[Nyal Mellor]

Acoustic Frontiers is very pleased to continue our relationship with XTZ of Sweden by supporting their new and upgraded Room Analyzers!

XTZ have listened to your feedback and improved both the hardware and software. There are now two versions of the Room Analyzer:

• The Standard, a high value for money version with streamlined software for those mainly interested in using the XTZ for subwoofer integration, speaker placement and home theater calibration. Retail is $229.99. http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/XTZ-Room-Analyzer-II-Standard.html
• The Professional, which rocks a new hardware look and feel with an aluminum cased soundcard, measurement microphone and mini-microphone stand. The Pro is targeted at power users, who want to do room acoustic analysis and room correction. Retail is $359.99. http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/XTZ-Room-Analyzer-II-Pro.html

Key new software features are:

• Signal generator - pink noise, white noise and sine waves
• SPL meter - with A, C and Z (flat) weightings. Because there are no hardware gain controls on the soundcard the SPL values is accurate, which means you don't need a separate SPL meter, and the measurements generated by XTZ are always calibrated
• Delay alignment tool - measure your main speakers, then measure your sub and XTZ will tell you the distance that the two are offset. Use that to move your sub or set distances in your AVR.

Of course these new features are in addition to the frequency response, spectrogram, 2D/3D full range smoothed waterfalls, selectable windowing, parametric EQ software emulation and the like that were in the original software.

Any questions, or to discuss, call Nyal at Acoustic Frontiers on 415 254 4204.

[DEV]

Hi Nyal,

Very interesting

Would be looking at the The Professional version.

I would be initially looking at using this within my current room, my system is set-up is not a designated listening room, walls are not symmetrical to speakers etc. Left speaker has a wall and the tweeter is positioned approx 4ft from the wall, right speaker there is a decorative postand  partial wall but other wise open.

* Best to refer to my gallery pictures for a better view *

I would like to see what this room is doing, improve if possible and learn how to use this tool while I'm contemplating on building my designated room. That room unfortuantely has been put on hold due to a few reason: a) still not happy with room dimensions b) while cleaning up the space found there is a 3/4" water supply pipe for the exterior irrigation system needing to be relocated and the system has already been blown out for the winter weather.   


I have a few questions and sugestions after reading the PDF manual and I have provided numbered so if you could reply back using the same would be great;


#1 A little confused in relation to mic positions, at the begining refers to one position but then refers to three positions, then when I continiue to read and get to page 38 is a little confusing.

My set-up being a 2-channel so ideally I only care about the one seating position so what position or posistions do you recommend the mike be positioned @ so I would get the most benefits out of using this program.
 

#2 I did not see any specific recommendations in referrence to actual placement position of the mike, (example centre of speaker two feet in front etc.) just a dot shown in the diagram. Even looking at the dots placed the placement appears odd to me.

a) The one dot shown for the listener position shows postioned in front of the seating area, I would have thought it would be important to be positioned at the actual listening position were the head would be and not out front as shown in the diagram. Can you explain.

b) Other positions; if these 2 other locations are the recommended positions would it not be benificial to mirror the position after completing the first complete readings are done (switch these positions to see if the reading are the same?)

c) actual recommended measurements to place the mike

d) should the room not be maped out for these specific mike locations using say painters tape placed on the floor so you ensure that the same position is used.

e) Would it not be important to use a measuring devise such as a laser to confirm the mike is in a specific location? I read the mike is very sensitive to position and direction so I would think this is of most importance.

*The microphone is directionally sensitive above 5 kHz* 

#3 Lots of info. but all these graphs, numbers etc. but unfortuantly currently really mean nothing to me but then I read @ the bottom of the page;

* Measurement results can be hard to interpret. Send us your graphs and we will help you analyze them! *


Reading this appears very interesting, what information to you send back?

a) recommendations?

b) what to use?


#4 It sure would be nice to see some pictures of examples making reference to an ideal set-up so one could compare along with a pic saying if you have this then you should try to do this.

Take the readings again and compare to see. (I suppose that's why I mentioned that I feel position of the mike etc. is postioned back in the same location, critical otherwise you would be chasing your tail with different readings.)

Am I correct?

#5 The included mike stand, how tall does it allow the mike to be positioned?

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Hi Dev

Thanks for taking a look! The manual was written by a non-English speaker (since XTZ are Swedish) I did do some editing for them but there may well be some aspects that are still a bit hard to understand grammatically! Still it is a big improvement over the manual that was included with the first version. That was a bit like those manuals that you get with consumer gear from the big Japanese companies...

1 / 2

The three position measurement is a 'spatially averaged' measurement. You measure the room in three locations, XTZ will then show you what the 'average' frequency response and time decay looks like in the room. It is most useful in rooms where you have multiple seats and multiple rows of seats that you care about and is used instead of putting a mic in each seat. It is best, like you note, if you put the mic back in roughly the same positions with a three position measurement. However the averaging tends to smooth out any minor changes in mic placement anyway so it isn't critical. The exact placement of the mic in a spatially averaged measurement is not critical, main thing is to ensure the mics are not equidistant from room boundaries or on the same horizontal or vertical plane i.e. just spread them about the central area of the room at different heights and you will be good.

For a two channel setup you don't need to do this, just put a mic in your prime listening seat.

3
I guess that is referring to XTZ, the manufacturer offering some level of analysis. Acoustic Frontiers does not offer free measurement analysis. I am very happy to help people understand how to use the software, talk them through what the different graphs are and what they mean. There are many public resources to help people with their measurement analysis, including forums and the white paper I have published with Jeff Hedback of HdAcoustics. For people wanting a professional analysis then that takes quite a bit of time and effort to do, and requires specifics about speaker type, room dimensions, proposed speaker placement / listener placement, etc. It's not the kind of thing that I can do for free. Some of the acoustic treatment companies do offer a free service but none that I know of will do detailed measurement analysis and engineering, which is what my company and Jeff's company offers.

4
It's a good idea! But there is nothing in the pipe at the moment from Acoustic Frontiers on that front. The white paper provides a systemic way to analyze the measurements but does not answer the 'how' do I affect this measurement question.

5
The stand allows the top of the mic when vertically oriented to be at a height of 13.5". The included stand is really intended for facilitating placement on the back of a seat rest. For people interested in the Pro model with the separate mic I would recommend at some point getting a sturdy mic stand with a boom - Ultimate Support make good ones, but I can't give you any specific model recommendations.