Sound Mesurements

I was wondering if anyone here could point me in the right direction to learn about taking mesurments of sound and then using those mesurments to build crossovers, adjust speaker location and adjust EQ. I am using DSSF with a ECM8000 omnidirection mic and a USB audio interface. I can see the data but I need to undersatnd how to interpit it. Any help would be great, and because I am on a Island in the middle of the pacific ocean, I dont have access to anyone around here that can help. Thanks in advance.

https://www.bcae1.com/ has a good section on frequency response, basics regarding eq, and basics regarding crossovers.

Check those pages out, then post back here with more specific questions.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

kfr01, thanks for the linky, help me alot in terms of understanding what I am looking for, hoewever, let me try to be more specific. Say I want to see how the acoustics of an interior are affecting the sound inside. I place my mic at listing level and play a sound,,ie pink or white noise or sine wave and try to set everything as close to flat as possible? I'm guessing here. Anyone understand where I am going with this? I hope so, think I confused myself now.... =(

Oh, we understand. You have the general idea.

Pink 20-20khz with mic at listening position then setting as flat as possible is a VERY general idea of your goal.

However, you mention a lot in your first post.

Here's the order you need to do this in:

1) Choose speaker location and install speaker.
2) Design crossover (shoot for as close to flat as possible with the crossover). If you're trying to design a passive crossover, you need to do some serious research. The crossover should be designed with the speakers installed in their final resting spots. For the car, I would design each channel separately, using your listening location as the mic location.
3) EQ as a last step and last resort only. Seriously, EQ is the icing on the cake. You should do A LOT of work prior to this step.

4) When you EQ, be careful. No offense, but inexperienced EQing leads to more blown speakers than any other activity I know.

A good rule of thumb for inexperienced EQers is this: CUT ONLY, until you are more experienced.

Boosting EQ more than a few DB greatly increases excursion of the speaker, potentially damaging it beyond repair.

Finally, always remember to reset gain (correctly and conservatively) after setting EQ.


--- Also, a good install goes A LOT further than EQ. EQ cannot fix a bad install.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Thanks for shedding some light on this for me, makes more sense now. I'll try and start with it flat and then tweek it for the enviorment. Thanks again!