Quote:
Originally Posted by
becact 
I am buying a used Denon receiver which does not come with the included Audessey calibration mic. I guess it was lost. I was reading this article online:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/r...ssey-multeq-xt
that says that the mics are calibrated (paired) with the receivers, and that you should not use any mic that did not come with your AVR. Obviously, I have no choice in the matter. I was going to buy a new one off ebay.
I downloaded the manual that says this receiver came with a S205 mic. If I buy the same model off ebay, should I be safe? There are many more S305 mics available, will they work too?
Thanks for any help!
To be accurate microphones require a calibration file. When you buy a high end calibrated mic, you will get the calibration file for that particular mic or at least you can get it possibly for a fee.
When I ordered ARC for my Anthem D2 they required the SN of the D2 for the same reason...they must be matched pairs. Actually that always confused me because it's only the microphone itself that needs to be calibrated and if you have the calibration file it should work with any device. They really shouldn't need to know the SN of my D2 to insure proper calibration. It's the microphone and included software that should be matched at least logically.
It may be possible that you can contact Denon, give them your SN and then they could make a matched replacement mic for you. Or it may be possible but highly unlikely that a mic purchased on ebay could come with a calibration file to download onto the Denon.
Who knows what the errors are in these cheap mics so you could be off by several dB if not calibrated. The Anthem mic plugs into a USB port and the software is all self contained. If the measurement system could be independent and use standard XLR mic inputs that would be better because you could use a higher end mic like Earthworks or others. The receiver or pre/pro would just need a way to download the measurements from the independent measurement system. Of course then they have nothing to sell you as all the hardware would be independent and you could use anything.
Edit: Oh, duh... They wanted my SN so they could lock the software to my unit. It has nothing to do with calibration. The mic and software are what's actually matched. The software is then matched to the unit SN to avoid us calibrating my system and then going over to your house and calibrating your system with just one purchase of ARC. The same should be true of your Denon so I think the only way you are going to make this work correctly will be to contact Denon, give them your SN and let them send you a mic matched to the calibration file already installed in that SN unit.
mk
