Needing only one channel of audio input, this capability can be used for a variety of purposes. Before the audience arrives, random or pseudo-random noise is used as a stimulus signal, usually. Smaart displays the difference between the intended sound from the mixer and the received sound at the microphone, and this real-time display informs the audio engineer's decisions regarding, and other sound system adjustment parameters. The direct mixing console audio output is compared with the microphone input to determine how the sound is changed by the sound system elements such as loudspeakers and amplifiers, and by the room acoustics indoors or by the weather conditions and acoustic environment outdoors. The first channel of audio undergoing analysis is connected directly from one of the main outputs of the and the second channel is connected to a placed in the audience listening area, usually an omnidirectional test microphone with a flat, neutral pickup characteristic.
This is used by live sound engineers to set up concert sound systems before a show and to monitor and adjust these systems during the performance.
