Room EQ Wizard

Room EQ Wizard, also called REW for short, is intended to perform acoustic measurements and analyses.

However, more than just that, this application can generate parametric equalizer filters you can use to finetune a given acoustic response.

Unfortunately, despite its name, there is no actual wizard to take you through the steps, which is why it is a good idea to consult some of the help documentation. Still, it may probably take you a lot of experimentation before you feel comfortable using it. Luckily, the product has a great community of followers willing to produce learning materials.

A common, and over simplified, workflow starts with measuring. At this point, it is important to calibrate the tool by checking levels, which basically emits a sound and reports back both in numbers and graphically. Then, by filling in the desired frequency range, you can start to actually perform acoustic measurements. Next step is generating EQ filters to correct any problems. Unfortunately, a great part of the whole process is done manually in contrast with other tools allowing more automation.

Most of the times, Room EQ Wizard can help you significantly enhance the acoustic response in a specific room. However, this product does not use mixed-phase filtering. Thus, instead of combining Finite Impulse Response (FIR) and Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters like other similar products do, it only uses IIR filters. Therefore, the quality of the optimization may not be as high.

All in all, Room Equalizer Wizard lets you optimize acoustics in a given room by helping you place the different speakers and woofers in the most adequate positions. The app is Java-based, which makes it cross-platform. However, it may also make it take longer to load and open security holes. Finally, the product is free but donations are encouraged.