My first room analysis, but not with REW.

**studiocat** · **12-01-08, 03:37 PM**

Hey everyone,

Great forum!

Like so many other users here, I joined this forum in order to use the REW software. I have had some difficulty getting the program to work. I have an ECM8000, and I just wanted to get a basic idea of my current room acoustics. Pink noise, and a graph.

The bottom line is, after several days of trying, I couldn't make REW work with my hardware.

Then I happened across the free trial version of EAW Smaart. Bada-bing. Ten minutes later, with my Digi 002R, I've got these measurement graphs (green), and a reference signal (blue). You just plug your mic into channel 1, connect the output of 2 into the input of 2 (to create the reference), match the levels, and hit start.

The bad news is that a license for Smaart is $800. So I'd like to make REW eventually, when my 30 day trial is up. But in the meantime, would you guys mind having a look at these?

The three images are just at 3 levels of graphic resolution. 1/3 octave, 16 oct, 1/12oct.
My speakers are NS10s, and my room is a rectangle, about 11' wide, 10' deep and 8.5' high. I've got heavy fibreglass panels on all four sides, and one on the ceiling at listening position. There's an auralex bass trap by my feet near the front wall.

While the analyzer was running, I experimented with moving some panels around, but nothing had a great effect on the graph. Should I try to smooth out those mids?

And regarding the bass, I expect that with the NS10's I won't get a good response below 125Hz unless I add a sub and some better bass trapping.

Thanks for listening,
Adam

**studiocat** · **12-01-08, 03:46 PM**

here are the pics...

**salvasol** · **12-01-08, 03:55 PM**

Quote:

studiocat wrote:

I have had some difficulty getting the program to work. I have an ECM8000, and I just wanted to get a basic idea of my current room acoustics. Pink noise, and a graph.

Besides the ECM8000 what else are you using??? ...Did you read the REW instructions/help file???

**studiocat** · **12-01-08, 04:02 PM**

other notes:

My speakers are about 1.5 feet from the wall. I also have some racks, wooden cabinets, and two large shelves with rubbermaid containers in the back of the room; I think these work well to diffuse and absorb...

Cheers
Adam

**studiocat** · **12-01-08, 04:14 PM**

Oh yes, I read the help file. I read the part about needing an SPL meter and that a measurement microphone is optional. I only have the microphone, so i'm S.O.L.? I don't really understand why this is the case. Can't the SPL level be set arbitrarily?

And I just don't think the software was working well with the digi 002R. I've seen a few others posting with digidesign problems too.

Cheers,
A

**JohnM** · **12-01-08, 06:43 PM**

REW runs under Java, which can only access soundcards under Windows if WDM drivers are loaded, assuming you are running Windows. The SPL meter is to establish a reference, you can enter any figure you like if the absolute SPL doesn't matter.

**studiocat** · **12-01-08, 06:48 PM**

Thanks for the reply.

I am running it with OSX leopard. I'm going to keep troubleshooting this because there are some great features in this program which I would like to utilize. Anyone who has a step by step for setup with a Digi 002R would be welcome!

Cheers
Adam

**BardOfBlasphemy** · **12-02-08, 12:30 AM**

Yeah, I've tried using REW with my MBox2 and no luck either. I've posted about my problems in the thread linked here, but they're just the same as yours. It's because that range of DigiDesign sound cards uses ASIO drivers to run applications besides ProTools. REW needs a WDM driver to run.

I'm guessing that other software you used must be ok with ASIO drivers. I've heard a rumour that the REW design crew are looking at supporting ASIO in the future...

This part of the thread really belongs in the soundcards section... sorry for hi-jacking. Back to the discussion of room analysis!!!

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