Hi, lurker turned new user here!
I've been using REW for a few years as a tool for measuring room response and optimising acoustic room treatment only. I have recently taken the step into room EQ. After a few attempts (that I would consider somewhat successful if a bit inconsistent) I came across a tutorial titled "Average Measurements with REW". I'd like to ask a few questions to confirm or correct my understanding of what's involved.
I've been using REW for a few years as a tool for measuring room response and optimising acoustic room treatment only. I have recently taken the step into room EQ. After a few attempts (that I would consider somewhat successful if a bit inconsistent) I came across a tutorial titled "Average Measurements with REW". I'd like to ask a few questions to confirm or correct my understanding of what's involved.
- Aside from averaging measurements taken from different locations around the listener's head (which is what I've done, too), the tutorial talks about separate measurements from both speakers. I took measurements of the combined response from both speakers instead. Should I always measure the speakers individually, is this to keep the filters from trying to compensate for things that can't be EQ'ed away, like speaker interference?
- The tutorial also stresses that measurements need to be time-aligned before averaging, and shows a screenshot of the control panel on the "All SPL" screen. I'm not seeing the "Time align" button, am I doing something wrong, or has this function been removed (I'm using REW 5.18 on macOS).
- What is the importance and impact of smoothing before or after averaging? Should measurements be smoothed at all, should the resulting average be Var smoothed before EQ?
- I'm not able to do any modal analysis or calculate resonances using the average. Is this generally only possible with individual measurements?