CSL-Calibrated EMM-6 Microphone Sale

[Anechoic]

I apologize if starting Yet Another Dayton EMM-6 thread seems excessive but since this is time sensitive, I wanted to make sure I got your attention.

Parts-Express is having a sale on EMM-6 microphones: $39 + shipping!

Being the magnanimous guy I am, I figured I'd calibrate a few EMM-6 mics and pass the savings on to you!

CSL-calibrated EMM-6 microphones, starting at $70 + shipping.

Of course that pricing is for the little people. Home Theater Shack members are special people (special in a good way of course ).

Any Home Theater Shack member who has an account as of September 17 gets $5 off. Just include your HTS username in the "additional information" section of the order form and I'll refund the $5.

The PE sale ends on Thursday, Sep 24. When it ends, so does my sale.

[Sonnie]

Herb... is there much difference between the ECM8000 and the Dayton EMM-6?

This certainly sounds like a good deal.

[Anechoic]

Based on the two units I measured (the results of which are plotted in my other EMM thread) they seem substantially the same. The only difference I noticed is that the EMM-6 low freq response between 20 and 100 Hz is flatter than the ECM8000, but the response below 10 Hz seems to drop off faster.
Posted via Mobile Device

[wado1942]

I'd be willing to bet they're the same microphone as the Behringers made in the same factory by the same people, just sorted & labeled differently.

I was VERY unhappy with the Behringers. They would probably be OK just for measurement purposes, but Behringer way too noisy for anything else. They publish 3 different sets of specs for the same microphones and I don't know which ones to believe. Though the specs INSIDE the box seem to be close.

Strangely, almost all pencil omnis use the exact same Panasonic capsules including some of the Earthworks mics. The main difference is #1, how the capsules are preselected/sorted and #2, the internal electronics. After my dissapointment with the Behringers, I returned them and got a set of Avenson STO-2s which come as a matched pair in a nice little wood case. They're cleaner and quieter which is great for me since I do recording work.

[Roadkill]

Thanks for doing this for us!!

[NEO Dan]

wado1942 wrote:

After my dissapointment with the Behringers, I returned them and got a set of Avenson STO-2s which come as a matched pair in a nice little wood case. They're cleaner and quieter which is great for me since I do recording work.

IMO you ought to be exstatic at ~$550 a pair. Did they come with cal files down to 5Hz???


Back on topic
I've yet to delve into fullrange speaker design but I do like to measure subs, so the cal down to 5Hz is right up my alley. My pockets are lean but this looks like a great deal. Could you expand a bit on what were getting, is it SPL and Phase? And I'm curious about your reference and it's "traceability?" If you could PM me a total price shipped to ZIP 43081...

[Anechoic]

wado1942 wrote:

Strangely, almost all pencil omnis use the exact same Panasonic capsules including some of the Earthworks mics. The main difference is #1, how the capsules are preselected/sorted and #2, the internal electronics. After my dissapointment with the Behringers, I returned them and got a set of Avenson STO-2s which come as a matched pair in a nice little wood case. They're cleaner and quieter which is great for me since I do recording work.

The other issue is the manufacturing tolerances and consistency. I mentioned in the other ECM8000 thread that the map capsule seems to be positioned differently in the mic housing form unit to unit and I think this is a major cause of a lot of the high-frequency variations amount ECM8000's. You're correct that the Earthworks mics use those capsules (I thought that was supposed to be a secret!) but I think they're choosier in which capsule they use and take more care in enforcing the manufacturing tolerances.

[Anechoic]

Roadkill wrote:

Thanks for doing this for us!!

Thank you all for sending me your hard-earned dough! Believe it or not, you guys here have helped me weather this economic downturn and I'm happy to try to give a little back.

[Anechoic]

NEO Dan wrote:

IMO you ought to be exstatic at ~$550 a pair. Did they come with cal files down to 5Hz???


Back on topic
I've yet to delve into fullrange speaker design but I do like to measure subs, so the cal down to 5Hz is right up my alley. My pockets are lean but this looks like a great deal.

I heard that. Depending on how my own pockets look, I might be willing to buy a few extra units and extend the offer for HTS users a little longer, but it's a BIG "might." Hmm, maybe I should look into a lay-away plan...

Could you expand a bit on what were getting, is it SPL and Phase? And I'm curious about your reference and it's "traceability?"

I don't do phase measurements since condenser mics aren't minimum phase so to give a microphone phase measurement requires a known reference. The manufacturer of one of my mics gave me a theoretical phase curve for the mic, but I've been experimenting with it over the past few weeks and I don't think it's actually correct. So for now it's SPL only, but I am working on getting good phase measurement process.

As for the reference/methodology, traceability and accuracy, I refer you to the other posts I've written on these issues.

If you could PM me a total price shipped to ZIP 43081...

I'll PM you, but for everyone else, domestic shipping (USPS Priority mail) is a flat $9 and international shipping ranges from $25-$35USD depending on the country. Total price depends on the mic option you chose.

[Anechoic]

Sheesh people, I know this is a limit-time sale, but wow!

Also, if you meet the membership requirements, don't forget to put your HTS username on the order!

If you're expecting a refund and don't get it within 24 hours, please PM me.

[randytsuch]

For someone who doesn't know much (me), can you give a little more information on the different levels of calibration?

I saw the explanations on your website, but I don't know what that means in practical terms.

If I buy a mic, it would be to help check my in room sub frequency response.

Randy

[Anechoic]

randytsuch wrote:

For someone who doesn't know much (me), can you give a little more information on the different levels of calibration?

None of us really now all that much, some of us are just better than others at hiding it.

I saw the explanations on your website, but I don't know what that means in practical terms.

If I buy a mic, it would be to help check my in room sub frequency response.

Short answer: If you're only really going to use it for low-frequency measurements, the basic model will be fine.

Long answer: The reason I have different options is that omni-directional mics (which are supposed to have the same response to a given sound wave no matter what direction it comes from) don't actually act omni-directional at higher frequencies. High-frequency wavelengths are relatively small, so when they come into contact with the microphone, they reflect off the mic in different directions so the response of the mic to those high-frequencies is heavily dependent on the orientation of the microphone to the sound wave.

The more-expensive mics I sell basically contain information to let a user know and account for the directional effects at higher frequencies. For example, if someone is using to use the microphone for high-frequency room-calibration purposes, it's useful to know the directional characteristics of the microphone so they could adjust their measurement methodology accordingly.

Low-frequency wavelengths are so long (~10ft at 100 Hz, ~20ft at 50 Hz) compared with the microphone that almost all mics act omnidirectional at those frequencies. So if you're only going to measure low-frequency stuff, it doesn't matter what direction you hold the microphone in and therefore the basic model (which doesn't include any of the high-freq directional information) should suffice.

Does this help?

[windowman99]

I have an interest in getting a pair for recording use. Is there anything special you can do to match a pair? I'd think sensitivity and freq. response would need to be very close to each other....
Would this involve any extra cost?

[vxboogie]

Anechoic wrote:

Any Home Theater Shack member who has an account as of September 17 gets $5 off. Just include your HTS username in the "additional information" section of the order form and I'll refund the $5.

The PE sale ends on Thursday, Sep 24. When it ends, so does my sale.

Well, I just ordered one, but I didn't see where I could put in my username, maybe it was because I did it via PayPal. Or maybe I was just too excited by the Deal!!!

Thanks for the great deal. Any way to still get the $5 off?

Mark

[nwboater]

I would like to buy one of the calibrated mikes, but not sure which one to get. I'll primarily use it for subwoofer calibration but would also like to be able to use it for full range testing of our Klipshorns.

Sorry to bother you when you are offering us such a good deal.

Also can you ship via US Mail to Canada? We find it's by far the cheapest way.

Thanks,
Rod

[wado1942]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bad mouthing the EMM-6s since I have not used them personally. But the Behringers are good only for relative measurement because they're VERY inconsistent and noisy. Yeah, it absolutely pays to get calibrated, matched microphones.
BTW, I payed about $400 for my STO-2s which is fine for somebody needing a matched pair of omnis that will pull the double duty of absolute measurements and recording.

[Anechoic]

windowman99 wrote:

I have an interest in getting a pair for recording use. Is there anything special you can do to match a pair? I'd think sensitivity and freq. response would need to be very close to each other....
Would this involve any extra cost?

There's pretty much no practical way I could get you a pair of matched ECM8000's or EMM-6's. The variation between units is just too unpredictable. I've had mics that matched up pretty well but those are pretty rare - I'd have to probably buy a something like 30 mics to see if they matched, and if they didn't I'd have a good amount of money sitting in slow-selling inventory during a recession.

Sorry.

[Anechoic]

nwboater wrote:

I would like to buy one of the calibrated mikes, but not sure which one to get. I'll primarily use it for subwoofer calibration but would also like to be able to use it for full range testing of our Klipshorns.

If loudspeaker measurements are your primary use (as opposed to room acoustics), you should be okay with the basic model.

Also can you ship via US Mail to Canada? We find it's by far the cheapest way.

I typically ship US Postal Service Priority mail, which is $21 to Canada for 6-10 day delivery. I can also ship US Postal Service parcel post to Canada for $10, just be aware that there's no tracking and I have no idea how long it will take. If you want to do parcel post, PM me and I'll send you a PayPal invoice directly.

[eclectic2k]

Anechoic wrote:

CSL-calibrated EMM-6 microphones, starting at $70 + shipping.

Of course that pricing is for the little people. Home Theater Shack members are special people (special in a good way of course ).

Thanks! This is great. I have a dbx RTA mic I've been putting off having cal'ed for some time now. At this price I've just decided to order up the EMM-6 w/basic+ cal.

Should be more than enough for my occasional speaker test or room response checks.

Now I'll finally have a good reason to get back to completing some measurements

[ubl_]

Nice offer, thanks!
Just ordrered a calibrated mic.

/Ulrik

[randytsuch]

Anechoic wrote:

None of us really now all that much, some of us are just better than others at hiding it.



Short answer: If you're only really going to use it for low-frequency measurements, the basic model will be fine.

Long answer: The reason I have different options is that omni-directional mics (which are supposed to have the same response to a given sound wave no matter what direction it comes from) don't actually act omni-directional at higher frequencies. High-frequency wavelengths are relatively small, so when they come into contact with the microphone, they reflect off the mic in different directions so the response of the mic to those high-frequencies is heavily dependent on the orientation of the microphone to the sound wave.

The more-expensive mics I sell basically contain information to let a user know and account for the directional effects at higher frequencies. For example, if someone is using to use the microphone for high-frequency room-calibration purposes, it's useful to know the directional characteristics of the microphone so they could adjust their measurement methodology accordingly.

Low-frequency wavelengths are so long (~10ft at 100 Hz, ~20ft at 50 Hz) compared with the microphone that almost all mics act omnidirectional at those frequencies. So if you're only going to measure low-frequency stuff, it doesn't matter what direction you hold the microphone in and therefore the basic model (which doesn't include any of the high-freq directional information) should suffice.

Does this help?

Thanks for the long explanation, that does clear things up for me, hopefully it helped others also.

Randy

[Anechoic]

Update:

As an FYI, I am getting absolutely inundated with orders. My Friday and early Sat orders (particularly he Basic and Basic+ orders) should ship by mid/end of this week. However the polar measurements take me a while to do so the Premium models might take longer to ship out. In any event, I have to ship everything out by Sep 30 since I'll be traveling in the Bay Area for a wedding on Oct 1-4 and don't want to get people too mad at me.

(to be honest I'm also getting afraid that PE might run out of mics - keep your fingers crossed!).

[Mauricio Cajueiro]

Hey Anechoic!
Nice you having this sale.
Can I get them here in Brazil?, I have a an international cc, paypal and a WAMU account.
I´ve been living in Brazil for about 2 years now, and I was wondering if you could ship it over here...
Thanks,
Mauricio Cajueiro.

[Euterpe]

Anechoic wrote:

I apologize if starting Yet Another Dayton EMM-6 thread seems excessive but since this is time sensitive, I wanted to make sure I got your attention.

Parts-Express is having a sale on EMM-6 microphones: $39 + shipping!

Being the magnanimous guy I am, I figured I'd calibrate a few EMM-6 mics and pass the savings on to you!

CSL-calibrated EMM-6 microphones, starting at $70 + shipping.

Of course that pricing is for the little people. Home Theater Shack members are special people (special in a good way of course ).

Any Home Theater Shack member who has an account as of September 17 gets $5 off. Just include your HTS username in the "additional information" section of the order form and I'll refund the $5.

The PE sale ends on Thursday, Sep 24. When it ends, so does my sale.

Ok, just to well understanding, your "deal" concern, microphone EMM-6 calibrated, right?

I have edit my request and I've seen the purchase link, sorry.

Thank you.

[Euterpe]

I've orderer this offer, wait and see.

I have missed to add my username :-( but only my member User: #41933, that's could be fine as well to the 5$ off?

Thank you.