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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => Audio Measurement and Testing => Topic started by: frank kayser on January 03, 2014, 04:50:06 PM

Title: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: frank kayser on January 03, 2014, 04:50:06 PM
Smaart and Systune. 

About all I know is how to spell them.  Well, maybe a little more - I've used the "waterfall" and RTA provided on the Presonus consoles.  From what I gather, this is a minuscule subset of the features of Smaart.

From now on, may I use the name Smaart as a generic nod to Systune and Smaart.

How does one know they should be using Smaart.  I do like the functions included with Presonus.  However if I jump from Presonus to whatever,  well I'm out.

How to get started.  Is training necessary?  It would seem to be a good idea, but that's a significant piece of change for software and training.  I've read the position that it is cheap compared to days gone by, and is something that should be able to be absorbed into the business.

What will it do for me?  I get the Presonus stuff, but looking at the discussions and graphs in this forum, well it makes me wonder where and how large the first step is.  It's analogous to sitting down cold in front of Photoshop or handing someone a shotgun and tell them to break those clay thingies flying through the air at the trap and skeet range.

What's the requisite knowledge and background is needed to get a decent understanding of what the data displays are trying to tell me?  I mean like a PhD in Calculus or Nuclear Engineering?

I've looked through this forum, and the only one I found that could have been helpful was titled "Beginning Beginning".  One link to Harmony Central showed some pictures of traces that made no sense.  Another link to an earlier post here on this site was broken and the message number was not found in the archives.  A PSW search for Smaart - well.  Each post including Smaart is so far above the first step (for me).

I'd appreciate any "hand holding" and pointing me to something to get me started (or a decision not to).

thanks
frank

Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: Jay Barracato on January 03, 2014, 08:01:36 PM
Frank,

Pick a Saturday and we can meet and I will show you some basics.

Then you will be more prepared for the highly recommended training.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: frank kayser on January 03, 2014, 11:54:47 PM
Frank,

Pick a Saturday and we can meet and I will show you some basics.

Then you will be more prepared for the highly recommended training.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

Very generous offer, Jay.  Thank you.
Tomorrow and the 11th are shot.
18th before 2pm
25th is wide open
Feb 1 is also wide open.

Pick a day, set a time, and I'll be there with bells on.
Location?

Again, thank you!
frank
Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 04, 2014, 05:21:10 PM
Frank, this is kind of "learn by doing."

There are (or were, I haven't looked recently) some step-by-step instructions on Rational's online support.  They walked you through setup of the i/o, verifying hookup with a loop back test, etc.  They progressed on to using the software, making measurements and a little on interpreting the displayed results.  Try to find these getting started tutorials.

A more difficult to answer question is "what will it do for me?"  You're right, the software, measurement mic, training and incidentals comes in at around $1500-$2000.  That's not cheap and you have good reason to question how much actual benefit you'll get for the investment.  The quick answer is that if you don't need to align subs & tops, or mains and front fills or delay rings or under balcony fills; if you're not building crossover/DSP for a multi-way speaker system; you might not feel you're getting your money's worth.

OTOH, once you see how much time relationships govern everything we do in audio, the utility of these measurement tools becomes more obvious.  Also throw in that a measurement system can show you things your brain doesn't process in a linear fashion...

Hang out with Jay.  He'll show you how it's done.  What use you can make of it, though, is up to you.
Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: Kirby Yarbrough on January 05, 2014, 03:15:42 PM
Pick a day, set a time, and I'll be there with bells on.
Location?
If I can join you two on a Saturday late morning to mid-afternoon I'll buy the lunch and bring my Smaart rig (laptop with 7.4, Smaart I/O, dbx mic).
Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: frank kayser on January 05, 2014, 03:53:51 PM
If I can join you two on a Saturday late morning to mid-afternoon I'll buy the lunch and bring my Smaart rig (laptop with 7.4, Smaart I/O, dbx mic).
Sounding better all the time.  I'll catch the adult beverages.
Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: frank kayser on January 05, 2014, 04:08:58 PM
Frank, this is kind of "learn by doing."

There are (or were, I haven't looked recently) some step-by-step instructions on Rational's online support.  They walked you through setup of the i/o, verifying hookup with a loop back test, etc.  They progressed on to using the software, making measurements and a little on interpreting the displayed results.  Try to find these getting started tutorials.

A more difficult to answer question is "what will it do for me?"  You're right, the software, measurement mic, training and incidentals comes in at around $1500-$2000.  That's not cheap and you have good reason to question how much actual benefit you'll get for the investment.  The quick answer is that if you don't need to align subs & tops, or mains and front fills or delay rings or under balcony fills; if you're not building crossover/DSP for a multi-way speaker system; you might not feel you're getting your money's worth.

OTOH, once you see how much time relationships govern everything we do in audio, the utility of these measurement tools becomes more obvious.  Also throw in that a measurement system can show you things your brain doesn't process in a linear fashion...

Hang out with Jay.  He'll show you how it's done.  What use you can make of it, though, is up to you.

Tim, that's precisely the answer I was looking for.  You laid out the decision points very succinctly.

As most of the folks here I'd suspect, I an a hands on - learn by doing - RTFM, and then do (and learn) some more.  I do not fit the "quick answer" profile you outlined, but he "OTOH" is the fascinating part to  me.  I'm as I said many times, in a very small pond - but I know I've barely scratched the surface of the art, and I surely do not wish to become complacent.

Thanks to the generosity of Jay and Kirby I can find the first step and make the decision to rob the bank or not.  In the interim, I guess I'll be spending much more time at the Rational website.

Thanks for the post.  The fog is beginning to lift ever so slightly.  At least I can see the different roads.
frank
Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: Scott Carneval on January 13, 2014, 01:28:35 PM
If you guys do get together on a Saturday I'd like to join in as well, if you don't mind.  I currently live in NC but still have family in MD.

Title: Re: Pre-basic beginner
Post by: Graham Spice on April 08, 2014, 04:20:53 AM
I'm about 3 hours SW of DC but would love to be involved with something like this...can we make it happen again? :)