Anthem Room Correction

So What Exactly is Anthem Room Correction (ARC®)?

Anthem Room Correction (ARC) is an advanced room correction system developed by Anthem Electronics. The system has two parts, the first being ARC compatible amplifier and speaker products from Anthem, MartinLogan, and Paradigm. The second part is the microphone and software itself that performs the measurements, calculates corrections, and then uploads them to the audio device (amplifier / receiver) you are using.

The software packages that make all this possible - ARC Genesis (for Mac and PC) and ARC Mobile (for iOS and Android), are free for download. ARC Genesis offers a full-featured demo mode that you can try for free today.

Anthem says that their Room Correction puts the sophistication and power of an advanced audio lab in your hands so that you can achieve perfect sound at home. Their PHDs did the hard work, so you don’t need an engineering degree to use it. ARC is sophisticated enough to produce real results that you can hear, easy enough to be used by anyone, advanced enough to allow you to customize the settings, and professional enough to give you the kind of results you’d expect from software and hardware costing thousands of dollars.

How does ARC work?

ARC is quite simple to use: you load the ARC software, position the calibration microphone, run the program, then view and upload the results. ARC measures responses and automatically adjusts equipment performance to suit your space. That’s the basics.

An audio system’s performance is always negatively affected by a room’s unique characteristics. The size and shape of the room, its construction, the furnishings, and other factors cause standing waves, resonances, and reflections that can colour the sound played by loudspeakers. Utilizing proprietary algorithms developed by Anthem engineers, ARC Genesis creates custom correction curves that retain the favourable acoustic signature of speakers and remove negative room contributions. These custom filters are then used to program high-quality digital signal processing (DSP) technology embedded within compatible audio products.

Why do your listening room and speakers need correction?

The most significant detriment to the sound of an audio system is almost always the room it resides within—especially true in the realm of bass. Even in a professionally treated sound room, bass can quickly become boomy or anemic. Anthem Room Correction helps audio systems sound their best in any space. ARC offers a robust suite of tools to tame your wild sonic frontier, whether you have a tricked-out home theatre, a traditional living room with carpet and thick drapes, or a modern floor plan with large open spaces and acoustically reflective furniture and windows.

Your room affects the sound.

Have you ever tested the acoustics in an empty room by whistling or clapping? It brings to mind how sound is affected by a room’s size, structure, and contents. Even when using optimally positioned speakers of exceptional quality, the room negatively impacts sound quality considerably. Surfaces such as windows and furnishings and the geometry of the walls, floor, and ceiling add unwanted resonance and coloration, making the bass either boomy or less punchy, voices less natural, and the dialogue less intelligible. The effect on frequency response is typically ±6 dB in the midrange and ±10 dB at low frequencies.

ARC To The Rescue

To compensate for this and to optimize the in-room response of your speakers, Anthem Room Correction measures the output of each speaker relative to the listening area then, through a series of calculations, adjusts its output. Not only does ARC correct peaks and dips in a speaker’s frequency response, but it also preserves the beneficial acoustic attributes of a room—attributes based on proven psychoacoustic science (the study of how humans hear and experience sound).

For whom is ARC designed?

Designed for both consumers and professionals, ARC Genesis (available for Mac and Windows) offers Auto and Professional modes. The streamlined user interface of ARC Genesis makes it easy to perform corrections that provide excellent sound in any room and system configuration—ranging from simple 2-channel stereos to elaborate 9.4.6-channel home theaters.

Ideal for most consumers, ARC Genesis’ Auto mode asks a few simple questions about a system, runs a full set of measurements, automatically calculates the correction and bass management settings, and uploads them to the ARC-compatible device. Ideal for professionals and advanced audio enthusiasts, Professional mode offers the full gamut of controls and allows a granular level of customization before uploading corrections and bass management settings.