Bought my first audio analyzer

Bought a Quant Asylum QA401 on Wednesday. Should arrive by Monday. I've read the quick start and owner's manual.  This is my first foray into audio measurement, and the more I read here and in the manuals, the more clear it becomes that I have a lot to learn about setting up tests and interpreting the results. Any suggestions, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated. Been scouring the net for info like "audio measurements for idiots/newbies" but not finding much. Seems people that make this gear kinda figure the user should already know how to use it.

Thank you!

There's always the Audio Measurement Handbook from Audio Precision. I have not read it and dont know what level it is at, but you could maybe check it out.

I can confirm that "Audio Measurement Handbook" is a great source of information. You can probably find a PDF online somewhere, I'm still hunting for a hard copy!

Cheers

There's a big (1800+ posts) thread on the QA400 here - the QA401 (apparently an incremental improvement) is discussed in the last 20 or so posts.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/equipment-tools/231401-quantasylum-qa400.html

Congrats that was a great Buy.

A lot to learn now, but hopefully you will have fun soon

SkunkFunk said:

There's always the Audio Measurement Handbook from Audio Precision. I have not read it and dont know what level it is at, but you could maybe check it out.

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Thanks for that suggestion! Found it here : https://www.assembla.com/spaces/mdia-facilities/documents/cbPCXgT6Kr5ykJdmr6bg7m/download/cbPCXgT6Kr5ykJdmr6bg7m

AusTex64 said:

SkunkFunk said:

There's always the Audio Measurement Handbook from Audio Precision. I have not read it and dont know what level it is at, but you could maybe check it out.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that suggestion! Found it here : https://www.assembla.com/spaces/mdia-facilities/documents/cbPCXgT6Kr5ykJdmr6bg7m/download/cbPCXgT6Kr5ykJdmr6bg7m

Click to expand...

Go to ap.com, download, the Handbook and many other app notes (TN-notes) can be helpful.
Duke

Duke, thanks for that suggestion. Very useful info there.

My early impressions of the Quant Asylum QA401 - so far, very impressed. Don't know how I did without something like this for so long. Very intuitive to use, had it up and running in minutes. I've spent more time making BNC to XLR cable adaptors! Used the frequency response FFT to get rid of a HF rise in a mic pre input transformer. Made easy work of that.

Software is easy to use as well. All in all a great product. Super value for the price.

OK, what I would like to see added:

- 150 ohm and 600 ohm outputs, in addition to the 47 ohm output. I've made cables with buildout resistors to provides those loads to the mics preamps (150 ohms) and vintage outbard gear (600 ohms) I test.

- Measurement units in software include dBFS and dBV. I don't see much use for dBFS on an analog tester, but that could be a function of my ignorance. I would prefer dBu to dBV, or just to add dBu as a choice. I consider dBV more of a consumer voltage reference.

- offer the choice of higher output of the impulse on freq response measurement. I find gear sometimes responds differently at different input levels, and would like to have the choice to test those different levels.

Pretty nitpicky stuff though. All in all, I would still buy it again without reservation.

One more thing - Mark at QA tech support have been super helpful and responsive. Nice to have good customer service.

I just finished building a passive test box that pretty much turns by QA400 into a QA401. I'll post pics and schematic tomorrow.

Cheers

Ian