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IntroducingRPlusD
May,2013

RPlusDwascreatedtomeetmeasurementrequirementsforaudiosystemplaybackinsmall
andmediumsizedrooms.Itwasdesignedexclusivelyforthispurposeandwithenduserssuch
atHTinstallers,audioinstallers,playbackstudioacoustics,andseriouscaraudioinstallersin
mind.Itisnotabenchorlabinstrumentbutcouldbeusedassuch,buttherearebetter
analyzersforthispurpose.

RPlusDisthelatestsoftwarefrometfacoustic.Itisaverydifferentandmuchbetterproduct
thanourfirststandardaudioanalyzerforthePC,ETF5.0(otherswerewrittenbutwere
fundamentallydifferentinoperation).

RPlusDissimplythebestavailableanalyzerforthepurposeoftakingmeasurementsforhifi
soundreproductionsystemsinsmallandmediumsizedroomsavailableatanyprice.Thisis
mostlybecauseitwasdeveloped,ineveryway,withthisexclusivepurposeinmind.

Itstestsignal,the"hybridsweep/MLS"givesadvantagesofbothtestsignaltypeswhenthe

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analyzerisusedforitsintendedpurpose.Ithasastreamlineduserinterfacedevelopedtoview
andprocessmeasurementsinthewaythattheyshouldbeprocessedandviewedtohavethe
followingcharcteristics:

Thecharacteristicsofgoodandusefulmeasurementsare:(1)verifiability,(2)relevancy,and
(3)repeatability.Manyanalyzersonthemarketmaybefreeorcheaper,butnoneorso
thoroughlydesignedwithgoalofobtainingaccurate,repeatable,andrelevantmeasurementsin
mindusingtypicalcomputerhardware.

RPlusDrequiredarewritingofthemanualfromETF5.x,areevaluationofmeasurement
methods,consultingwithoutsideexperts,andredesigningmeasurementtechniquestoensure
thattheuserwouldobtainaccurate,verifiableandrepeatableresultswhenperforming
measurementsofplaybacksystemsintypicalhometheatersaswellasroomsaslargeas
movietheaters.

RPlusDwasnotmadeforgiantconcerthallsanditisunknown(byme)ifthese("LTIbased")
measurementmethodswillworkintheseenvironmentsduetoaircurrentsandtemperature
gradientspresentinthesespaces.Idonothavefaiththatthe"LTI"systemassumptionsare
validfortheselargespaces.

Beforemakingapurchaseofanyanalyzer,werecommendreadingtheRPlusDmanualfirst,to
seewhatisrequiredforaccurate,repeatableandverifiableresults.Ourexperienceshowsthat
manyusersoflesserproductstakemeasurementsthatdonotmeettheserequirements.The
methodsrequiredinmeetingthesecriticalrequirementsareillustratedthroughoutthe160page
manual(mostlydiagramsandgraphicsofexamplemeasurements).Alloperationsofthe
softwarearecarefullyexplainedandillustrated.Mostusersonlyneedtoreadthefirstfour
chapterstounderstandallthefunctionalityforthesoftwaretheyrequire.

Consultingservicesarealsoprovidedforusersthatareuncomfortablewithsignalprocessing
andEQfunctionsbutcomfortableenoughwithcomputerstooperatethesoftware.Thiscosts
$100.00USDinadditiontotheprogramandincludesfileanalysisandrecommendations.
Detailsonthisareatthebottomofthisdocument.Thisserviceisgoodforbusypeoplewho
wishtolearnthesoftwarefunctionsquicklywiththeirownroomusedasanexample.Itisalso
goodforpeoplethathavespecificacousticproblemstheywishtosolve.

TheRPlusDenhancementlicenseincludescurvefittingforautomaticfilterestimationfrom
measurementsinnormalroomstoisolateresonancesandtheabilitytotakemeasurements
usingatestsignalCD,eliminatingthenormallyrequiredsoundcardaudiosystemelectrical
connection.ThissystemisnotidealanddetailsofthisareexplainedandshownintheCDTest
Signalwindowhelplink.Thisfeaturewaswrittenforexperiencedusersthatunderstandthe
measurementswellenoughtounderstandtheparasiticeffectsofthisnewsystemofwireless
datagathering.Dealersandinstallerswillappreciateits(normallyimpossible)highresolution,
speedandconvenience.

TheupgradealsonowincludesemulationoftheBehringerDCX2496loudspeaker
managementsystem.Thisisadigitalelectroniccrossoverforbi/triamplifiedspeakersorto
simulatecrossoversinanaloguesystemsforpeoplewishingtobuildtheirowncrossovers.

Mostuserswillnotbenefitfromhavingtheupgradeandarejustaswelloffwithonlythebasic
version.

FAQsList.PDF(readthisfirst)

SoftwareFeaturesAndFunctions.PDFThisisaproductbrochureshowingscreengrabsofall
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theRPlusDfunctions

RPlusDDemoDownload
Thissoftwareisveryeasytosetupanduseifyouarewillingtoreadchapter1ofthe
manualpostedbelowonthiswebsite.Itsallwecandotomakethisaseasyas
possible.

RPlusDDemo.msiversion1.2.50

Size:4Mb

PLEASENOTE:somestudiotypesoundcardsdonothavewindowsWDMdriversasrequired
bythesoftware.Thesecanalwaysbefoundforfreeontheweb.Typein"make&modelof
soundcard+WDMDriver"intoasearchengine.

Windows7,8andVistasometimeshavetheUSBrecordinginputsettomono,whichwillgive
nonidealresultswhentestingthesoftwareforcorrectoperation.Thiscanberectifiedbydoing
thefollowing:GotoSystemSettingsfromthepullupmenuontheleftbottomofyourscreen
(theStartUp).GotoSystemSettings,selectHardwareandSoundSettings,thenselectsound
oraudiodevices,gotorecordingandselectmicrophoneUSBaudio,deselectthemonoswitch
sothattheinputcanoperateinstereo.

Description:Thisdownloadcontainsthefullversion.Alicensenumbermustbepurchasedfrom
etfacoustictoaccessthefullversion.

Thedemoallowsyoutocheckyourcomputer,mic&soundcardforcorrectoperation.You
cannottakeanactualusefulroommeasurement.

RPlusD&Windows10/8/7/Vista:Someveryrarebuteasilyfixedissues(Onlyusersthat
receiveerrormessagesneedtolookatthePDFgivenhere)Noerrormessagesmeansno
problemsandthatnecessarysupportfilesalreadyresideonyourharddrive,havingbeen
installedfromothersoftwareinstallpackages)VistaIssues.PDF

ProblemsthatpeoplehavewiththesoftwareresultfromnotreadingChapter1ofthemanual.
Othercompetitivesoftwaremayseemtoworkwhenitisnotconnectedcorrectlyandwillgive
inaccurateorerroneousresultsthatareofteninterpretedasvalidbynewusers.RPlusDis
slightlymorecomplexsothatitonlylookslikeitsworkingwhenitisconnectedandsetup
properly,thisalmostensuresthattheneophiteuserwillhavethesoftwaresetupcorrectlywhen
measurementsaretaken.Competitiveandfreesoftwarecanlooklikeitssetupcorrectlybut
measurementscanbewrong.

Mic/PreampRequirements
Oursolution,acombinationUSBpreampandmicwithaninternalloopbackconnectiononthe
referencechannel,isnolongeravailable.Therearemanylowcostdevicessoldontheweb,
however,foraccurateandreliablemeasurements,areferencechannelisrequired.Thisis
oftenimpossiblewithlowcostUSBmicrophones.RPlusDtakesinputfromtherightchannel
inputofasoundcard(fromthemicrophonepreamp)andoutputsthetestsignalfromtheright
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channeloutputtothesystemundertestwhichisusuallytheleftorrightinputofanaudio
system.

Theleftchanneloutputisconnecteddirectlytotheleftchannelinputandprovidesareference
signal.Thisfacilitatestheverificationofmeasurementcorrectness.Ifthisimportantconnection
ismissing,measureddataisoftenjunkdataornoise,butcannotbeidentifiedassuchandgets
interpretedasmeasurementbyneophiteusers.Thereferencechannelconnectionpermits
RPlusDtomeasurethephysicalmicrophonespeakerdistanceinthesetup,whichwhen
comparedwithphysicaldistanceinthesystemundertest,formsaverificationofthe
measurement.Thisallimportantconnectionismissingfromlowcostsolutions.Thisconnection
alsopermitstheprecisefrequencyresponsecorrectionofthesoundcardused.

TheBehringerECM8000isalowcostcalibratedmicrophoneandtherearemanypreamps
availablethatwillamplifytheoutputtobesuitabletodrivethelineinputofasoundcard.The
systemconsistingofamicrophone,amicrophonepreamp,andasoundcardpermitsthe
reliableandaccuratecollectionofdatausingRPlusD.Inthisconfigurationthemicisconnected
totheinputofthepreamp.TheoutputofthemicpreampconnectstotheRightLINEIN
connectionofthesoundcard.TheRightLINEOUTconnectorsuppliesthetestsignaltothe
audiosystem.TheleftchannelLINEOUTisconnecteddirectlytotheleftchannelLINEIN,
formingthereferencechannel,forwhichonlythesoundcardismeasured

Thissolutionrequiresmoreconnectionsthansinglechannelnonreferencedmeasurements,
requiringonlyoutputofthesoundcardconnectedtoanaudiosystemandtheinputconnected
toamicrophoneWITHOUTthereferencechannelconnection.Thisreferencechannel
connectionisrequiredbyRPlusDforaccuratedatataking.Systemsthatdonotrequirethese
connectionsaresubstandardandmayleadtoerroneousdatacollection.

WehavenotyetfoundalowcostUSBmicrophonethatsatisfiesthebasicrequirementsof
reliablemeasurements.TheBehringerECM8000microphoneandasuitablepreampcan
usuallybefoundforlessthan$150.00USD.

RPlusDManual&Documentation
GettingStarted.PDFThisisaminimalinstructionsettogetthesoftwareupandrunning.Users
oftheconsultationserviceneedonlyreadthis.

RPlusDManual.PDFFullManual(nearlycomplete)

RPlusDExampleFile.zipTheexamplemeasurementsfilecanbedownloadedandopenedin
thedemoversionofthesoftware.

Consultation
Idoprovidefreeassistancetousersofthesoftwarewhoarejustgettingstartedtoensurethat
measurementsarebeingtakencorrectly.Ialsoanswerquestionsbyemailregardingspecific
technicalquestions.Someusershaverequestedacloserconsultationformeasurement
interpretation.Thisprocesscosts$100.00andtakestheformoftheprocessoutlinedbelow.
Thisprocesstakestheuser12hoursandusuallytakesthefollowingsteps:

(1)Initialequipmentdescription,monitorspeakertypemakeandmodelnumber&roomlayout
diagramrequiredfromuserbyemail.Adrawingdonein2colorbitmapformshouldbesentin
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allowingmetoopenthebitmapfileandaddmarkingsandsuggestionsintothefileandto
resenditaspartofcommunications.

(2)Helptoensurethattheconnectionsaremadecorrectly.Thisprocessisoutlinedinthe
above"GettingStarted.PDF"postedfile.Theusermustgetthispartworkingbutdoesnothave
tolearnanythingelse.

(3)Emaildescriptionofmeasurementstobetakenmarkedonthebitmapthatdescribesthe
listeningarea.

(4)Theuseremailsthemeasuredresultsinazipfileformat(SpecificInstructionswillbe
provideddependentonnumberofmeasurementstobetaken)

(5)Iinterpretthemeasurementsandgivesomerecommendationsastowhatcanbedoneto
achievetargetmeasurementresponseimprovements

(6)Theuseremailsnewmeasurementstakenafterchangeshavebeenmadeandweevaluate
theaffectofchangesonthemeasurementstoseeifadditionalimprovementscanbemade

Amaximumof2hoursisspentonthisconsultation.Ifmoretimeisrequiredthenadditional
paymentwillbenegotiated.

Adviceisalsoprovidedforpeoplethatdonotwishtousethesoftware.Theconsistsofadvice
onroomtreatmentsthatisbasedonnoconflictofinterest,aswedonotsellroomtreatments
andcangiveunbiasedopinion.

CustomerFeedback
GeofferyEllis,musician,projectstudioownerandmusicalinstrumentmaker:

May262007

"Asamusicianandprojectstudioowner,Iplaceatremendousamountofimportanceon
havingaworkspacethatisacleanacousticenvironmentforbothrecordingandmixing.But
eventhoughIvebecomefamiliarwithcomputerbasedrecording,Idonthaveascientific
understandingofacousticsIwantmyroomandspeakerstosoundgood,butthatisaboutthe
limitofmyunderstanding.Ispentalotoftimebuildingmystudioandmakingitintothebest
soundingroompossiblegiventhelimitsofthespace,andIknewthatthefinalicingonthecake
wouldbethetuningofmymonitors.

ThatiswhyIwasthrillednotjusttofindtheR+Dsoftware,buttoalsofindthatitscreator,
DougPlumb,wasofferingaconsultingservicethatallowsmetogetthemostoutofit.Doug
walkedmethroughthesetup,providingadviceonthecorrecttypeofmeasurement
microphoneandsoundcard,helpingmegetsetuptotakemymeasurements,andthen(most
importantofall)interpretingtheresultsandprovidingmewithaworkingsolution.

Sincetimeismoney,Isavedalotbytakingadvantageofthisserviceitwouldbeavalueat
twicetheprice."

DavidRich,PhdSignalProcessing,TechnicalEditorofSensibleSound:

April62007

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TheETF5measurementsystemhasbeeninstrumentalinmanyofmyTSSreviewson
speakersandelectronicequalizers.Areasonablestartingpointtousethisinexpensive
softwarepackagesacomputer'sinternalsoundcardandthemicrophoneinaRadioShack
soundlevelmeter.Betterresults,liketheonesIpresentinTSS,areobtainedwithanexternal
soundcardandcalibrationmicrophone.ETFAcousticshasrecentlyintroducedRPlusD,which
isdesignedforanalysisofcombinedroomandspeakerresponsecharacteristics..TheGUIis
muchimprovedoverETF5.

Copyright(c)2005etfacousticIncorporatedAllRightsReserved

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