Smaart v7.5 Training Session

  • 03 Jun 2015
  • 10:00 AM
  • 04 Jun 2015
  • 5:00 PM
  • The National Theatre, Southbank, London
  • 1

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Smaart v7.5 Training Session


This course will introduce the fundamentals of Smaart. It is suitable for beginners. The full course itenerary is below.

Register for your place now, for free. This event is for ASD members only.

-- THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL - HITTING A NEW RECORD FOR ALL PLACES BEING FILLED WITHIN 29 MINUTES OF BEING ANNOUNCED! PLEASE REGISTER HERE FOR THE RESERVE LIST - IF SOMEONE DROPS OUT PLACES WILL BE ALLOCATED IN ORDER OF RESERVATION --

PLEASE NOTE: This is a two-day training session (10am–5pm & 9am–5pm) where Day 2 is a continuation of Day 1. REGISTRATION IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF YOU ARE ABLE TO COMMIT TO BOTH DAYS!

Participants are asked to bring the following equipment–

• A laptop loaded with Smaart v7.5 - fully licensed if at all possible. Note that demo versions may be used but they don’t support all features or save settings
• A 2 (or more) channel soundcard or I/O system with cables to interface with balanced, line level classroom demo signals supplied on male XLRs. Note that many soundcards only have line input capabilities via 1/4" jack sockets so please do bring the appropriate XLR female-Jack cables.
• A measurement microphone


The training session will be run for the ASD by Jim Cousins.

A full version of Smaart will be available to attendees for £395 + VAT (normal price is £575 + VAT) from Wigwam. This price is available for up to 90 days after the class.

If you live more than 50 miles from London, you could be eligible for our travel assistance scheme, where we may pay a proportion of your travel costs.

The ASD would like to thank Jim Cousins, Wigwam, and The National Theatre for making this very special course possible to our members.

Course itinerary subject to change

Day 1 (10am 5pm) Morning

Session 1

Sound and acoustics basics

Overview of different measurement types

Single channel dBFS, SPL, Spectrum
Dual channel Transfer functions Frequency domain, Time domain Multichannel Typical sound system set-up

Session 2

Brief Smaart 7 overview

What can Smaart v7.5 do? Single channel, dual channel, multichannel

-Short break-

Getting up and running, input level metering

Running Smaart for the first time, getting signals into Smaart Smaart IO
Smaart level meter input dbFS monitoring
Basic class set-up, signal distribution checks etc.

Session 3

Further Smaart metering, microphone calibration & SPL

Microphone channel calibration – using Smaart’s level meter to monitor spl and Leq Tinker time

-Break/set-up debugging, if necessary

Smaart screen areas

Drop-down menus, Help menu Control strip
Plot area
Data bar

Session 4

Basic spectral measurements

Spectrum Banding Averaging Tinker time

Spectrograph measurements

Spectrograph Dynamic range controls Tinker time

Further spectrograph measurements

Is it the room or the system? Using the spectrograph function for a quick check Spectrograph practice
Tinker time

-Lunch-

Day 1: Afternoon

Session 5

Basic transfer function measurements

Review of dual channel techniques source independence Frequency domain and time domain

FFT fundamentals

Sample rate/FFT size/Time constant relationships, making the right choices Direct or direct + reverb
Synchronising Measurement and Reference signals Delay locator Controller/delay line/equaliser measurement example

Tinker time

Session 6

Further transfer function measurements

Loudspeaker measurement example Smoothing

Magnitude threshold and coherence blanking

How to deal with a lack of signal
How to deal with noise and interference from other sources Further uses of FFT size/Time constant relationships Tinker time for rest of day

-Short break-

Session 7

Review of earlier stuff, if necessary, before moving on...

Microphone calibration & SPL Spectral measurements Spectrograph measurements Transfer function measurements

Session 8

Phase, polarity and timing

3

Phase shift vs time offset and frequency
Polarity reversals
Effects of multiple source arrivals combing, and combinations of the above Tinker time

Session 9

Low frequency boundary effects, sub alignment. Front fill & delay alignment

  •   Cross-over and driver placement effects polarity/phase

  •   Acoustically small subwoofers and subwoofer arrays phase rotation caused by boundaries

  •   Sub-mainphasealignment

  •   Front fill imaging considerations

  •   Frontfillalignment

  •   Delay speaker alignment

  Tinker time - if the classroom is small (compared to LF wavelengths), sub-main alignment may done outdoors

Day 2 (9am 5pm) Morning

Session 9a

Subwoofer arrays

Subwoofer arrays, reverse-polarity cardioid, in-phase (end-fired) cardioid etc depends on venue & facilities
This is only an introduction. A full, 1-day practical subwoofer array course is available. Contact Jim Cousins for further details.

Session 10/11

Working with multiple channels

Session 12

System considerations

Avoiding confusion

Session 13

Trace interpretation

Lines on the screen vs ear-brain perception -Short break-

Session 14

Introduction to sound system alignment
Stereo system alignment
Single system near-field alignment
Far-field measurement, coverage, improving intelligibility Stereo matching matching eq, fine placement adjustments Multiple microphones trace averaging

Session 15

Microphone comparisons

Comparing mics, comparing listening positions & system propagation (Dual mic techniques for room analysis will be covered later)

-Lunch-

Day 2: Afternoon

Session 16

The great outdoors

Line array consideration, long-throw propagation, air absorption Outdoor considerations temperature and wind gradient
Longer FFT time constant + smoothing measuring in windy conditions

Session 17

Dual microphone techniques
Case study investigating stage sound anomalies using dual microphone techniques

-Short break-

Session 18

Smaart v7.5’s Impulse mode

Introduction to acoustical analysis, reverberation, intelligibility
Tinker time. Room analysis reverberation & intelligibility measurements

Extras. If time available at the end of the official 2-day itinerary...

Advanced FFT measurement concepts

Data window types Magnitude average types

Session 19 options (advanced measurement session discussions)

  Advanced system measurements – polar vs complex averaging, MTW vs fixed FFT size etc...
  Full system level & time alignment (mains, subs, delays etc.) if in suitable equipped venue
  Equalisation practice. When to equalise, and when not to equalise with reference to averaging type
  Imaging practice if in suitably equipped venue fictitious stage sources
  Subwoofer arrays, reverse-polarity cardioid, in-phase (end-fired) cardioid depends on venue & facilities

(See Session 9a note earlier)

Session 20

Q & A/General discussion session

Idiot-check! Have we missed anything specific that you hoped would be covered? Last minute questions
Getting help if you hit a snag when using Smaart in the real world

- Finish & get-out - 




See the venue location on Google Maps



Terms and Conditions

Please note, the ASD reserves the right to make changes to the programme without prior notice. Such alterations may occasionally be necessary due to circumstances beyond our control.

All events will be filmed and/or photographed - your presence confirms your permission for the ASD to use any images or recordings of you in our publicity materials and seminar archive.

The ASD does not accept responsibility for anyone acting as a result of information or views expressed on its training courses including course material. Opinions expressed are those of individual trainers and not necessarily those of the ASD. Participants should take professional advice when dealing with specific situations.

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