Dayton Dayton UMM-6 microphone vs MiniDSP UMIK-1

[ross.stilling]

Can anyone comment on the accuracy of these two mics relative to each other?
Does anyone have a calibration file for either they can share? I'd like to get an idea of how accurate these are from 40Hz to 15,000Hz
Can anyone comment on how the mics are calibrated? By PE after arrival? By the manufacturer?

[a4eaudio]

I did some Googling on the same question and found some results, but I can't personally comment. One thing was that the UMIK-1 supposedly has a much lower noise floor.
I have the iMM-6 and will be getting a UMIK-1 calibrated from Cross Spectrum Friday. I plan on doing some comparisons and posting them to the forum this weekend.
I know it doesn't address the UMM-6 but it still might be helpful. I will also try to post the difference between the factory calibration file and the Cross Spectrum file.

[civit]

The umik is a usb mic, which means that you can't loop back the output signal to an input of your soundcard. This means that although it is suitable for room measurements, and frequency measurements of individual drivers, it cannot establish phase relationships between drivers, making crossover design difficult. There is a workaround for this ('finding the relative acoustic offset of drivers') but it is not a tremendous method in my opinion.

I can't comment on absolute flatness or noise - they're probably pretty close - but pro mics are better, and much more costly.

[a4eaudio]

The umik is a usb mic

The UMIK-1 and UMM-6 are both USB mics, with the Dayton $10 cheaper.

The EMM-6 is the microphone (at least the Dayton version) that Civit recommends, because of the "loop" and acoustic offset issues. I received my UMIK-1 yesterday so have been perusing the forum on how to use the measurement mics and found some threads discussing these issues (and Civit and others go into more detail in some of those threads). I did not fully understood all the issues, but since I just got the UMIK I'm not going to immediately get anything different.

While the EMM-6 "looks" less expensive, you need additional accessories to get it to work. The reason I want to test against the iMM-6 is that for many starting out in the hobby, a $15 mic is not restrictive if it works well enough to start out, but $75 for a USB mic (or $300 for OmniMic) might discourage some people.

[civit]

The UMIK-1 and UMM-6 are both USB mics, with the Dayton $10 cheaper.

The EMM-6 is the microphone (at least the Dayton version) that Civit recommends, because of the "loop" and acoustic offset issues. I received my UMIK-1 yesterday so have been perusing the forum on how to use the measurement mics and found some threads discussing these issues (and Civit and others go into more detail in some of those threads). I did not fully understood all the issues, but since I just got the UMIK I'm not going to immediately get anything different.

While the EMM-6 "looks" less expensive, you need additional accessories to get it to work. The reason I want to test against the iMM-6 is that for many starting out in the hobby, a $15 mic is not restrictive if it works well enough to start out, but $75 for a USB mic (or $300 for OmniMic) might discourage some people.

Thanks for correcting me. You do need an audio interface, a mic cable and so on. I use Arta, which cost a little money, but HolmImpulse and REW can do almost everything.

It's important to assess needs though;

We use these measurement systems for the following:
1. Room response measurement
2. Measurement of drivers on baffle or in cabinet
3. Measurement of polar response of speaker
4. Measurement of distortion characteristics
5. Measure of acoustic offset for accurate summation of different drivers

The USB mic will do 1-4. #4 can be done with care, but these small diaphragm mics have trouble with measuring distortion at higher levels and close distances. #5 can be done as a workaround with the USB mic. I'd say it's a great way to get into the hobby, and an enormous step up from designing from data sheets.

[Darleneu2]

Thanks for correcting me. You do need an audio interface, a mic cable and so on. I use Arta, which cost a little money, but HolmImpulse and REW can do almost everything.

It's important to assess needs though;

We use these measurement systems for the following:
1. Room response measurement
2. Measurement of drivers on baffle or in cabinet
3. Measurement of polar response of speaker
4. Measurement of distortion characteristics
5. Measure of acoustic offset for accurate summation of different drivers

The USB mic will do 1-4. #4 can be done with care, but these small diaphragm mics have trouble with measuring distortion at higher levels and close distances.kodi #5 can be done as a workaround with the USB mic. I'd say it's a great way to get into the hobby, and an enormous step up from designing from data sheets.

Brilliant, thanks for sharing this info. This is all very interesting 🙂

[Bill C]

I have read more than a couple reviews from professional audio engineers who say the umik-1 with cross spectrum labs calibration is 98% as good as their 1500 dollar earth works mic for field work. Thing is cross spectrum labs can calibrate either of the usb mics, and do. They dont even seem to push one over the other, i can say the calibration files i have read for both models as delivered by the factory are so close to identical.. i would say get the inexpensive one, or the one you want.. it is a great piece of equipment and will not be used often unless you are doing design work.