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Dayton OmniMic Precision Measurement System - Page 2

post #31 of 1992
11/29/10 at 10:17pm
When does this come out?
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post #32 of 1992
11/29/10 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson View Post

Doesn't matter. Even Pro can only be adjusted by changing target curves and there is no way to implement the OmniMic analysis into it. Thus, any comparisons would have to be via different hardware/firmware and that make it a fairly meaningless comparison.

I'm talking about comparing the freq response curves, not effecting EQ.
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post #33 of 1992
11/30/10 at 5:17am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjaudio View Post

^^^^

Warp is such a pimp the new Submersive is for the bedroom


Come on guys, it was a sideways move / upgrade to replace the F112, which had a couple of added benefits.... It looks much nicer with the nice wood finish, and my lamp doesn't fall off the sub anymore with the inert cab...
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post #34 of 1992
11/30/10 at 5:27am
Darn, I just bought the Dayton calibrated mic from PE and an M-Audio MobilePre USB Mobile Preamp and Audio Interface because I was tired of trying to get my stock laptop card and CM-140 to work and wanted something more accurate.
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post #35 of 1992
11/30/10 at 5:35am
Thread Starter 
Return it.... they have a very friendly return policy....

How much was all the stuff... ?

I'm thinking that you won't be able to run REW with the new Omnimic though...
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post #36 of 1992
11/30/10 at 6:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson View Post
At least $100-200 with necessary calibration.
Kal, fully calibrated ECM8000 mics go for < $100 regularly. The Dayton EMM-6 is said to be fully calibrated each coming with their own calibration file and that is < $50 we add the $100 M-audio pre-mobile and we have a measurement setup that is definitely good enough for us.

Thats $150 vs $300. HOLM, REW and ARTA (demo version) are all free and extremely good measurement packages.

Now assuming the Dayton OmniMic comes calibrated and measured down below 10Hz then the only question would be. Is the $150 difference worth it for ease of use?

IMO, HOLM was not hard if there was a HOW TO, beginners guide (which I created after others helped me through it) and ARTA is great although calibration stills seems way to kludgy and I can not do it. Many hours spent getting things setup, calibrated so it will depend on the end user.

Im still can not find out what functionality it has, in time we will know if its good though.
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post #37 of 1992
11/30/10 at 6:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Warpdrv View Post
Return it.... they have a very friendly return policy....

How much was all the stuff... ?

I'm thinking that you won't be able to run REW with the new Omnimic though...

Im not sure why REW would be needed.
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post #38 of 1992
11/30/10 at 12:44pm
Honestly, I get good-enough-for-hobbyist work measurements plugging an Audyssey tower mic directly into my MacBook and using FuzzMeasure to automatically generate spatial averages from multiple independent measurements, so it sounds like a poor value to me. $125 total cost there for FuzzMeasure.

Also, the new Waslo system is not OSX native, which to some of us immediately lowers its value to near zero.
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post #39 of 1992
11/30/10 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Warpdrv View Post

This unit was on display at Cedia, Mark Seaton saw it there and was the one who told me about it when I was down at his place picking up my Submersive. He seemed to think it would be a worthwhile investment for its simplistic nature and ease of use... Maybe he can chime in on what they had said about

I also got some info from Parts Express sent to me, they mailed it to me, so I would likely have to scan it, I haven't taken much time to look at it....

Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleLee View Post

I highly recommend this product. Bill put a lot of time and effort into the design and there is really nothing like this for this price. Its extremely easy to use so even for a total beginner that just wants to be able to accurately measure his/her system, its an easy choice.

I hope to have some time to play with this system as soon as it's available, but I agree with Kyle, and he might have actually played with it.

You can argue the price of REQW or similar free software all you want, but many (most?) won't get the system up and running or simply don't have the interest or patience to sort out all the quirks of each computer. There is a HUGE need for this sort of system, where XTZ appears to be the only other option at similar price, but much more to ship. I haven't seen the full interface for XTZ, but what I did see of the OmniMic package looked quite clean and simple. Hopefully real use follows suit.

At CEDIA I was given the impression that each mic would be calibrated with a cal file, but we should wait for confirmation on that from someone at Parts Express.

The attraction is simple... Plug the USB cable into the back of the mic and go. My main complaint is the short cable. Assuming it proves reasonably simple to use, I am actually considering offsetting the cost of the OmniMic system to some customers purchasing multiple speakers/subwoofers and larger systems as I see it helping greatly for them to get maximum performance in their home and aid in troubleshooting when needed. For some enthusiasts $300 will be a significant investment, while others will spend more in shipping of a few components and not hesitate for something with significant return.
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post #40 of 1992
11/30/10 at 2:53pm
Did PE ship a 1st batch out, or are they waiting on the original shipment? Wondering if there are any out in the wild besides a few samples.
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post #41 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:16pm
I doubt it. The latest communication says that a new batch of samples will be in on 12/3 and I can expect an evaluation unit around 12/10. It also suggested that the mics will be individually calibrated as it referred to getting the kinks out of "mass production and calibration."

I am going through the help files now and, yes, multiple measurements and averaging are included.
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post #42 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:21pm
Sweet! This is turning out to be an awesome little package.
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post #43 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson View Post

I doubt it. The latest communication says that a new batch of samples will be in on 12/3 and I can expect an evaluation unit around 12/10. It also suggested that the mics will be individually calibrated as it referred to getting the kinks out of "mass production and calibration."

I am going through the help files now and, yes, multiple measurements and averaging is included.

Thanks for the update Kal.
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post #44 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:36pm
All mic's are individually calibrated, I'm positive about that.
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post #45 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Seaton View Post

I hope to have some time to play with this system as soon as it's available, but I agree with Kyle, and he might have actually played with it.

You can argue the price of REQW or similar free software all you want, but many (most?) won't get the system up and running or simply don't have the interest or patience to sort out all the quirks of each computer. There is a HUGE need for this sort of system, where XTZ appears to be the only other option at similar price, but much more to ship. I haven't seen the full interface for XTZ, but what I did see of the OmniMic package looked quite clean and simple. Hopefully real use follows suit.

At CEDIA I was given the impression that each mic would be calibrated with a cal file, but we should wait for confirmation on that from someone at Parts Express.

The attraction is simple... Plug the USB cable into the back of the mic and go. My main complaint is the short cable. Assuming it proves reasonably simple to use, I am actually considering offsetting the cost of the OmniMic system to some customers purchasing multiple speakers/subwoofers and larger systems as I see it helping greatly for them to get maximum performance in their home and aid in troubleshooting when needed. For some enthusiasts $300 will be a significant investment, while others will spend more in shipping of a few components and not hesitate for something with significant return.


Thanks for posting Mark!

I 100% agree that people are not interested in the quirks of getting measurements packages running.

I think anyone spending large $$$ on amps, speakers, etc really do need a product like this. It helps them answer lots of subjective questions about their setups and the problems they may have.

Can anyone confirm that it has SPL level capabilities?
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post #46 of 1992
11/30/10 at 3:46pm
I think it's a good idea and will probably be a hit. Mark hit it on the head. Just look at the huge amount of threads asking for help on how to use the various freeware programs or with setting up the equipment. Ease of use is king for some people. and an extra $150 is easily worth the added convenience sometimes. Hell I might get one to play with just to see what it's got.
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post #47 of 1992
11/30/10 at 4:04pm
Looks like a slick little package. When will it be available.....
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post #48 of 1992
11/30/10 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by penngray View Post

Can anyone confirm that it has SPL level capabilities?

Yes.
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post #49 of 1992
11/30/10 at 5:53pm
How about the mic capsule compared to the ECM8000/Dayton? Same, bit better, much better??

The idea of having a piece of software designed around a specific mic and eliminating the pre-amp (at least outboard/separate pre) via USB definitely sounds enticing just for ease of use. Hopefully they integrated self calibration in the software so you can just set it up, hit a button, it self adjusts levels and zero's and you're off to the races. If the precision is >/= an ECM and MobilePre setup I will probably abandon mine based on time/ease of setup alone. Not that it's hard, but the thought of pulling all the bits out and calibrating, just to measure a quick change or 2 = no measurements taken.
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post #50 of 1992
11/30/10 at 8:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LBDiver View Post

Hopefully they integrated self calibration in the software so you can just set it up, hit a button, it self adjusts levels and zero's and you're off to the races.

Calibrate what?

They already said the mike comes calibrated.
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post #51 of 1992
11/30/10 at 10:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by noah katz View Post

Calibrate what?

They already said the mike comes calibrated.

I was referring to the sound card calibration and input/output adjustment etc. that is required in REW.
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post #52 of 1992
12/1/10 at 12:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LBDiver View Post

I was referring to the sound card calibration and input/output adjustment etc. that is required in REW.

The Mic is usb, it gets rid of all that ridiculous sound card calibration stuff
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post #53 of 1992
12/1/10 at 5:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LBDiver View Post

How about the mic capsule compared to the ECM8000/Dayton? Same, bit better, much better??

If a mic is professionally calibrated then its as good as any other professionally calibrated mic. Definitely as good as anything we will ever need.


Quote:


The idea of having a piece of software designed around a specific mic and eliminating the pre-amp (at least outboard/separate pre) via USB definitely sounds enticing just for ease of use. Hopefully they integrated self calibration in the software so you can just set it up, hit a button, it self adjusts levels and zero's and you're off to the races. If the precision is >/= an ECM and MobilePre setup I will probably abandon mine based on time/ease of setup alone. Not that it's hard, but the thought of pulling all the bits out and calibrating, just to measure a quick change or 2 = no measurements taken.

I would think it all comes calibrated, that is an important part of its selling point. NO one needs to do the startup calibrations.

I think this is a Bill Waslo design too (sorry If I go that wrong), he created Praxis and pretty well is known to make a very accurate product.
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post #54 of 1992
12/1/10 at 6:09am
I think this product is perfectly positioned for enthusiast who has an interest in measurement but no patience for a more complicated systems. Case in point, one of our local theater club members invested in a calibrated mic, a sound card and downloaded REW. He fiddled with it for a couple of days in his home system and then brought it to one of our home theater meetings.

There was great interest of the group but the interest wained as he explained the steps he had to go through to 1) actually get it working and 2) do a measurement. There was great interest in measuring but limited interest in having to make the investment in time to get a similar rig up and working.

I'm interested in this product and have my CC ready once someone reviews the real thing.
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post #55 of 1992
12/1/10 at 6:21am
One thing I may have missed is how are the tones generated? I know in REW you can run the sweeps to get your information. With this setup would we be using the test tones from receiver or pre amp?

James
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post #56 of 1992
12/1/10 at 7:49am
Thread Starter 
I would think the laptops on board sound card. Out to the receiver via RCA
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post #57 of 1992
12/1/10 at 7:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Warpdrv View Post

I would think the laptops on board sound card. Out to the receiver via RCA

Warp,

So pretty much how it would be done in REW, which will work for me. I am interested in the bass section about decay. I hope these arrive before Christmas since all my other gifts are falling threw.

James
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post #58 of 1992
12/1/10 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by exojam View Post

One thing I may have missed is how are the tones generated? I know in REW you can run the sweeps to get your information. With this setup would we be using the test tones from receiver or pre amp?

James

Didn't you guys get the New 2011 PE Catalog?

On page 168 in the description it says:

"Test signals may be initiated from the host computer, or from any audio CD player"
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post #59 of 1992
12/1/10 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LBDiver View Post

How about the mic capsule compared to the ECM8000/Dayton? Same, bit better, much better??

Quote:
Originally Posted by penngray View Post

If a mic is professionally calibrated then its as good as any other professionally calibrated mic. Definitely as good as anything we will ever need.

There are differences in mics, their preamps, and the housings. Some aspects are just better for durability, and other details can affect performance. The OmniMic is 1/4" diameter rather than ~1/2" like the Behringer/Dayton, and many of these cheaper mics won't fit into a stock 1/2" hole on a real calibrator. It's not the end of the world, but it is a difference.

The 1/4" mic will have much better off axis high frequency behavior which can be very useful in setting up multiple speakers in a home theater. Again this is not a deal breaker for the 1/2" options, but a nice feature and added flexibility.

Quote:


I think this is a Bill Waslo design too (sorry If I go that wrong), he created Praxis and pretty well is known to make a very accurate product.

This got my attention when I first saw the system and lends a lot of credibility IMO. Bill Waslo has developed measurement software and the hardware which has been in use for quite a few years. That is the sort of experience needed to make something polished enough for a much wider audience. Of course real use will see if that pans out to what is delivered.
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post #60 of 1992
12/1/10 at 8:56am
I wonder if we can get a group buy going on this?
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