# Room EQ - REW, ARC. Sonarworks comparisons



## rudi (Jan 26, 2021)

I came across this video about room callibration, room acoustics and also includes comparisons between three pieces of software, REW, ARC 3 and Sonarworks 4.




It makes for interesting watching. I was rather impressed by the ingenious use of an iPhone to demonstate how an untreated room responds to various frequencies. 

It also highlights how much more sensitive high frequencies are to small changes in position, and the pros and cons of the various methods mentioned.


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## wst3 (Jan 26, 2021)

Interesting video! I'll give him props for his description of the problem, although he could have provided a little more detail, the big one being that none of these software solutions can fix the room, they can only fix one specific point, and if you move your chair, or your loudspeakers you could undo all your hard work.

One example - he mentions that the frequency response will be different in different parts of the room, but he stops short of pointing out that this can not be fixed with an equalizer since it is a physical problem.

Another example - he advises you to place your ears between one half and one quarter of the length of the room. His logic makes sense at first, it is good to stay away from the peaks and valleys, but this only solves the problem for the modes that lie along the length of the room. We also know that symmetry is important, so most of us place our ears equidistant from the sides. And with an 8 foot ceiling it is difficult not to place your ears halfway between the ceiling and the floor. In other words we have, at best, only solved one problem dimension. And the longest dimension often creates modes beneath the lowest frequency of interest.

I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, I just think folks should know in what they are investing their money.


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## Tfis (Jan 27, 2021)

Using a EQ is just the cherry on the cake. 
Most important is the treatment especially concerning the room modes. Therefore you have to use the waterfall chart in REW, btw. the microphone should be at your hearing position and @ 90° for measuring the room.
He used a 0° degree calibration file, which is for measuring the loudspeakers.
The 38% "rule" should just be a starting point.


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## BasariStudios (Jan 28, 2021)

There is a Game Changing product coming up by Acustica Audio soon.


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## Audio Birdi (Jan 30, 2021)

BasariStudios said:


> There is a Game Changing product coming up by Acustica Audio soon.


When did they mention this?  sounds intriguing!


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## BasariStudios (Jan 30, 2021)

Just wait and see.


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## muk (Jan 31, 2021)

When I compared various DRCs in my room a few years back, Dirac Live was way ahead of the rest. Sonarworks and ARC2 sounded like toys in comparison. The solution I chose in the end is Python Open Room Correction. It is a mess to set up. But once done, the results were on par with Dirac in my room. And it is completely free.


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## pixel (Jan 31, 2021)

I used REW a few years ago. It was a bit of painful process but it's free  
My room didn't had full treatment and with REW I was able to make mixes that translated much better than without it. So in my opinion it did it's job. 
Now, if I would have to buy a ready solution I would had really hard time to choose between ARC 3 and Sonarworks.


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## muk (Jan 31, 2021)

pixel said:


> Now, if I would have to buy a ready solution I would had really hard time to choose between ARC 3 and Sonarworks.


Any reason why you wouldn't include Dirac Live?


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## Vin (Jan 31, 2021)

pixel said:


> I used REW a few years ago. It was a bit of painful process but it's free
> My room didn't had full treatment and with REW I was able to make mixes that translated much better than without it. So in my opinion it did it's job.
> Now, if I would have to buy a ready solution I would had really hard time to choose between ARC 3 and Sonarworks.


I definitely preferred Sonarworks when I was testing in my room. https://www.audiovero.de/en/acourate.php (AudioVero Acourate) is another great option which isn't mentioned as often as the usual suspects and it corrects both frequency and phase issues, similar to much more expensive Trinnov. That isn't crucial for me since my Neumann DSP system uses its own phase correction, but that would be very helpful for DSPless speakers.


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## pixel (Jan 31, 2021)

muk said:


> Any reason why you wouldn't include Dirac Live?


Not really. I just know the other two while I learned about Dirac Live juat today.


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