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[AUDITORY] how often should we calibrate?



Hello all - As I said, my recent trouble with booth noise has raised a
larger question for me. With the digital equipment most of us are using
nowadays, how often do we really need to calibrate? 

I can't use insert phones for all of the experiments in my lab, mostly
because of the time it would take to teach every lab member how to
perform otoscopy. So my plan for experiments using supra-aural phones is
to measure the maximum output of the system for the supra-aural phones,
use that level to determine the needed attenuator settings, and then use
insert phones to confirm that the attenuator is doing what it's supposed
to do. 

Certainly I need to go through these steps at the beginning of an
experiment. But how often should I repeat them? I was taught, way back
when, to calibrate every day that data were being collected. But if the
signal is a digital file stored in the computer, and the signal is being
delivered through digital equipment, is that really necessary? 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Sarah Hargus Ferguson, Ph.D., CCC-A
Assistant Professor
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders 
University of Kansas 
Dole Center
1000 Sunnyside Ave., Room 3001 
Lawrence, KS  66045
office: (785)864-1116
Speech Acoustics and Perception Lab: (785)864-0610
http://www.ku.edu/~splh/Faculty/FergusonBio.html