PC Measurement equipment for my shop

[JuniorJBL]

I would like to find out what are peoples favorite software/hardware measurement equipment for the PC for speaker building would be.
I know that sometimes it is better to have "separates" but the cost of my shop/tools has gone over budget. So I am looking for some low cost solutions.

If you do have some thoughts about this maybe point out some of the benefits/downfalls to expect from this breed of testing equipment.
Thanks Shane:)

[Lancer]

CLIO, LEAP, or MLSSA

SoundEasy perhaps, but download the manual and read it before jumping in. There's a whole forum dedicated to the use of SoundEasy that you might want to check out too.

Might as well include a copy of "Testing Loudspeakers" by Joseph D'Appolito too.

[JuniorJBL]

I have known about LEAP for sometime but with all of the bits and pieces to it, it becomes about $3500. Soundeasy looks fair and it does have it's camp as well. I would hope to stay around $1000 to get all I might need. I also read that the speaker tester 2 from PE would be a good addition as well.:confused:

[Zilch]

You could get CLIO Lite and WT2 for about $1000. I'd start with that....

[JuniorJBL]

I did a google search for "CLIO" and "C.L.I.O."
And I did not come up with anything but I only went about 4 pages deep. Do you have a company name?

Edit: Found http://www.audiomatica.com/cliopci.htm

Sorry did not look hard enough

[JuniorJBL]

Have you used this soft/hardware at all? Would the standard edition be a better option? Anyone else?
It would also seem that a good box and x-over program would be semi useful:D
Is bb6 and x-over 3 a good choice?
Any info will be helpful.
Shane



You could get CLIO Lite and WT2 for about $1000. I'd start with that....

[Zilch]

Mr. Widget uses CLIO, which is pricey, and has several times recommended CLIO Lite here.

BB6P is good and easy. Xover3P requires knowing the T/S parameters of the HF drivers, not always available. With that other gear, you could likely measure them to get it, tho. Also, it just uses standard circuit topologies. If you want to get creative, you're on your own with it. It provides sound conventional designs once you give it all the info it needs....

[Mr. Widget]

If you are price conscious, I'd recommend the Clio Lite package.
http://www.cliowin.com/lite.htm

Clio Lite will do everything you need. It is a quality product and I can't say enough good about it! I also encourage you to buy Joseph D'Appolito's book.
http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/books/bkaa45.htm

The sole U.S. distributor for Clio is E-Speakers. They offer Clio Lite for $599. I'd recommend you also get the Mic 01 for an additional $110.
http://www.e-speakers.com/products/cliowin.html

When I bought mine I got it through Old Colony and they included mic calibration with the purchase. I do not think E-Speakers does. I am sure it is available as an option. You should still be accurate to within +/-1 dB or so, but with calibration it can be as good as +/- 0.25 dB.

Widget

[ralphs99]

Speaker workshop is a bit labour intensive, but free. I tried to get it going, but never really suceeded. It has a few problems with USB soundcards.
http://www.speakerworkshop.com/


LspCAD is pretty good and not too expensive. The latest version is v6. (212 Euros)
I'm using v5.25 and find it does most of what I need to do.
http://www.ijdata.com/

Cheers,
Ralph.

[JuniorJBL]

Thanks all for your input!!

I have also tried speaker workshop and I as well was not able to get it to work.

It does seem that CLIO lite would be a good piece as it has a hardware part that does all the audio measurements. computer sound cards are not all that good. unless you get something from M-audio or something.

I have not tried LSPcad yet but I will give it a try.

Thanks again!!:D
Shane

[JuniorJBL]

OK
more rant here.

I am thinking about buying bb6 pro but am wondering if soundeasy would be a better choice.

If I buy BB6 I would also get the X-over pack as well. The reason I ask is because it seems a lot of the members here use BB6 and it my be easier to exchange files among others.

Any thoughts?

Shane

[hjames]

I'm also interested in testing gear.
I have a Powermac g4 Dual, and I know thats problematical, but I have been offered an older laptop (Win ME) or a Vaio desktop (WIn98SE) that "are gonna be pitched" otherwise.
I know I can put PCI cards in a desktop computer, but the laptop is portable ... Whichever I get I'll need to wipe clean, but I have legal copies of Win 98 SE and Win 2k Pro I can install, and I do have a decent mic for doing sweeps

Which is best to get for setting up a basic test system - say running freq sweeps to compare different drivers and crossover networks on those 3420 I'll be sorting out ...

[jpb_dk]

I sold some speaker test-systems years ago and have some left. I'll what and qty and get back.

[JuniorJBL]

I'm also interested in testing gear.
I have a Powermac g4 Dual, and I know thats problematical, but I have been offered an older laptop (Win ME) or a Vaio desktop (WIn98SE) that "are gonna be pitched" otherwise.
I know I can put PCI cards in a desktop computer, but the laptop is portable ... Whichever I get I'll need to wipe clean, but I have legal copies of Win 98 SE and Win 2k Pro I can install, and I do have a decent mic for doing sweeps

Which is best to get for setting up a basic test system - say running freq sweeps to compare different drivers and crossover networks on those 3420 I'll be sorting out ...

As far as the PC goes I would get the desktop for testing. You can get more for it than the laptop. You will most likely need a memory upgrade for it as well. W2K would be your best bet.;)

[Earl K]

Hi,


So I am looking for some low cost solutions.


The market is now getting quite competitive for Audio Test Software .

For around $ 400.00 USD ( including a USB 2.0 sound card, test mic & software ) , one can own ARTA software (http://www.fesb.hr/~mateljan/arta/), a Behringer ECM8000 test mic (http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/ECM8000.aspx) & a decent USB 2.0 sound card like Tascams' US-144 (http://www.tascam.com/products/us-144.html) ( which includes a mic preamp and has phantom power for the test mic ).

- I use a larger version of M-Audios' Fast Track Pro . (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro.html) If not for a bunch of problems caused by flakey drivers ( from my sound-card install ) , I'd be able to recommend it ( based solely on its' sound quality ) .

With any PC notebook running XP that has an Intel Core 2 Duo chip set , one can have a nice portable ( & powerfull ) test setup .

>< cheers

[JuniorJBL]

Thanks Earl!!

That is great info!!:applaud:

[hjames]

Silly me - I sold my G4 Tower in Feb and got an Intel Core2 duo Mac mini!
Bumped it to 4 gigs ram and it works like a champ!
Even runs Win2k under VMware - haven't tried the newer Wins yet


Hi,

The market is now getting quite competitive for Audio Test Software .

For around $ 400.00 USD ( including USB 2.0 sound card, test mic & software ) , one will own ARTA software (http://www.fesb.hr/%7Emateljan/arta/), a Behringer ECM8000 test mic (http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/ECM8000.aspx) & a decent USB 2.0 sound card ( having a mic preamp with phantom power for the mic ), like Tascams' US-144 (http://www.tascam.com/products/us-144.html).

I use a larger version of the M-Audio Fast Track Pro . (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro.html%20M-Audio%20Fast%20Track%20Pro) If not for a bunch of problems caused by flakey drivers from my sound-card install , I'd be able to recommend it ( solely based on its' sound quality ) .

With any PC notebook running XP that has an Intel Core 2 Duo chip set , one can have a nice portable ( & powerfull ) test setup .

>< cheers

[Earl K]

Hi,

Here's a current url for e-speakers CLIO page (http://www.e-speakers.com/-strse-Shop-By-Types-cln-Measurements/Categories.bok) ( since Widgets' link is no longer active ).


The sole U.S. distributor for Clio is E-Speakers. They offer Clio Lite for $599. I'd recommend you also get the Mic 01 for an additional $110.

- Ahh, those were the days :p.
- e-speakers (http://www.e-speakers.com/StoreFront.bok) pricing appears to have gone up 67% over a 4 year span ( for the basic LITE package / 5.5 to 8.0 ? ) .
- The "Mic 01" has gone from $ 110.00 to $ 398.00 ( assuming this is the same mic ) / though there's now a dedicated LITE mic priced at $192.00 .

>< cheers

[jomina]

Silly me - I sold my G4 Tower in Feb and got an Intel Core2 duo Mac mini!
FuzzMeasure Pro works reasonably well, once you get around the registration issues...
http://supermegaultragroovy.com/products/FuzzMeasure/