Advanced Room Correction System
The first acoustic correction system in a plug-in
In a home studio, we have all run into the problem of bad translation. Mixing your song, burning it to CD, putting it in your car and it not sounding anything like what you heard back in the studio. That's because when you were mixing in your studio, you were hearing room ambience, vibration from poor speaker isolation, etc. These are all problems we experience when trying to mix in a room that's not acoustically treated. Now, you could easily spend $1000's on acoustic treatment OR you could buy IK Multimedia's ARC for much, much, much less. Get great mixes - every time.
ARC System delivers the most advanced solution to acoustical problems for any DAW-based studio. Combining a professionally calibrated microphone, standalone software that captures sound information and calculates proper room correction, and a multi-platform plug-in: this technology will improve how your studio sounds forever.
ARC features the revolutionary Audyssey MultEQ® technology, which measures acoustical information throughout the listening area in your studio. It then combines this information to provide an accurate representation of the room’s acoustical problems. The equalization solution then corrects for both time and frequency response problems more effectively and efficiently than any other room correction EQ on the market. The result is a clear and reliable representation of your mix. Regardless of the acoustical issues in your studio, what you are recording, mixing or mastering becomes immediately clear and reliable and your studio sound will improve forever.
- The first and only room correction system in a plug-in for DAW-based studios
- Includes a calibrated measurement microphone, measurement software and multi-platform correction plug-in
- Improves clarity, stereo imaging and frequency response, for faster, more reliable mixing
- Revolutionary Audyssey MultEQ® technology corrects frequency and phase response not only for the engineer’s ‘sweet spot’, but also multiple points in the room
- Step by step setup measurement wizard will have you up and running in minutes
- A convenient, unique, mobile correction solution for the traveling engineer
- Sonically 'treat' your room so you can finally trust the sound of your studio
 The First Acoustic Room Correction System in a Plug-in
One of the most critical factors influencing the quality of a music production is the accuracy of the monitoring system. In fact, the combination of speakers and room acoustics prove to be the weakest link in the music production chain. When monitors are placed in a room, the surrounding walls, ceiling, furniture and other objects reflect and absorb their sounds; creating complex distortions specific to the room- causing them to lose the accuracy they have been designed for, and you end up hearing more of the sound of the room than the music actually being produced.
IK Multimedia has teamed up with the leading provider of sound equalization solutions, Audyssey, for the production of an innovative, low-cost and mobile solution to correct the distortion problems caused by room acoustics: ARC system.
ARC System delivers the most advanced solution to acoustical problems for any DAW-based studio. Combining a professionally calibrated microphone, standalone software that captures sound information and calculates proper room correction, and a multi-platform plug-in: this technology will improve how your studio sounds forever.
ARC features the revolutionary Audyssey MultEQ® technology, which measures acoustical information throughout the listening area in your studio. It then combines this information to provide an accurate representation of the room’s acoustical problems. The equalization solution then corrects for both time and frequency response problems more effectively and efficiently than any other room correction EQ on the market. The result is a clear and reliable representation of your mix. Regardless of the acoustical issues in your studio, what you are recording, mixing or mastering becomes immediately clear and reliable and your studio sound will improve forever.
ARC System corrects sound distortion caused by room acoustics, so you can trust the sound of your studio
The popularity of DAW-based systems have made them the most diffused recording and mixing solution for hundreds of thousands of professional, project and home studios worldwide. While much emphasis is placed on the gear and tools used for composing, mixing and mastering, one of the most critical factors influencing the quality of a music production is the accuracy of the monitoring system. In fact the combination of speakers and room acoustics prove to be the weakest link in the music production chain.
Near field monitor systems used in studio applications are designed to deliver sound without distortion or coloration. However when monitors are placed in a room, surrounding walls, ceiling, furniture, and other objects reflect and absorb their sounds, creating complex distortions specific to the room, causing them to lose the accuracy they have been designed for, and you end up hearing more of the sound of the room, than the music actually being produced.
The traditional solutions to this problem so far have been acoustic treatments, traditional room correction EQ or, lately, advanced self-calibrated monitor systems. Unfortunately each of these solutions has some drawbacks, which may not be the best possible solution in many of today’s DAW-based music production studio situations.
Acoustic treatment requires a degree of expertise in its set-up that is not commonly available among musicians working in project and home studios. At the same time, it can be extremely expensive for studios to have, especially when a precise target result is required and the room is not optimally shaped. A complete and successful acoustical treatment usually means a hefty price tag for many, making it an option only for high-end studios.
Traditional room correction EQ and advanced self-calibrated monitor systems are also expensive, and generally are only able to correct the frequency response of a room, but not the phase problems that can be introduced by room acoustics. On the contrary, traditional room correction EQ will alter the phase response by itself, adding this to the already present phase room alterations. All these phase distortions summed up is why many turn off equalizers on the monitoring setup after briefly trying them. Moreover, traditional correction EQ calibrates the response by only considering one single position in the room (called the “sweet-spot”), usually making the listening experience in other zones of the room even worse. Lastly, all of these systems fail when it comes to easy portability and mobile situations, which is now the growing trend for laptop-based mobile studios and traveling musicians.
 How ARC System works
1) The first step is to measure your room
To do this you can simply connect the included professional measurement microphone to any phantom powered MIC input in your audio interface and launch the included ARC System measurement software for Mac/PC. Then the software will guide you through 5 easy steps that will allow you to properly set up the microphone and measure your room. Thanks to Audyssey MultEQ® technology (and uniquely compared to other room correction EQ systems of advanced self-calibrating monitors), ARC System not only allows you to measure and correct the sweet-spot, (where normally, the mixing engineer is seated), but you can also measure multiple positions in the room ensuring the most accurate representation of its acoustical problems in the overall space. This way you will be able to correct the sweet-spot, as well as other various listening positions with-in the room.
In fact, instead of applying a regular standard EQ as all other systems do (that will be “valid” only in the sweet-spot, making all other room areas sound worse than before) the ARC system will analyze all zones you have in your studio, such as your center sweet-spot, producer desk or client couch. It will then provide a general correction that will effectively work on all of the zones, at the same time. If you want to get more detailed, you can measure multiple areas of the room (engineer’s area, client sofa, etc.) separately, and, using the menus in the plug-in, quickly and easily change the “sweet spot” of the room. Once the measurements have been taken, the measurement software will save those results as files that describe the room acoustics and the relative corrections. If you have various speakers in your studio, you can take multiple measurements and simply repeat the process, then save it in different files. The overall measurement process will take only a few minutes, even with the maximum number of measurements possible.
2) The second step is to apply the correction as a plug-in in your preferred DAW
 The second step is to apply the correction as a plug-in in your preferred DAW. To do this, simply open your DAW and conveniently apply the ARC System plug-in on the master BUS of your DAW (such as Pro Tools®, Cubase™, Logic™, Sonar™, Live™, etc.), turn the correction on, and voila’: the distortion introduced by your room acoustics will be corrected, allowing you to finally trust the sound of your monitors and your studio. Now, you will be able to select the various measurements you have made from the plug-in interface, easily.
The below screen-shot detail of the ARC System plug-in shows how a highly distorted monitoring system is flattened almost perfectly when MultEQ® is applied. In Orange is the actual room response, in Green is the flat-response of an ideal speakers/room system and in White is the corrected room response applied by ARC system. As you can see the low frequency extension of the speaker is not pushed beyond the physical limits of the speaker, another advantage in comparison to all conventional room correction EQ (“auto” equalizers).
ARC System advantages
ARC System represents one of the most advanced solutions to acoustic problems for any DAW-based studio, dramatically improving the acoustics of home and project studios as well as correcting even the highest acoustically treated high-end studio. With Audyssey MultEQ®, the ARC system produces like you've never heard before, improving the accuracy of your monitoring system. When you experience ARC’s Advanced Room Correction System, the perspective of what you are recording, mixing or mastering becomes immediately clear and reliable.
The audible results will be:
 Low-end alterations, typically added by small rooms, are removed with better low frequency control- More consistent frequency response across the entire range
- Tonal balance is restored, allowing for more accurate mixes
And the following advantages will be achieved:
- Room defects will no longer capture your attention, allowing you to focus solely on the music and reducing your ear fatigue
- Work on mixes faster because you’re sure of what you’re hearing
- Achieve greater consistency on your music productions
- Achieve mixes that better translate to the outside world
Moreover, if you are a traveling musician, you can conveniently bring ARC system with you and quickly measure/correct any studio, so you can mix and produce comfortably in any situation, even the most erratic.
Room distortion in typical DAW-based studios
The vast majority of home and project DAW-based studios are placed in normal living rooms or bedrooms where space is limited and the room has not been designed for recording and mixing purposes plus generally possesses no or very little acoustic treatment.
The typical problems of working in these conditions, generally are:
- Speakers very close to walls tend to create strong peaks in the low frequency response. Matters get worse when the speakers are placed in corners. The bass response will be inconsistent and resonant, making it impossible to properly mix the lower portion of the spectrum.
- When speakers are placed non-symmetrically within a room, the different distances from surrounding walls create a very different tonal response between the two speakers. Some frequencies will sound "out of phase" when listening to both speakers.
- Different types of wall surfaces with different reflection/absorption capabilities (i.e. window on one side and a carpeted wall on another) create a completely wrong image because one side will sound brighter than the other.
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ARC System 
System Requirements
