After yearlong development effort that has reduced our programmer’s fingers to bloody stumps, we are very pleased to announce that Smaart v8 will be released on Tuesday, March 15th.
Smaart v8 is the most powerful, flexible and adaptable version of Smaart to date. From studio to stadium, shop to show, Smaart v8 fits the needs of any measurement situation.
With Smaart v8, we are breaking out of the single window, fixed GUI world to allow increased control over your software environment, allowing you to adapt and expand Smaart to better match your specific applications.
Smaart v8 offers new ways to manage your data and your measurement environment, new multi-window capability, a new tab-based interface, added functionality for use on tablets and touch screen computers, computer-to-computer API capability and much, much more.
Easier, More Intuitive Measurement Configuration
The measurement configuration process has been updated to provide an easier, more intuitive workflow – adding automatic measurement creation and management functionality to streamline configuration and support a “build-on-the-fly” process that is often an operational necessity. Specifically:
- New program workflow takes you through device selection/configuration and automatically creates Spectrum measurements
- Device and measurement configuration is managed through a single window
- Input metering right in the I-O Config, check your inputs before you even create measurements
- Creating a Transfer Function measurement now automatically creates the accompanying Spectrum contributors to it.
- Measurement creation on-the-fly from the main interface
Tab-Based Interface
Many users expressed a desire for a tab-based interface where one could configure and switch between multiple workspaces, so we have expanded the basic “measurement group” paradigm from v7 and now organize our configurations into tabs which include not only the configured measurements, but also the layout and plot view as well.
Multi-Window Capability
We have added the ability to drive multiple windows, each containing its own set of tabbed workspaces. It is like being able to run multiple sessions of Smaart simultaneously.
Hide/Show Interface Controls
We heard from many users that they really liked the hide/show data bar feature available in Smaart v.7 Di because it gave them the ability to maximize the plot area, especially during show time. So we took that concept a step further in v8 and applied it to all interface control elements
Command Bar
The increased use of Smaart on tablet/touch screen computers complicated using Hot-Key commands. To address this, we added a command menu and a user-configurable command bar of large, touch-friendly buttons that can be used to call any of Smaart’s keyboard-based, Hot-key commands.
Improved Data Storage & APL
For static data, we have overhauled the trace storage process to allow for better direct access to your larger file structure of captured traces, without cluttering up active memory space trying to keep everything loaded in RAM in case you need it.
The new Active Plot Legend, or APL, window details the contents of the active/selected plot, showing the names, colors and trace offsets of Live and static data traces – as well as providing the controls for hiding/showing the traces.
Broadband Metering
A long-time user requested feature is the ability to continuously view input signal levels, as well as monitor parameters such as SPL and LEQ for multiple inputs simultaneously. For this we created the Broadband Meters window. This mode-less window can be configured to monitor any of Smaart’s input signals via a simple grid configuration process.
Integrated Smaart I-O Control
Control for the Smaart I-O gain and phantom power are now integrated directly into the Smaart v8 interface.
Smaart-to-Smaart API
Smaart’s integrated API allows any copy of Smaart v8 to act as a host to any other copy of Smaart v8, meaning you can create a rig with one computer acquiring the input signals and performing the measurement computations, while another acts as a client and remotely accesses the measurement data. This capability then allows your v8 measurement environment to be spread, not just across multiple monitors, but across multiple computers.
Under the Hood Performance Improvements
As with all new versions of Smaart, we have made many “under-the-hood” improvements to the Smaart code base and development environment. While not particularly sexy, these updates bring with them better performance on the latest operating systems, improved stability and security and native support for High Definition displays (which is actually pretty sexy… admit it).
Minimum Suggested Computer System Requirements
Windows
Operating System: Windows 7 or newer (32 & 64 bit)
CPU: 2 GHz Dual-Core Intel i5 Processor or faster
RAM: 2 GB or greater
Graphics: Intel HD 4000 or better, or 256 MB dedicated video RAM
Display: Min. 1024×600 pixel display
Sound: Audio Hardware with OS compatible ASIO, Wav/WDM drivers.
MAC
Operating System: Mac OSX 10.7 (32 + 64 bit) or newer
CPU: 2 GHz Dual-Core Intel i5 or faster
RAM: 2 GB or greater
Graphics: Intel HD4000 or better, or 256 MB dedicated video RAM.
Sound Hardware: Audio Hardware with compatible Core Audio device drivers.
CLICK HERE to Purchase Smaart v8
CLICK HERE for Smaart v8 Pricing Information
CLICK HERE for the Smaart v8 FAQ