My honest review of Acourate

[mitchco]

Even with the book I wrote, which covers several acoustical topics other than Acourate, just scratches the surface of what Acourate can do. It is a professional's digital audio toolbox for Digital Signal Processing (DSP). It makes the assumption that one understands DSP. Meaning one has had College/University level training in DSP or is a DSP professional in the industry. Uli's toolbox contains virtually every filter function one can use for DSP audio.

 

The quality of Acourate and especially the quality of the filters are top notch. The book I wrote is complete in the sense that it covers virtually all aspects of using Acourate for DSP'ing ones loudspeakers and room. It provides a repeatable process for digital XO's time aligning and linearizing drivers, smoothing the frequency response at the listening position plus excess phase correction. This covers 99% of the usage scenarios for anyone wanting to use DSP for loudspeaker and room correction. There is even added sections on advanced acoustical measurment techniques like beamforming .

 

So Acourate coupled with online tutorials, articles here on CA and elsewhere, Acourates Wiki and support forum, plus my book should have everyone covered. Of course there are edge cases, but that is why Uli provides excellent support, along with the forum with very knowledgeable members.

 

With that said, I highly recommend Acourate if you have a technical background and even if you don't, there are many helpful resources that would guide you through designing and generating  top notch FIR filters. There is some level of automation in the tool for basic loudspeaker and room correction and after a few tries, should take one 30 minutes from setting up the measurement mic to listening to music.

 

If you are looking for a more automated approach, with the capability of digital XO's and other features that don't exist in other DSP toolsets, then I recommend giving Audiolense a go, in which I wrote a CA article on. I can say that the filters generated by Audiolense are as good as Acourates, but comes with more automation. I have another upcoming article using Audiolense to integrate subwoofers with mains.

 

Finally, there will absolutely be a 2nd edition of my book expanding on what currently is there, plus the addition of other DSP software that I feel is on par with Acourate from a SQ perspective. 

 

Folks, designing your own custom FIR filter for your specific loudspeakers in your own listening environment is something that one could not even do 10 years ago, let alone making available to consumers. The power of today's DSP software is extremely sophisticated and does take some time and effort to understand what is going on, how to apply in order to deign and generate good sounding filters. However, software like Audiolense can have one designing a complicated multi-channel digital XO filter and be listening in to the excellent results in 30 minutes. It doesn't get any better than that.

 

Feel free to reach out to me via PM is you have any specific questions.  Enjoy the music!

 

Kind regards, Mitch 

 

 

[mitchco]

Hey Gadgetry, not yet. I am still evaluating which DSP tools will make the next Edition. Also, I have been collecting feedback from the community to see which DSP features provide the most interest for the majority of folks. I have a list from Keith, but also looking for common goals. For example, subwoofer integration is high on the list for many folks...

 

Is there something specific you are looking for?

 

Kind regards, Mitch

[mitchco]

Hi Keith,

 

A good one is The Scientists and Engineers Guide to DSP: http://www.dspguide.com/ which you can read online and download the chapters.

 

Another is: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/ Especially the Introduction to Digital Filters.

 

A list can be found at: https://dspguru.com/dsp/books/favorites/ and DSPGuru is good in its own right.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Mitch

 

 

 

 

[mitchco]

See this article on how to import mic calibration file. Use a 48 kHz sample rate instead of the 96 kHz I used in the article.

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/ca-academy/acourate-digital-room-and-loudspeaker-correction-software-walkthrough/

 

[mitchco]

@Facel Thanks for asking. No, I have not as I am still adding to the DSP software product portfolio I intend to cover in the next edition. Even though the DSP concepts and most of the procedures in the current book apply to virtually all digital loudspeaker and room correction products, I am getting into the implementation details of each DSP product. I am also adding a chapter on integrating subwoofer(s) as this is a problematic area, especially if one wants to time align subs with mains.

 

There has been new research into target frequency responses correlating to listener preferences, and a new industry standard on measuring loudspeakers and predicting in room responses that are being added to the book.

 

Right now, a new and interesting DSP software product is being added and there will be a review of it on AS shortly.

 

Sorry, I don't have an ETA on when the next edition with be available, but I am working on it.

 

Kind regards,

Mitch

[mitchco]

Sorry  @Facel I cannot disclose at this time, but the review will be up soon...