From its roots in 1995, when SIA Software developed an acoustic test and measurement software platform called Smaart (Sound Measurement Acoustic Analysis Real-Time Tool), through the years following the acquisition by Eastern Acoustic Works (1999 to 2008) and since the creation of Rational Acoustics, headquartered in Connecticut (currently Woodstock, CT), a dedicated team continues to perfect and evolve Smaart software. An essential tool for the audio industry today, Smaart is a computer based dual-channel FFT platform used to view the frequency content of signals or measure the response of electrical and electro-acoustic systems. Since the introduction of Smaart v8, in 2016, the software for MacOS and Windows became a more intuitive, higher-quality measurement tool, with a new tab-based interface with multi-window capability, also touchscreen-friendly for use with tablets and touchscreen computers.
The primary focus of the Impulse Response Mode overhaul in Smaart v8.5 is to allow for measuring, viewing, and manipulating multiple IR measurements simultaneously. In previous versions, only one IR measurement could be managed at a time. The user experience in the new v8.5 IR Mode is now similar, in many ways, to the existing Real Time Mode, making it extremely easy to capture and analyze multiple Impulse Responses. Other improvements to the IR Mode include new IR Data Bar, IR Plot Legend, IR Spectrograph controls and improved Speech Transmission Index (STI) calculation dialog.
SPL measurement improvements include the ability to create SPL log file summary reports in color pdf format and the option to automatically open an email client and attach the SPL report upon generation. Additions and improvements to alarm levels and indicators as well as logging and Leq measurement options have also been included.
The new Advanced Delay Finder dialog is a modeless window that contains more advanced filtering and analysis capabilities than the prior versions, allowing for octave-filtered delay measurements with user-adjustable center frequencies.
Also of note are new features to support the M-Noise Procedure — developed by Meyer Sound and currently under AES Standards development — for measuring loudspeaker maximum linear sound levels, including MTW+, a supercharged version of the MTW (Multi Time Window) Transfer Function process which eliminates high frequency data gaps in the current MTW calculation pipeline, an unweighted Peak sound level metric, as well as support for importing Meyer Sound SIM 3 project (.bin) files via the “Import ASCII” dialog.
For a complete list of the new and improved features in Smaart v8.5 (including bug fixes) as well as instructions for updating, users can consult the Smaart v8.5 Release Overview, available here. Smaart v8.5’s internal Help Files have also been updated with a full revision history, detailed function descriptions, and a listing of all accelerator (hot) keys.
Smaart v8.5 is a major update and is recommended for all Smaart v8 users.
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