# REW for speaker leveling/balancing



## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

Hello. I searched here and couldn't find anything directly related to my question.

Typically I'd use the tones built into the receiver and an SPL meter to balance out the speakers. I use a HTPC with 7.1 analog outs and just added a xonar card, UMIK-1 microphone and DSP1124p. I also replaced my receiver. I installed REW on my HTPC and would like to run the test tones from that directly so I'm including the entire signal path (that I'd use to watch movies) in my testing. It seems most receivers don't perform any modifications to the signal paths when using external analog inputs, so Audyssey is out of the equation.

I see that using REW I can generate Pink noise, white noise, etc. Unfortunately you can't choose specific channels using the generator. 

However, In the preferences I see you can select ASIO for the output and with that a specific channel. Would that allow me to output to a specific speaker? I'd like to graph each speaker independently and see what I can do to improve things. I figured leveling everything would be a good start and the manual spl meter method seems less accurate now that I have some better tools at hand.

Thanks for the input!


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Usually the soundcard ASIO drivers do allow you to select individual channels, so you can select each one in turn as the output in REW and make a measurement.


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

John, thanks for the quick response. I tried this out last night, and although I was able to send to individual channels, for some reason the Umik-1 doesn't "record" anything when I try to use it in REW with ASIO selected. I noticed the ASIO selection replaces the input microphone selection, which then lists two inputs, which look like the ports on my um-2g midi controller (used to program the BFD). Do you know of a way to select ASIO and use the umik-1 for input? Thanks!


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

That's likely an ASIO limitation, in that the spec allows only one ASIO device to be used at a time and I don't think the UMIK has an ASIO driver, but you also need to make sure the sample rate is set to 48 kHz to access the UMIK. A workaround if the problem is on the ASIO side is to use the ASIO4All driver to create a composite ASIO device.


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

According to the Umik-1 page, it lists WDM and ASIO as compatible interfaces. Perhaps it's detecting the um-2g first. I'll try unplugging the um-2g and see if it lists the umik-1. Thanks!


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

I'm unable to get the umik-1 working with ASIO in REW. When ASIO is selected the Input lists two, but neither of them give any readings.

Can anyone else select the Umik-1 as an ASIO input device?


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

minidsp devs recommend using asio4all to get the umik-1 working. I'll try that and report back. thanks!


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

I installed asio4all, and in REW I select asio4all, however I can use either the xonar for individual channel output, and no usb umik-1. Or I can select the umik-1 for input but don't have an output device. I can't use the Umik-1 and the xonar card together in REW.

If I go back to Java, I get only right/left analog output and the umik-1 doesn't work. 

This is a real bummer.

If I use the Umik-1 with asio4all, how do I get audio output from REW? Any suggestions how to make this work? This really makes the Umik-1 useless in REW or am I missing something really obvious? Thanks.


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## HifiZine (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi, I seem to recall that it's in the ASIO4ALL control panel where the input/output devices are set up.

I'll give it a go later on.


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

HifiZine said:


> Hi, I seem to recall that it's in the ASIO4ALL control panel where the input/output devices are set up.
> 
> I'll give it a go later on.


that's correct, but you can only select one asio device at a time. So I can't select xonar output AND umik-1 input at the same time.


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Make sure the advanced controls are showing in ASIO4All (click on the spanner/wrench icon), that seems to be necessary to select multiple devices.


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## HifiZine (Feb 7, 2013)

akajester said:


> that's correct, but you can only select one asio device at a time. So I can't select xonar output AND umik-1 input at the same time.


Hi, I'm haven't got a full setup connected but you can set up different devices for input and output, here's an example:










In the REW Preferences, you can then select any of the output channels:










Or input channels (including the UMIK):










Edit: I see JohnM beat me to it. Must be the spanner?

PS. After changing the devices in the asio4all control panel you will need to quit and restart REW for them to shown in the channel selectors.


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

Awesome! Thanks guys, I can't wait to try this out!


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## akajester (Mar 4, 2009)

That worked! thank you thank you thank you!

I can select any analog output on the sound card AND use the Umik-1 to take readings without swapping any cables. so awesome!


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## HifiZine (Feb 7, 2013)

Cool :T


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## gooddoc (Jul 17, 2010)

Hey all,

I have UMIK-1 and I'm have a similar problem with levels too low for measurement without cranking volumes up to crazy levels. How do I get input levels up? I have ASIO4ALL v2 device selected and the default-12 dBFS sweep level.

Thanks, I feel a bit lost here...

Edit: Not really right thread, so I started a new one.


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