Acoustic room optimization

[BenWatts]

Hi everyone,

I feel particularly silly for not understanding, but I’m exhausted from not getting it and I’m reaching my limit here.

I’m diving into acoustic measurement for my room, but I’m running into some technical misunderstandings despite having the supposed relevant equipment. Here’s my current setup:

- iMac with a 2.1 Focal system
- REW
- Zoom H5 (used as a USB audio interface, powered by the Mac)
- 5m XLR cable (connecting the iMac to the central listening point)
- ECM8000 microphone

My issues:

1. Calibration
I’ve selected the Zoom H5 as the audio input in my iMac’s preferences and set it to audio interface mode. However, when calibrating at -18 dBFS in REW, I can’t reach the required sound level. How do I adjust the gain on the H5 or in REW to get a usable signal?

2. ASIO Driver
In REW, the list of audio drivers doesn’t offer ASIO. Is this a problem? How do you handle this?

3. The Measurement Principle Itself (yes, I’m embarrassed to ask these questions).
I don’t understand why the calibration sound needs to come from the iMac’s speakers (located in a corner of my living room) when I want to measure my main hi-fi system (listening point in the center of the room). I don’t get the principle at all. In my mind, it was about sending a test signal (e.g., a specific frequency from Qobuz) through my system to measure the response.

My goal is to optimize the acoustics of my room for a system that feels too intrusive and oppressive to me. After watching YouTube videos, I still don’t understand the procedure.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[abacus]

You would be better off getting rid of the mic and replacing it with a UMK-1 (More expensive but the go to for calibration) and then from within your calibration program loading the supplied mic calibration data.

When making measurements you need to remove any external sounds (No idea where you got the idea that your iMac speakers need to be on) so as not to interfere with the measurements.

Room correction is the final icing on the cake, it is not a substitute to acoustically treating your room and finding the best position for your speakers in the room.

Print out the REW instructions on calibration (Or have them on your phone or tablet) and keep them in your hand and follow them step by step.

Bill

 

[BenWatts]

Thé ECM8000 is fair enough for general measures. 22€ vs 99€ for a 10 min usage? No debate on that.

Speaker positionning have been already worked. Now, I want to measure the balance in the room to assess furniture, curtains…

 

[abacus]

Thé ECM8000 is fair enough for general measures. 22€ vs 99€ for a 10 min usage? No debate on that.

Speaker positionning have been already worked. Now, I want to measure the balance in the room to assess furniture, curtains…

You cant do room tests or calibration on the cheap (You need to have a calibrated mike for a reason), plus when you have finished, you can sell on the UMK-1 for a decent the price as it is highly regarded.

Bill

 

[BenWatts]

Not my approach. An ECM8000 is enough.
Dealing with calibration, yes I did. I am just not happy with the settings and my questions are focused on the very first steps of the process I dont understand