# Early Access to Calibrated ECM8000 Special Deal



## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

Hi all, 

I've been selling calibrated ECM8000's and since Sonnie posted the thread about by calibration servives, my sales have taken off. I wanted to way to thank you all for the business so I'm going to let you in on a limited-time deal that I am going to offer before I post it on my website.

I'm trying to raise some capital to build up my stock in addition to experimenting with pricing levels. I normally sell calibrated ECM8000 with on-axis frequency response data and polar data for $100 + shipping. For a limited time, I will be selling calibrated ECM8000's with *frequency response data only* for $75 + shipping - that's a $25 discount from the normal units.

*However there is a catch* - I'm going to be traveling for a bit so orders won't ship until March 25 at the earliest. As usual I will be shipping them out on a first-come/first-served basis so if you want in, the earlier the better. I expect that I'll end this offer around the end of March but I may end it earlier if it gets too popular.

Like I wrote, I want to give Home Theater Shack readers first crack at the whip. I expect that I'll update the normal product page over the weekend so you have a couple of days to get in your orders. If you're interested, go on over the HS Early Bird page and place your order. As always I'm happy to answer questions in this thread, but be aware that ofter Saturday my net access may be limited so it may take be a while to get back to you.

(shh, don't tell any one!)

Herb


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## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

Herb,

I just ordered a mic from you. However I opted for the full price since I want the cal down to 5hz, polar response and additional cals for 45 and 90deg angles.Even full price is a steal. $75 for a calibrated mic is unheard of.


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## Eric D (Feb 9, 2009)

Doh!

I just ordered *last night.* Let me ask a couple of questions that might help others though. 


Does the $75 include calibration down to 10Hz?
I actually regret not asking for a 90 degree calibration to be done. Any chance I can get that included for my full $100, or what would it cost?

Thanks,

Eric

[edit] P.S. Killer price change. [/edit]


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## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

I think the standard is 20-20khz and you have to ask for 10hz, but Herb will have to clarify. 

I asked for 5hz because I'm a bass lunatic.:demon:


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## Eric D (Feb 9, 2009)

I guess wanting a 10 Hz cal means I just have a little psychosis. :joke:

enjoy,

[edit] update: Thanks Herb! :T He gave me the 90 degree cal in lieu of the $25 savings (sorry for not being clearer earlier). Enjoy the sale everyone![/edit]


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## lovebohn (Mar 6, 2009)

At that price i can't pass up the deal, order placed.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

The last few mics I've sent out I've been doing down to 10 Hz just because I had everything set up already.

I would say don't count on it - if you want 10 Hz, let me know and I'll do it at no extra charge, even for the $75 dollar mics.

However, I won't do extra angles for the $75 dollar mics - if you want anything other than on-axis, you'll have to pay the extra $25. I have to be fair to the people like Eric who order the full-price mics right before I announced the special.


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## lovebohn (Mar 6, 2009)

I requested doing the 5 or 10 hz, whatever you can do. The one position for the mic is fine with me.


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## JimP (May 18, 2006)

Can someone please go into more detail about the angles?


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## cinema mad (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi Anechoic,great little deal you have going hear... 
Just want to be clear on A couple of points.. 

So is it possible to get A new Calibrated ECM8000 off you, have off axis (grazing) cal file as well as on axis cal file both down to 10hz? all for $75usd :bigsmile: Only joking..

Roughly how much would the total $$usd be for the above example 
Also do you ship DownUnder LOL ?...

Cheers....


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## Eric D (Feb 9, 2009)

JimP said:


> Can someone please go into more detail about the angles?


It will show the differences between pointing the microphone directly at the source and pointing it at the specified angle. I just received mine which wasn't done under the $75 special, and which had both 0 (zero) and 90 degree cals done. I don't have it in front of me, but the difference was only at very high freqs (if I remember, over 7k or so, but please don't quote me on that), and even then it starts off differing by very little. Below that, the two cals were basically identical. 

The upshot is that I probably won't worry about it at all! Haven't had the chance to use it yet - still need to get a cable and a stand for the mic. 

And don't forget you also need to get a source of phantom power for the mic (and a cable - that I DON'T have yet). And I also have to get a stand or some other interface; it was nice just to mount the SPL meter on a camera tripod but that won't work without some method to attach the mic (bungies or rubber bands anyone?).

enjoy!


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

I apologize for the terse responses but I'm on the road and my internet access is spotty.



> So is it possible to get A new Calibrated ECM8000 off you, have off axis (grazing) cal file as well as on axis cal file both down to 10hz? all for $75usd Only joking..
> 
> Roughly how much would the total $$usd be for the above example
> Also do you ship DownUnder LOL ?...


If you order the $100 calibrated mics, I'll do up to two additional angles at no extra cost. I'm happy to ship the $75 or $100 mics to Australia (I've sent three or four down there already). Be aware that US Priority Mail International shipping (6-10 days) is about $40. I can do other shipping methods upon request.



> Can someone please go into more detail about the angles?


Eric answered this nicely. By default I do on-axis (mic pointing toward source) measurements. 1/2-inch mics are typically omnidirectional up to 5 kHz or so. As I wrote above, I'm happy to do additional measurements for the $100 mics. The $100 mics also come with full 360-degree data (in 10-degree increments) for the 1/3 octave bands between 400 Hz and 16 kHz.


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## cinema mad (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi Anechoic Thank's for your reply..
While there is little doubt that A calibrated mic is prefered & essential for optimization of EQ and Xovers and the like, 
Just wondering Do you find that when you analyze the EMC8000 mics to build A cal file do you find that the 8000 very much in tolarence from mic to mic or there all fairly close ??..

Cheers...


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

cinema mad said:


> Hi Anechoic Thank's for your reply..
> While there is little doubt that A calibrated mic is prefered & essential for optimization of EQ and Xovers and the like,
> Just wondering Do you find that when you analyze the EMC8000 mics to build A cal file do you find that the 8000 very much in tolarence from mic to mic or there all fairly close ??..
> 
> Cheers...


In my experience the ECM8000's have a very high unit-to-unit variation. I posted a link before in the other thread that shows a distribution of ECM8000 responses, I would say that my experience is similar. At some point I'll put together a similar graph with my ECM8000 data.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

Since I gave you guys a head's up when the deal started, I'm giving head's up that the deal is about to end. *I intend to end the $75 mic deal sometime tomorrow (Tuesday)*.

However the good news is that I will start offering $85 ECM8000 that will include the 0-axis freq response and the freq response at up to two other angles but with no 360-degree polar data.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

I think that anyone who has ever calibrated anything using a reference standard would agree that there is much more unit to unit variation in most electronics than most users would assume. Particularly with an electromechanical device like a mic, it is expected.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

lcaillo said:


> I think that anyone who has ever calibrated anything using a reference standard would agree that there is much more unit to unit variation in most electronics than most users would assume. Particularly with an electromechanical device like a mic, it is expected.


Not necessarily. For example I've done a lot of work for these guys who are very much into quality control and there unit-to-unit variation is really on the order of fraction of decibels. Similarly ANSI/IEC Type 1 microphones from tier manufacturers like Bruel & Kjaer, GRAS, BSWA etc are essentially drop-in replacements for one another. But you talking about spending $1,000+ for microphones where this kind of quality is expected.

But yes, when you're talking about low-end consumer electronics you do get the wide variability because one of the things you sacrifice to get the low prices are manufacturing tolerance.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Of course, with that kind of product, you can expect precision. The context here are mics in the rice range of the ECM8000 and consumer products in general. The point is that when one assumes consistency and makes measurements on that basis with no reference other than someone else's mic profile, there is reason to be suspicious of the accuracy of the results.


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## cinema mad (Jan 28, 2007)

Anechoic said:


> In my experience the ECM8000's have a very high unit-to-unit variation. I posted a link before in the other thread that shows a distribution of ECM8000 responses, I would say that my experience is similar. At some point I'll put together a similar graph with my ECM8000 data.


Wow!! :yikes: That Graph shows A fair bit more variation between the ECM8000 mics than I had expected...

Thanks for you Answer Anechoic...

Cheers....


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## JimP (May 18, 2006)

Has anyone received their mic?


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## lovebohn (Mar 6, 2009)

Herb are you going to send over tracking numbers when they ship?


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

JimP said:


> Has anyone received their mic?



Did you order a mic that you haven't received yet? Can you DM or email your information? I don't have any orders from a Jim or James.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

lovebohn said:


> Herb are you going to send over tracking numbers when they ship?


USPS should email you tracking info when I drop the package off. If you are Dave B, your mic shipped last week, I'll DM the tracking number.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

For anyone else interested in the status of your order: I sent out a general update email last week to people who's order did not ship to inform everyone that I was running. The bulk of the back orders are shipping today. I have a handful of orders placed last week that I'll try to get out by Wed or Thursday. After that I should be caught up with my orders.


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## lovebohn (Mar 6, 2009)

Anechoic said:


> USPS should email you tracking info when I drop the package off. If you are Dave B, your mic shipped last week, I'll DM the tracking number.


I never did receive an email from USPS, then again they are not the fastest either. I got your PM.


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## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

I recieved my mic. I believe that it took about 2 weeks. It might have been 3.


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

Ricci said:


> I recieved my mic. I believe that it took about 2 weeks. It might have been 3.


You ordered on the 12th and I shipped on the 26th.

Anyone who has ordered a mic that has not received it *and* has not heard from me, please email, DM or call me (617-901-7472). I should be caught up with all orders placed before March 24 and I'll be shipping the remaining orders on Wed. But if I've missed someone (JimP? I still can't find any record of an order) I want to make it right.


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## lovebohn (Mar 6, 2009)

I received mine yesterday.


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## Alex2507 (May 10, 2008)

Hi Herb,

I placed an order on 4-4-09 for the $100 job. This is in fact my first time and I haven't done all my home work yet. How long is your turn around time on orders? I just found the 'angle' thing mentioned and am now wondering if I should have maybe known more about it when I was placing the order. I'm just looking to use the mic with REW which is another 'first' for me and later on I would like to measure nearfield speaker response ... maybe. 

I left a message on your 617 # and the order was for a C.M. in Pawtucket RI.

Thank you,
Alex


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## Anechoic (Jan 16, 2009)

Alex, I jiust spoke to you on the phone. As agreed, I'll add 45 and 90 deg measurements to you mic and get it out to you on Monday.


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## PhilipW (Feb 26, 2009)

I'm just getting to setting up all my recommended gear to work with REW and have a couple mic questions. I got the basic calibrated mic deal graciously offered.

Can you explain how it should be pointed for measuring the speakers? I'm somewhat confused about this.

Also, is the calibration done in the mic, or is there a calibration file that needs to be loaded into REW?

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## JimP (May 18, 2006)

PhilipW,

It would have to be in the form of a calibration file that's loaded into software such as REW.


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> Can you explain how it should be pointed for measuring the speakers?


Vertical, with a 10-20 degree tilt toward the front of the room where the mains are located.

brucek


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## johnmail76 (Jun 18, 2009)

great deal!


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