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In Reply to: RE: Microphone recommendation posted by MaggiesAndCats on March 18, 2015 at 12:56:29
Hi Steve! I have two Behringer ECM8000 and one Dayton EMM-6, all with their individual calibration files. However, one of the Behringer mics fell on a bare floor and became erratic...the Dayton has taken similar punishment and kept going.
These above are all XLR and require the phantom power supply. They can be bought for <$100 professionally calibrated. In fact, Cross-Spectrum supplies the Dayton EMM-6 with their own great "basic" custom calibration for about $75. OTOH, Dayton offers the same mic for about 50 bucks, with a quite decent calibration included. Dayton's offer is more than enough for most home audio measurements. Perhaps important for the DCX, if a calibration file can't be loaded, it is very likely that these mics are linear enough anyway.
Ironically, one can get a decent-enough calibrated microphone for <20 bucks. I have tried a couple of the Dayton iMM-6. One is now elsewhere, reading tests that we will show here soon. The other is at home, as backup if my main gear flames out suddenly. This model lacks the S/N ratio of the larger models but the ones that I tried were clean enough. These inexpensive little suckers are also very sensitive. Just this weekend one of them "heard" things that we missed while doing some sweeps with REW. The iMM-6 works on PCs, laptops, Android devices and iThings. There is some audio software that can use its calibration file. However, this mic is not XLR; the DCX 2496 may not be able to use one?
There is a Dayton USB mic, uMM-6. I have not tested it myself but it is getting good reviews also. (I hardly think that the DCX 2496 could use it but some folks may need one for other hardware.)
Let me know if you need more detail. Good luck!
Follow Ups:
I see that Cross-Spectrum has stopped working with the Behringer ECM8000 due to poor quality. The DCX 2496 has a feature called auto align that is supposed to adjust for phase cancellations, and yes, the mic has to be XLR and the DCX supplies phantom power. My new music room is on the small side for my MGIII's - 12'x 17' if I remember right - and some level of detection/correction could be beneficial. Along with some placement of book shelves to dampen wall refelctions, etc. Maybe even a Magnepan-approved fake ficus plant or two!
I'll look into the PC-based software and mics as well.
Thanks again for the good information!
Regards,
Steve
If you can go via PC, you would likely be better off than limiting to the DCX, like Davey suggests. You would get a wider range of options and better software choices. REW alone is a little powerhouse just by itself, and costs nothing. It helped me to tune my Maggies promptly, starting in 2008.
My room is 12x25x8h. Depending on the height, we probably will observe some similar room modes. Remind me later, when you can measure, and I'll see what may serve you. I do have notched (or truncated) corners behind the Maggies. They make a positive SQ contribution.
My room isn't quite rectangular as there is a bump out for a window behind the left speaker position. The ceiling is ~8'. What do you mean by notched corners? Having a shorter long wall than you I'll be more near field in my listening position, which I've had to do since I bought my Maggies ~30 years ago. I'll have to put a baffle behind the left speaker to mimic the wall behind the right speaker so the reflected sound delay is the same. There is a recessed window behind the left and wall behind the right. I suppose I could use the DCX to change the delay on the left channel, but the reflections off the glass and sheetrock could be different. I don't have much in the way of WAF issues this time around (in more ways than one...)as the room is my mine to use for music.
Regards,
Steve
Steve, I think I have an old diagram where I drew the corners. I'll post it when I get home this evening.
It does sound like we have a little challenge with that nook? in your room.
The DCX auto-alignment feature is fairly crude and targeted for the professional (longer delays) and not a typical domestic environment. Because of the small acoustic space the results it will give will not be consistent and accurate.
Much better to use one of the dedicated PC-based systems like REW or similar.
For low-frequency room correction it hardly matters worrying about a calibration file. The minor corrections contained within will be MUCH less than any peaks/valleys created from room modes or boundaries.
If you haven't yet purchased, I would suggest one of the newer USB-connected microphones. These bypass some of the pitfalls of microphone preamps and level settings.
http://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1
Cheers,
Dave.
Sounds like I should be looking at using PC-based applications to help tune the DCX settings. Of course, what it really comes down to is if I like it, it's good. However, it would be interesting to know, for my room and equipment, what speaker placement, room mods, and crossover settings combine to give me a pleasuable listening experience. It's conceivable I could come up with different XO settings for different volume levels. Maybe flatter at higher volumes and a boost here and there for lower levels. Now if I plug the source directly into the DCX, use the DCX volume control, and automatically adjust the settings based on the output level... Hopefully after we move and get settled in I can do some experimenting.
Regards,
Steve
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