DIY acoustics testing, part 1

Acoustics are huge part of achieving a high quality end result in music production, and the tool cost to improve the acoustics of your home studio have dropped significantly in recent years.

In this series, we’re going through all of the basics of how to run acoustic tests in a DIY setting.

Today, we’re talking gear. What do you need to get started?

Required materials for testing acoustics

1. A room to test.

2. A reference quality, omni-directional, measurement microphone.

3. A speaker.

4. Software for taking measurements and interpreting results.

How much does this cost?

None of this gear is as expensive as it might sound, and a lot of the software is open-source and free! Here’s some options:

1. MiniDSP UMIK-1 USB measurement mic ($79 at time of writing).

2. RoomEQ Wizard measurement software (open source and free!).

3. A computer (you probably already have one of these).

4. A little time spent with the free manual Room EQ Wizard offers on their website.

So, that’s under $100 to never again have to worry about your mix sounding weird when you play it back in the car.

Next time: we’ll dig deeper into the the hardware needed to set up your simple, affordable acoustics testing rig.