el_ingeniero wrote:I was not aware that any analog RTAs existed. I think what you're thinking of are signal processor boxes, like the Behringer DEQ2496.
They exist, but are inferior to PC based RTA, and RTA built into other products (like the DCX). PC based is (usually) the best, followed by hardware TEF, followed by hardware frequency analyzer.
IMO, you don't need to spend top dollar on a sound card and mic to get adequate results for RTA.
A lot of people in the hifi world swear by the E-mu 0404 for doing measurements. You can pick up a used one off Ebay or CL for $125 or less.
You don't need the best, but you do need something accurate. ART sells a little unit which has tubes built in... it's cheap, great for recording, probably not great for measurement, as tubes add harmonics.
As far as I can tell, the Behringer, JBL, dbx and Audix measurement mics are identical (at least on the outside), but the Behringer mic is like $50, even less used.
The Behringer and Dayton mics are identical, all the rest are similar, but some are better than others. The nice thing about the Dayton over the Behringer is that it comes with a calibration file you can use in REW.
In combination with REW, this would work fine.
Unless you're doing measurements which must be accurate to within more than a db or two, any of the above will work.
99% of the time, things that aren't already being done aren't being done because they don't work. The other 1% is split evenly between fools and geniuses.
That was meant as a joke. I usually do the middle of the dancefloor. 
