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Dayton iMM-6 vs miniDSP UMIK-1

thecity2 said:
How does the Dayton UMM6 compare to these other mics?
Click to expand...
All cheap measurement microphones are about the same. As long as they have a cal file that is accurate for that individual microphone, you should be fine.

Once you get to the better microphones such as earthworks, then the tolerances get very tight and the cal files do not matter as much. You also, usually, gain max SPL capabilities.
 
I'm still trying to understand how he is getting these differences. Another review is here showing very similar response between Dayton iMM-6 vs miniDSP UMIK-1:


Posting it in this old thread because this thread is one of the top google responses now for the iMM-6 mic and it seems to be unfairly maligned unless anyone knows how the OP got the original differences. I was about to return my iMM-6 and get a different mic based on OP's post but now I'm leaning towards "it is fine".
 

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The bass roll-off is most likely caused by some load impedance issue of the analog mic input combined with a too small coupling capacitor in the mic or mic input.
The UMIK-1 is USB so has it's own pre-amp inside and bypasses the mic input.
The IMM-6 is not a great at low frequency extension but the ones I have do not drop off so soon nor that sharp so must be a pre-amp issue.
 
Jdunk54nl said:
Ideally with periodic pink noise you would have your window set to rectangular instead of Hann.
Click to expand...
Just mentioning for those who are interested: I believe a good reference for this can be found here:
(Section 5.2, page 44). Note that this will apply to any periodic (pseudo-random) noise function and the ‘Lock Frequency to RTA FFT’ button should be on.
 
I was just about to provide some advice but then saw Solderdude pretty much state the same thing. The Dayton iMM-6 is dependent on the quad pole input electronics of the device (phone/tablet/laptop) and the device microphone settings in software. Whereas USB mics are all self contained.
I suggest you set Mic level to lowest and see if you can get decent measurements like that. This minimises preamplification of the mic signal and so reduces noise and potential variable frequency response.
 
csepulv said:
I had been using a Dayton Audio iMM-6 calibrated microphone for REW measurements. It is fairly cheap ($20). But I just bought a miniDSP DDRC-24 kit, which came with the UMIK-1. So I used REW to take some measurements, to see how the UMIK-1 compared to the iMM-6.

I expected differences, but they seem much larger than I expected.


View attachment 162321
Red=iMM-6, Blue=UMIK-1: pure mode (on AVR), no EQ.

As started to google and read about the iMM6, it seems others have noted it doesn't record bass. But there is also the odd peak around 16k. I've done numerous measurements. I even tried some older speakers I had and they show the same 15-16k peaks.

Could I be doing something wrong in REW? (I did't change any settings other than selecting a different input.)

Or is this just the limitations of $20 iMM-6 vs $80 UMIK-1?
Click to expand...
Hi, I have the same mics and was facing the same issue of peaks at around 10-16k. You should try to use iMM6 with USB to TRRS Female connection Audio Driver (Connect USB audio driver with your laptop and use an extension cord of 3.5mm jack with TRRS male-female to place the mic at your listing position).

It reads SUB Frq. too.

Only the drawback I could find, it does not give a correct impulse response if I want to set my speaker distances/ speaker alignment correctly with an "accosting timing reference sweep". If anyone has a solution for the same, please share.

If needed, I will share the calibration data with comparison. This will help. Mine is now close to UMIK1. It suffices its purpose in $20.

I love this iMM6, very handy, cheap, lightweight, and easy to carry anywhere in the pocket.
 
Hi, please find below the measurements of UMIK-1 vs iMM-6.
Configuration is as below.
AVR - Denon x4700h
Speaker - Polk ES-15 (L+R used for measurement)
Sub - SVS SB 3000

Mic set-up as below.
IMG20231016113610.jpg

I have connected iMM-6 with a USB audio driver and selected "USB PnP Sound Device" as input in REW.
IMG20231016122454.jpg

I have used two different calibration files for iMM-6. One was the original file downloaded from the Dayton website and the Second one was the UMIK-1 file.

Sub-calibration data:
UMIK-1 vs iMM-6 Sub Cal Data_.png
Blue: UMIK-1 with factory calibrated file
Green: iMM-6 with factory calibrated file
Yellow: iMM-6 with UMIK-1 calibration file

Speaker Calibration data (without sub):

UMIK-1 vs iMM-6 L+R Cal Data_.png

Green: UMIK-1 with factory calibrated file
Red: iMM-6 with factory calibrated file
Purple: iMM-6 with UMIK-1 calibration file

I found that iMM-6 can measure below 10hz and comparing the price, it is a worthy investment. Differences are much acceptable considering the price to performance.
 
csepulv said:
A few people have noted listening position as a possible issue. Here is a plot I did a few weeks ago from a several different listening positions. This is with the DT iMM-6. They all show the spike at 16k. View attachment 162457

At the time, I assumed the 16k spike was the brightness I've read (here) is typical of Paradigm speakers. I had an older set of Paradigms, saw a similar spike and attributed to the brand. ‍♂️

With umik-1, I suspect the imm-6 is a problem. As @Tangband noted, it could just be dumb luck with a bad imm-6.

Not that the umik-1 is perfect, but worth experimenting. I will try the suggestion of pink noise and the moving mic method.
Click to expand...
Do not use the input as "Excel". Use "USB PnP Sound Device" as input
 
Jarvis85 said:
Hi, I have the same mics and was facing the same issue of peaks at around 10-16k. You should try to use iMM6 with USB to TRRS Female connection Audio Driver (Connect USB audio driver with your laptop and use an extension cord of 3.5mm jack with TRRS male-female to place the mic at your listing position).

It reads SUB Frq. too.

Only the drawback I could find, it does not give a correct impulse response if I want to set my speaker distances/ speaker alignment correctly with an "accosting timing reference sweep". If anyone has a solution for the same, please share.

If needed, I will share the calibration data with comparison. This will help. Mine is now close to UMIK1. It suffices its purpose in $20.

I love this iMM6, very handy, cheap, lightweight, and easy to carry anywhere in the pocket.
Click to expand...
Which USB to TRRS adaptor are you using? Is it on Amazon or Ebay?
 
Regarding the bass cut-off seen by the OP, the help notes of REW say that:
"There seems to be a growing trend for Windows laptops and PCs to apply noise cancellation processing to stereo microphone inputs, suppressing the content that is common to both channels. With USB microphones like the UMIK-1 the signal is the same on both channels, so it is all common content, and low frequencies may be heavily suppressed. If there are user controls for noise cancelling processing on inputs make sure they are off for the measurement input. Processing for an input can be turned off by going to the Windows Sound Settings, then selecting Sound Control Panel under Related Settings. Select the microphone to be used from the Recording tab then click the Properties button and select the Advanced tab. If there is an Enable audio enhancements box make sure it is not checked. Processing should not affect WASAPI exclusive devices.
This could perhaps explain the phenomenon, not seen by other users.
I have an UMM-6 which is an USB mic, the option is not even there in my case.
 
solderdude said:
The bass roll-off is most likely caused by some load impedance issue of the analog mic input combined with a too small coupling capacitor in the mic or mic input.
The UMIK-1 is USB so has it's own pre-amp inside and bypasses the mic input.
The IMM-6 is not a great at low frequency extension but the ones I have do not drop off so soon nor that sharp so must be a pre-amp issue.
Click to expand...
The spec on this mic says it can get down to 18hz? Would the usb version imm-6c fare better perhaps? What's the cheapest USB mic that will get down below 20 hz without the earthworks pricetag? Thank you.
 
imm-6 is just a mic and thus the response also depends on the used mic input and amplifier section.
The imm6c has a built-in mic pre-amp so is not bothered by whatever it is connected to.
The spec does not mention the cutoff points and assumes the calibration file is used.
 
It can but depends on what it is connected (load impedance and response of the analog input stage) to and if the calibration file is being used.
My IMM-6 clearly cannot go as low (several Hz) as my original WM-61A capsule for sure. (not the same one as the fake WM-61A being sold as 'real')
 
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