[Mario]

I need some advice on what test equiptment I should by to make sure all
my gear is working well, and to test rentals. Basically I need a unit
that does audio generation, and measures THD, Phase distortion,
frequency response and anything else you think would be advisable to
have. I have a mx budget of $500 but would want to pay less. Any help
would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mario

[Arny Krueger]

"Mario" wrote in message
ps.com
I need some advice on what test equiptment I should by to
make sure all my gear is working well, and to test
rentals. Basically I need a unit that does audio
generation, and measures THD, Phase distortion, frequency
response and anything else you think would be advisable
to have. I have a mx budget of $500 but would want to
pay less. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,

Good starting point:

XP computer with an audio interface
Audio Rightmark (freeware)

http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa55.exe


Procedu

(1) Test your test equipment residuals by looping the line or speaker output
of your audio interface to its line input with a jumper cable. Set levels
appropriately, and test.

(2) Test your audio gear by putting it between the output and input of your
computer's audio interface.

(3) Power amps will no doubt have too much output to be fed directly into
your computer's audio interface. So, use a high quality 5K or 10K
potentiometer as an attenuator.

(4) If you want really small test equipment residuals, use a higher quality
audio interface. The M-Audio Audiophile 24192 is my current fave.

[Deputy Dumbya Dawg]

Maybe for five hundred you could get the probes for an
audio precision one analyzer? Then once you get the
analyzer expect man months of experience before you
will be sure you are not fooling yourself by making and
believing bad measurements.

peace
Dawg.


"Mario" wrote in message
ps.com...
: I need some advice on what test equiptment I should
by to make sure all
: my gear is working well, and to test rentals.
Basically I need a unit
: that does audio generation, and measures THD, Phase
distortion,
: frequency response and anything else you think would
be advisable to
: have. I have a mx budget of $500 but would want to
pay less. Any help
: would be greatly appreciated!
: Thanks,
: Mario
:

[[email protected]]

Mario wrote:
I need some advice on what test equiptment I should by to make sure all
my gear is working well, and to test rentals. Basically I need a unit
that does audio generation, and measures THD, Phase distortion,
frequency response and anything else you think would be advisable to
have. I have a mx budget of $500 but would want to pay less. Any help
would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mario

At a minimum I would want two items:

A PC with an audio interface and RightMark Audio Analyzer
A digital multimeter such as a Fluke 189 to set calibrated levels on
the audio interface and measure continuity, voltages, resistances,
capacitances, frequency etc.

Those two items give you a lot of test bench power. A real oscilloscope
would be a bonus.

bobs

Bob Smith
BS Studios
we organize chaos
http://www.bsstudios.com

[Scott Dorsey]

Mario wrote:
I need some advice on what test equiptment I should by to make sure all
my gear is working well, and to test rentals. Basically I need a unit
that does audio generation, and measures THD, Phase distortion,
frequency response and anything else you think would be advisable to
have. I have a mx budget of $500 but would want to pay less. Any help
would be greatly appreciated!

A cheap scope and a signal generator will let you do frequency response.

It will let you ROUGHLY figure out your phase response with Lissajous
method.

Nothing in that price range will even begin to give you useful THD
values. The Neutrik Minirator might be a start, but don't expect to be
able to use it reliably down too far.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."