Micromega M.A.R.S. Room EQ

I know some people poo poo on DSP and I get it for analog purists. But within the realm of digital, poo poo’ing on DSP is like refusing to use post-processing on your digital pics. The Micromega M-One offers the optional M.A.R.S. (Micromega Acoustic Room System) Room EQ system and to my mind if you’re going to get an M-One, you want M.A.R.S.. Let’s face it, most of us need correcting.

The review M-150 came with M.A.R.S. which adds a microphone and cable to the package. Setup and customization, M.A.R.S. measures your in -room response and corrects for sonic anomalies, took me all of a few minutes.

Here are the steps:

  1. Plug in the microphone cable into the amp and microphone
  2. Place the microphone at the center listening position, ear-height
  3. Tap the lower left menu button on the amp so it reads “USB” then use the up or down button until you see REQ on the display
  4. Press the “OK” button twice. The second press gives you 5 seconds to get out of the way
  5. The amp will play some tones while the mic listens
  6. Follow the same process for “Left” and “Right” positions, moving the mic 20 CM to the left and right of center
  7. You’re done

There are two M.A.R.S. post-calibration listen settings:

  1. AUTO : limit resonances of your room and keep the general shape of your loudspeakers frequency response. This is the default setting.
  2. FLAT : limit resonances of your room and flatten the frequency response in the bass regions.

You can also disable M.A.R.S so you hear what it does that your un-DSP’d sound sounds like. Here’s what I can say about the M.A.R.S. default setting after listening through it for a few songsā€”it works.

More detail to follow in the review proper. Stay tuned.