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In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Thomas Neumann, the creator of SATLive and Level Check. We discuss sound system tuning with some of the really cool features in SATLive, including the Low-Frequency Delay Finder, Delay Suggestion Tool, and Speech Transmission Index measurement. We also talk about:

• Why Neumann only uses one measurement microphone in the field;
• How to see the amplitude and phase interactions of saved traces;
• What new features you can expect to see in future SATLive updates;
• The fancy adapter Neumann carries to interface with old Behringer processors; and
• Software Audio Console.

Show notes:

1. All music in this episode by Johan Sveide.
2. The most common mistakes Neumann sees other engineers making.
   1. They don’t understand dual channel FFT and end up measuring crazy things.
   2. They focus on the amplitude, but not the time. EQ is the last step.
3. Delay Suggestion Tool
   1. Neumann normally uses the maximum power option. The flat option will sometimes try to remove energy from the sub.
   2. If you get a negative value while measuring the sub, you need to delay the main.
4. What’s in Neumann’s work bag?
   1. Roland Quad Capture
   2. iSEMcon EMX-7150 measurement microphone
   3. Neutrik line isolator
   4. RS232 to XLR adapter
   5. Microphone calibrator
   6. Bible
   7. Handkerchief
5. Software: SATLive, LevelCheck, Software Audio Console
6. Poor Man’s Galileo
7. Quotes
   1. Be yourself. Don’t try to imitate somebody. Look at yourself and see what you like. What’s your unique selling point? What makes you special? Invest in that. The other way to get jobs is by knowing people and being cheaper, and those aren’t good ways to move forward.
   2. Now you can change everything, which will give you more possibilities, but demands more knowledge.