Scope and Purpose of the Online User Guide

Scope and Purpose of the Online User Guide

This guide is intended as a practical introduction to configuring and operating Smaart v9. Most of the topics discussed here are related specifically to features found in Smaart Suite and RT's Real Time Modes (Smaart RTA only contains Real Time Mode, thus - "RT").

There are separate guides for Smaart LE, Smaart SPL, and Smaart Data Modeler (DM):

• LE User Guide
• SPL User Guide
• Data Modeler User Guide
  

Our goals are to provide a comprehensive explanation of the program, its features, and its operation along with a brief survey of some of the core concepts related to acoustic measurement and analysis. These are intended to establish a foundation for making valid, repeatable measurements and extracting some useful information from the results. This is not a guide on sound system engineering or acoustical measurement in general. We would strongly urge anyone new to the subject who is serious about learning it to go and explore one or more books on these subjects. A list of some helpful resources can be found here.

We assume that the reader has a basic understanding of professional audio equipment and sound systems. A separate guide entitled Smaart Gear Choices discusses the basics of computer audio I-O devices and hardware related specifically to acoustical measurement and analysis, such as measurement microphones and sound level calibrators.

Regardless of past experience with previous versions of Smaart or other measurement and analysis systems, you will need to take the time to familiarize yourself with configuring and operating Smaart version 9. Smaart offers extensive flexibility in terms of the number of inputs you can analyze and the number of ways you can display measurement results. It can interface with multiple I/O devices simultaneously and run multiple real-time displays in multiple windows, each with multiple workspaces set up on tabbed pages. Upon first run, however, Smaart begins with a simple RTA graph and no preconfigured measurement setups. It is up to the operator to take it from there and configure a work environment that makes sense their specific applications.

Next: How to Use This Guide