Using REW to test and tune a room

[Henry Seiden]

John Mulcahy submitted a new resource:

REW macOS DMG (includes private Java 8 JRE) - macOS 10.7 - 10.13



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Installing in MacOS Mojave 10.14.2. I know about REQ (Room EQ) response testing and hope to use this to test the response and tune the room at my church's sanctuary. Will post further here, assuming moderation passes. My download came directly from the AV NIRVANA site.

 

[Henry Seiden]

First question:

• Will the analyzer work with an external source of sound (pink noise generator) to analyze the spectrum?

 

[Henry Seiden]

Second & Third questions. Re the software:

1. Can I use an i-Pad to relay the mic data located in a somewhat distant room (100') wirelessly to measure that area by itself? My computer is hooked up at the mixer (where the adjustment is to be made).
2. I will need a 50' run out to the house center area to use the mic in the main sanctuary if no relay is possible. I'm thinking I'd need a USB extender to make that happen. Any suggestions?

 

[EarlK]

Second & Third questions. Re the software:

1. Can I use an i-Pad to relay the mic data located in a somewhat distant room (100') wirelessly to measure that area by itself? My computer is hooked up at the mixer (where the adjustment is to be made).
2. I will need a 50' run out to the house center area to use the mic in the main sanctuary if no relay is possible. I'm thinking I'd need a USB extender to make that happen. Any suggestions?

To the best of my knowledge REW doesn't run on any device running the IOS operating system ( or Android for that matter ) because neither system supports JAVA ( which REW needs to be present to run ).

Why not just use a wireless mic ( the type of transmitter that plugs into any normal wired mic that one sees NewsCasters using ?
That'll give you some mobility though you might need some sort of RF repeater.

With REW running on a Windows host computer and Remote Desktop ( for iPad ) controlling it via a wirelss router, you just might be able to make a remote type system work ( this is just a thought since I've never done it ).



PS; You'll soon find out it's a lot easier to just travel a portable computer ( to the area under test ) while using a USB mic for most of your data captures.

 

[Henry Seiden]

Well, if you use your computer to also generate signal, you still need a connection from it to the DUT. So there's still a goodly long cable run. I have a handheld generator, so that should get me out of trouble on that score. Speaking of which, is there a handy way to get signal in the MBP (MacBookPro) to test the REW closed loop that's calibrated or do I have to get a known external USB converter to prove that link? In a perfect world, you should be able to prove the test equipment end-to-end first, then take it to DUT with a known calibration system. Maybe I should just stick to an all-analog testing scheme instead.

 

[EarlK]

Very few of us are doing loopbacks with the intent of linearizing the onboard soundcard ( with another calibration file ).

Soundcard response these days are just about all table top flat ( fwiw ).

OTOH, it is indeed worth checking ones computer once in a while to make sure one hasn't engaged some form of hidden EQ ( which can indeed happen ).



PS; Remote Desktop for Windows\Android does indeed work ( I tested it out a while back with the Android version ).

You might buy from the App Store "Remoter VNC" to see if you can get it to work ( ie; control REW hosted on your desktop Mac > from your iPad ).
- That would be a good start .

 

[Henry Seiden]

You'll soon find out it's a lot easier to just travel a portable computer ( to the area under test ) while using a USB mic for most of your data captures.

Leaving the laptop at the mic location would make it difficult to adjust and equalize the room. That is why the extension to the mic. Ideally the mic would be positioned at the center of the room, to start at least and verified at a couple of points in addition. Guesstimating the room is 30-40sq' (will measure more exactly if I'm going to do the job).

You might buy from the App Store "Remoter VNC" to see if you can get it to work ( ie; control REW hosted on your desktop Mac > from your iPad ).
- That would be a good start .

As to your points, thanks for your suggestions, but I already have what works! I can hopefully set up and characterize the room from the mic position using an external generator, then just get a window moved out to a remote display on the iPad. What I would need from your program to make it sweeter would be a secondary display screen that I can move to the iPad's remote display. Failing that, I can move the whole screen to the iPad while leaving the laptop at or near the mic.

Some functionality may even allow control from the iPad in that case (full screen on iPad). In the case of an external generator and matching up the generator to the correct crest factor of the signal (which is why I want to test closed loop to verify, BTW), I should be good to go. If I use a pink noise test with a CF of 6dB, it seems that that should be good for REW to map the room, right?

I have an app that displays a window of the Mac on the iPad via wifi. Check out DuetDisplay for Mac and PC for a full description and free trial. Their free corresponding app is available on iPad. Basically you share a window on either OS video output to the iPad over wifi connection. I found it very useful. It was written by a couple of Apple engineers.