Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP

Forget everything you know about traditional EQ! This approach, which uses software called Acourate by Dr. Ulrich Brüggemann, is different, and author, Mitch Barnett, does an excellent job of explaining why and how. Mitch has drawn from years of professional experience working at premier recording studios and from practical experience getting the best sound possible in his own home to create this concise guide for audiophiles who are willing to take a fresh look at DSP as a tool for taking the performance of their systems to the next level.Mitch assumes that the reader has already properly set up their system to work with the room using tips from traditional sources like Jim Smith's Get Better Sound and Robert Harley's The Complete Guide to High-End Audio. Acourate will not "fix" a poorly configured system any more than Photoshop will fix a poorly captured photograph. To get the most out of Acourate and the process that Mitch describes in this book, make your system sound the best that it can via traditional methods first!While broadly applicable, this solution is somewhat geared towards "Computer Audiophiles". By that, I mean, listeners whose primary source for music playback is a PC-based digital transport--typically running software like JRiver Media Center, Roon, or similar. If this sounds unfamiliar to you, you'll want to do some research on this topic before embarking on the journey of tuning your system via Acourate digital room correction. Mitch includes excellent suggestions for the parts that you'll need in addition to the software. While just about any modern Windows-based PC will do, I recommend something that's small, fanless, and quiet both for running Acourate and for listening to music once the filters are created. I've had good results with something like this: Byte Plus (Fanless Windows 10 Mini Desktop PC - Intel CherryTrail T3 Z8300 Quad-Core, 1.44 GHz (up to 1.84 GHz) 4GB RAM+32GB storage).In addition to a Windows PC, you'll need a calibrated measurement microphone (ideally, professionally calibrated by Cross Spectrum Labs) and a digital audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First or Lynx Hilo with USB - Silver. While more expensive, the latter may be a reasonable choice for audiophiles with a significant investment in vinyl playback who also recognize that distortions due to poor room response are far greater than the distortions added by inserting an analog to digital and digital to analog step into their otherwise all analog system.If you have used Dirac, Audessy, or similar, you'll find that there's a steep learning curve to using Acourate. While these other packages guide you through the process of gathering room measurements, designing a target response, building and applying filters, Acourate does none of this. It's up to you to understand the software well enough to work through this process using a set of macros; this is precisely why this book is so helpful. Mitch does more than simply provide a walkthrough of using the menus and steps to build a set of room correction filters--he explains what each step does, why it is important and provides alternatives and shortcuts where applicable. He also includes loads of references and provides context by describing the basic acoustic engineering principles that apply to real-world listening rooms.If Acourate is so difficult to use, you might ask, "Why bother?" The answer is simple. Because nothing that I've found comes remotely close to delivering the results that Acourate does. renowned mastering engineer, Bob Katz, depends on Acourate every day to make sure that he's correctly interpreting what he is hearing in the mix and performing his work in the most accurate way possible. If Acourate is good enough for Mr. Katz, I assure you that it's good enough for you, and Mitch Barnett's guide is essential to getting the most out of this incredibly powerful tool which, if used correctly, can transform the listening experience in your home audio system. Highly recommended!

You consider yourself an Audiophile ? You need to read this book and use the Acourate Software by Audiovero.This software has been developped by Uli Brueggermann and his a fantastic software including all the functions you need to bring you closer to a TRUE music reproduction. Mitch Barnett wrote this book in a way that each aspects is treated STEP by STEP to make you achieve the BEST possible sound reproduction with the audio gear that you have, ie, either passive or active crossover. The book is well detailed and each step is has a lot of screen shot, to support you in the learning process. The result at the end worth the time effort, you will see that it is Day and Night if you compare your sound with and without the digital filters. If you go with "Active Xover" the impact will be tremendous, once you have linearized and time aligned your speakers. On top of improving the acuracy of your speakers, it will also adapt your speakers to your listening position in your room. A defenit "MUST HAVE" if you are really in the Audiophile World. Treat yourself and get Uli's Software from Audiovero and also Mitch Barnett's book, you won't regret it ! I implemented a 4Way active system and the soundstage is simply AMAZING.

Mitchco, as he i known on several audiophile forums makes a great case for using DSP while acquainting the reader with an understanding of the current state of the art and how it is achieved. The reason I deducted a star is that it centers its exposition on one particular brand of software, and never tackles the daunting task of making the reader aware of the ever increaing number of pathways to a fully implemented DSP enhanced system.I was an early adopter of using DSP to improve speaker performance and tame room problems since 2002. I simply couldn't imagine doing without. Of course the potential benefit will be most apparent to more modest systems, I suspect that it would have a positive on nearly all speakers regardless of cost. The exceptions are using built in DSP which is being offered by an ever increasing number of companies such as JBL, Genelec and any company who wants their products to perform at their very best.DSP is the future of audio, and the time has never been better to climb aboard, and say goodbye to the need for continual improvement via expensive upgrades. I spent tens of thousands of dollars on that merry-go-round for decades, and have now gone nearly 20 years since spending any real money. The only exception was spending several hundred for upgrading my digital audio source and adding a multichannel D2A converter that allows me to tri-amp my main speakers.

Acourate by Audiovero is THE best DSP software available for audio playback. Because it's so powerful, Acourate can be a little overwhelming to the first timer. This book is the ultimate guide to using Acourate to get the best playback in your listening environment. The book integrates room acoustics, psychoacoustic research and modern DSP in a step-by-step way which anyone can understand. The author is one of the leading DSP evangelists. Mitch uses numerous examples taken from a standard reverberant home listening environment to demonstrate that state-of-the-art playback does not require a professional recording studio or mega dollar components.

This is a must for Acourate users. A gold mine of knowledge that covers each and every step needed to understand why room correction is needed and how to go buy achieving it using Acourate. The author seems to be very knowledgeable on the subject and conveys the advanced knowledge to a user who i assume has some some basic science background. This book made me addicted to room correction and i now cannot live without running my speakers without it. Once you got over the basics of generating kernels, the next frontier is time alignment of drivers! :) Thank you Mitch Barnett.

Far to niche, focuses on just one product and not dsp in general.Not much better than a door stop for me, sorry.

Useful for anyone trying to setup the first serious high end dsp systems. For anyone with basic understanding of equalizers and crossover. Also good for advanced users to get familiar with the Acourate app first time.But, too simple for advanced Dsp and or Acourate users. Also too specific for Acourate and the authors system. If one has a not standard speaker or different software, the book lacks a bit of general advices that could be transformed into different circumstances.Reading this, one with average knowledge could setup the authors system but not necessarily his own.I'd be happy to find more such books anyhow.Explaining non engineers how to work with engineering tools.Maybe the author could release more, explaining the background and rules, functions and how to deal with various difficulties along the way. Preferably in various software like REW (which is only mentioned on the side).