IK Multimedia ARC Studio is effective for acoustic correction — so why am I frustrated?€349 (currently on sale for €249), ikmultimedia.com
Room correction EQ is becoming a powerful way to remedy frequency imbalances and unwanted resonances in your studio space. Leading the way at the affordable end are Sonarworks’ SoundID and IK Multimedia’s ARC software. At the opposite end, Trinnov has hardware-hosted systems that start at around £4,000, which are more likely found in commercial studios.

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Except for a few high-end monitors and audio interfaces that are able to host Sonarworks profiles on their DSP chip, room EQ is usually run as a plugin within a DAW, or a system-wide app on your computer. Sonarworks has the edge here, as it features system-wide routing and also handles headphone correction, but it’s slightly more expensive. Meanwhile, ARC is more cost-effective but doesn’t have headphone correction or a system-wide option.
Not being able to route the entire system audio stream through room EQ becomes a hassle, since you have to insert the room correction as a plugin at the end of the master bus chain, and remember to turn it off when bouncing on most DAWs. Neither can you use the room EQ for audio in other apps without a workaround. The limitations are especially annoying when hybrid mixing with analogue gear, which involves real-time bounces in the DAW. Essentially, you cannot hear your mix properly when doing the final bounce and check.
ARC Studio aims to do away with much of this frustration at an attractive cost.
Image: Press
What is ARC Studio?
IK Multimedia’s ARC Studio is a box that sits between your main audio interface outputs and monitors, offering a complete package for measuring room correction profiles and then hosting them. Once you measure the room profile with the included microphone, you can load it up onto the Studio and work away with EQ-corrected monitors, with minimal latency. Just like competing products, there are also EQ profiles that allow you to audition your mix using virtual monitors, to see how it sounds on a car stereo, phone speakers and so on.
The hardware is simple and uncluttered. The front panel houses just two LEDs to indicate power and signal level, plus a single illuminated button to toggle the correction on and off. On the back, there are stereo XLR inputs and outputs, a USB-C port for loading and switching profiles from the computer, and a power socket. Unfortunately, there’s no digital input, so users are stuck with an extra round of (analogue-to-digital and then digital-to-analogue) conversion inside the box that might be lesser in quality than those in the audio interface being used. This might rule out users for whom specifications matter.I think it’s a little short-sighted to not include digital input, even if this might have added to the cost.
Image: Press
How do you set up ARC Studio?
To get going with ARC Studio, you need an audio interface with a mic preamp and phantom power. The measurement software prompts you to plug the microphone in, turn phantom on and set an appropriate level, and then place the microphone at different positions (and different heights) in the listening position while short sine sweeps are played on the monitors. I opt for the more accurate, 21-position measurement and it is straightforward and relatively swift, at under 15 minutes.
If you’ve used Sonarworks before, the ARC measurement process seems more primitive since the monitors send no ‘clicky’ triangulation signals to calculate exact points for the various measurement positions in the room. With ARC, you need to remember where you’ve been and try to be consistent, which isn’t that easy. That all said, the final profile is based on an average of the room response in all these positions, so it probably doesn’t matter as much as you’d expect…
Room analysis. Image: Press
How well does ARC Studio work?
In use, the software side fares really well. My own room has a large desk, plus a window to one side, and both these aspects cannot easily be adequately fixed with the basic filters on my main monitors. ARC takes care of the frequency response (including the difference between left and right) and I can change the target curve to taste using the six available target curve EQ bands. For example, critical listening might use the standard target curve with a full mid range, while a general listening curve with a pleasing, gentle mid scoop could avoid fatigue. Emulations of other speaker systems are also handy, most notably for checking whether kicks and basslines can be distinguished on phone speakers.
Having hardware to host room EQ is a welcome addition to my home studio, especially as I insert hardware into my master bus. My interface is able to run room EQ in its DSP, but it doesn’t interface with either Sonarworks or ARC, so it would be complicated to set up. With ARC studio, there’s no more faffing with switching plugins on and off. I work with the low-latency Natural Phase mode (1.4 ms latency) with no issues when tracking, and then switching to the more accurate Linear Phase mode (42 ms) for playback.
There are frustrations, though. Firstly, the measurement mic is incredibly flimsy, its plastic build is nearly as hollow as a Kinder egg shell. While the controls are solid enough, there’s not quite enough weight in the metal case to stop it tipping up under the weight of the connected XLR cables when placed on top of other shallow outboard gear.
Once an EQ profile is loaded, you can disconnect the USB cable to the computer and use the ARC Studio in a standalone mode of sorts, but then there’s no way to store multiple profiles and switch between them on the hardware. Power-down seems to wipe the stored profile, so you have to scrabble to replug the USB cable every time you switch power back on – especially annoying if you use dongles to manage limited USB-C ports.
Image: Press
Is ARC Studio right for you?
If you work primarily on a single set of studio monitors, then the ARC Studio is a winning option unrivalled at its price point. Load your correction profile up and happily work away on mixes that translate well to other systems, without noticeable latency or stress on your computer’s CPU.
But it’s when you need a little bit more that the cracks start to show. Adding alternate monitors? Not possible without introducing extra hardware or buying a second ARC Studio. Upgrading your interface or converters? I’m afraid you’re lumbered with the extra conversion stages onboard the Studio.
Commendably, ARC Studio is less than a tenth of the price of the Trinnov Nova, although the Trinnov has a far wider range of input and output options, acts as monitor controller and applies linear phase and time correction to each monitor rather than just EQ correction.
ARC Studio is an innovative, well-priced room EQ solution for bedroom studios, but it slightly misses the mark for professional users.

Key features

Hardware / software room EQ package
Stereo XLR inputs and outputs
Simple LED metering on hardware
Modes: Natural Phase (1.4 ms latency) ; Linear Phase (42 ms latency)
USB-C port for connection to computer
External DC power supply (included)
Measurement mic and ARC 4 software included

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