This two-part article describes the design, configuration, software and use of a general-purpose electroacoustic measurement system. The system is based on typical soundcards, of which a few are featured. The software used is GNU Octave, a powerful, free, open-source analysis tool. The aim is to place a powerful analysis system in the hands of anyone, encouraging high-level electroacoustic measurements, both of speaker systems as well as electro-acoustical equipment, and promote their understanding. The focus is to explain the details of how measurements are accomplished, and promote programming by the user. A fair amount of general measurement theory is presented, together with the mathematics and implementation. Programs are given and explained, along with a few examples.
