What's New in Smaart

What's New in Smaart

Smaart 9.5 - Released October 24, 2024

New Features

• Added Transfer Function Target Curve tolerance (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added support for creating Target Curves from saved data traces (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added Multi-File Playback (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added "Mono," "Stereo," and "Multi" generator playback types (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added SMPTE standard noise type (ST, RT)**
• Added Red noise contour (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added Pink/Red noise hybrid contour (ST, RT, LE)**
• Added band-limiting for signal generator noise contours other than Pink noise (ST, RT, LE)
• Added clock to SPL metrics list (ST, RT, LE, SPL)
• Added "Link plot zoom" preference (ST, RT, LE)
• Added coherence line thickness preference (ST, RT, LE)
• Added trace color assignment preference (ST, RT, LE)
• Added sine wave frequency sliders to signal generator flyout (ST, RT, LE)
• Added [V] hotkey to flush data buffer in IR Mode (ST)
• Added indication of SPL logging visible from RT and IR modes (ST)
• Added inverse pink weighting (ST, RT)
• Added the ability to capture hidden measurements when using "Capture All" (ST, RT, LE)

      **These features are explained in greater detail below.

Under the Hood

• Updated Live IR plot label behavior (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated SPL alarm display behavior (ST, SPL)
• Updated SPL alarm formatting in SPL Reports (ST, SPL)
• Updated scroll bar contrast (ST, RT, LE, SPL)
• Updated Leq MAX field behavior to not populate until buffer has been filled (ST, RT, LE, SPL)
• Updated "Pink Noise" label to "Noise" (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated Target Curve error message language (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated noise GUI (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated Smaart Loopback behavior when the signal generator is off (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated signal generation of pseudorandom noise (ST, RT, LE)
• Removed least significant digit from TF tolerance field (ST, RT, LE)
• Updated Smaart LE signal generator to allow non-compact view and updated default to non-compact view (LE)
• Improved behavior when editing fields (ST, RT, LE, SPL)
• Improved behavior when using the delay finder with SyncSource measurements (ST, RT)
• Improved view preset behavior with the live IR plot (ST, RT, LE)
• Improved organization of TF Graph Settings (ST, RT, LE)
• Improved "Link Plot Banding" behavior in multi-spectrum view (ST, RT, LE)
• Launching Smaart a second time now brings the existing program window to the front of the stack in Windows (ST, RT, LE, SPL)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where "Track All" command would not affect hidden measurements ( ST, RT, LE)
• Fixed a bug where hot plug would disconnect 10EaZy and stop SPL logging (ST, SPL)
• Fixed a bug where the "Start Logging" hotkey would trigger an SPL logging error message in Smaart LE (LE)
  

For a full list of release notes, please see the individual release notes for your edition. 

• Suite Release Notes
• RT Release Notes
• LE Release Notes
• SPL Release Notes 

Release Overview

Historically, there has never been a significant update for the Smaart platform past a 'dot' 4 release. As we've improved our feature-tracking capabilities and leveraged our resources to augment our update cycle, Version 9 aims to be the first major Smaart release to have significant, consistent updates beyond 9.4.

Smaart version 9.5 includes several quality-of-life improvements, expanding upon existing features to make them more robust and complete. Tolerance shading for transfer function target curves is a good example of this, an addition to the pre-existing Target Curve feature. 

We've also greatly expanded the signal generator with new noise shapes, new output schemes, multi-file playback, and other enhancements. 

Transfer Function Target Curve Tolerance

Added to the TF Target Curves dialog is a column to include a Tolerance value. Once enabled via checkbox, a gradient shade of the target curve color will be drawn above and below the target curve.

For example, a tolerance of 3.0 dB will draw a shaded area totaling 6dB: 3dB above the 3dB below (as you can see in the example above).

Creating Target Curves from Stored Traces

When right-clicking a stored data trace, you will see a new option to "Export as Target Curve." This option, available for both spectrum and transfer function traces, will create a target curve from the data you have selected. When doing this, both banding/smoothing values and any Y-offset are maintained, regardless of the current plot settings.

In the image above, we've created a transfer function target curve from a stored measurement set to Octave smoothing. Note that the plot smoothing is set to 1/12 octave. In the image below, we can see 1/12 octave smoothed data with Y-offset applied, as well as the stored target curve, and that both the smoothing and Y-offset are ignored by the target curve.

Signal Generator Enhancements

This is the most significant update to Smaart's signal generator, perhaps ever. When we moved the signal generator settings to a fly-up, that was the first step in the process which brought us here: new noise types, new ways of outputting test signals, and one of the more requested features - the ability to load multiple files into Smaart, making it so that you do not need to leave Smaart to playback text tracks.

New Pseudorandom Noise Contours

• Red Noise (sometimes referred to as brown noise) exhibits a -6dB/oct decrease in energy (a power spectrum proportional to 1/freq²). This noise source has a significant amount of low frequency energy and should not be considered a reliable noise source for finding delay times with transfer function measurements.

• Pink-Red is a hybridized noise contour created by Rational Acoustics which transitions from pink to red at 1 kHz. This way, the HF energy transitions to a Red contour higher in frequency, making it more useable than Red noise for full-range systems, while not exciting as much high frequency content, which can be fatiguing to both our ears and our loudspeakers.

• Pink and Speech-Weighted are unchanged from previous versions of Smaart.

SMPTE Noise

This selection configures the signal generator to output a noise signal that corresponds to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers definition in the SMPTE ST 2095-1. There are no user-definable settings for SMPTE noise.

SMPTE Noise has the following characteristics:

Output Selection: Mono, Stereo, Stereo+, and Multi

This adds the ability to select between different output schemes for Noise and File sources. Noise signals have the options of Mono, Stereo, and Multi (Multi-channel) output.

• Mono: when selected, an identical noise seed is sent to each enabled output. This is the default selection for noise.

• Stereo: When selected, individual noise seeds are generated for odd and even channels: One noise seed is sent to all enabled odd-numbered output channels, and a different noise seed is send to all enabled even-numbered channels (2 unique noise signals total). Note: It is absolutely necessary to use the same noise seed for both your loopback and your output. If you use two different noise seeds for a dual-channel measurement, you will be unable to produce any useful data. 

• Multi: This selection is disabled unless pseudorandom noise is selected. When selected, each enabled output will have its own unique noise seed. There is no limit to the number of channels that can have a unique output seed.

File signals now have the options of Mono and Stereo+.

• Mono: When selected, the file's channels are summed to mono and the mono sum is sent to any selected output channel.
• Stereo+: When selected, the first channel of a .wav file is sent to all odd-numbered channels and the second channel of a .wav file is sent to all even-numbered channels. If the file contains more than 2 channels, then all channels are accommodated in the order they are presented. For example, if a 5.1 channel FL/FR/Center/LFE/SL/SR, and outputs 1-6 are selected, those channels would receive the outputs as presented from the file.

Multi-File Playback

Often requested has been the ability to load multiple files into Smart for playback. In order to accommodate this, we've built a simple and straightforward media player into the File selection of the generator. This allows you to select multiple .wav files and load them directly into Smaart as a playlist. You're able to drag and drop your tracks to reorder them, if desired. The output sources will respect your selection under the Output selection, detailed above.

Start/Stop - The On button acts as the run button for file playback. Note this is not a play/pause button. When the generator is turned off and back on again, the selected file will start at the beginning.

Repeat - Selecting the repeat button in between the Next and Previous arrows will repeat the selected file rather than going to the next song in the playlist.