Audio Video News

Anthem, sister-brand to Canadian speaker company Paradigm, today unveiled the third generation of the proprietary Anthem Room Correction (ARC) software that has been a staple of its AV preamps and receivers for years.

The updated ARC Genesis software was previewed at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show that opened today in Amsterdam and will be available for free download at anthmeav.com in the spring. The ARC Mobile app for iOS and Android devices will also be upgraded to include the new processing.

With support for Windows and now the Mac, the technology boasts a streamlined user interface and draws on advanced measurement functions, powerful acoustic-correction algorithms, and user-configurable target-curve customization to deliver the “best possible performance” in any space with two-channel stereo systems or multichannel home theater setups.

The new software works with compatible receivers, processors, and preamplifiers that have built-in bass management and seeks to tame resonances, reflective surfaces, and other obstacles that can have a negative impact on sound quality, especially at low frequencies. The system analyzes the frequency response of speakers and subwoofers to calculate custom high- and low-pass filter settings that “ensure natural-sounding levels of deep, well-blended bass.”

The system supports USB, Wi-Fi/Ethernet, and Bluetooth connectivity and is “backward compatible with many legacy products released during the last decade — the only exception being early generation products that relied solely on RS-232 for data connections.”

Performance enhancements are said to speed up the optimization algorithm and improve the quality of results compared with its predecessor. Further refinements enhance the software’s ability to detect and automatically select crossover points, analyze room gain, and calculate target curves for each speaker within a system, according to Anthem. When used with Anthem’s STR Series products, ARC Genesis also offers the “significant advancement” of aligning the phase of speakers and subwoofers.

Anthem said the new user interface was redesigned from the ground up to deliver a seamless experience across Mac and Windows platforms. Improvements include guided workflow, simple and descriptive language, in-line help menus, interactive acoustic measurement graphs, and the ability to replace measurements on a speaker by speaker basis after finishing the initial set of measurements, instead of having to remeasure the entire system if the location of a speaker or subwoofer changes.

ARC Genesis also has an improved Quick Measure feature that now offers a Snapshot function to freeze the current measurement curve so it can be overlaid on subsequent curves. There’s also an interactive Curve Viewer tool that generates graphs to show what the processor is doing every step of the way and allows users to overlay measurements with bass management settings applied to target and correction curves. Anthem has simplified the system’s PDF export tool, too, making it easier for users to share before- and after-measurement curves.

Finally, Anthem aims to demystify room correction with a new demo mode that explains how the software works by allowing users to run simulations.

For more information, visit anthemav.com.