Opinions: REW vs. Omnimic vs. XTZ Room Analyzer

Thorton

I've started investigating room/speaker analyzers and would like input on the 3 mentioned in the title. I could spend months researching the 3 but usually find it easier following the expert advice from our forum members. Time is money. Basically, I'm looking for assistance dialing in speaker and subwoofer placement. Then, I'll explore acoustic treatments to which this tool should offer assistance. From the little I've explored:

Cost: (approx. 200 - 360) with REW (including equipment needed)< Omnimic < XTZ
Ease of use: Omnimic > XTZ > REW
Usefulness: REW > Omnimic = XTZ (this is debatable)

I don't mind spending a hundred or so more if it's simple to set-up, use and provide the information I need. Since this will be used sparingly when changing out equipment or adding treatments, I don't want to spend two full days trying to set it up and figure out the results every time I use it.

Your opinions and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Mike

aboroth00

The Minidsp Umik-1 mic is made to go with REW and it's only 100 bucks. It is plug and play with REW and you won't have to calibrate it. REW works great and is free and for most intents and purposes, you'll just be looking at the SPL graph and waterfalls which it does just fine.

You can buy the mic from minidsp but the calibration file only goes to 20hz and if you want a cal file to be accurate to 5hz you can buy it from cross spectrum.

Thorton

Thanks aboroth! Searching through the REW threads on home theater shack for the latest information is like finding a way out of a maze. After your post, I did some more searching on HTS and AVS and found all the updated information I need. Thanks again for providing me with an easy and relatively inexpensive solution.

Phasewolf

What city are you in? I have a setup including the mic all ready to go for REW and if need be could swing by and help you out.

aboroth00

Let me know if you need further help via PM. I also have the mic and setup if you're local to Socal.

Thorton

Thanks for the assistance guys. That's why I enjoy this forum. Great people. Phasewolf, I'm in White Lake (close to Alpine Valley Ski Resort) approx. 40 minutes from you. I've found a very good step-by-step guide for beginners using the usb calibrated mic's on AVS and continue to read the new threads. I'm probably going to order the mic and try it out for myself first. I know I'll be using REW on numerous occasions for speaker placement, room treatments, etc. so I think it's beneficial for me to purchase my own. I already picked up one of the laptops sold on the forum for this purpose and downloaded the REW software. I'm also very intrigued about the science and software utilized. If this becomes too challenging or too long of a learning curve, I'll take you up on the offer. Thanks again.

Phasewolf

Not a issue it took me a wile to learn the program but when I got going it was nice to see the issues and what the room is doing.

thsmith

You will be happy you went with REW, you will truely understand your room and appreciate the improvements YOU made.

WLDock

Thinking about jumping into software myself.....well, I've been thinking about it for years. Back during the SQ car audio days...sometimes it was tough setting a car up not being able to see graphs of the response.

Anyway, more recently I was looking hard at the MiniDSP PWR-ICE125 amplifier http://www.minidsp.com/products/plate-amplifiers/pwr-ice125 for my sub project. However, I probably will get a seperate amp and miniDSP unit. Then, once I get the REW setup going have a tool to play around with in getting the sub right and maybe a Linkwitz Transform, checking MCACC results, and playing around with room treatments.

Should be fun....and hands one. IMO, what makes this a true hobby is being able to build something and mold and manipulate it into something better.

aboroth00

WLDock wrote: »

Thinking about jumping into software myself.....well, I've been thinking about it for years. Back during the SQ car audio days...sometimes it was tough setting a car up not being able to see graphs of the response.

Anyway, more recently I was looking hard at the MiniDSP PWR-ICE125 amplifier http://www.minidsp.com/products/plate-amplifiers/pwr-ice125 for my sub project. However, I probably will get a seperate amp and miniDSP unit. Then, once I get the REW setup going have a tool to play around with in getting the sub right and maybe a Linkwitz Transform, checking MCACC results, and playing around with room treatments.

Should be fun....and hands one. IMO, what makes this a true hobby is being able to build something and mold and manipulate it into something better.

I think the barrier to being able to measure your room is so low now, it's foolish to invest in $$$ equipment and not look at what the room is doing. A couple inches to the left or right may make the difference in placement to getting better bass response for a speaker. I have yet to build my own sub but I've built some of my own room treatments and being able to see in real time without having to a/b everything is very much worth it. Especially when a mic is 100$ and the software is free and easy to use. Those guys did a great job on REW so that any body with a laptop or desktop can easily have access to very powerful software.