Dayton OmniMic Precision Measurement System - Page 4

I would be interested...

Scott,

Where did you locate that pdf? Thanks.

James

I got it from Warp's post #71 on the previous page. Where he got it, I have no idea. Looks like he got it straight from PE.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post19580865

Thanks Scott. I was able to get it.

James

Cool. Good playing with you in BC2, btw.

+1 - have hated all the hassles with REW!

Any word on the possibility of an AVS deal as per above?

I think most of us are waiting on availability but I am definitely down for a group buy. Though I'll still get it @ $300 if I need to because I just want this thing, anyway.

Warpdrv,

Nice thread! I'm also interested! Seems like it has a lot of potential already and will only get better with more/new FW.

Ray

bump

Alex, what is "Things that go ............. in the night?"

Perfect - I'm assuming that most think this will be a superior measuring tool than XTZ?

If so, count me in.

You guys are killing me, $300 gives you options on some real nice measurement gear. I recently bought a e-mu tracker pre from B&H for less than half the cost, leaving me a good deal of dough for a nice mic. Wait, I already have a nice mic

Holm and REW are... F-R-E-E

No worries - to each his own.

Just remember that time also has a cost (time = $$).

I have already gone way down the tweaker's route with my REW rig. Got plenty of help from smarter people and after the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours (and did I say "hours"), I was intermittently able to generate decent enough graphs. As you say, I got these graphs for a somewhat minimal equipment cost, but, at great time ( = $$) expense.

Obviously some people are more tech-oriented and therefore can work through the sound-card - mic - pre-amp - laptop connections like pros. Apparently I'm not one of those guys, even though I've really tried to be.

So, for me and apparently several other people here, a true "plug & play" system like this Dayton or XTZ - though perhaps limited in all the tweakers glories - actually saves me $$ ( = time).

I actually envy and appreciate others who can efficiently navigate the connections and the software idiosyncrasies and the laptop updates and firmware upgrades needed to REW.

But, at the end of the day, I'm glad to pay some extra $$ to save a lot of time ( = $$). Because, at the end of the day, I just want to sit down and actually measure my system - not go through a million hoops and hassles, and often not actually get to measure/worry my measurement is "correct" due to several still mysterious reasons why it wouldn't be!

So, have a blast tweaking and I'll have a blast not tweaking - and both of us will be happy about the money and time ( = $$) we didn't spend.

I'm with allredp on the need for something plug and play simple.

Same here, even though I have used REW successfully in the past. I just like the complete package here. Plus, I still haven't got around to buying a better mic than my analog RS meter so this kills two birds with one stone. For me, at least. In addition to that, this mic will be calibrated to this system so it takes care of a bunch of hassles I don't even need to think about. I've got enough stuff keeping me up at night as it is.

We will still need an OFFICIAL USERS THREAD so that we can maximize our understanding of the best use practices.

I can't speak to REW or HOLMimpulse, but FuzzMeasure just isn't that complicated to use. The designer did a really good job of making everything easy and intuitive. As I mentioned earlier, the Audyssey mics are good enough to give usable results when plugged straight in to a MacBook.

And the cost is, obviously, much lower. Assuming one has an Audyssey tower mic to plug in to the Mac, at least. (I don't know how much they are separately, or if other receivers' setup mics will work as well. I can only speak to Denon- and Alpine- branded Audyssey tower mics.) Certainly, if one doesn't already have Parallels or VMware and a legal copy of Windows, much lower than this new setup.

But no doubt, it's nice to have other options on the marketplace. The more people who actually know what's going on in their reproduction chains, the better. Not only that, but also increased diffusion of competent measurement hardware will go a long way to debunking snake-oil myths about wires, amps, digital sources, and so on.

Aren't Audyssey mic's all calibrated differently?

Does anyone here, have one in hand?

I created a HOWTO thread for HOLM to help people get measuring quickly, not sure how many it helped but a few have used it.

I think your last point is a great one. I read so many subjective horror stories online from people spending > $10K and I always wonder why wouldn't they just measure to know what truely is different. A $300 easy to use solution for them make sense.

The receiver they ship with has their cal file built in.

Penn,

I am very pleased with your HOLM tutorial, and at some point plan to do complete measurements of my line arrays......L/C/R/S

JSS

Does anyone know if the really nice Ausyssey Pro Kit mic, pre amp, and calibration file can be used effectively outside of the Ausyssey pro kit?

IIRC, the inexpensive plastic Audyssey mic's are "batch calibrated" to be used interchangeably with the receivers, and the frequency response is on the order of 3dB error over the range of measurement which I believe is 20hz to 20khz (I don't think is +/-3dB which would be 6 dB total error and pretty bad really). The individually calibrated Pro Kit mic mentioned above is much nicer with a powered pre amp which varies less than 0.5 dB over the range of measurement.

I have both the plastic and pro kit mics.

So if I'm getting this right, you plug it in and measure your system/speaker just like that.

I've been debating getting some equipment to measure. This might just be it.

Not that anyone has found. The calibration file is encrypted and, without it, you cannot use the microphone effectively.

A little off topic (perhaps I should start a thread). Any thoughts on how much ($) measurement equipment someone should own, relative to the size/value of their setup. For example if I have $100 worth of diy audio gear, a $300 measurement system isn't practical. When does it become practical?

It doesn't work that way.

Two different systems with different functions. It would be like comparing home value to HT system cost, or your home:car ratio.

Put your money in what is important to you, and ignore everyone else.


FWIW, good measurements have nothing to do with mic/setup price. Experience/knowledge is what counts. High dollar equipment and/or easy to setup gear will not give you true results alone. This will be a hard pill for some people.

"A little off topic (perhaps I should start a thread). Any thoughts on how much ($) measurement equipment someone should own, relative to the size/value of their setup. For example if I have $100 worth of diy audio gear, a $300 measurement system isn't practical. When does it become practical?"

this is actually a good question. soho is right. a fixed ratio makes no sense.

if what you have sounds great, then be happy.

if what you have sounds like poo, and you have good components, the value of measurement gear goes way up.

one way to think about it is like the value of an mri for a healthy or a sick patient.

remember, between your ears is one of the most powerful super-computing devices known. it is okay to use it. ;-)