woofer tester 3 HELP?

[mike15]

I just installed my WT3 on my new computer, I tried to calibrate with a .981k resistor and when asked to short the leads I am getting 1200k ohms or higher sometimes into the 6000's. I made sure that the audio playback is set to usb and the volume is turned all the way up. Am I missing something ? Any and all advice welcome, thanks for your help.

[Froste]

Which OS?

[mike15]

windows 7

[JustinG]

windows 7

I think a few people have had issues with Vista/W7, did you make sure to have it plugged in for at least a couple of minutes before trying to calibrate it? I always get messy/inconsistent results when I don't do that.

Do you have a machine running XP that you could use if talking to PE doesn't help?

[mike15]

yeah I know what ur talking about, unfortunitly I think the WT3 its self is screwed up. Thanks for the info Justin.

[Chris Roemer]

yeah I know what ur talking about, unfortunitly I think the WT3 its self is screwed up. Thanks for the info Justin.

I got mine in December. It works good on my year old Compaq running Vista Home. Don't fire up a bunch of aps before WT3, I think Vista has some memory allocation issues.

[johnlmurphy]

I just installed my WT3 on my new computer, I tried to calibrate with a .981k resistor and when asked to short the leads I am getting 1200k ohms or higher sometimes into the 6000's. I made sure that the audio playback is set to usb and the volume is turned all the way up. Am I missing something ? Any and all advice welcome, thanks for your help.


Mike,

If you purchased WT3 previously and just got a new PC then you may not have seen the critical Windows 7 setup instructions in the latest Quick Start sheet. Here is a link to the Quick Start sheet:

http://www.parts-express.com/pdf/390-804m.pdf

Here are the steps for Windows 7:

1.) Set the recording input to STEREO.

2.) For Windows 7 set the record level down to exactly "1". I know the setup sheet says "2" but I've more recently determined that "1" is safer or more systems.

3.) Make the WT3 USB unit the default device for both playback and recording

See the Quick Start for full details and screen shots of the control panel settings.

As you proceed the most important thing is to get your test lead impedance restored to a reasonable value. So after reviewing the control panel setup requirements on the Quick Start sheet start by opening the Impedance Calibration dialog box and clicking on "Restore Default Calibration". Then perform the test leads calibration. Once the test leads are calibrated you can perform the 1k Ohm calibration.

I am currently working on a new release of the WT3 software that will simplify the setup just a bit (you will no longer have to set the WT3 hardware as the default sound system) and implement a few small improvements but otherwise the current version 1.1.1 operates fine with Windows 7. My personal testing has so far been limited to 32 bit version of Windows 7 but users report that it operates just fine under 64 bit Windows 7.

Regards,

John

[critofur]

...I am currently working on a new release of the WT3 software that will simplify the setup just a bit (you will no longer have to set the WT3 hardware as the default sound system) and implement a few small improvements but otherwise the current version 1.1.1 operates fine with Windows 7. My personal testing has so far been limited to 32 bit version of Windows 7 but users report that it operates just fine under 64 bit Windows 7.

That's good news, hope to be able to get that soon. I find I haven't been using my WT3 (even though I want to) because it's not simple and straightforward to use it (which is the very reason I bought it, I don't want headaches, I just want to measure).

It seems that I have to re-calibrate it more often than I'd like and I'm the absent minded sort that always loses the calibration resistor :( Would be nice if that was built in to the device - but of course that won't be fixed by a software update so on to the software issues:

I'm using Windows 7 64, it seems that I have to re-set the sound card settings in Windows periodically (such as setting the record level back to "1" and setting it back to "Stereo" for the recording. But what's most annoying is that when I try to select the WT* it doesn't work. I click on it, go back to the select menu and see it's still set to my other sound card. Trying to select it does nothing. So, I have to disconnect my soundcard and start again. By that time my patience is used up and when I find that I need to find the lost calibration resistor to calibrate again the time that I had for measuring is gone and I have to give up and move on to my next task, hoping that maybe in a week or two I'll have time to try again (and go through the same time wasting processes just to end up having it not work again).

This would be a lovely device that I would recommend to my friends if only it would "just work" the way it should without having to troubleshoot before you use it.

------------

*by this I mean "select audio device" from within the WT3 program in the drop down menu. It seems odd that the program is not capable of determining which device it should use, doesn't the WT3 [hardware] have some specific id that it [the program] could detect?

[MikeV@parts-express.com]

I've used the WT3 on Windows 7 x64 without issue with three other sound devices installed at the same time: ATI HD4870 with HDMI audio integration, surround sound headphones with built-in sound card, and the Mobo chipset soundcard that has 7.1 out and optical out.

What I have to do is right click the WT3 (named USB Audio device, IIRC) and set it as the default device when in use. I natively check the settings each time I use it, but that's due to OCD. I haven't seen it reset the settings yet... but time will tell.

[John L. Murphy]

That's good news, hope to be able to get that soon. I find I haven't been using my WT3 (even though I want to) because it's not simple and straightforward to use it (which is the very reason I bought it, I don't want headaches, I just want to measure).

It seems that I have to re-calibrate it more often than I'd like and I'm the absent minded sort that always loses the calibration resistor :( Would be nice if that was built in to the device - but of course that won't be fixed by a software update so on to the software issues:

I'm using Windows 7 64, it seems that I have to re-set the sound card settings in Windows periodically (such as setting the record level back to "1" and setting it back to "Stereo" for the recording. But what's most annoying is that when I try to select the WT* it doesn't work. I click on it, go back to the select menu and see it's still set to my other sound card. Trying to select it does nothing. So, I have to disconnect my soundcard and start again. By that time my patience is used up and when I find that I need to find the lost calibration resistor to calibrate again the time that I had for measuring is gone and I have to give up and move on to my next task, hoping that maybe in a week or two I'll have time to try again (and go through the same time wasting processes just to end up having it not work again).

This would be a lovely device that I would recommend to my friends if only it would "just work" the way it should without having to troubleshoot before you use it.

------------

*by this I mean "select audio device" from within the WT3 program in the drop down menu. It seems odd that the program is not capable of determining which device it should use, doesn't the WT3 [hardware] have some specific id that it [the program] could detect?


Hello critofur,

Since my previous post here I have released WT3 v1.5.0 (a free upgrade) which addresses most of your concerns. Specifically, the software now finds the hardware automatically and no longer has to be selected as the default for input or output. The old requirement that the hardware be set as the default sound system for both recording and playback may have been the problem. With v1.5 just make sure to connect the WT3 hardware unit before launching the software. That way the software sees the hardware at launch time and automatically selects it.

In general you should not need to calibrate the unit each time it is used. Just sweep the calibration resistor (or any resistor at hand) and verify a reasonable value before proceeding with your measurements. While the WT3 is capable of precision (repeatability) in the .05% range and accuracy of 0.1% (when calibrated with a 0.1% resistor) this accuracy and precision are serious overkill when measuring loudspeaker driver parameters which are subject to wander +/- 20% or greater depending on environmental variables. Manufacturing variations can be even greater.

More recently I have released WT3 with QC Pack (v2) which adds rub and buzz testing along with dedicated tests for measuring resistors, capacitors and inductors. This upgrade is available to all WT3 1.5 users for an upgrade fee of $19.95. The new rub and buzz test is quite a value considering that most rub and buzz testing software costs well over $1000.

You can download the WT3 1.5 update or order the QC Pack (v2) upgrade here:

http://www.trueaudio.com/wt3

Regards,

John

[critofur]

Hello critofur,

Since my previous post here I have released WT3 v1.5.0 (a free upgrade) which addresses most of your concerns. Specifically, the software now finds the hardware automatically and no longer has to be selected as the default for input or output... ...the software sees the hardware at launch time and automatically selects it.

Sorry, this is not working for me. I checked now that I'm finally at my home PC and it's already at 1.5 (guess I upgraded at least a couple months ago).

Not only does it not select the Woofer Tester, it doesn't LET me select it through the menu (well I can select it and press OK but it doesn't "stick").

EDIT: Even setting it as the default device (both output and recording) doesn't work!

I tried both plugging in the WT3 hardware before launching the program, and after. Tried a couple different USB ports, regardless it stays stuck on my other audio device which is my Behringer XENYX 1024USB.

:(

[critofur]

If I unplug my Berhinger and run WT3 software I get the "The WT3 Hardware Was NOT FOUND." dialog.

How do I tell it it's looking for the wrong device? I don't want to uninstall/reinstall because I've lost my CD. :(

EDIT: Well, it gives me that warning every time I use the Edit -> Audio Device Selection..., but, it does work.

One other thing, I have trouble getting it to work at 48Khz, it only seems to work properly at 44.1Khz, but of course I'd rather have it work up to the highest frequency possible and use 48Khz (since it doesn't have 96Khz as an option)?

[John L. Murphy]

If I unplug my Berhinger and run WT3 software I get the "The WT3 Hardware Was NOT FOUND." dialog.

How do I tell it it's looking for the wrong device? I don't want to uninstall/reinstall because I've lost my CD. :(

EDIT: Well, it gives me that warning every time I use the Edit -> Audio Device Selection..., but, it does work.

One other thing, I have trouble getting it to work at 48Khz, it only seems to work properly at 44.1Khz, but of course I'd rather have it work up to the highest frequency possible and use 48Khz (since it doesn't have 96Khz as an option)?


Hi Critofur,

I've been able to reproduce your issue by using both the WT3 and a Behringer USB interface at the same time. The WT3 software always selects the WT3 hardware when it is the only "USB Audio CODEC" attached to the PC. Adding a second USB audio device (the Behringer device) creates a second "USB Audio CODEC" device in the listing as shown below:

http://www.trueaudio.com/wt3/images/mult_usb_dev.gif

This is the list I got when I had both devices attached before launching the software. The last "USB Audio CODEC" device is the one automatically selected by WT3 at this time. This is always the Behringer in my testing so far. If I select the next to the last device "2-USB Audio CODEC" it selects the WT3 just fine but the next time you open the audio device dialog the last unit in the list will automatically be selected again.

Fortunately there are a couple of workarounds which are fairly easy. If there are two USB audio units attached when the software is launched it typically selects the other unit. One workaround would be to wait until you launch the software before attaching the WT3 hardware unit. Then after Windows detects the USB unit, open the Audio Device dialog to let it automatically select the just attached USB device which appears last in the list of available hardware units.

Another workaround would be to disconnect the other USB audio unit while using the WT3.

In the course of my testing I encountered just one instance where I got the "The WT3 Hardware Was NOT FOUND." message. In that case I had been switching the hardware between ports and had not waited long enough for Windows to detect the device and install the driver. After Windows installed the driver the device was seen as expected in the audio device list and I no longer got the "The WT3 Hardware Was NOT FOUND." message.

If the "The WT3 Hardware Was NOT FOUND." message persists after a reasonable wait then Windows is not recognizing the hardware for some reason (dead hardware, Windows got sick, etc.). Try restarting Windows with no USB audio devices attached. Then attach only the WT3 hardware device and launch the software (in that order). If you still get the "NOT FOUND" message then review the port settings (2 Channel, 44.1 kHz).

The WT3 system is designed to work at 44.1 kHz only. Do not try to force it to other sampling frequencies. Most of the information needed for parameter measurements is below 1 kHz and the resolution in this range is actually better at the lower sampling frequency.

In Critofur’s case he should wait to connect the WT3 hardware unit until after launching the software and then open the Audio Device dialog where the WT3 should appear as the last USB Audio CODEC in the list and automatically be selected.

Critofur, I hope this helps get you going.

Regards,

John

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

Thanks for stopping by john. This info helped me too