Barbados
Smaart Operator Training
A hands-on, three-day official Rational Acoustics Smaart v9 course. Days 1 and 2 build your measurement skills with practice throughout; Day 3 puts it all together measuring and tuning a real sound system.
Who it's for
FOH and monitor engineers, system techs, installers and venue technical staff who want to measure and tune sound systems properly. Some live-sound experience helps; no previous Smaart experience is needed. The course is taught in English, and every student works on their own laptop — there are lots of practice sessions.
Your trainer
James Woods
CEO, Woods Engineering · Madrid
James Woods is a prominent audio engineer and CEO of Woods Engineering. Based in Madrid, the company evolved from James’s free-lance work in Spain and other countries in Europe that included concert sound, TV, design/build installations, system troubleshooting, consulting, and electro-acoustical analysis (SIM® and Smaart).
What you'll learn
- How Smaart works internally, so you can troubleshoot your measurement rig and know what the data is — and isn't — telling you
- Single-channel measurement in Spectrum mode using the RTA and Spectrograph views
- Dual-channel (transfer function) measurement and why it is so useful
- What comb filtering is, how it happens and how to reduce it
- Reading the phase trace and checking measurement quality with coherence
- Using the Live Impulse window to see arrivals, room reflections and interference from nearby loudspeakers
- Comparing microphones, and multi-mic versus single-mic spatial averaging
- Finding the reference mic position, then EQ and delay for mains, fills and delay systems
- Aligning subs to mains, plus cardioid subs if time allows
- Using Smaart for maintenance, live mixing and studio work too
Agenda
Day 1
- Introduction to Smaart and single-channel measurement: what affects alignment results and how Smaart works inside
- Spectrum mode with RTA and Spectrograph views; configuring measurements and saving traces for recall
Day 2
- Dual-channel (transfer function) measurement and why we use it; comb filtering and how to reduce it
- Phase and coherence traces, the Live Impulse window, reading the results and first processing changes
Day 3
- Practice day on a full system: microphone compare, multi-mic and single-mic spatial averaging, finding the reference position
- Measuring and EQ'ing mains, down fills, front fills and delays, setting delay times and aligning subs to mains
Timings may shift slightly on the day.
What to bring
- Your own laptop (Windows or Mac) — one per student; computers can't be shared
- Smaart v9 Suite demo and Dante Virtual Soundcard installed and working before Day 1 (older laptops: check compatibility on the Rational Acoustics website)
- A wired Ethernet port on your laptop, or a USB/Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter — class audio is sent over the network
- Your own measurement microphone, if you have one, to compare on Day 3
- Notebook and pen