Sound Card Calibration

[Champster]

I have a Umik1, MacBook Pro, Topping DAC and am unable to adjust the In to match the Out. I guess first question is do I need to calibrate the sound card with this setup?
The Umik1 seems to have a default 18dB gain?
Is it better in 2 channel to use the 90º mic orientation or better to have it pointed to the front wall between the speakers?
I am not getting any error notices when measuring, all seems to be working well with measurements, I just want to make sure those measurements are accurate.
Any other adjustments on the Preferences page you’d recommend and why?
Thanks
Paul

 

[John Mulcahy]

do I need to calibrate the sound card with this setup?

No, per the help there is no soundcard cal with USB mics.

18 dB is the internal gain of the UMIK-1, it is possible (though difficult) to open the mic and adjust that via internal DIP switches.

Is it better in 2 channel to use the 90º mic orientation or better to have it pointed to the front wall between the speakers?

You can use either with the corresponding cal file loaded, but the 0 degree cal file is the one that is measured at the factory while to 90 degree file is derived from it by applying a nominal correction for the angle of incidence. I'd use the 0 degree file and point the mic at what I'm measuring. It only starts to affects the results at frequencies above 1 kHz though.

 

[Champster]

Hello John and thank you for developing this fabulous software. I made a contribution to help the cause.

Thank you for including the link to the help file and for your insight on the orientation of the mic.