Budget audio interface for measurements?

[neifle]

Hi! Are budget audio interfaces (like umc22 or 204hd or <$70) suitable for measurement microphones and room correction processes?
Budget udio interface + calibrated good mic or just umik1? Btw I don't have any dac, exept cx31993 at the moment.

 

[staticV3]

Are budget audio interfaces (like umc22 or 204hd or <$70) suitable for measurement microphones and room correction processes?

Yes.

Budget udio interface + calibrated good mic or just umik1?

UMIK-1 for convenience, repeatability, and absolute SPL measurements.

Audio interface+mic to enable loopback timing reference for timing sensitive measurements.

 

[neifle]

Yes.


UMIK-1 for convenience and repeatability.

Audio interface+mic to enable loopback timing reference for timing sensitive measurements.

Thanks. I want to understand whether the second option (budget audio interface + calibrated microphone) is also reliable in terms of repeatability? Since my budget allows for only one of the two options.

 

[staticV3]

I want to understand whether the second option (budget audio interface + calibrated microphone) is also reliable in terms of repeatability?

It could be, but assuring said reliability will take some manual work.

For example, some interfaces have slightly gain-dependent frequency response, so you'd have to test this first.

Also, if you want to measure absolute SPL then I'd advise against an interface as both calibrating SPL and ensuring consistent gain between sessions is tricky.

The UMIK-1 does not have these issues as it is calibrated at the factory and does not have user adjustable gain.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Sometimes, especially in the recent year or two Julian Krause on Youtube shows frequency response of the mic inputs at different gain settings. Some are stable at all gains, others are close. Price is no guarantee either way. The Behringers have some issues with max levels and noise. You probably would end up spending at least double for an interface and calibrated microphone vs a Umik.

A Umik is the cheaper alternative for this if you want to do room correction. There aren't any significant downsides if you have no other uses for the interface. Either approach can be good. If budget is a big concern go with the Umik and don't worry about it. As staticV3 also mentioned the Umik has the advantage of being already calibrated for SPL levels. You don't have to do anything other than load the cal file and use the Umik. Read outs of the SPL will be on the money.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

I've been using a UMIK-1 mic, which is a USB-C device and requires no stand-alone preamp/interface when used with the iOS version of AudioTools for iPad. For the dedicated mic that comes with the IK Media ARC Studio room correction system, I use a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (4th Generation).

As a sidebar, I can't say enough good things about the ARC Studio and its "Natural Phase" filter option.