There are lots of different ways you can calibrate a system using a sound level meter or RTA (real time analysis) software on your computer.
Note that the test tones delivered by most automatic room correction systems won't work for this - because they're specific to the particular system.
However, you can measure any of the "manual" test tones any of our equipment offers with a meter, and you can buy or make discs with single tones or pink noise on them.
There are two basic ways of doing this.....
The first is to play separate tones one at a time, measure the level of each, and plot them on a graph.
In the old days, this was usually done with a test disc, a meter, and a piece of graph paper - and it takes some time and a lot of work.
These can be pure sine wave tones or tracks of pink noise that's been filtered to cover only a narrow range of frequencies.
Both have advantages and disadvantages (basically, they measure slightly different things, and produce slightly different measurements, but both produce useful information).
The other way is to play a test signal, like pink noise, that covers a wide range of frequencies, then use spectrum analysis software to see the result.
Since you know what the displayed curve would look like if it was perfect, and you can easily see what you actually have, you can then adjust what to have to match what you want.
Spectrum Analysis (RTA) software used to be quite expensive, but there are lots of options available today - some of them quite cheap.
(Some of the phone apps are even reasonably accurate - although the microphone on most phones doesn't have a great high frequency response.)
Likewise, calibrated microphones used to be quite expensive, but you can get a good one today for $200 or $300 (and a more or less adequate one for $50).
If you want to make lots of measurements, and like computers, check out a very popular free program called Room EQ Wizard (REW).
Note that, with any system, you will get quite different results if you move the microphone even a few inches.....
So it often makes sense to repeat the process several times in slightly different spots.
As for testing the microphone..... different microphone inputs are slightly different....
You could try the UMC-200 microphone on a computer - but the mic outputs on some computers won't provide the power it needs to run (some will; some won't).
(The microphone we provide with the MC-700 WILL NOT work on a normal microphone output, and you should NOT plug another microphone into the mic output on the MC-700;
you may actually damage the unit or the microphone if you do. )
Is there a way to test the mic itsself? Ive upgraded alot of stuff since the last time i played the the emo q, id like to get the calibration dialed in as a new preamp(i know this one is a little old) isnt in the cards right now. Is there a way to manually calibrate with say a sound meter? I also tried updating the firmware on the preamp but that also didnt work. Im unsure if its because i have windows 10 or another issue as i couldn't get the computer to link with the preamp. I followed the directions and also tried 2 different usb cables.
Im new to all of this and by new i mean i know zero aside from plugging everything in. I recently purchased a umc200 and when i run the emo q i can can hear all the test tones from my speakers however it says speakers are not detected. Could this be a faulty calibration mic? Could it be that im trying to run the calibration on just my front floor standers and i need the entire setup to calibrate properly? I realize its an old processor and probably a stupid question but any help or info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
