[jtwrace]

I am trying to use REW with my laptop. REW instructions state that an external soundcard is usually required with a laptop. Is there a way to determine if my internal soundcard is sufficient to use REW?
As an alternative, does HOLM Impulse also have this same idiosyncrasy? Is an external soundcard needed or can one use their laptop and the internal soundcard? Thanks for your help.

Garth

Holm is made to work with any decent sound card.  Try it, it should work with your internal.

[bpape]

The biggest thing is that for any kind of measurement software, the sound needs to be bi-directional - ie, it needs to be able to record and play at the same time.

Bryan

[Ethan Winer]

Is there a way to determine if my internal soundcard is sufficient to use REW?

A sound card used with REW needs to be able to play and record at the same time, and needs a preamp compatible with whatever microphone you're using.

--Ethan

[gkinberg]

I'm currently using a receiver and don't have a microphone yet. I'll cross that bridge latter.  In the meantime, how do I determine if my sound card can play and record at the same time? Also, in the REW info it says that most laptop sound cards gain is too high and could result in interference or noise or something to that effect.  Again, can I determine if I have a “good” soundcard with appropriate gain, or a “bad” soundcard with too much gain?

It just occurred to me that I should post these questions over at the home theater shack.  Thanks again for your input - Garth

[Ethan Winer]

^^^ I'd need a lot more information, and probably an hour to figure it out. Why not just call your laptop maker and ask them? In the mean time, I can tell you that no laptops I know of have suitable sound cards. You'll probably need to get a USB sound card, especially if the microphone you buy needs phantom power. I don't remember if I posted this article here yet, but it explains the hardware needed:

Room Measuring Primer

--Ethan

[bpape]

You can get a decent external USB card from SoundBlaster for a reasonable price.  You can also get mics that do not require phantom power or even just use a Radio Shack meter and use the response correction plug-in to account for non-linearities.

Bryan