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[Yngve Hoeyland]

I've given up on the hardware analyzers (previously worked mainly with the Klark DN60 which is a nice box but too much to drag around) so I'm looking to make the move to software-based analysis.

I've pretty much decided I'll go for SIA's Smaart software as a lot of people seem to be using it these days. I'm a little confused as to what hardware equipment I should get though - any suggestions and experiences are welcome...

Mics? Interfaces? Any smaart (pun intended) solutions for sound cards? (Just a dongle-size USB2 preamp would be perfect. Sick of dragging rack gear with me around airports..)

Or are any of you relying on 1/8" TRS inputs for your laptop using desk pre's for the mic? That seems a little dodgy to me..?

(EDIT)
Also do you know if a single smaart license lets you register and use both PC and Mac versions?

Thanks.
Y.H.

[Mac Kerr]

Yngve Hoeyland wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 10:25

I've pretty much decided I'll go for SIA's Smaart software as a lot of people seem to be using it these days. I'm a little confused as to what hardware equipment I should get though - any suggestions and experiences are welcome... Mics? Interfaces? Any smaart (pun intended) solutions for sound cards? (Just a dongle-size USB2 preamp would be perfect. Sick of dragging rack gear with me around airports..) Or are any of you relying on 1/8" TRS inputs for your laptop using desk pre's for the mic? That seems a little dodgy to me..? Also do you know if a single smaart license lets you register and use both PC and Mac versions?

Changing to Smaart because other people are using it seems like a poor reason to invest that much money. If you want to move up to dual FFT transfer function measurements, Smaart may be the way to go. If you just want to have a basic RTA on a laptop, there are free versions available all over the net. If you do want to move up, some study is in order. There is a lot more involved in understanding the data that Smaart provides. A good place to start is the Smaart faq. You can also find out about minimum system requirements there.

For I/O you can use just about any audio interface. The one I use doesn't have mic pres, I just use the console. there are plenty that do have mic pres as well. You should not use your laptop's built in mic inputs. It is OK to use the built in line inputs, but it must be stereo.

It is unlikely that a single license would let you do 2 installations on different computers. Each installation needs to be unlocked with a code from SIA. Each code only works once. If you need to move the software to a different computer you will have to contact the factory to get a new code.

Mac

[Brad Weber]

Also do some searches on these forums, there have been many discussion on the hardware options for Smaart and other software based analysis platforms.

I also believe the Mac OS compatible version of Smaart is still in Beta and not yet a final product.

[Yngve Hoeyland]

Thanks Mac.

I'm not thinking of moving to smaart just because other people use it. The move up to dual FFT functionality is something I've considered a long time, just not gotten around to it. The question isn't whether or not I should move up, but to which software package.

I've got a pretty decent background on the theory as I did a BA degree in audio engineering, but to be honest I've never put it into practice and I guess there's a lot to be learned still when it comes to real-life applications for this.

So for now I'll just be demoing a few available software solutions, but I still need to get the hardware bit - namely a good mic and possibly a decent portable sound card? I'm a little unsure about using laptop line-ins? Is this widely accepted as "good enough"? Seems a little upside-down to me investing that much money in the software and compromising it all by using a consumer-grade AD?

(EDIT): Any ideas as to how much the AD process is important regarding measurements? Dynamic range considerations?

[Rick Stansby]

Yngve Hoeyland wrote on Tue, 02 January 2007 16:39

(EDIT): Any ideas as to how much the AD process is important regarding measurements? Dynamic range considerations?

Here is what Sia-soft has to say about using the built in line-in on laptops:

http://www.siasoft.com/support/faq.html#Anchor-6296

[Chris B Miller]

I have used http://www.sounddevices.com/products/usbpremaster.htm through a http://www.mbho.de/pdf/mbnm550el.pdf with smaart and I have been very happy with the results. Our systems have never sounded better even with the factory DSP settings. I would recommend attending a seminar to familiarize yourself on smaart with working professionals. The USB Pre was about $500 and the mic is a little over $400.

[Michael 'Bink' Knowles]

For day-to-day live sound analysis, I have worked for years and will continue to work in the future using the stereo minijack -10dB line level inputs of my IBM T30 laptop. Mic preamp is usually the desk of the day. The results I get are entirely satisfactory.

-Bink

[Yngve Hoeyland]

Thanks all,

I'm opting for the -10db line-ins then.

Any favs on the mic side or will pretty much any decent brand measurement mic do? It's not like I want to go out there and spend $2K on a DPA if a cheap Chinamic will do the job. I'm selling my old Klark unit with the mic (Klark) otherwise I'd just use that.


Seminars? I'd like to see that sometime. There's probably just a few hundred sound engineers in the whole of Scandinavia, let alone little Norway. Best shot is to get jiggy with the acoustic engineering schools (if there are any..).

Do they arrange seminars etc. around annual events like AES etc.? Thinking of going over the pond at some point to a convention or two..

[Mac Kerr]

If you explore the SIA site you will find several mics as well as mic pres and cables that SIA recommends.

I use an ESI U24 along with the console preamps. there are times when it would be convenient to have the USBPre, but the U24 is so small I can't bring myself to give it up.

Mac

[Tom Young]

At various times during my 10+ years with Smaart I have had a B&K 4007 and cheaper mic's for use in dusty or 'unstable' environemts (where the mic might get knocked over).

Nowadays I have a Sound First primary mic ($800.) and 3 spares. The spares are Superlux and Goldmine variations of the cheap measurement mic that so many manufacturers sell. Please note that while these may appear to all be the same (they *are* as far as the shell), the internal electronics and capsule quality vary. A Behringer mic is a waste of money because it is likely to not be flat out of the box and it will change over time. The $100. Superlux is not (a waste of money).

You should do just fine for general PA tuning with a $100-200. mic.

One caveat: *all* plastic diaphragm mic's suffer if left in a  car or trunk during a hot summer day. The diaphragm stretches and then does not return to the original shape when it cools down.  That is one reason my primary mic has a metal diaphragm.

And BTW: I keep my analog MP400 measurement preamp (which works just fine) along with my new Smaart USB pre. For general electroacoustic measurements the analog signal chain in probably all notebook PC's works just fine.