"As with the earlier versions, ARC System 2.5 can significantly improve a moderately good room and make a well-controlled room sound amazing."

Sound on Sound has taken a close look at ARC System 2.5, courtesy of expert studio engineer Dennis J Wilkins. Already impressed with the original version, he was even happier when he tested out the new 2.5 release. Here are some of his key comments:

"The worst peak in my treated room was +1OdB at 50Hz, and there were several other peaks and dips in the 3 to 6 dB range. After correction, the room appears flat at the listening position within about 1dB from 30Hz to 20kHz."

"The new MEMS mic provides an extremely flat response."

"Target Curves are a useful feature, and not only enable you to tailor the response to suit your tastes, but also provide a Virtual Monitoring section that allows you to hear your mix as it might sound on lower-fidelity devices such as an LCD TV, a car audio system, a small radio and so on."

"The improvement in clarity, especially in the lower few octaves, impressed me four years ago when I first tried ARC 2, and the newest incarnation with the MEMS mic continues to impress me."

"As with the earlier versions, ARC System 2.5 can significantly improve a moderately good room and make a well-controlled room sound amazing."

Dennis's final verdict is:

"IK's room correction system continues to evolve, and can effectively 'clean up' the sound of any room."

Key Plusses
+ Version 2.5 software is free to anyone with version 2.x and works with either previous ARC mic
+ New MEMS mic is reasonably priced, can be used for other studio recording activities, and provides very precise measurements when used with ARC 2.5
+ Virtual monitoring mode can be useful to audition mixes as they might sound on boomboxes and other other modest sound systems

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Learn more about ARC System 2.5 here