Audio Video News

Anthem Electronics today announced the release of an updated version of its proprietary Anthem Room Correction (ARC) software.

ARC Genesis, a third-generation update of the software, is being offered as a free download to owners of compatible Anthem home theater and two-channel products. With support for Mac and Windows, the proprietary technology provides advanced measurement functions, acoustic-correction algorithms, user-configurable target curves, and a new streamlined user interface.

Developed using research from the prestigious National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the ARC Genesis uses proprietary algorithms to “create custom correction curves that retain the favorable acoustic signature of speakers and remove negative room contributions,” Anthem said.

When used with compatible receivers, processors, and preamplifiers with built-in bass management functions, the updated software also analyzes the frequency response of speakers and subwoofers to calculate and upload custom high- and low-pass filter settings to achieve natural sounding bass. ARC Genesis also understands how room boundaries reinforce low-frequencies — an effect called room gain — and “automatically incorporates these contributions to retain natural, powerful, and dynamic bass and mid-bass.”

Anthem outlined the following new features of ARC Genesis:

• Compatibility with many legacy Anthem, MartinLogan, and Paradigm products released over the last decade.
• Compatibility with Mac and Windows via USB, Wi-Fi/Ethernet, or Bluetooth (depending on the product). Prior to this update, ARC did not support Mac.
• Performance enhancements that speed up the optimization algorithm and improve the quality of results. Refinements include the software’s ability to detect and automatically select crossover points, analyze room gain, and calculate target curves for each speaker within a system. When used with Anthem’s STR Series products, the new software also now aligns the phase of speakers and subwoofers.
• A streamlined user interface designed from the ground up to offer a seamless experience across Mac and Windows platforms. Improvements include a guided workflow, descriptive and straightforward language, in-line help menus, and interactive acoustic graphs.
• Support for multiple languages.
• A demo mode that allows you to explore the software’s room correction features (even if you don’t have access to an ARC-compatible product) and run simulated measurements with the ability to make adjustments.
• A Professional Mode with target curves for a whole system that can be customized using controls for room gain, deep bass boost, and tilt; high-frequency roll-off and crossover frequency/slope adjustments for individual sets of speakers; and high-/low frequency extension and low-frequency-extension-slope adjustments for subwoofers.
• Full-range room correction that allows you to set a different maximum correction frequency for each set of speakers. An example would be setting room correction for up to 400 Hz on front speakers but up to 5 kHz on small in-ceiling speakers used for height effects.
• A remeasure feature that lets you open a saved configuration file and remeasure new speakers and update target curves without having to start from scratch.
• A pan and zoom feature for examining graphs in greater detail.
• Automatic backup and restore that works across platforms (Mac and Window) to minimize the risk of losing user-configured settings and measurement data.

A number of features have also been improved:

• The Quick Measure tool now includes a snapshot function that freezes the current measurement curve and preserves it so it can be overlaid on subsequent curves.
• The Curve Viewer tool now displays what ARC Genesis is doing every step of the way, generating graphs that show measurements for each speaker allowing you to overlay measurements with bass-management settings applied.
• When exporting PDFs, you can now share ARC settings with before and after measurement curves.

Other features include the ability to create up to four sets of measurement data (depending on the device) and up to four system profiles, assign amp channels without leaving the software, and set up bass management within the software.

For more information, including links to download ARC Genesis, visit anthemarc.com.