ASC MATT Test™ (Musical Articulation Test Tones)
How fast is your room? Most audiophiles know how loud they can play their room before it begins to breakup. Even the speakers have a breakup threshold, above which we begin to hear cone breakup and box buzz. The MATT test is an easy way to ring out your room without risking doing damage to structure or gear due to sustained power at one frequency. At lower sound levels it checks out the room acoustic part of your listening experience, sorting out clear dynamic bandwidths from blured bandwidths.
It's easy to use. Just listen to the 90 second test over headphones and then switch over to your soundsystem and listen again. Your system sounds great over headphones but it is full of garbled bandwidths when played through your room. Knowing what frequency ranges needs acoustics is very helpful in developing, tuning rooms. And then when you are done, play it again to check the progress you've made.
The surface and structure of the room has intrinsic damping factors which keep the mechanical structure of the room calm and quiet at reasonable sound levels. But apply the intense sound pressures of high power, high performance audio and the natural damping factor quickly becomes overwhelmed. Walls shake, windows thunder and become secondry sound sounces that blur the rapid dynamics om music. At high sound levels the MATT test not only stimulates room acoustics but also stimulates structural vibrations.
The objective of performing the MATT test in your listening room is to determine where you might move your speakers, listening position, and/or where to add acoustic treatment to your room to obtain the highest quality sound possible from the components in your listening environment. This is done by recording the sound of the test at your listening position and evaluating the response curve. Not only do you test the frequency response curve of the room but you also test the dynamic handling capability or speed of your room.
Evaluating the sound:
During the playback of the test, you will notice two types of sounds: clear articulate tone pulses "tat, tat, tat" and garbled passages "buddula buddula buddula". After listening to the test a few times you should be able to easily identify the differences in sound as the test progresses. When you feel ready, make a list of the approximate track times during which garbled signals occurred. Then, refer to the graph below to determine what frequencies correspond to the times you noted. This will provide you with an idea of any acoustic weaknesses within your room.
What does the test tell me?
The MATT test provides two pieces of information: how loud the sound is and how articulate the sound is. The maximum readout on the sound level meter during a tone burst is an indication, in decibels, of how loud your system is at that frequency. The difference in readout between the highest and lowest swing of the needle during a tone burst tells us how articulate the sound is at that frequency. Generally speaking, you can follow the following table to determine how articulate your sound is at various frequencies.
15dB swing - excellent
10dB swing - good
5 dB swing - fair
3 dB swing - poor
1 db swing - bad
The M.A.T.T. Test is Designed for Critical Music Playback Environments
- Recording Studios
- Mix Down Rooms
- Control Booths
- Audiophile High-End Listening Rooms
- Dedicated / Custom Home Theaters
ASC MATT Test Analysis
For a modest fee ($50 + $25 per test), ASC will analyze your MATT Test data and make suggestions to help you deal with acoustic weaknesses in your room. You provide us with a recording of the MATT Test in your room and we'll take it from there. The MATT signal is available on the Stereophile Test CD 2 (track 19) and on the PROSONUS Studio Reference Disc (track 50). Or, download the Mp3 file and burn it to a CD.
