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An Introduction to Smaart v7

we are presented with this view. Initial View On first run of Smaartv7, we are presented with this view. As in previous versions, we begin our session by viewing an RTA measurement. This is Smaart’s way of telling you, “First step - check your input signals.” Seeing as this is our first run, we have no IO devices or measurements configured yet . . . So let’s begin there

Configuring Smaart v7

Configuring Inputs Smaart v7 is able to acquire input signals from any devices that have .wav, CoreAudio, or ASIO drivers recognizable by our computer’s Operating System. in fact we can grab multiple signals from multiple sources simultaneously (Note: only one ASIO source can be accessed at a time)

you are presented with this splash screen Configuring Inputs When Smaart v7 starts, you are presented with this splash screen

Configuring Inputs While you are being entertained with this lovely art, Smaart is busy checking to see what Input devices are available to your OS. It is here that Smaart builds its list of input devices, and once a device has been discovered, it will continue to show up for configuration in subsequent runs – even if it is not connected at start up.

Configuring Inputs While not absolutely necessary, we shall begin our measurement configuration by setting up our IO device(s). This includes: Setting the device’s sample rate, bit depth, and assigning the device and its channels “friendly names” - names that will help us as we configure our individual measurements

Configuring Inputs We configure our input device(s) from the Smaart Menu Bar We configure our input device(s) from the “Audio IO” Options Dialogue We access this via the “Options Menu” or by using the *hot key command [Opt + A] * “Hot Keys” are Smaart’s built-in, keyboard-based commands

Options: Audio IO Choose your input device from the “Device” drop-down list Here you can assign “friendly names” to your device and its channels Note: Remember to hit [enter] when entering friendly names or they won’t be kept.

Configuring Measurement Groups Now that we have configured our Input device(s), the next step is configuring our measurements. Instead of a fixed measurement topology, Smaart v7’s object-oriented code base allows us to configure as many single-channel (Spectrum) and dual-channel (Response) sessions/objects as we wish. - and - These measurements can be run either individually or simultaneously, depending upon our requirements. In order to structure and manage our measurement configuration, we organize our measurements into Spectrum and Response “Groups”.

Configuring Measurement Groups Smaart Menu Bar To configure our measurements, we use the “Group Manager” Options Dialog We access this dialog box via the “Options Menu”, via the Group Manager button or by using the hot key command [Opt + G] or

Options: Group Manager Our first view of the Group Manager dialog. – No measurements configured –

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups The Group “tree view” shows our complete measurement configuration. This menu is used to select the Group that is being configured, and to create/copy/delete groups.

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups The Group Tab view shows the entire selected group, with separate detail tabs for each individual engine. Choose “New Input” to create a new Spectrum measurement in this Spectrum Group. (Note: No measurements have yet been configured for this group, so the group tab is empty.)

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups Give your Spectrum measurement a Name Choose the input device Choose the Input Channel from that device Choose “New Input” to create a new Spectrum measurement in this Spectrum Group. (Note: Device and Name use your Friendly Names if you set them in device config.)

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups An individual spectrum measurement tab has been added to the Group. The new spectrum measurement can now be found in the Group Tree The Group Tab view now shows the new measurement. (Note: The measurement is assigned a color automatically. You can change this assignment by clicking on the color swatch and selecting another.)

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups An individual spectrum measurement tab has been added to the Group. The new spectrum measurement can now be found in the Group Tree The Group Tab view now shows the new measurement. (Note: The measurement is assigned a color automatically. You can change this assignment by clicking on the color swatch and selecting another.) By repeating these steps, we can create as many measurements as we need in this Group.

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups Give your Response measurement a Name Choose the input device Choose the Meas. Channel from that device Choose the Ref. Channel from that device Select a response group in the tree view. Choose “New Pair” to create a new dual-channel Response measurement in this Response Group. (Note: Both Meas. and Ref. channels must be from the same input device.) And we can continue to Response Groups to configure dual-channel measurements.

Options: Group Manager Configuring Measurement Groups An individual response measurement tab has been added to the Group. The new response measurement can now be found in the Group Tree The Group Tab view now shows the new measurement. (Note: The measurement is assigned a color automatically. You can change this assignment by clicking on the color swatch and selecting another.)

Initial View Now with measurements configured! Upon clicking the “OK” button . . . we are now back to our initial, starting view in Smaart v7 – a single measurement window view of RTA The big difference is now we have two spectrum/single-channel measurements configured!

Configuring Smaart v7 We have now completed a simple, two channel configuration for Smaart v7. This configuration - with two spectrum and one response measurement - parallels the standard two channel configuration of previous versions of Smaart. We shall use this basic configuration for the next few sections of this introduction presentation.

Configuring Smaart v7 The Group Manager dialog is a powerful interface for configuring and controlling our measurement system, and we will revisit it multiple times and explore it more deeply throughout this presentation.

Basic Measurement Concepts NOTE: If you are not familiar with the basic measurement concepts of single-channel (spectrum) and dual-channel (transfer function and impulse response) measurements as realized in previous Smaart software versions, we highly recommend you read the Smaart Application Note: “Getting Started with SmaartLive” The fundamentals of our measurement have not changed – Smaart v7 has just expanded and refined how we make them.

A Quick Tour of the Interface

Plot Area This is where the action is – this is where our active and stored measurement data is displayed. Like in version 6, you can choose what type of measurement is shown in this data window via the drop-down selector in the top-left corner of this window. And as in version 6, clicking on either axis of the data window will zoom the window to the default ranges.

On screen control handles! Plot Area – Click & Drag New in v7! Now you can actively click on, grab and move RTA and Transfer Function traces using your mouse in the v7 plot area! On screen control handles! Various threshold controls (Spectrograph, Coherence Blanking) show up in, and can be modified from, the data plot area – on the fly!

Cursor Readout As in past versions, here you find information about your cursor position.

Data Storage Smaart v7 includes two sets of easily accessible registers for the quick storage and retrieval our RTA and Transfer Function (.ref ) data. Capture using the standard [spacebar] hot key command or via the capture button. Load any Smaart data (v1 through v7!) that has been stored in our standard .ref file format.

SPL Readout Area Choose our input signal from any channel of any available input device. Set to full-scale readout or calibrate for SPL and Leq measurement Choose SPL settings for weighting and integration

Measurement View Control Like earlier versions of Smaart, measurement view buttons are used to determine what type of measurement data is displayed and how many widows are visible.

Measurement View Control The “Spect” button takes us to a default Spectrum view with one plot window showing RTA data This is also Smaart’s start-up view

Measurement View Control The Two-window View button takes us from a one-window to a two-window view. Pressing this while in “Spect” displays RTA over SpectroGraph

Measurement View Control The “Transfer” button takes us to a default Transfer Function view, with two plot windows: The Top Window displays TF Phase The Bottom Window displays TF Magnitude

Measurement View Control The “LiveIR” button opens the Live IR window when viewing a response measurement

Measurement View Control The “Impulse” button takes us to Impulse Response Mode And the “Real Time” button In IR mode takes us back to Real Time Mode This switch can also be triggered via the “Mode” Menu.

Signal Generator This strip controls Smaart’s signal generator. Pressing the button turns the generator on/off. Clicking on the level field brings up the generator control dialog

This area is where we select and control our measurements. Measurement Controls This area is where we select and control our measurements. The controls presented here vary depending upon whether we are addressing Spectrum (single-channel) or Transfer Function (dual-channel) measurements

Measurement Controls The top labels also act as buttons to access the relevant Options dialogs Global measurement controls Measurement Group Select Group Level Commands Individual Measurements: Hide/Show Run Sig Level Delay Delay Find Track on/off

Spectrum Measurements

Spectrum Measurements Clicking the “Run” button on our first measurement starts it running. Our meter shows input signal level

Spectrum Measurements RTA display settings can be adjusted in the Spectrums Options dialog

Spectrum Measurements We can use the Global Spectrum controls to vary Scale and Averaging

Spectrum Measurements Full adjustment of all Global Spectrum measurement parameters can be accessed in the Group Manager

Spectrum Measurements Clicking the “Run” button on our second measurement starts it running as well. The lighter background color indicates that this is the “active” measurement - it is displayed in front of any other measurement

Spectrum Measurements Clicking on the first measurement makes it the “active” measurement and brings it to the front. The lighter background color indicates that this is the “active” measurement - it is displayed in front of any other measurement

Spectrum Measurements Clicking on its colored square hides a measurement trace and an “X” is shown. Even though a measurement’s trace is hidden, it is still running – as evidenced by its input meter.

Spectrum Measurements To capture data from the active measurement, click on a data Register slot then capture using either the “Capture” button or the [space bar] hot key. You can re-name your data by highlighting its name and typing a new one.

Spectrum Measurements RTA data trace now hidden Pressing the two-window button now brings up a view with RTA in the top window and Spectrograph in the lower window.

Spectrum Measurements Clicking the One-Window view button and choosing “Spectrograph” in the drop-down view selector gives us a full window view of the Spectrograph

Spectrum Measurements The Spectrograph view vertically displays a series of spectrum measurements or “slices”. Smaart v7 stores a slice history so we can scroll back through data which has passed off the screen. We can also control the number of vertical “pixels per slice” to adjust the measurement scroll speed. We adjust both of these settings in the Spectrum Options dialog.

Transfer Function Measurements

Transfer Function Measurements The “Transfer” button takes us to a default Transfer Function view, with two plot windows: Top: TF Phase Bottom: TF Magnitude With noise going through our speaker system, clicking the “Run” button on our measurement starts it running.

Transfer Function Measurements We have used the signal generator as our pink noise source First steps in our Transfer Function (Frequency Response) measurement process is setting our input levels and setting our measurement delay

Transfer Function Measurements To measure the delay, we can use Smaart’s “Delay Finder” function Click “Insert” to accept the measurement

Transfer Function Measurements Increase Averaging to stabilize our measurement and Adjust Mag and Phase Trace Smoothing to improve readability *Remember, we can adjust trace offset by “clicking” directly on a trace and “dragging” it up and down. The Coherence blanking threshold control Note: The Coherence trace will not be available until we engage averaging.

Transfer Function Measurements Note: Window is centered on the current measurement delay time. Engaging Live IR shows us a linear view of the Impulse response of the active TF measurement

Transfer Function Measurements Smaart v7’s delay Track uses the Live IR function to automatically and continuously measure and adjust the measurement delay Yellow Dot indicates tracking is engaged Click on the “Track” Button or Yellow Dot to engage Tracking

Transfer Function Measurements Full control of all Global Transfer Function measurement parameters can be accessed in the Group Manager

Transfer Function Measurements TF display and Live IR measurement settings can be adjusted in the TF Options dialog

Impulse Response Mode

Impulse Response Mode The primary purpose for this mode is to perform and analyze Impulse Response Measurements in both Time Domain and Frequency Domain In this mode, we can also analyze previous IR measurements that have been stored in standard .wav audio file format

Impulse Response Mode To make a IR measurement we: select a configured Response Measurement set our measurement FFT size / TC adjust our signal levels hit Start

Impulse Response Mode Our IR shows the entire measurement in Linear view in our Top window. This window serves as navigation and zoom control.

Impulse Response Mode The Lower Window(s) are our zoom windows where we can view all or part of our measurement is a number of different ways. We can control the number of zoom windows with our standard single/dual window buttons and determine what our measurement view for each is via our drop-down view selector menus

This window is displaying a Log view of our Impulse Impulse Response Mode This window is displaying a Log view of our Impulse

Impulse Response Mode This window shows the bottom window zoom range This window is displaying a Linear (zoomed) view of our Impulse

Impulse Response Mode For a more interesting IR, we shall a previously stored IR

Here we have an IR from a much larger environment Impulse Response Mode Here we have an IR from a much larger environment

Impulse Response Mode We can filter the IR with either Octave or 1/3 Octave filters

Impulse Response Mode Now we choose the Two-Window view This window we choose a Frequency Domain view Smoothed to 1/24th Octave This window we choose a Log IR view

Impulse Response Mode This window we choose a Spectrograph view The dynamic range controls for the Spectrograph view appear on the Log IR

Impulse Response Mode IR display and Spectrograph measurement settings can be adjusted in the IR Options dialog