It has a very simple GUI and you can play around with its settings to test the audio. It is a very easy software to use. Audio Power Amplifier. A free tool to amplify sound on the Matrix 1.4 platform. It is open source technology and you can write your own code to.
- We’re using four room-correction software products as part of our group test: IK Multimedia ARC System 3, Sonarworks Reference 4 Studio Edition, Dirac Live and Waves TRACT. We test ARC 3 with the MEMS measurement microphone it’s supplied with, while the others were set up using Sonarworks’ XREF 20 micropho.
- Eminent Technology's Multimedia Speaker Test. This page was awarded a LookSmart Editor's Choice Symbol of Excellence. These test are provided to help you make sure that your multimedia speakers are set up and performing correctly.
- Audio Test Software Key Features and Benefits:($7499) 1. Distortion free stimulus even the equalized stimulus. Unlimited channels acquisition and processing.
ARTA software uses standard and professional PC sound cards for audio signal acquisition and generation.
You can read ARTA as; Audio Real Time Analysis.
ARTA software contains three programs:
ARTA.EXE - program for the impulse response measurement, real-time spectrum analysis and frequency response measurements.
STEPS.EXE - program for frequency response measurements with stepped-sine excitation.
Simultaneously with a frequency response measurement the program estimates levels of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and higher order harmonic distortions.
LIMP.EXE - program for the loudspeaker impedance measurement and loudspeaker parameters estimation.
ARTA has functions of following measurement systems:
Signal generator of random and deterministic signals
Impulse response measurement system
Frequency response measurement system
Fourier analyzer
Spectrum analyzer
THD analyzer
Storage scope
With calibrated microphone, ARTA can be used as a virtual IEC class 1 SPL meter with a real time modes:
Integrating SPL meter with 24 hours data logging,
Octave SPL meter with noise rating (NR, NC, PNC, RC,NCB),
Third octave SPL meter with report of loudness in sones and level in phones
ARTA is also a powerful analyzer of Gated impulse response, Smoothed frequency response (in 1/n-octave bands), Step response, Impulse response envelope (ETC – curve), Cumulative spectral decay waterfall graphs and sonogram, Burst decay waterfall graphs and sonograms, Energy decay in reverberant environments, Room acoustical parameters, Directivity patterns, Speech intelligibility measures: MTF, STI, STIPA, %AL.
ARTA software contains User manuals for all its programs (see Install section).Several Tutorials and Application Notes are presented in Support section.
Latest news:
May, 17, 2021; New versions of ARTA Web pages are published.
February, 9, 2021; New version of application note AN1 - Measurement Box, is published. See Support section.
November, 19, 2019; ARTA software version 1.9.3 Update 1 is published in Install section.
November, 12, 2019; ARTA software release version 1.9.3 is published in Install section.
For more details, see News section.
Figure 1. The ARTA window for impulse response analysis.
Figure 2. The dialog box for measurement of impulse response using four types of signals: periodic noise, swept-sine, MLS and external impulse.
Figure 3. The ARTA spectrum analyzer window.
Figure 4. The Energy decay window with user interface for acoustical parameters estimation
Figure 5. The Cumulative Spectral Decay of two-way loudspeaker box.
Figure 6. The Shaped Burst Decay response of two-way loudspeaker box
Figure 7. The Directivity sonogram
Figure 8. The LIMP window for impedance measurement
Figure 9. The STEPS plot of frequency response, 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion, measured with stepped-sine.
A sample from registered user list:
A sample list of well known registered users contains laboratories at Samsung Electronics, Phillips, Sony Corp., Siemens, Nokia, LG Electronics, Skype/Microsoft, Analog Devices, Maxim Semiconductors, Conexant Systems, Intel Technology - Poland, L-Acoustics, Beyerdynamic, Quadral, Genelec Oy, Ford Audio-Video, General Electric Global Research, Orban, Bose, Logitech, Visaton, Revox, MBL,QSC Audio Products LLC, Bang Olufsen - Deutschland ....How often is it that you can get something for your systemfor nothing? Almost never. Below are six of our favorite free pieces ofsoftware that we think every audio enthusiast should download and try out. FromCD ripping to improving your ability to critically listen, this list hassomething for everyone. Enjoy, and let us know if you have any othersuggestions by posting in the comments below.
1.Exact Audio Copy
Exact Audio Copy, or EAC as the cool kids say, is theSwiss Army Knife of CD ripping, copying, and burning. The goal of this program,as the name suggests, is to rip audio from a CD without adulterating the file.It does this through jitter correction and read error detection. When rippingin “secure mode”, EAC reads every audio section at least twice, or relies onextended error information that some drives are able to return with the audiodata. Let’s say there is an error while reading a disc, the program willre-read up to 82 times, compare the results, and give you the best copypossible. If the program is less than 99.5% sure the audio stream is correct,it will alert you with a read error. Beyond accuracy, the program is endlesslycustomizable while still managing to be easy enough to use for the less-technicaluser.
Exact Audio Copy
EAC can save the ripped files in uncompressed WAV format,and supports external MP3, WMA, flac and OggVorbis encoders. It can alsodecompress some files back to WAV. There are a host of other features, like CDwriting, pre-track gap detection, and metadata editing. If you are looking totake your CD collection and turn it into a digital library, EAC is the way todo it.
2. TT Dynamic Range Meter
We’ve written about compression and the loudness war foryears (see: CurrentTrend in the Recording Format Arena and CDCompression Depression for two examples), and we’re not alonein our frustration. The Pleasurize Music Foundation created TT Dynamic RangeMeter with the goal of fighting the over-compression of music. The programtells you the dynamic range of songs, so you can find out if you have justpurchased a quality recording or not. One fun use of DR Meter is to compare differentreleases of the same song or album. The program is incredibly easy to use,simply select the track or folder you want analyzed ... and that’s it. It takesa few seconds for the program to spit out a number telling you the dynamicrange of the album or track. It can also create a log file telling you thedynamic range of each individual track if you scan an entire folder. Accordingto their website, a DR of 7 “is low for rock music or very low for Jazz, [but]it is quite acceptable for electronic club music which has nowadays oftenvalues below DR4. All values above DR12 have generally a high dynamic quality.”
DR Meter Offline DR Meter Log Sheet
DR meter comes in two flavors, what they call an offlineversion (pictured above) and as a foobar2000 component. For those of you who are wondering what foobar2000 is, checkout our MusicPlayback Software Comparison. If you do decide todownload DT meter, we encourage you to sign up andsupport their campaign to end the loudness war.
3. Room EQ Wizard
Room EQ Wizard, or REW, was one of the original room andloudspeaker measurement systems available to the home theater enthusiast. Oncesetup properly, it’s a joy to use. Actually, I find it much more intuitive thanOmnimic, a costly alternative. REW is packed with useful features, the mostprominent being an SPL meter, RTA, waterfall plot, and spectrogram. REW canhelp you figure out the best placement for speakers, listening position, andacoustic treatments. Figuring out how to use all of the functionality packedinto REW can be a little tough at first, but there is a large online communityto provide support.
RoomEQ Wizard
Like we said, once up and running, REW is a powerfulpiece of software. However, getting it up and running can be difficult, andresults can be inaccurate depending on the quality of measurement equipment youare using. You will need to invest in a microphone, cables, tripod, andexternal soundcard (external soundcard is optional). You may also needsomething like the NadySMPS-1X phantom power supply for the mic, depending on thefunctionality of the soundcard you purchase. If you are willing to spend someextra time during setup and invest in decent quality measurement gear, you willbe rewarded. For people who want a more seamless experience, kits from Omnimic or XTZ(review in progress) come with everything you need and work right out of thebox with little to no setup.
4. Harman How to Listen
This is the only program we know of that is designed toimprove your critical listening abilities. Originally created to train Harmanemployees, it has been made available, for free, to the public. It’stechnically still beta, but it has been that way for a number of years, sodon’t expect an update anytime soon.
2 Band Test 24 Band Insane Test
The program works by asking listeners to identify how atrack has been manipulated. For example, the image above-left shows a verybasic Band ID exercise. The user can switch be an unaltered “flat” version ofthe song, and the modified “EQ” version. The goal is to identify which of thetwo Eqs shown is being applied, number 1 or 2. The tests become increasinglydifficult. Above-right is an image of the most difficult Band ID test theprogram has to offer. As you can tell, the tests become very difficult. Thereare a number of different training exercises, including reverb, coloration, andnoise. If you become tired of the tracks that come with the software, you caneven upload your own to demo.
5. Audio DiffMaker
Have you ever made a change to your system and wonderedif there was any actual change in the sound? Let’s say you just spent $3,800 perfoot on a Audioquest WEL Signature power cable,and you want to know if that made any difference, audible or not. That’s thepurpose of Audio DiffMaker. You record a reference track. This can be done with a mic to capture the actual sound output from your speakers, or using various other methods to capture the audio output from a device. Next, make the change inthe system, and then record a compared track. The software compares the twotracks and extracts the difference.
Diffmaker Screenshot
The designers (Liberty Instruments) went through a lot oftrouble to ensure accuracy. For example, it automatically accounts for samplerate drift and level differences, so the difference recording is only what hasactually changed between the two recordings. Anyway, that’s what they claim,and they seem to have taken all of the necessary steps to achieve that goal.Note that this system does not require your equipment be completely linear orof the highest quality, by its very design all of the characteristics of yoursystem are part of the reference and comparison recordings. Even though theconcept of Audio DiffMaker is simple, be warned that its actual implementationcan be difficult and time consuming. The two recordings need to be verycarefully taken so as to isolate only a single variable. Still, if you arereally into small system tweaks and DIY projects, this is a fun program to seeif each change makes a difference or not.
6. Audacity
Audacity has been around for a long time, and like someof the other software on this list, is opensource. Unlike the other software onthis list, which serve specific purposes, Audacity has a wide range of uses.Essentially, it’s a sound recording and editing program. It can record liveaudio or computer audio, and then be used to edit the recording. One of thecommon uses of Audacity is to record and edit podcasts, and is employed by AVrant podcast forthat very purpose. Quality is also key with Audacity. It can import and export WAV,AIFF, AU, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis files, and record at 24-bit depth and 192,000 Hzsampling rate (384,000Hz on OS X and Linux).
Audacityscreenshot
One of the reasons it made this list is because of a cool“show clipping” feature. The program will highlight red any portion of theaudio waveform that clips. Like DifMaker, this can be used to compare thequality of different tracks. The above screenshot shows a song from HDtracks’free sampler. The image below shows Dire Straits “Walk of Life” downloaded fromiTunes … notice any clipping?
ImageCourtesy of AVrant Podcast and their loyal listener John
Conclusion
Clio Speaker Testing Software
We thoroughly enjoy using the software on this list, andhope you will too. We didn’t cover everything out there, so let us know whatyour favorite software is. Finally, we want to say a quick thanks to all of theindividuals who invest their time and effort into creating software that therest of us can use for free. Richard Stallman would be proud.