# modest mans HT, with questions concerning acoustic treatments



## alberts dad (Mar 10, 2012)

Hi all! First time posting and been an avid fan of the forum for over a year. Well, about a year ago I began the process of finishing my basement and decided that I would wire it for sound. My equipment list is an onkyo tx sr508, polk audio psw 111, polk rm95 surrounds and center. I use a Sony bdp s470 blue ray for film, and as you can see it is modest. I have added some additional bells and whistles. I have a ps audio power conditioning outlet that my gear runs through and when I wired everything in I dedicated an entire circuit to my system.
My question is this, understanding my room is the next great adventure. I would like to somehow ensure that I am getting the best sound out of my modest system and ensure that even with further equipment upgrades in the future that I am prepping the space as I go along. I live in southern maine so if there is someone on here that resides near by and understands room treatments, I would love to chat, then again anyone that takes the time to read the ramblings of this 35 year old young HT enthusiast is welcome.

Take care


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

Welcome to home theater shack!! I found this site to be a great place to research and read about all aspects of home theater. With that said, I would start reading under room acoustics if you want to learn about room treatments. It will definitely be worth investing in the equipment to use REW which allows you to analyze your rooms acoustics.....which will help with sub-woofer placement and assessing your treatment needs. I am by no means an expert......just another person that is addicted to home theater. BTW, I'm a 36 year old that also rambles...


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## alberts dad (Mar 10, 2012)

Thanks Disko! I have been reading up on REW and it seems like the only logical way to go save for contacting the local home theater installers and having them cruise by. What im trying to figure out is what kind of pc do I need to run everything through. Does just any old PC work? I have a Sony vaio desktop with vista 64 bit running, is that enough? From what I understand from that point its an SOL meter, cables and some time invested in understanding the graphs and how they correspond with the room and speaker placement.
Thanks for the welcome.


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

I would say a laptop would be your best option as you can move it around easier than a desktop making your life a bit easier during the measuring process. Plus, you can always do measurements outside of your home for friends and family. There are posts on what type of equipment you will need. I would suggest buying a calibrated microphone for the measurements from a source like http://www.cross-spectrum.com/ . But like everything else...you will have to decide how much you want to invest. The set-up is ruffly $200-250 for a pre-amp, calibrated mic and cables to hook everything up.....another $20-30 for a mic stand. I have the ART Usb Dual, and a Dayton EMM-6 calibrated mic from the vendor above. It has been a fun hobby for me and worth the investment...... :hsd:


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## alberts dad (Mar 10, 2012)

Thanks disko. I am actually in the market for a laptop, I can see that this will cost me a bit, commence operation save up!


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

You can always use a desktop computer for now. You will just need to make sure you have wires that are long enough to connect everything or you might just have to move the PC around.......it's can be a pain...but it does work as it was the way I did things until I got a laptop for work. The way I look at it.....the amount I invested in it could have been spent easily just going out in the city for a night or two. Make sure you read up on REW minimum requirements....so you get a laptop that will work with it.


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## Wull (Apr 7, 2010)

Diskohouse said:


> I would say a laptop would be your best option as you can move it around easier than a desktop making your life a bit easier during the measuring process. Plus, you can always do measurements outside of your home for friends and family. There are posts on what type of equipment you will need. I would suggest buying a calibrated microphone for the measurements from a source like http://www.cross-spectrum.com/ . But like everything else...you will have to decide how much you want to invest. The set-up is ruffly $200-250 for a pre-amp, calibrated mic and cables to hook everything up.....another $20-30 for a mic stand. I have the ART Usb Dual, and a Dayton EMM-6 calibrated mic from the vendor above. It has been a fun hobby for me and worth the investment...... :hsd:



Hi.

Are the ART usb Dual's easy to set up/use, do they give good results?


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

I am not an expert, but my experience with the ART USB Dual has been positive. I would not say it's necessarily easy to set-up and use (the first time)....there is an associated learning curve with it. But, once you have set it up a few times.....it's easy to do. Just like any other piece of technology, you have to take the time to read as much as possible about it and then it's trial and error from there.


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## Wull (Apr 7, 2010)

Diskohouse said:


> I am not an expert, but my experience with the ART USB Dual has been positive. I would not say it's necessarily easy to set-up and use (the first time)....there is an associated learning curve with it. But, once you have set it up a few times.....it's easy to do. Just like any other piece of technology, you have to take the time to read as much as possible about it and then it's trial and error from there.



Thanks Diskohouse. I have managed to pick up a second hand ART usb Dual :T


So to get me started:

XLR 'male' 1/4" TRS phone plug - loopback connection

XLR 'male' - XLR 'female' 20ft - ECM8000 Mic to ART.



Any other cables required?


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