miniDSP UMIK-2 User manual
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Important Information...................................................................................................................................4
1Product overview.....................................................................................................................................6
2Installation and Configuration –Windows ................................................................................................7
2.1 Download ...................................................................................................................................................7
2.2 USB driver installation................................................................................................................................7
2.3 Control Panel..............................................................................................................................................8
2.4 UAC2 Control Panel ....................................................................................................................................9
3Installation and Configuration –Mac OS X..............................................................................................11
3.1 Download ................................................................................................................................................ 11
3.2 Configuration in Audio MIDI Setup ......................................................................................................... 12
4Download the Calibration Files...............................................................................................................13
5Microphone Positioning and Orientation................................................................................................14
5.1 Free-field measurement.......................................................................................................................... 14
5.2 In-room measurement for speakers ....................................................................................................... 14
5.3 In-room measurement for subwoofers................................................................................................... 15
6Using the UMIK-2 with Dirac Live ...........................................................................................................16
7Using the UMIK-2 with Room EQ Wizard ................................................................................................17
7.1 Initial configuration ................................................................................................................................. 17
7.2 Configuring ASIO (Windows only) ........................................................................................................... 19
8Additional information...........................................................................................................................21
8.1 Specifications........................................................................................................................................... 21
8.2 Obtaining support.................................................................................................................................... 21
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 4
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please read the following information before use. In case of any questions, please contact miniDSP via the
support portal at support.minidsp.com.
Disclaimer/Warning
miniDSP cannot be held responsible for any damage that may result from the improper use or incorrect
configuration of this product. Please read this manual carefully to ensure that you fully understand how to
operate and use this product, as incorrect use or use beyond the parameters and ways recommended in this
manual have the potential to cause damage to your audio system.
Please also note that many of the questions we receive at the technical support department are already
answered in this User Manual and in the online application notes on the miniDSP.com website. So please take
the time to carefully read this user manual and the online technical documentation. Thank you for your
understanding!
Warranty Terms
miniDSP Ltd warrants this product to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one
year from the invoice date. Our warranty does not cover failure of the product due to incorrect connection or
installation, improper or undocumented use, unauthorized servicing, modification or alteration of the unit in any
way, or any usage outside of that recommended in this manual. If in doubt, contact miniDSP prior to use.
FCC Class B Statement
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
•This device may not cause harmful interference.
•This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired
operation.
Warning: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device,
pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions, may cause interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio
or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to
try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
•Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Notice: Shielded interface cable must be used in order to comply with emission limits.
Notice: Changes or modification not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 5
CE Mark Statement
The UMIK-2 has passed the test performed according to European Standard EN 55022 Class B.
A Note on this Manual
This User Manual is designed for reading in both print and on the computer. If printing the manual, please print
double-sided. The embedded page size is 8 ½” x 11”. Printing on A4 paper will result in a slightly reduced size.
For reading on the computer, we have included
hyperlinked cross-references throughout the
manual. In addition, a table of contents is
embedded in the PDF file. Displaying this table of
contents will make navigation much easier:
•In Adobe Reader on Windows, click on the
“bookmarks” icon at the left. The table of
contents will appear on the left and can be
unfolded at each level by clicking on the “+”
icons.
•In Preview on the Mac, click on the View
menu and select Table of Contents. The table
of contents will appear on the left and can be
unfolded at each level by clicking on the
triangle icons.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 6
1PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Thank you for purchasing a miniDSP UMIK-2 omni-directional USB measurement microphone. The UMIK-2
features a low-noise ½-inch microphone capsule, low-noise A/D convertor, and support for sample rates from
44.1 to 192 kHz.
Each UMIK-2 has a unique calibration file for measurement accuracy. A generated 90-degree calibration file is
also provided for multichannel/surround-sound applications.
The UMIK-2 has driverless operation with macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. A supplied ASIO driver for Windows
ensures simple integration into many measurement and recording applications. The UMIK-2 is of course fully
compatible with Room EQ Wizard (REW) and Dirac Live (version 3 and later). Many other applications are also
perfectly suited to the UMIK-2:
•Speaker measurement and design
•Room corrections
•Acoustical measurement and characterization
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 7
2INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION –WINDOWS
For use with Windows, the miniDSP driver must be installed. You will also need to download the software
package if there is a firmware upgrade.
2.1 DOWNLOAD
If you purchased your product directly from miniDSP, your software will be available from the User Downloads
section of the miniDSP website when your order ships. You will need to be logged into the website with the
account you created when purchasing to access the download.
If you purchased your product from a miniDSP dealer, you will receive a coupon together with the product.
Redeem this coupon and select the Plugin Group “UMIK-2” at the link below:
•https://www.minidsp.com/support/redeem-coupon
The User Downloads link is visible from the dropdown menu at the top right of the website page:
Navigate to the USB Audio Drivers section and download the zip file under the heading UMIK-2. Unzip the
downloaded file by right-clicking on it and selecting “Extract All...”.
2.2 USB DRIVER INSTALLATION
The USB driver enables Windows to stream audio to the UMIK-2. In addition, it installs a control panel to help
manage the UMIK-2.
To install the driver, go to the WinDrivers folder of the installation download and double-click on the installer:
•miniDSP_UAC2_v4.82.0_2020-06-09_setup.exe
(The version number embedded in the filename may be different.)
We recommend accepting the default installation location. Once the driver installation completes, click the
Finish button.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 8
2.3 CONTROL PANEL
In Windows 10, open the Control Panel, then go to Hardware and Sound, then Manage Audio Devices. Here you
can set the UMIK-2 as the default audio input device, and set its sample rate and bit depth (click on the
Properties button).
Note that many recording and measurement programs will set the sample rate themselves, overriding the
setting made manually in the Control Panel.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 9
2.4 UAC2 CONTROL PANEL
Open the miniDSP UAC2 Control Panel (from Start Menu -> miniDSP Ltd). It has several tabs.
Status
This tab shows the current sample rate of the UMIK-2. This setting cannot be changed in the Control panel, but
simply reflects the current sample rate of the UMIK-2.
Format
This tab shows the input channel bit depths:
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 10
Volume
This page provides adjustment of input gain. Note that some recording and measurement software, including
DiracLive and Room EQ Wizard, will set the input level automatically.
Info
This pane shows information about the UMIK-2.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 11
3INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION –MAC OS X
Mac OS X / macOS has native support for USB Audio class 2.0 devices, so no driver installation is required. You
will need to download the software package should you need to update the UMIK-2 firmware.
3.1 DOWNLOAD
If you purchased your product directly from miniDSP, your software will be available from the User Downloads
section of the miniDSP website when your order ships. You will need to be logged into the website with the
account you created when purchasing to access the download.
If you purchased your product from a miniDSP dealer, you will receive a coupon together with the product.
Redeem this coupon and select the Plugin Group “UMIK-2” at the link below:
•https://www.minidsp.com/support/redeem-coupon
The User Downloads link is visible from the dropdown menu at the top right of the website page:
Navigate to the USB Audio Drivers section and download the zip file under the heading UMIK-2. Unzip the
downloaded file by double-clicking on it.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 12
3.2 CONFIGURATION IN AUDIO MIDI SETUP
Open the program Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications->Utilities). Click on the device UMIK-2 that appears in the
list on the left. This will display the input and output channels. The Format drop-down menu will show the
supported sample rates:
Note that many recording and measurement programs will set the sample rate themselves, overriding the
setting made manually in Audio MIDI Setup.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 13
4DOWNLOAD THE CALIBRATION FILES
The calibration files are used to correct the raw microphone response for measurement accuracy. Two
calibration files are provided: an on-axis calibration file measured from the actual microphone, and a 90-degree
calibration file that is calculated from the on-axis response. One of these calibration files will need to be loaded
into the acoustic measurement software you are using. (See later pages for an example with REW.)
To download the calibration files, go to the UMIK-2 product page and scroll down to the section “Unique
Calibration File Download”. Enter your microphone’s serial number and press Submit.
The two calibration files should download automatically. They will be named 800xxxx.txt and 800xxxx_90deg.txt
(where 800-xxxx is your microphone’s serial number). If they don’t download automatically, click on the links
shown on the page to download them:
Don’t lose your serial number! We have had customers who, after a number of years, have
rubbed off the serial number label and lost their calibration files (e.g. a computer crash). We
don’t keep a record of the serial number sent to every customer, so we recommend that you a.
make a hard copy of your serial number and b. add your calibration files to your regular
computer backups, just in case.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 14
5MICROPHONE POSITIONING AND ORIENTATION
Acoustic measurements are typically one of two types: in-room and free-field.
5.1 FREE-FIELD MEASUREMENT
Free-field measurements are commonly used for measuring and designing speakers. For this type of
measurement, always point the microphone directly at the sound source and use the normal (0-degree)
calibration file.
For this purpose, the sound received by the microphone would ideally be free of any reflections –that is, only
the direct sound from the speaker being measured without any reflections of influence from the room. In
practice, free-field measurements of a speaker often have to be done in a room, so various techniques are used
to remove or mitigate the effect of the room. For more information, see our app note Loudspeaker
measurement with UMIK-1 and REW.
5.2 IN-ROOM MEASUREMENT FOR SPEAKERS
In-room measurements are used to measure the combined effect of a speaker (or subwoofer) and the room in
which it’s located. The sound measured by the microphone consists of the direct sound from the speaker and
the sound caused in the room by reflections and resonance (modes).
For measurements of this kind, the microphone is typically placed at and around the center of the listening area.
If the goal is to capture the signal from the speaker most accurately with the effects of the room added, point
the microphone towards the speaker and use the normal (0 degree) calibration file.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 15
If the goal is to try and capture as much of the room as possible, point the microphone towards the ceiling and
use the 90-degree calibration file. If there are multiple speakers, such as in a multichannel/surround system,
then always use the 90-degree orientation to ensure consistent measurement between speakers.
Bear in mind that in-room measurements do not have an absolute ideal reference in the same way that free-
field measurements do. The preferred response can vary depending on the nature of the speakers and the
room. Therefore, at high frequencies (above 5 kHz) adjustment of EQ or target curve by ear is likely to be
needed anyway.
For more information, see our app note Acoustic measurement with the UMIK-1 and REW.
5.3 IN-ROOM MEASUREMENT FOR SUBWOOFERS
For measuring subwoofers, the orientation of the microphone or choice of calibration file doesn’t matter. This is
because the two calibration files differ only above a few kHz, due to the high-frequency directionality of the
microphone.
For more information and guides on measuring and tuning subwoofers, see the app notes in the Home Theater
Tuning section of our app note library.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 16
6USING THE UMIK-2 WITH DIRAC LIVE
The UMIK-2 is fully compatible with Dirac Live (version 3 or later). The UMIK-1 and UMIK-2 are the only
microphones supported by miniDSP for use with its Dirac-Live enabled processors.
1. Install the software for your processor as instructed by your product’s user manual.
2. Connect the microphone to the computer. Figure 1 illustrates a typical setup.
3. Follow the procedure in the miniDSP Dirac Live User Manual to load the calibration file and perform
measurements.
Figure 1. Typical measurement setup for Dirac Live
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 17
7USING THE UMIK-2 WITH ROOM EQ WIZARD
If you do not already have Room EQ Wizard (REW) installed, download it from roomeqwizard.com. Download
the latest beta version for UMIK-2 support.
7.1 INITIAL CONFIGURATION
1. Plug in the UMIK-2 to your computer. Figure 2 illustrates an example measurement setup.
2. Start REW. You will see a dialog such as the following. Click on Yes.
3. You will then see a dialog such as the following. Click on Yes.
Figure 2. Typical measurement setup for REW
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 18
4. Then navigate to the calibration file in your file system and select it. Choose the on-axis or 90-degree file
according to the type of measurement you are doing.
5. Open REW Preferences (spanner icon at top right). Confirm that the UMIK-2 is selected for input. Here
you can also select the output device.
6. Click on the Cal Files tab and confirm that the calibration file is loaded for the UMIK-2. It should be
selected for the MICROPHONE device as shown below.
If you wish, you can select it for the top input shown as well. This corresponds to the “Default” input
selection.
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 19
7.2 CONFIGURING ASIO (WINDOWS ONLY)
If you need to output audio via ASIO, you will need to use ASIO4ALL. First download it from
https://www.asio4all.org/ and install it. Then, in the REW Preferences window:
1. Select ASIO under Drivers at the top left of the window.
2. Select ASIO4ALL as the ASIO Device.
3. Click on the ASIO Control Panel button. Click on the wrench/spanner icon at the lower right to enable
advanced mode. Then select the desired input and output devices from the list on the left. Disable
unused devices. In this example, we are using the miniDSP SHD as the output device and the UMIK-2 as
the input device:
Note that there are two entries for the SHD as it has both input and output channels. Hover your mouse
over them to see which is which, and enable just the output channels.
4. Close the ASIO Control Panel. On REW Preferences, select the desired output and input channels. Note
that the Input dropdown will show two channels –it doesn’t matter which one you select. This
screenshot shows a completed I/O configuration:
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 20
5. When you select the UMIK-2 for input, the dialog asking you if you want to use the UMIK-2 for
calibration will again appear:
6. Click Yes, and select the calibration file to be used for ASIO4ALL:
7. Click on the Cal Files tab and verify that the calibration file is shown for ASIO4ALL:
Table of contents
Other miniDSP Microphone manuals
