Calibrated Behringer ECM8000

[gilscales]

The mics mentioned are for calibration. Isn't the Galaxy an SPL meter?

They have an REW forum (in case you didn't know). Folks there are as helpful as they are around here. I learned pretty much how to set up for a sound card cal, etc, all on their forums.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums

When I read about the REW and went to the forum I thought they mentioned this spl meter as having one of the beter mics in it and was one of the top pics for the REW in general ? maybe I had read wrong, does anyone else know?

[Anechoic]

Hey guys, this is Herb from Cross-Spectrum Labs. There have been a lot of hits to my site from this thread so I thought I would take a peak and see what people were saying.

There are two questions about the Dayton EMM-6 in this thread that I thought I would answer.

1. The EMM-6 is not the same mic as the ECM8000. They have different electronics and the interior construction is slightly different (the mic capsule in the ECM8000 is press fit into the housing and can be jarred loose which affects its frequency response, while the capsule in the EMM-6 is secured with a threaded fastener to keep it in place). Furthermore, the measured output impedance of the EMM-6 is higher than the ECM8000 (roughly 250-300 ohms for the EMM-6 vs <100 ohms for the ECM8000) which might make the EMM-6 harder to drive with cheaper preamps. In general the EMM-6 has much less unit-to-unit variation than the ECM8000. The EMM-6 is also a more reliable mic - I've handled nearly 400 EMM-6s and never had a bad unit, vs about 1 in 5 ECM8000 I receive that have a bad ground connection. On the downside, the accessories that come with the EMM-6 are of lower quality than those that come with the ECM8000.

2. The calibration curves supplied with the EMM-6 is individually determined for each unit. I've found that the curves for serial #'s < 0200 tend to be slightly less accurate than the curves for > 0200 but they're all definitely within the ballpark.


HTH

[coolhandjjl]

Thanks for the great info!

[DJ Funke]

I just got a minidsp, and am considering getting one of these mics for custom speaker building. Basically Ive got some drivers and boxes lying around that I want to expirement with. I'm kind of new to this, but from what Bill says, I don't need a calibrated unit for decent results?

Also, I have a Native Instruments soundcard with inputs/outputs. Is there any other hardware I need to get started?

[coolhandjjl]

Both the Behringer and the Dayton calibration mics need phantom power to operate, this is provided by a mixer. I picked up a Behringer Xenyx 502 to do the job. Very inexpensive. Then the mixer's 1/4" output goes right into my computer's 1/8" input. Along with regular level adjusts, the mixer has a trim control on the mic line so the mic doesn't clip or overwhelm the mixer.

[DJ Funke]

Thanks for your reply! I have a gemini mm-1800 mixer with balanced and unbalanced connections for a mic. http://www.geminidj.com/mm-1800
Does it make much difference which one I use?

Minidsp provides a link to a free measurement software on their site. I havent downloaded it yet. What software do you like to use?

[coolhandjjl]

The PC guys use TrueRTA. I'm on a Mac, I use REW (Room EQ Wizard). There's lots available, freeware and for purchase

Contact your mixers manufacturer and ask if it has phantom power to support condenser mics.

[DJ Funke]

I found out that neither my mixer or audio 10 card has phantom power. Though at $40, that behringer mixer is priced right. I may just get that and the dayton mic. Thanks for your help.

[el_ingeniero]

I found out that neither my mixer or audio 10 card has phantom power. Though at $40, that behringer mixer is priced right. I may just get that and the dayton mic. Thanks for your help.

Be ever so careful with that.

I have one, and to make it sound right, I have to turn the treble all the way up and the bass all the way down on the mic channel. Biggest waste of $50 on sound ever.