Examples described herein involve validating motion of a microphone during calibration of a playback device. An example implementation involves a control device receiving an indication that the control device will begin detecting audio signals emitted from playback devices as part of a calibration process. While the control device is detecting audio signals emitted from the playback devices, the control device receives a stream of motion data indicating movement of the control device. The control device processes a first subset of the stream of motion data to determine that the first subset of the stream of motion data indicates sufficient horizontal translation of the control device occurred. Based on determining that the first subset of the stream of motion data indicates sufficient horizontal translation of the control device, the control device processes a second subset of the stream of motion data.