READ THE ROOM ROOM-CORRECTION APPS, TESTED
Ever since monitor speakers were first placed in a room for audio-production purposes, people have employed equalisers to compensate for what they perceived as impedances to a clear sonic picture. Unfortunately, analogue equalisers introduce phase shift, which is a frequency-specific delay, and this can make matters worse. Wiser money is put into in-the-room acoustic solutions but these are not always possible. There’s little space for bass traps, for example, in rented room and temporary accommodation.
Digital filters and equalisers provide audio solutions due to their capability to operate without introducing significant phase shift, which is why you will see some processors refer to linear or minimum phase. To achieve linear phase (time alignment at all frequencies), they add overall delay, within which the individual delays of discrete frequency bands can be adjusted.
Room-correction software can take measurements from various points in a room and assess how the amplitude and phase shift of discrete frequency bands compare before and after exiting a monitor system. The resulting map or profile can be used to create compensatory EQ curves and phase shifts. That’s the idea, at least.
FANTASTIC FOUR
We’re using four room-correction software products as part of our group test: IK Multimedia ARC System 3, Sonarworks Reference 4 Studio
