on REW should respond accordingly.
If you don't get red lights, you might have the input pad engaged. At full gain, it's easy to overload the input and that's what we're trying to do at the moment.
If you get red lights but the REW meters don't move, you need to double-check the I/O selection under REW settings. You might still be using the laptop's built-in microphones. You can confirm by moving the measurement mic away and tapping on the laptop. The mics on mine are in the bezel above the screen.
Once you're up and running, the test sweep doesn't have to be particularly loud - you want it to be above the background noise (NB - if there is background noise, running multiple sweeps will help, as REW looks for the signals that are common to all sweeps, and ignores one-off events) of the room.
As you push the volume up, you're more likely to induce rattles in the room and hit non-linearities in the speaker. It can be useful to go there at times, but we're not there yet.
Chris
Here's a test. Open REW, and click the "levels" button at the top. With the mic input gain all the way up on the soundcard, tap on the side of the microphone with a fingernail. You should get red lights flashing on the soundcard to indicate the input is being overloaded, and the level meters on REW should respond accordingly.
If you don't get red lights, you might have the input pad engaged. At full gain, it's easy to overload the input and that's what we're trying to do at the moment.
If you get red lights but the REW meters don't move, you need to double-check the I/O selection under REW settings. You might still be using the laptop's built-in microphones. You can confirm by moving the measurement mic away and tapping on the laptop. The mics on mine are in the bezel above the screen.
Once you're up and running, the test sweep doesn't have to be particularly loud - you want it to be above the background noise (NB - if there is background noise, running multiple sweeps will help, as REW looks for the signals that are common to all sweeps, and ignores one-off events) of the room.
As you push the volume up, you're more likely to induce rattles in the room and hit non-linearities in the speaker. It can be useful to go there at times, but we're not there yet.
Chris