miniDSP UMIK-1 USB Measurement Calibrated Microphone

If you need to make acoustical measurements but don't want to invest thousands of dollars in equipment this USB mike from miniDSP is well worth it. It comes with 2 calibration files: Once you receive the mic you go to the miniDSP website, enter the serial number of the mic and then download 2 calibration data files. One of the files will say "90-degree" in the filename; That is for using the mic pointed at the ceiling. The other calibration file is for pointing the mic at the sound source, such as a speaker or speakers. This mic works very well with the free software program called REW (Room EQ Wizard). Though REW is free, it's full of great tools to help with room acoustic measurement as well as speaker measurements if you're building your own speakers. NOTE: The UMIK-1 mic has a build in analog to digital converter (DAC) so you DO NOT need to calibrate your sound card; The only time you need to calibrate the sound card is if your mic is analog; the exact procedure depends on the analog mic and interface you're using. With the UMIK-1, you just plug it into a USB port on your PC, start REW and go into PREFERENCES to set the mic as the input source, then load one of the calibration files you previously downloaded. Once you do that you are ready to test the mic and run a room sweep. Of course, the output of your PC (headphone jack) needs to be plugged into the audio system in the room you run sweeps for. Some have complained about the USB connectivity with this mic. So far, I have not had any issues. I will report back here perhaps in the future with an update if any problems develop. Otherwise, if you need a hi-quality calibration mic and don't want to deal with a analog mic and soundcard calibration, the UMIK-1 is the way to go.

Love this little mic, great for tuning home and car speakers to sound flat. It's a bit on the expensive side, but it's a very nice tool to have in your arsenal, and what you pay for in price you get back in convenience. It's small, lightweight, and the files needed were easy to find and download. Compatible and works with REW like charm!

I’ve been using the UMIK-1 for years now. After five years of consistent use the first one went bad. This was my replacement for the exact same model. There is no single perfect measurement microphone. I supplement with a second microphones to ease speaker development; however, for room acoustics and finalized speaker measurements in general, this microphone is all you’ll ever need to validate acoustics. I utilize a more complex microphone, DAC, and amplifier combination to find speaker-driver offsets only during any speaker design phase. These driver offsets “can” be calculated using the UMIK and some careful calculations, but cannot automatically be accounted for with a single microphone/DAC combo. I’m lazy and have my adapted process; however, I have, and still can do a complete design with the UMIK only. UMIK’s plug and play connection with related measurements software is simply impressive. Although there’s a large learning curve regarding software tools like REW to become proficient with usage, this microphone makes it as simple stupid as any microphone could. Software developers are always working hard in the background to improve the software to make the mic more useful yet. For the price of the UMIK -1 you can’t go wrong for what it does. Great mic!

If you are considering using REW to assess the frequency response of a space (such as a home theater or some other sort of media room), this is the mike to own. There really isn't any substitute other than the UMIK-2, which is MUCH more expensive. It is easy to install and works flawlessly.

I use this with free software called room EQ, and I’m able to with a calibration file. Get an accurate measurement of the frequency response of my speakers and room. Back in the day when I was younger and the speaker builder I would’ve loved this but it would’ve cost tens of thousands of dollars back in the 1990s. I don’t actually listen to this for sound recording so I can’t come in on that application.

I bought this to use with the free software package Room EQ Wizard. I used it to measure the acoustics of a recording studio in order to plan and build acoustic treatments (low frequency bass traps) - mostly to find the peaks and nulls in frequency response related to room geometry modal resonances - so that I could correctly target the design of the bass traps to the right frequencies. It worked great, and told me what frequencies I needed to target (which incidentally were the same frequencies I had predicted given the axial modes arising from on the room geometry). It sets up easily, the microphone is recognized by Room EQ Wizard, and allows you to use the included calibration file based on the microphone serial number. The room test takes all of about one minute. Make sure to use the best speakers you have for low frequency response because those speakers need to be able to generate audible sound way down to the lower end of the frequency range (I used a sub-woofer). Once you get the acoustic treatments built and installed, you can run the test again to see how successful your efforts at acoustic treatment were.

Works as described. I only got this for Dirac and to calibrate my sound system as it was highly recommended. It works as expected and I am not that much of an expert to make any more comments.

Very easy to use with the audio program I plugged it into. Takes accurate readings.