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16. System Tuning with the built-in
EQ
Most PA-Systems for larger venues should be tuned in to achieve the best results in
energy distribution and sound coloration for the whole audience. This can be due to
some characteristics of high power speakers or to resonance effects that occur in the
venue at certain frequencies. Most of the general recommendations for system
tuning apply also for a Sonic Wave I driven loudspeaker system. Here are some
basic guidelines to make your system sound perfect.
Measurement Toolkit
Laser Meter
In many installations, the speaker positions are defined already in the planning
phase and can be read from CAD plans to be transferred in WaveDesigner to
configure the Sonic Wave I processor. If the positions have to be measured on site,
a Laser Meter for exact distance measurement is a very helpful tool. To optimize the
3D sound algorithm, the precision of the entered geometric data should be as exact
as possible. In general, the margin of error should never exceed 5-10 % of the
average loudspeaker spacing.
The Laser Meter also helps to find the correct microphone position for individual
speaker measurements at a given reference distance.
Measurement Software and Audio Interface
There are many acoustic measurement software tools available for different
platforms (for example CATT, ARTA, Clio, Smaart…). It’s the users choice which
program he prefers or would like to work with. They all come with similar feature sets.
For acoustic measurement, it is recommended to use a professional audio interface
with high quality analog/digital convertors and at least one 48 V microphone input.
If the Audio Interface has ADAT or MADI outputs, it can be connected directly to
the Wave I processor inputs. Otherwise a upstream A/D convertor has to be used.
Each speaker in the setup should be measured individually. If it is not possible to do
all measurements, at least one speaker of each subsystem (same type or same array
position) should be measured.
For measuring, the test mode in the EQ panel of the WaveDesigner can be used. If
enabled, the signal of the chosen input can be sent directly and exclusively to the
given output. Parameter changes for this speaker can be checked back interactively.
Measurement Microphone
At least one microphone should be used for the acoustic measurements. There are
many dedicated measurement microphones available from different brands and in
