System Calibration Order-of-Operations Guide Companion to Smaart Guide

Reference: CAL-ORDER-01. A companion to the Smaart Setup & Alignment Guide — that page covers how to drive the software at any single position (gain, delay-find, EQ). This page covers a different question: on a rig with more than one asymmetric subsystem (upper mains, lower mains, frontfills, underbalcony), which pair do you combine first? Get the order wrong and you can spend a session chasing a variance that a different combination order would have avoided entirely.

0/ complete

Not saved anywhere — resets when you leave this page.

Step 1 — Finish Every Individual System First

Speaker focus/aim: find and confirm ONAX, OFFAX, VTOP, VBOT and the XOVR position for that system alone. Set the initial level and run a solo EQ pass at the ONAX position — this is the system's own reference before it touches anything else. Handle any acoustic treatment for that system's local area while you're still working it in isolation. Don't move to combination until every individual system on the list has cleared all three of the above. Combining early just means redoing the combination once the solo work catches up.

Step 2 — Decide the Combination Order (the priority rules)

1. Coupled elements first. Internally combine coupled symmetric elements (A1 + A2) before combining that result with anything external (+B) — e.g. the elements of a symmetric coupled point source main cluster combine before adding a sidefill. 2. Uncoupled elements next. Internally combine uncoupled symmetric elements (B1 + B2) before combining with the main system (+A) — e.g. the elements of a symmetric uncoupled line source frontfill combine before joining the main cluster. 3. Coupled subsystems next. Combine asymmetric coupled subsystems with each other (A + B) before bringing in a third (+C) — e.g. a main cluster's downfill joins the upper mains before that combined result meets the uncoupled frontfills. 4. Distance hierarchy breaks remaining ties. Whichever system covers the longest throw is "A" and takes priority over systems covering closer areas ("B", "C", etc.) — always work outward from the system covering the most people at the greatest distance.

Step 3 — Combine, Pair by Pair

At the XOVR position between the pair you're combining, set delay first. Adjust speaker position (splay or spacing) to minimize the variance between the ONAX and XOVR traces. Run the combined EQ pass at the ONAX position(s) for the newly-combined pair. Treat that combined result as a single new system, then repeat Step 2's priority rules to find the next pair to combine it with — working outward until every subsystem is folded in.

Reading it as an equation

The combination order for a full system can be written out like arithmetic, worked from the innermost parentheses out — coupled pairs first, then uncoupled pairs, then the running total: ((A1 + A2) + (B1 + B2)) + (C1 + C2). A concrete example for a main cluster with upper/lower sections plus a frontfill: ((main upper inner + main upper outer) + (main lower inner + main lower outer)) + (frontfill inner + outer). The parentheses aren't decoration — they're the actual order you'd walk through with the measurement mic.

Symmetric arrays need the fewest mic positions and processing channels to calibrate — every form of asymmetry (different model, distance, or spacing between elements) needs its own dedicated mic position and processing channel, which is the main reason the priority order above matters: get it backwards on a heavily asymmetric rig and the mic-position count (and time on site) balloons.

Source: McCarthy, Bob. Sound Systems: Design and Optimization, 3rd ed., §14.5 "Order Operations." Rewritten in Ryan's own words from the source material.