Soundeasy

[Wilk]

I am looking into purchasing a copy of Soundeasy, and a new laptop. The current measurement system I have been using is at work, and can be a real nightmare to use for different measurements because thats not really what it is set up to do on regular basis. This also makes actually finding time to use it a difficult task.

Is anyone here using Soundeasy with a laptop, and external sound card set up? If so what are you using? What would you buy hardware wise if you were going to buy now?

[JonMarsh]

I don't use SoundEasy, but in general Firewire has lower latency than USB, I've found it to be more reliable for measurement use with a laptop; a nice fairly inexpensive unit is the M-Audio Firewire Solo (yes, I have one- be sure to download the most recent drivers and install them first before hooking it up)- has both balanced input with phantom power and a single ended input usable with external unbalanced mic preamps.

[Jed]

I'm using the M audio Transit and it works perfectly with LSPcad.

[augerpro]

I use an MAudio Transit also with Soundeasy and a laptop and it works fine. Although I would like to get a 96k sampling card to extend my measured frequency response out to 48k Hz. Also the current v14 of soundeasy increased compatibility with usb cards, so that shouldn't be as much of a concern as in the past.

[Wilk]

M-Audio looks like the ticket, I'll give them a look. Thanks everyone.

[Marzen]

You may wanna take a look here at the user support site for the latest info. I remember Bhodan was working on some changes due to reader feedback. I don't recall if it was more about the operating system, or the model of external USB device.
SoundEasy Usergroup
-Ward

[tpremo55]

Why is it that we cannot use the onboard sound card on recent laptops direct to amp/jig for SE measurements?

I'm just getting setup with SE, and had a setup on my desktop computer but no amp. The results were close, but were not entierly consistent and varied 10-15% or better from factory specs. So I decided to add a power amp to the setup and see what that did for consistency. When I added an amp to the system, I moved to a laptop. Now I get crazy SPL and Imp curves. I know - changing too many variables at once...

I believe this is due to the use of the "Mic-in" as line in. Anyone know a way around this? What needs to change to allow the Mic-in to be used? ...or do I really only have the choice of moving back to the workstation or buying a USB soundcard?

Thanks!
Todd

[ThomasW]

You can't use the 'mic-in' on any PC soundcard (notebook or desktop) because the circuitry doesn't have flat frequency response. The other problem associated with notebooks is most don't have duplex soundcards.

[MuaDibb]

I just purchased an M-Audio to be able to take measurements.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html

Now I'm concerned I didn't get the right or "optimal" unit. Any advice?

[JonMarsh]

An M-audio what? OK, followed your link; it's not the best choice, as I don't see anything about a balanced mic input with phantom power. If you get a single ended electret mic, or a mic setup with external preamp, you're OK, but you can't use the trusty/inexpensive Beheringer ECM8000 with this preamp. Best to get an external preamp with both unbalanced and balanced input with phantom power.

M-Audio is the brand- they make many different products- I use a M-audio Audiophile 24/192 hi rez soundcard in my PC built for my Praxis setup, and an M-Audio Firewire Solo with my MacBook Pro (which actually has full duplex audio and "flat" mic inputs, unlike most laptops).

[tpremo55]

Here is the link to Avid's product page:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces

The research I have done indicates the following have been used with success by DIY enthusiests with laptops: (I have compiled this list from SE user group, DIYaudio, and this forum - while there are certainly other options, these units seem to be most common and appealed to me.)

MobilePre-USB ($180 USD)
Audiophile-USB ($250 USD)
Firewire Solo ($250 USD)
Firewire 410 ($400 USD)

E-MU 0404 USB ($200) - found this referenced last night - little data on success, but looks interesting! http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=15167

I was hoping to have a mobile setup and master the process for T/S extraction with SE to take to the Iowa DIY event this year in case anyone wanted to have drivers tested. But current budget will go to the projects I present and not a new soundcard. I guess if you are lugging in 100's of lbs of speakers, a mid-tower workstation should not be an issue.

[mefistofelez]

Dear Jon,

you wrote: ". . . with my MacBook Pro (which actually has full duplex audio and "flat" mic inputs, unlike most laptops)."

Since you are Mac user, how is the microphone input on the PowerBook G4 if you know? Also, do you know any measurement only application for Mac?

Thank you,

M

[ThomasW]

Also, do you know any measurement only application for Mac?

He uses Fuzzmeasure...

http://www.supermegaultragroovy.com/products/FuzzMeasure/

[littlesaint]

Here is the link to Avid's product page:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces

The research I have done indicates the following have been used with success by DIY enthusiests with laptops: (I have compiled this list from SE user group, DIYaudio, and this forum - while there are certainly other options, these units seem to be most common and appealed to me.)

MobilePre-USB ($180 USD)
Audiophile-USB ($250 USD)
Firewire Solo ($250 USD)
Firewire 410 ($400 USD)

E-MU 0404 USB ($200) - found this referenced last night - little data on success, but looks interesting! http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=15167

I was hoping to have a mobile setup and master the process for T/S extraction with SE to take to the Iowa DIY event this year in case anyone wanted to have drivers tested. But current budget will go to the projects I present and not a new soundcard. I guess if you are lugging in 100's of lbs of speakers, a mid-tower workstation should not be an issue.

For USB, the M-Audio Fast Track Pro $250 is about the same as the FireWire Solo.

[Dennis H]

The advantage of the Firewire boxes is they will do full duplex at 96K while the USB boxes are limited to 48K for full duplex. It's only really a factor if you want to check for tweeter ringing, etc., above 20K. You can get a 6-pin Firewire interface for a laptop PC for about $25. The Solo will run with a 4-pin interface but then you need external power from the wall wart.

[Mazeroth]

I'm not real happy with Bohdan right now, the creator of Soundeasy. I purchased V12 last year for $250 from PE and never got around to using it due to some things that came up. In December I thought I'd have time to finally use it and dropped the $25 to upgrade to V13. Well, more things came up and I never got around to using it! Just this week I finally am ready to get rolling on learning passive crossover design and I can't get Soundeasy to measure correctly no matter what I do. Turns out it's because I'm using an M-Audio Mobile Pre ($150 USB soundcard) and to get it to work, per Bohdan, I'll need to dish out another $25 to him for the V14 upgrade. Per his e-mail reply after me stating how unhappy I was: (if this isn't appropriate please delete)

"Actually, it's not a fix. USB cards are inherently slow, and I had to modify the software to accomodate their poor quality."

Sounds like you had to modify your poor software to accommodate a 4 year old USB soundcard that's very popular, AND all other USB soundcards? I think I may just sell it and ante up the money for Praxis and LspCAD. I don't want to support a program that won't support its users. He's going to be the one losing out as I'll recoup most of my money and the person that buys it won't be purchasing it new. I can understand large companies like Adobe wanting $$$ to upgrade to a whole new version of their software but making someone pay more just so the program is compatible with their computer is ridiculous.

Just my opinion! If you are going to use Soundeasy (I really do like it) be sure you get a V14 if you opt for USB. That is all :B

[wildfire99]

I think I may just sell it and ante up the money for Praxis and LspCAD. I don't want to support a program that won't support its users.

As an owner of LspCAD, I almost think the idea of SoundEasy being expensive is funny. At least upgrades are $25... want to upgrade LspCAD? Cough up 75% of the rull retail, buddy, and the current cruddy USD exchange rates are ribbed for your pleasure.

I'm intending to move down to SoundEasy just so I can afford the updates!

[TacoD]

LspCAD is more expensive, but an upgrade for lspCAD is a real upgrade which took a lot of time to make. Those small updates for Soundeasy are not comparable with LspCAD.

I think Soundeasy is fine (never worked with it), but LspCAD is in it's on league combining usability with powerful features.

If you start measuring you can always use JustLMS (comes with LspCAD), and upgrade to Praxis when necessary. I got good results with JustMLS. Also ARTA (http://www.fesb.hr/~mateljan/arta/index.htm) is a very good usable program for making your measurements and isn't expensive at all. It can even do waterfall plots.

The ARTA software has been successfully used with following soundcards:

* RME Fireface 800, RME HDSP
* M-Audio Audiophile 2496, USB Transit, Delta 44, Mobile USB Pro
* EMU 1820M, 1616M, 0404USB
* YAMAHA GO46 and Terratec Firewire FWX24 (sample rate manually tuned)
* Marian Trace Alpha, Terratec EWX 24/96
* Digigram VxPocket 440 - a notebook PCMCIA card
* Echo Layla 24, Echo Indigo I/O (notebook)
* TASCAM US-122 - USB audio
* Creative Soundblaster X-Fi (works on all sampling frequencies)
* Ego-Sys U24 USB and Waveterminal, ESI Quatafire 610
* Creative Soundblaster X-Fi (sound creation mode),
* Creative Soundblaster Live 24 and Extigy-USB, Audigy ZS laptop, but only at 48kHz sampling frequency,
* Turtle Beach Pinnacle and Fuji (good old ISA cards)

[JonMarsh]

I'm with Taco on this one- "big" upgrades to LspCAD come few and far between (change from 5 to 6), and are total re-writes of the program, in this case with a much more expandable program architecture, totally new schematic editor, and many many new capabilities.

Since then, there have been many program updates with new features... all of which are free "updates".

Different ways of doing business. I understand that SoundEasy is still using the same schematic editor tool (which I didn't much care for, just a personal thing, as I'm an EE/CAD guy in my day job) as since the version I used to own back in the 90's.

Many people are quite comfortable with SoundEasy and it has certainly grown over the years, but sometimes the development process there seems designed to generate a steady revenue stream. There have been a number of paid "updates" of SoundEasy since I bought LspCAD 6 Pro, but no updates for LspCAD 6 that cost me any additional money.

Everyone has to have a business model that makes the effort sustainable. LspCAD standard is a real bargain in my opinion. But if something about SoundEasy floats your boat, then go for it.

Oh, and BTW, USB hardware is slow; both in max transfer function, latency, and because it has a much simpler command language, (that is, primitive), and you have to write more code to accomplish the same stuff, compared with Firewire. I had an MAudio USB setup for laptop measurement and tossed it after struggling with it a bit; got a Firewire Solo and have been quite happy with it.

OTOH, the USB "fix" ought to be available free, but then that would complicate Bhodan's business model, to update an older version of the program. I like Ingemar's update policies.

[dlr]

There have been some significant improvements in SE

I'm with Taco on this one- "big" upgrades to LspCAD come few and far between (change from 5 to 6), and are total re-writes of the program, in this case with a much more expandable program architecture, totally new schematic editor, and many many new capabilities.

Since then, there have been many program updates with new features... all of which are free "updates".

Bodhan may put out more frequent updates, but if you have v12 and go to v14, the upgrade is the same fee, it's not doubled up.

Different ways of doing business. I understand that SoundEasy is still using the same schematic editor tool (which I didn't much care for, just a personal thing, as I'm an EE/CAD guy in my day job) as since the version I used to own back in the 90's.

It looks similar, but with v12 it was significantly improved. I really hated the older schematic GUI. There have been a number of incremental improvements due to user feedback, including a number of mine, so it's not a case of a designer not responding to the users. There are still a number of changes I and others would like to see, but as it is there aren't many programs that can match it for functionality and none, I believe, at the price point.

Many people are quite comfortable with SoundEasy

Can't truthfully say that I'm as comfortable as I'd like yet. I still prefer to measure with LAUD and still like to use CALSOD for some optimization. That latter one was certainly never considered user friendly I'd say. :W

and it has certainly grown over the years, but sometimes the development process there seems designed to generate a steady revenue stream. There have been a number of paid "updates" of SoundEasy since I bought LspCAD 6 Pro, but no updates for LspCAD 6 that cost me any additional money.

Another difference is that SE is SE, there's no "light" version that costs less. You get far more functionality, IMO, with this single package than any of the others. It's just not nearly as user-friendly as I would like to see, far from it. I might not have started using it, except that I'm tired of making up elaborate 3-way crossovers only to have to disassemble and re-assemble with a design change for auditioning. I wouldn't give up the digital filter for anything at this point. I've only used it up to 3-way but it can to a 5-way stereo I believe.

Everyone has to have a business model that makes the effort sustainable. LspCAD standard is a real bargain in my opinion. But if something about SoundEasy floats your boat, then go for it.

Being repititious here, the multi-way stereo digital filter is indisposable to me at this point. It's great to swap different designs in minutes for comparison purposes, no hardware required, other than the up-front cost of a 6-channel amp, that is.

Personally, I think that Bohdan's business model is shrewd, very shrewd. I would not have bought it originally at a much higher price (that being what I've paid in total since v3), but have now been willing to pay incrementally to get to this point. It's a case of "once in, it's not so expensive to stay in".

But to each his own.

[mefistofelez]

Dear Thomas,

thank you for the answer.

M

[JonMarsh]

Dear Jon,

you wrote: ". . . with my MacBook Pro (which actually has full duplex audio and "flat" mic inputs, unlike most laptops)."

Since you are Mac user, how is the microphone input on the PowerBook G4 if you know? Also, do you know any measurement only application for Mac?

Thank you,

M

You know, I also have a 17" G4 Powerbook(my very first Mac), but I've never done a loop back measurement on it. I do have Fuzzmeasure intsalled on it, too. I expect they use a similar sigmatel audio solution, in which case it should be pretty similar. No guarantee I can check that this weekend, though, and I'm going on two weeks business travel- when I get back the end of August it should be possible to check.

Fuzzmeasure is measurement only. Not just for speakers, it will handle a variety of tasks, including room reverberation time.

This is the measurements I was doing with my MacBook Pro while in Denver a few weeks ago, for the MkI version of the Modula NeoD CC three way- it's not Praxis, but it's portable, what it does it does VERY easily, including averaging, joining plots, selecting zoomed in plot areas, etc. Can keep all the measurements for one project in one file, and with an external jig can do impedance measurements. Uses a swept sine chirp, not a conventional MLS stimulus (like Praxis does).




I do use Fuzzmeasure with it using the Firewire Solo, because it can be used with either my ECM8000 or my ACO Pacific mic. The latter has a single ended output, so in theory I could try it with the direct mic in.

[mefistofelez]

Dear Jon,

thank you for the answer. I currently have a modified RatShack sound pressure meter, so I was wondering if it would work. If the Fuzzmeasure allows loop-back measurement, I can check myself.

M

[JonP]

The v14 update is composed of 26 changes... readable on the site. A few of them are bug fixes, many enhancements, as well as the changes for better USB card performance. Most of them are user requested improvements and features, which were gathered over several months.

SoundEasy may not be easy... but there is a dialog going on between the users and the author, and it continues to improve. It may be a good thing, or a not a good thing, that every 8-10 months there's and upgrade available/need to send $25. Glass half empty/full kind of thing?

The other hand is, if a developer dosen't have enough income to justify continuing the buisness, the software may get abandoned, and become an unsupported piece of history. Seen that happen a few times. It's hard for a small company (or single guy) to justify all the work of continual development, it's also hard for a company of more than a few people to justify not selling product for many more $100's of dollars...

[Mazeroth]

The v14 update is composed of 26 changes... readable on the site. A few of them are bug fixes, many enhancements, as well as the changes for better USB card performance. Most of them are user requested improvements and features, which were gathered over several months.

SoundEasy may not be easy... but there is a dialog going on between the users and the author, and it continues to improve. It may be a good thing, or a not a good thing, that every 8-10 months there's and upgrade available/need to send $25. Glass half empty/full kind of thing?

The other hand is, if a developer dosen't have enough income to justify continuing the buisness, the software may get abandoned, and become an unsupported piece of history. Seen that happen a few times. It's hard for a small company (or single guy) to justify all the work of continual development, it's also hard for a company of more than a few people to justify not selling product for many more $100's of dollars...

You see, the problem I'm having is I've put $275 into this program...and I can't even use it. If ANYWHERE on his site he would have suggested against using a USB sound card I never would have purchased one. Here's what his site says for sound cards:

Recommended Sound Cards or Digital Crossovers
1. For usage with EasyLab measurement system - you will need full duplex, 16-bit sound card, such as SoundBlaster Live 5.1, Delta 410 from M-Audio, Layla24 from Echo Digital Audio.

I have a full duplex, 16-bit sound card. According to his site, it *should* work. Sure, it may be USB but how was I to know it wouldn't work with his software? I had no idea the latency problems and how inherently slow USB sound cards were. I've written three completely polite and professional e-mails to him and now he refuses to respond to me (it's been 3 days). I'm not trying to get something for nothing here, I just want a working product. A new user to SoundEasy only has to spend $250 to get a working V14 copy. I've never, ever gotten it to work correctly and I'm supposed to ante up another $25 (total of $300) to be in the same boat as the newer purchaser. Great business model there, Bohdan. My friend Mazurek on these boards lives a few miles from me and is very interested in purchasing a copy of SoundEasy. After I have a talk with him I guarantee he won't. :T

[JonP]

I think there may be less problems now with the newer, USB 2.0 cards. Four years back probably makes it USB 1.1, which was VERY much slower in data rate. As I recall, there were a few USB cards that would work before the patch. Probably more now, with the lower latency of the new interface.

It is commonly known that USB audio cards are a big challenge for serious (i.e. pro recording and live playing of synths, etc) audio use, but most general folks aren't aware of that. How well the drivers are written, or how compatible they are with a particular program can be an issue, even with the standard cards

As for not for not finding out that your card wasn't a good choice back when, ah well, that sucks. What did the user support board have to say about that model? Maybe it actually might work, and you have a early driver, or some config problem...

You could always sell it off on Ebay, and buy a known good one, or a Firewire version as another alternative...

And finally, not trying to be an apologist (much) but Bohdan commonly goes email incommunicado for a few days to a week at a time, so it might not be you in particular. Hit up the user group in the mean time...

[wildfire99]

I wish my software vendors (Adobe, MS, Discreet) would give me updates for free. My Creative X-Fi Elite doesn't always switch modes properly either... if I had known (though with Creative I should have figured) I would have gone with an E-Mu or M-Audio solution. I wish Creative would give me a refund too. My FTP software nags me every time I load it that I'm using version 13.x and they now have 14.x for $20 more. Fortunately it still uploads files (even if it crashes occasionally). Software = Buyer beware.

Anyway, Mazeroth, sell me your horrible copy of SoundEasy cheap.

[john k...]

First let me repeat previous comments:

Both codes are very good for speaker design/box design. From that point of view go for which ever one you like.

Jon: I just like to add that the circult CAD section was completely updated in V12 and is very similar to many circuit CAD tools at this time.

Second there is no doubt that SE has much greater measurment capability and a wide suit of analiticaly tools. Again as stated previously, LspCAD can be augmented by codes like ARTA, but it is convenient to be able to take a measurment and save it directly to a driver library.

I compeletely understand to frustration with the sound card issue. It should NOT be a problem, at least with the measurement suit. But at the same time you can buy SoundEasy, go out and buy a soundcard and a used desktop PC that will serve (work) all you speaker design needs for considerable less the the cost of LspCAD V6.xxx Pro alone. I'm not suggesting that is the solution to the sound card problem, Bohdan should address that once and for all.

Updates to SE come about twice a year with new features generally requested by users. As dlr pointed out you can skip updates and there is no aditional code. The only time I remember an additional cost was when the security fearture was changes and the additional cost covered the new dongle. I started with V3.01 which was about $150 when I bought it. Add in the cost of all the updates and it still comes out to only $425. When LspCAD V6.0 came out I recall the the update from V5.325 Pro to V6.0 Pro was more than that.

Frankly I surprised that this continues to be such a cult issue. It's not like one code will allow you to design better speaker than the other. Using the same drver data and crossover both code will yield the pretty much same result.

[dlneubec]

You see, the problem I'm having is I've put $275 into this program...and I can't even use it. If ANYWHERE on his site he would have suggested against using a USB sound card I never would have purchased one. Here's what his site says for sound cards:

Recommended Sound Cards or Digital Crossovers
1. For usage with EasyLab measurement system - you will need full duplex, 16-bit sound card, such as SoundBlaster Live 5.1, Delta 410 from M-Audio, Layla24 from Echo Digital Audio.

I have a full duplex, 16-bit sound card. According to his site, it *should* work. Sure, it may be USB but how was I to know it wouldn't work with his software? I had no idea the latency problems and how inherently slow USB sound cards were. I've written three completely polite and professional e-mails to him and now he refuses to respond to me (it's been 3 days). I'm not trying to get something for nothing here, I just want a working product. A new user to SoundEasy only has to spend $250 to get a working V14 copy. I've never, ever gotten it to work correctly and I'm supposed to ante up another $25 (total of $300) to be in the same boat as the newer purchaser. Great business model there, Bohdan. My friend Mazurek on these boards lives a few miles from me and is very interested in purchasing a copy of SoundEasy. After I have a talk with him I guarantee he won't. :T

This may not be helpful at this point, but I had nothing but problems with two different M-Audio Transit USB sound cards in SoundEasy. I had trouble getting them to load per their instructions and their tech support was pretty much worhtless. I ended up sending one back and selling the other.

I decided to try this one instead:Edirol UA-1EX

I purchased it here:Sweetwater

These guys were great to work with.

The Edirol worked from the outset. No driver installation problems and they explain EVERYTHING you need to do during the install, unlike the M-Audio, whose documentation did not follow what happened on screen and they didn't tell you about other USB quirks you had to avoid, Windows XP settings to adjust, etc. I like the fact that the Edirol includes RCA L&R in and out for simpler cable connections. Every once in a great while it will get out of sinc with the software and I get a bad impulse response (easy to see), but if I run the impulse a couple more times it comes back in sync. That is the only problem I've had with this card. There are a few switch settings and things I had to figure out, but if anyone tries this card, I can supply the settings that work for me. Part of the problem with M-Audio may lie with their drivers, IMO.

I also have a drawing for a fairly simple measurement jig that I made if anyone would like a copy.

[Mark K]

I guess I'll throw my comments out as well.

I've got SE14 and lspCAD pro with the latest updates.

SE has some additional features and is a better deal if you want the 3 way emulation.

lspCAD is still a somewhat more elegant and intuitive. Sort of like that mac/pc thing. But let's not go there...


But back to the soundcard thing. I'll have to defend Bohdan on this one. If you look at the SE forum (or the praxis pages for that matter!) you'll see that the usb soundcard issue has plagued SE, praxis quite a bit. Less so for lspCAD, but it has a more rudimentary measurement system. (though I haven't looked at lsp's measurement system in quite some time.) So soundcard compatibility is a known issue. Maybe there should be more of a disclaimer on his site, but it's all there in the SE forum.

Choose you card wisely and be prepared to try a different card, drivers, etc. That's currently the way it is.

And, unfortunately for USB, the computer and what else is running in the background can foul things up. I've got a usb transit which works well, but on one of my machines I have to disable the usb wireless interface to get it to work well. And some usb implimentations don't work well at all. (firewire is clearly more robust. But it costs more.)

While I can sympathize with you that there should be a patch.But the patch is built into v14. To accomodate you he'd have to rewrite a separate code and spend 8 hours just to get one sound card working (maybe). From his standpoint, if you're not willing to spend $25, then he's not willing to spend 8 hours rewriting a separate piece of code. I've been upgrading every other and it's seemed reasonable.

Remember, fundamentally we're asking the soundcards to do something that most soundcards and pc's weren't really asked to do-realtime full duplex stimuli and acquisition. This is not a trivial task and many combinations of PC's/souncards won't do this correctly or well. Bohdan, BW, and Ingmar do the best they can with this, but you have to realize that sometimes you'll have to buy some new software, maybe a new soundcard, maybe a new PC.

edit-interestingly enough, my Transit worked fine with older versions of SE and praxis. Go figure. Like I said, be prepared to change sound cards, pc's, drivers to get things to work...

[Black300zx]

I wish I this thread was around when I bought my mic/preamp/soundcard setup. I'm using an external Soundblaster card that was ~$50, along with a behringer pre-amp/mixer for a phantom power source, which was another ~80 iirc. One of those m-audio ones would make my setup alot cleaner, and wouldn't have cost much more.

[john k...]

But back to the soundcard thing. I'll have to defend Bohdan on this one. If you look at the SE forum (or the praxis pages for that matter!) you'll see that the usb soundcard issue has plagued SE, praxis quite a bit. [snip]... So soundcard compatibility is a known issue. Maybe there should be more of a disclaimer on his site, but it's all there in the SE forum.

Choose you card wisely and be prepared to try a different card, drivers, etc. [snip]...

And, unfortunately for USB, the computer and what else is running in the background can foul things up. [snip]... And some usb implimentations don't work well at all. (firewire is clearly more robust. But it costs more.)

These, among others, are reason why some time ago I suggested that to me it makes a lot of sense to go out and buy a used windows XP desktop and install a PCI sound card (like a Sound Blaster Live) for a measurement/speaker design dedicated PC and go with it. When you consider that the cost of a used PC is probably less that what you will spend on speaker building in a month it just makes sense. I also have a dedicated W95 PC to run the IMP and back up W95 machine, should I need it.

[Macilane]

Settings and drawings for edirol ua 1ex

Dan I.

Can you suplly me with yr edirol settings and drawings of yr simple jig?

Before i was using baxbox pro from htaudio and winspeakerz from true audio. Now i purchased Soundeasy 14 from partexpress and i will purchase the edirol usb based on yr recomendations. Some people talk about the taskam us 122l usb 2.0 because it can connect easily to the xlr of the ecm8000. What is yr opinion?

Thank you
Macilane

[Dryseals]

I'm using Soundeasy, and I love it. I gotten past a few quirks here and there. Since it really needs a good amp, I decided to dedicate an older PC to it and make the setup stationary and I use an EMU 0404 card with it. I get good solid measurements. If portability is what you are after, then you are going to have some problems that only money and a good portable machine will fix.

[dlneubec]

I'll have to check my Edirol settings at home. Here is the jig I built and use.

[Macilane]

Thank you,
I will build it and continuing to wait for the settings. Very good and practical ideia you had.
Mac

[Macilane]

Hi Dan N.,
Do you have any idea concerning Tascam 122l? They say that using Tascam 122l there is no need for a mic premplifier and you can use one xlr input and continue to use the input as a reference. What do you think about it? If not, which mic preamplifier do you sugest from PartsExpress because they dont have the Edirol.

Thanks again
Macilane.

[dlneubec]

Hi Dan N.,
Do you have any idea concerning Tascam 122l? They say that using Tascam 122l there is no need for a mic premplifier and you can use one xlr input and continue to use the input as a reference. What do you think about it? If not, which mic preamplifier do you sugest from PartsExpress because they dont have the Edirol.

Thanks again
Macilane.

Sorry, I completely forgot about checking the Edirol settings. Do you still need them? I have no idea on the Tascam, so you'd be on your own with that. For a mic preamp, I used the Behringer Zenix802, which you can get from PE for around $60.

[Macilane]

Ok. Definitly i will embrace the Edirol way. I already got the Soundeasy and now i will get the ecm8000 and the Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer 8-Input 2-Bus from PE.

Yes, i still need the Edirol configurations.Please, could you send them to me?

Macilane

[Macilane]

Dan N.,

Can you send the Edirol configuration? Now i has it. I need yr configurations for the Advanced Driver switch and also for the switches on the rear pane.

Also i got the Xenyx 802. How did you configure the output in order to connect to the rca connectors? The output is an 1/4" jack?

Do you have the ECM8000 calibration file? Is it possible to get it from you?

krgs

Macilane

[ThomasW]

Also i got the Xenyx 802. How did you configure the output in order to connect to the rca connectors? The output is an 1/4" jack?

Do you have the ECM8000 calibration file? Is it possible to get it from you?

Use mono 1/4" to RCA adapters.

There are numerous cal files for the ECM 8000, a goggle search will aim you to them.

[dlneubec]

Dan N.,

Can you send the Edirol configuration? Now i has it. I need yr configurations for the Advanced Driver switch and also for the switches on the rear pane.

Also i got the Xenyx 802. How did you configure the output in order to connect to the rca connectors? The output is an 1/4" jack?

Do you have the ECM8000 calibration file? Is it possible to get it from you?

krgs

Macilane

This much I can tell you right now, but rest I'll have to check out and get back to you. The Advanced Driver switch is set to off. I think I usually have the "Phones Volume" set to max. I use the Right RCA out jack for the output channel and the L&R Rca in for input, using standard RCA cables. I use a jig of my own configuration (see below).

The dip switch settings are #1 on (up) and the rest off (down).

I use a standard RCA cable out from the Xenyx802, but I'll have to look at it to see what output it is connected to. I use a standard mic cable for the mic out. I believe all the knobs are set to straight up.

[dlneubec]

I'll email you the calibration file that I use.

[dlneubec]

Here are some additional settings for the Xenyx 802. The Phantom switch needs to be on. The output connection is via standard RCA cable from the "CD/Tape" Output R jack.

[ch83575]

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but I have a few questions on this jig:

1. Is it ok to use the potential divider for all measurements? Wouldn't it be better for impedance measurements to go straight through to keep the level low on the driver and the reading in the right range for the soundcard?

2. Should the soundcard ground be connected to the speaker ground? Like this:

Image not available

Or is that not recommended?

3. Last, a lot of the measurement jigs use a zener diode voltage clamp. Does anybody know if this affects the measurement accuracy at all?

Thanks for the help,
-Chad