UMIK-1 level and SPL issues

[Jmaurer84]

Hello everyone. I keep seeing really good information coming from this board so I thought I’d throw a couple issues I have going on out there and see if I’m missing something.

I have a 2019 MacBook Pro that I was using REW and Dirac live on. I have an Onkyo RZ50 receiver. I use a UMIK-1 with the specific cal file to that microphone from Cross-Spectrum Labs. With REW the SPL meter always reads 7 db higher than a stand alone meter does. And then with Dirac, the signal input from the UMIK-1 is so low that I would be in excess of 100 DB before it would get a good reading. Raising the sensitivity above 100% on the mic didn’t help much either. Whereis the factory microphone that came with the Onkyo receiver works good signal strength wise. I’ve tried everything anyone involved with the microphone and Dirac support suggested with no change. Even 2 replacement microphones.

I purchased a new ASUS Zenbook a few days ago with Windows 11 figuring maybe it’s the MacBook creating the issue. I turned off the noise canceling option as pointed out above and Dirac works better than the Mac but I still need to be on the higher end of the volume in a quiet room to get around a signal to noise ratio error.
With REW the SPL meter is roughly 5 db high and I can’t seem to get REW to output more than L,R, or both. I’ve tried using the AVIO4all and that becomes an utter failure. Am I expecting too much for the SPL meter to be more accurate than it is and am I forgetting to do something to get all my speaker channels in REW to be available? Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[John Mulcahy]

Dirac generally requires the UMIK volume control to be set to the maximum.

The UMIK-1 I have give good results on my 94 dB calibrator. I've never seen one read high, they are generally within a dB or so.

For multichannel access with Java drivers use the device entries that start EXCL so the WASAPI exclusive driver is used.

 

[Jmaurer84]

Dirac generally requires the UMIK volume control to be set to the maximum.

The UMIK-1 I have give good results on my 94 dB calibrator. I've never seen one read high, they are generally within a dB or so.

For multichannel access with Java drivers use the device entries that start EXCL so the WASAPI exclusive driver is used.

Awesome! I will definitely try that when I get home. Thank you for your response!

 

[Jmaurer84]

Dirac generally requires the UMIK volume control to be set to the maximum.

The UMIK-1 I have give good results on my 94 dB calibrator. I've never seen one read high, they are generally within a dB or so.

For multichannel access with Java drivers use the device entries that start EXCL so the WASAPI exclusive driver is used.

So messing around with it yesterday, when you say the mic needs to be all the way up for Dirac do you mean to turn the gain all the way up?

And then with REW. The mic is actually reading 5db high for some reason and the previous ones they sent acted the same way so maybe I’m just setting something up wrong but I just end shooting to leveling everything to 80db knowing it’s actually 75db so it’s not that big of a deal. But the program cuts out when it goes to send the signal out to the receiver so it makes me wonder if maybe the graphics card may be an issue? It has the Intel Iris XE card in it. Have you heard of anything of that one struggling with the program?

 

[John Mulcahy]

Yes, input volume all the way up. If everything reads 5 dB high compared to your meter then maybe the problem is the meter.

What do you mean by "the program cuts out"?

 

[Jmaurer84]

Yes, input volume all the way up. If everything reads 5 dB high compared to your meter then maybe the problem is the meter.

What do you mean by "the program cuts out"?

That’s good to know about how to set the mic for Dirac. Thank you for that information!



My only reasoning with trusting the SPL reader is that the receiver’s room adjustment and Dirac are both matching 75 db with the factory microphone which aligns with the handheld SPL meter.



When I press the button for REW to start the sweep it hesitates to start and then the tail end comes through the speaker but somewhat cracking. All the sweeps run fine on the MacBook. It’s this new laptop that has started with that issue which is why I’m wondering if maybe it’s the graphics card. It also has windows 11. It reads the microphone fine with exception of the potential error in the meter but that was off on both computers. That doesn’t bother me since it’s consistent and I can just figure that into levels. I just wasn’t sure if maybe that was something that might point in the right direction of the other issue.



I appreciate your time!

 

[John Mulcahy]

Can you post a screenshot of your REW soundcard preferences? Haven't heard of any issues with graphics cards.

 

[Jmaurer84]

 

[John Mulcahy]

All looks fine, so no explanation there. A remote possibility is a default sample rate for the AC receiver output that isn't 48k, though that shouldn't matter with WASAPI exclusive. Could check it on the Advanced tab of the Windows audio properties for the output.