Dayton Audio EMM-6 as good as UMIK-1 for someone who already has an audio interface?

[bgravato]

Given I already have a Motu M2 interface, I'm thinking about getting a Dayton Audio EMM-6 instead of the so famous UMIK-1 and save €20.

From what I've read both are supposed to have calibration files provided by the manufacturer and should be somewhat equivalent quality/accuracy wise, although I recently found a couple of comments here saying that the calibration files for EMM-6 aren't very good...
How true is this? Are EMM-6 calibration files really that bad (compared to the UMIK-1)?
Or perhaps those persons complaining about it have very crappy interfaces or forgot to first run the calibration for the audio interface before connecting the mic?

I will be using it with REW, for room treatment/speaker placement and also to do some comparisons between different speakers.

Shall I go for the EMM-6? Or shall I ditch the extra €20 for the UMIK-1?

I already have a large diaphragm mic that I've used for some preliminary tests with REW, but I understand this doesn't have a very flat freq. response, so I'm considering buying an actual measurement mic with calibration file. If EMM-6 (or UMIK-1 for that matter) can't provide a reliable calibration, then it's not even worth buying I guess.

TIA

 

[Blumlein 88]

I'd say for all practical purposes the EMM-6 is fine. However, the advantage of the UMIK-1 is you only need a PC, not that plus an interface to do measurements. If doing them at home, then no advantage. The other advantage is REW will give you correct SPL levels with no effort on your part. For me, I don't do it all the time, but when I take the Umik to a friend's house or do some outdoor measurements of SPL the advantage of one less box plus known SPL levels make it worth the extra money. The EMM-6 does have the advantage of me having some long XLR cables if I need to measure somewhat remotely.

Also it is possible to cal your LDC with published response curves to get a quite usable result if it is an omni.

 

[AnalogSteph]

With you being located in Euroland, I would look at other options available locally as well (e.g. at Thomann). I've been quite happy with my Sonarworks mic, you get a 0° calibration text file and it's not too noisy (my previous Monacor mic was a bit of a bust). Getting a Behringer ECM-8000 and having a calibrated would cost about the same. (That, the Superlux ECM-999 and the t.bone MM-1 all seem to be about the same.) For a more upmarket option, there's the Beyerdynamic MM-1.

 

[bgravato]

I'd say for all practical purposes the EMM-6 is fine. However, the advantage of the UMIK-1 is you only need a PC, not that plus an interface to do measurements. If doing them at home, then no advantage. The other advantage is REW will give you correct SPL levels with no effort on your part. For me, I don't do it all the time, but when I take the Umik to a friend's house or do some outdoor measurements of SPL the advantage of one less box plus known SPL levels make it worth the extra money. The EMM-6 does have the advantage of me having some long XLR cables if I need to measure somewhat remotely.

Also it is possible to cal your LDC with published response curves to get a quite usable result if it is an omni.

Thanks for the reply. For the purpose I don't think I need accurate SPL levels, but yes that's an advantage of the UMIK-1.

My LDC is a T-Bone SC1100. Thomann has a (crappy) graph of it's response curve here, but I haven't found a file/text version of it and creating one from that graph probably not an easy task. I guess I can contact Thomann and see if they can provide one...

 

[bgravato]

With you being located in Euroland, I would look at other options available locally as well (e.g. at Thomann). I've been quite happy with my Sonarworks mic, you get a 0° calibration text file and it's not too noisy (my previous Monacor mic was a bit of a bust). Getting a Behringer ECM-8000 and having a calibrated would cost about the same. (That, the Superlux ECM-999 and the t.bone MM-1 all seem to be about the same.) For a more upmarket option, there's the Beyerdynamic MM-1.

Thank you for the reply.

I've bought gear from Thomann before (my large diphragm is a T.bone SC1100 from them).
I checked their measurement mics offers, but the "affordable" ones don't seem to have a calibration file (such as the ones you suggested), so I thought they wouldn't be that useful without one...

For EMM-6 (and UMIK-1) I'm currently looking at Audiophonics (France).
Sound Imports also has both models available, but Audiophonics has better prices. Shipping costs are approx. the same.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Thanks for the reply. For the purpose I don't think I need accurate SPL levels, but yes that's an advantage of the UMIK-1.

My LDC is a T-Bone SC1100. Thomann has a (crappy) graph of it's response curve here, but I haven't found a file/text version of it and creating one from that graph probably not an easy task. I guess I can contact Thomann and see if they can provide one...

Search for web plot digitizer. Piece of cake to turn a graph into a .csv file that REW will accept for calibration.

 

[bgravato]

Search for web plot digitizer. Piece of cake to turn a graph into a .csv file that REW will accept for calibration.

Interesting I didn't know that... I'll search for it. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Blumlein 88]

Here is the how to. Watching the video in this case is most instructive.

WebPlotDigitizer - Extract data from plots, images, and maps

Here is where you can upload the graph image and turn it into a .csv file.

WebPlotDigitizer - Copyright 2010-2024 Ankit Rohatgi

apps.automeris.io

Here is a post showing my results after calibrating two microphones vs a Umik 1.

Is it possible to flatten out a non measurement microphone?

I was wondering if one could flatten out a microphone by inverting the frequency response found in a graph. I would like to get a taste of the result without having to buy an expensive microphone for this... There's a Superlux microphone, which is pretty cheap, but requires an audio interface...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[bgravato]

Here is the how to. Watching the video in this case is most instructive.

WebPlotDigitizer - Extract data from plots, images, and maps

Here is where you can upload the graph image and turn it into a .csv file.

WebPlotDigitizer - Copyright 2010-2024 Ankit Rohatgi

apps.automeris.io

Here is a post showing my results after calibrating two microphones vs a Umik 1.

Is it possible to flatten out a non measurement microphone?

I was wondering if one could flatten out a microphone by inverting the frequency response found in a graph. I would like to get a taste of the result without having to buy an expensive microphone for this... There's a Superlux microphone, which is pretty cheap, but requires an audio interface...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thanks! I'll be trying it in the weekend.

 

[staticV3]

@bgravato Ideally, you want to buy a measurement mic which has been individually calibrated by a reputable service provider.

Although you can download unique Cal files based on the S/N for both the EMM-6 and UMIK-1, they seem to be of subpar quality:
https://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/63943-emm-6-calibration
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...libration_Comparison-4x_foolhardy_Remacri.png

Besides Cross-Spectrum Labs in the US, there's also Akulap in Germany where you can buy properly calibrated ECM-8000 mics for 100€: https://www.akulap.de/joomla/index.php/de/shop/product/view/17/177

And the ECM-8000 certainly needs calibration, as this frequency response graph of 125 different ECM-8000 units shows:

(Link)

Akulap also have some basic info, measurements, and recommendations on a bunch of different USB and XLR measurement mics in their respective product descriptions.

 

[dasdoing]

Understanding Microphone Calibration

A measurement microphone is an essential tool for doing any acoustic system adjustments. Although it can not substitute ears and brain in ev...

melp242.blogspot.com

 

[bgravato]

@bgravato Ideally, you want to buy a measurement mic which has been individually calibrated by a reputable service provider.

Although you can download unique Cal files based on the S/N for both the EMM-6 and UMIK-1, they seem to be of subpar quality:
https://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/63943-emm-6-calibration
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...libration_Comparison-4x_foolhardy_Remacri.png

Besides Cross-Spectrum Labs in the US, there's also Akulap in Germany where you can buy properly calibrated ECM-8000 mics for 100€: https://www.akulap.de/joomla/index.php/de/shop/product/view/17/177

And the ECM-8000 certainly needs calibration, as this frequency response graph of 125 different ECM-8000 units shows:
View attachment 318255
(Link)

Akulap also have some basic info, measurements, and recommendations on a bunch of different USB and XLR measurement mics in their respective product descriptions.

Thanks!

I'm in Europe, so CSL isn't viable, but I'll check Akulap. They seem a bit pricey though... Thomann sells the ECM8000 (uncalibrated) for 35€. Paying extra 65€ (plus shipping) for calibration seems a bit steep...

 

[dasdoing]

Thanks!

I'm in Europe, so CSL isn't viable, but I'll check Akulap. They seem a bit pricey though... Thomann sells the ECM8000 (uncalibrated) for 35€. Paying extra 65€ (plus shipping) for calibration seems a bit steep...

years ago when I got my EMM-6 I considered taking a CSL-corrected mic, but decided against it cause of the price. If I could go back and pay 3x the value to get the CSL one, I would do it. Having a measuring mic you can't fully trust kind of defeats its purpose.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Those located in Germany can get a calibration done by the Hifi-Selbstbau folks at 25€ (0°) / 40€ (0°+90°).

Mikrofonkalibrierung – HiFi-Selbstbau-Der Shop

I think this is offered more as a service to the DIY community than to make major profit, though the many mics they've gone through over the years should at least have paid for the equipment.

 

[bgravato]

years ago when I got my EMM-6 I considered taking a CSL-corrected mic, but decided against it cause of the price. If I could go back and pay 3x the value to get the CSL one, I would do it. Having a measuring mic you can't fully trust kind of defeats its purpose.

True. Also makes me ponder whether I really need/want a measuring mic.

 

[bgravato]

Those located in Germany can get a calibration done by the Hifi-Selbstbau folks at 25€ (0°) / 40€ (0°+90°).

Mikrofonkalibrierung – HiFi-Selbstbau-Der Shop

I think this is offered more as a service to the DIY community than to make major profit, though the many mics they've gone through over the years should at least have paid for the equipment.

Thanks for the suggestion!
I'm not in Germany, so shipping costs involved and such, might end up being a lot more, but I'll look into it.

 

[dasdoing]

True. Also makes me ponder whether I really need/want a measuring mic.

any measuring mic is better than not measuring.

 

[bgravato]

Here is the how to. Watching the video in this case is most instructive.

WebPlotDigitizer - Extract data from plots, images, and maps

Here is where you can upload the graph image and turn it into a .csv file.

WebPlotDigitizer - Copyright 2010-2024 Ankit Rohatgi

apps.automeris.io

Here is a post showing my results after calibrating two microphones vs a Umik 1.

Is it possible to flatten out a non measurement microphone?

I was wondering if one could flatten out a microphone by inverting the frequency response found in a graph. I would like to get a taste of the result without having to buy an expensive microphone for this... There's a Superlux microphone, which is pretty cheap, but requires an audio interface...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I finally had some time to work on that last weekend, but I got into a dilemma... The graph of the frequency response for the mic (provided by Thomann) has more than one line... So not sure which one should I use.

It splits into two different lines in the low frequencies, not sure what that's supposed to mean...
Then there's also the blue line, which I have no idea what it means either...
Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[staticV3]

I finally had some time to work on that last weekend, but I got into a dilemma... The graph of the frequency response for the mic (provided by Thomann) has more than one line... So not sure which one should I use.

View attachment 321485

It splits into two different lines in the low frequencies, not sure what that's supposed to mean...
Then there's also the blue line, which I have no idea what it means either...
Any thoughts? Thanks.

Your SC 1100 has three different polar patterns, so this graph shows the frequency response for each one.
I don't know which is which. That's a question for Thomann support.

Edit: not true actually as there are individual graphs for each mode


The blue line may indicate the proximity effect for each mode, but what the two orange lines in the omni graph are supposed to show, I don't know.

 

[bgravato]

Your SC 1100 has three different polar patterns, so this graph shows the frequency response for each one.

Yes I first thought that too...
But then I also realized this as well:

Edit: not true actually as there are individual graphs for each mode

The blue line may indicate the proximity effect for each mode, but what the two orange lines in the omni graph are supposed to show, I don't know.

Beats me too, especially since the other two graphs don't have that...
I may try do some measurements in cardiod mode too and compare.

Thanks for the reply.