Follow Us Let our rigorous testing and reviews b e your guidelines to A/V equipment – not marketing slogans E-Books Product Reviews AV Research AV News Home Theater Setup Forums You are here: Home → Acoustical Product Reviews → XTZ Sound Room Analyzer II Pro Measurement Kit Review XTZ Sound Room Analyzer II Pro Measurement Kit Review 7 Search Submit AV News! By Cliff Heyne — March 31, 2014 Product Name: Room Analyzer II Pro Manufacturer: XTZ Sound Performance Rating: Value Rating: Review Date: M
With kits like XTZ’s Room Analyzer II Pro, it’s easier than ever before for consumers to analyze the acoustics of their room and make the needed adjustments. At Audioholics, we have always said that great equipment is only part of the equation. Not only does the gear need to be configured properly (crossover, level, distance, etc.), the acoustics of the listening space also need to be considered.
stimulus EQ, more overlays and tone generator. At this point in most reviews, I would launch into a discussion of what the product is supposed to do and wait until later in the review to talk about how it actually performs. In this review, however, both sections are integrated together below. Set Up One of the main advantages of kits like Room Analyzer II Pro or OmniMic from a Dayton Audio, is that set up is simple. Everything you need comes packaged together, and has all been calibrated to work in unison.
XLR cables don’t exude quality, like you might find with costlier standalone products, but each piece is quite functional. The same goes for the microphone. It looks similar to most of the omnidirectional measurement mics on the market, but is a little smaller and lighter than my Dayton audio EMM-6, one of the more popular entry level mics for sale. The connection box, on the other hand, has a solid aluminum enclosure that reminds me of professional gear.
XTZ Room Analyzer Softw are Screenshot Measurements for each section of the software are loaded and saved independently, though RTA measurements cannot be exported or loaded. Saving each section independently makes sense, but I would also like a “save all” option. You can also export a screen dump, which is a screen capture of whatever section of the software you are using at the moment.
After the measurements have been completed and the EQ calculated, the software gives you a number of tools to tweak the results, as long as you are in advanced mode. Below is a comparison of standard and advanced modes. Room Analyzer Basic Mode In the basic mode, you can view the measured curve (blue) and calculated results curve after applying the suggested EQ (white). It also displays the found room modes with suggested EQ (frequency, gain, and Q) in the table on the right.
Stimulus EQ section. Any filters in the Stimulus EQ are added in-line to the signal sent to your receiver. This allows you to test the effects of different filters without actually loading them into your equalizer. The gain, frequency, and Q of the filters in the Found Room Modes and Stimulus EQ sections can be manually edited. This gives you plenty of power to try out different filters quickly and easily.
fine with 1/3 octave resolution, but when taking speaker measurements I prefer to use 1/6 or 1/12. Noticeably absent is the ability to change the dB scale of the window, which is locked in at 50-100dB. Frequency is also locked in at 16-315Hz. A nice touch is a little display at the bottom of the screen that shows the exact frequency and magnitude (dB) of the wherever your mouse curser is located.
I would like to see the option for higher resolution than 1/3 octave, which would simply require a software update. Otherwise, the RTA offers an easy way to measure the frequency response of your system using the built-in tone generator, and the Listen function is a great way to see happens when playing other material through your system. Full Range The last major component of Room Analyzer II Pro is the Full Range window.
incorrect settings in Windows for the playback and recording devices (both were set to 44.1 kHz sampling frequency instead of the correct 48 Khz) were at fault. After these changes, I was able to get the software to help me dial in my speakers to the exact millimeter. It took a few minutes, as I needed to take a new measurement of the subwoofer every time I changed the distance, but that was easy as it could all be done from the luxury of my couch.
updated to include options for adjusting color, name, dB offset, and the ability to cut off curves are certain frequencies so multiple curves can be spliced together. Each curve should be easily saved and reloaded individually or as an entire project. A 1/3 octave resolution for the RTA and inability to adjust smoothing in the Full Range setting should both be addressed. The screen dump feature should be updated to include all views of the waterfall plot.
and understand. All things considered, this is a pretty effective system. If you are looking for a way to gain more insight into how your speakers interact with your room and what to do to fix any issues, the XTZ Sound Room Analyzer II Pro kit is probably the easiest method out there.
I'm new to room correction, and quite frankly the math baffles me. Is REW an easy system to use for beginers, or someone who doesn't quite understand what they are doing? I'd like to see what i'm working with as far as sound and learn more about it. I need a system that is going to walk me through it, and teach me along the way. Any other suggestions on which system or software for dummies would be appreciated.
For quick measurement to set the PEQ on my Emotiva X-ref10, or level and distance on my Denon. I use XTZ. For speaker measurements I still use OmniMic because of the added curve adjustments. I might venture into using REW again in the future. ReUpRo;1026349 All things said, I really liked reading your writeup. This is the first AH article in a while that I read through entirely without skipping anything.
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