SoundCheck - The Complete R&D Lab
SoundCheck is the most sophisticated audio test system on the market. Its measurement and analysis, post-processing, and statistical capabilities rival those of hardware audio analyzers costing many times the price. In addition, SoundCheck is more than just an audio analyzer – it is an entire R&D lab full of equipment. It contains software versions of all the instrumentation you would typically find in a laboratory — a spectrum analyzer, real time analyzer, signal generator, multimeter and oscilloscope, so you do not need additional hardware for your test development.
Accurate and Powerful
Front-end input devices such as high-end pro-audio sound cards and the National Instruments PCI/PXI-4461 data acquisition card offer a level of accuracy comparable to costly hardware-based systems, and the software’s specially designed algorithms ensure precise results and in-depth analyses. SoundCheck leverages the computing power of your PC for fast data acquisition and analysis. This, together with the program’s advanced post-processing capabilities, statistical tools and report-writing options, make it a powerful tool for the design process.
Full Control and Test Flexibility
SoundCheck is a test developer’s dream. Programming knowledge is not required to write complex measurement sequences as tests are built in a flow-chart-like format from a series of steps using an intuitive point-and-click graphical interface. Every test parameter can be controlled by the user, and the interface can be set to display all controls at once for rapid test modification and development. Test steps control all functions, such as setting the hardware parameters, calibration, creating a stimulus, acquiring, analyzing and saving data and creating reports.
SoundCheck features a comprehensive library of pre-programmed steps; each of these can be modified, and user-defined steps can be created and added to the library. Complete test sequences are assembled from individual steps, or subsequences containing several steps, making it fast and simple to build and modify tests. Test sequences can be saved so that an entire test can be carried out at the click of a mouse from setup, through analysis to report writing and archiving. Test steps, sequences and sub-sequences can be copied, modified, saved, exported and emailed, saving time and offering increased repeatability of test procedures.
Compatible
Although SoundCheck is a complete stand-alone system, it is compatible with all brands of ancillary test equipment including head and torso simulators, artificial mouths and ears, microphones, amplifiers, telephone test interfaces, signal routers, etc. The system is also compatible with your future testing needs — new software releases and additional modules continually add new features, and upgrades are simple and inexpensive.
Compact and cost-effective
Turn your laptop into a LABTOP! If SoundCheck is installed on a laptop you can ‘hit the road’ with your test lab because, in addition to its audio analysis capabilities, it also replaces several pieces of laboratory hardware. Not only is this cost-effective, but it’s perfect for when you have to jump on a plane to troubleshoot production line problems.
Advanced Report Writing Functions
Data can be output to customized SoundCheck reports, or can be exported to software packages such as Microsoft® Word or Excel and databases such as Microsoft Access, SQL or Oracle® for archiving, post-processing or report writing. SoundCheck can also be integrated into larger test applications using National Instruments’ Test StandTM or Active X® environments.
R&D Tests Can Easily Be Transferred to Production
SoundCheck makes it easy for the production line to carry out the same tests as the R&D lab – this ensures that consumers are hearing exactly what the design engineer intended. Since there is no expensive and complex hardware, SoundCheck is affordable for production applications. It is fast and offers full integration with automated production lines. Most importantly, its advanced algorithms ensure that testing remains reliable, even in high noise environments.
The same measurement sequences can be configured differently for R&D and production use. For example, an R&D test may allow the operator to modify the input parameters and output a full and detailed analysis of the results, whereas the production version can be pre-configured to only allow ‘one-click’ operation to output a simple pass/fail result to the operator and write the full test results to a database. Companies can therefore develop highly sophisticated tests for internal use, and share a production version of the test sequence with their manufacturing facilities or third party vendors. This facilitates global quality control, wherever the manufacturing takes place.
Listen offers a Chinese language version of SoundCheck, and sales and support centers in China, Taiwan, and other Asian and European countries offer local language training and support. With the software’s different language options and the use of the internet to transfer data, the possibilities are endless. Test sequences can easily be shared with overseas facilities and vendors. If production line problems occur, 
test results can be emailed as .WAV files to the R&D lab for more detailed analysis and evaluation. This minimizes expensive production line downtime as there is no need to ship the faulty product back to the engineers for in-depth analysis, or fly the engineers out to the production line! It is even possible for a manager to observe, in real time, the test data from a production line on another continent.
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