Thanks to you and your channel Jesco, I treated my home studio by building 10, 1.2 x 0.6 x 0.2m “bass traps” filled with 50kg/m3 rock wool slabs. It was a mission to find the materials where I live (Dubai) but I managed and I sweated it out in 38C in my car port building the frames. Got them in position now and loving the results.
Thank you for the very thorough answer! I confess hearing my name spoken out loud on RU-vid gave me a bit of a start, lol. The reason I asked was that the room I’m eventually setting up has less than ideal Bonello criteria in the low end. Not horrible, just one spot where it goes lower rather than higher. I was wondering how much effort to put into the room if it’s a lost cause to begin with, but this gives me a bit of peace of mind to continue when the time comes, so thanks again…:)
Jesco, very informative and helpful as always. Have used much of your teachings for designing my audio room, although I do have a major confession to make...I'm using all this information for my home theater! Sound waves are sound waves. I know this may be a little out of your comfort zone but what is your best guess for mixing/matching absorbers and diffusers. I happen to have a nicely geometric room at 8.5'x17.5'x17.5'. Will have 12" absorbers with 6" of rock wool. The real question is should I play with diffusers and, if so, should I match them side to side or alternate (match absorbers on both sides of room...absorbers both 4 feet from front wall then diffusers 8 feet from front wall, etc., or absorber/diffuser alternately)? AGAIN, THANKS SO MUCH. YOU HAVE PROVIDED ME WITH MORE INFORMATION THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE AND YOU EXPLAIN SO WELL EVEN I CAN UNDERSTAND AND UTILIZE THE INFORMATION!
"If not (already answered by Jesco), do room modes that impact places other than the listening position(s) matter". Yes and no. The modes are what they are, and where you place the speakers will determine how much the modes are excited, and where you place yourself will determine how much of this excitation will be of importance to you. But if you are asking if the SOUND FIELD at other positions than where you are sitting, is affecting what you are hearing, then no. You are only hearing the waves that hit your ear. So the modes exist without any sources, but the sound field is built upon all of these modes as sources are introduced.
for a standing wave a wall does not have to be fully reflective. Even at a reflection of 10 percent a standing wave can occur. As we see in light walls like gypsum walls, where 100 Hz reflects 10%, standing waves can be measured in time. The difference is coloration. The amplitude of a wave determines the volume. The reflective out of fase wave lowers or increases the amplitude of the direct signal. Fully reflective waves will attenuate or increase stronger.
Hello Jesko, in order to be able to classify an individual measure in the field of acoustics as cost-benefit efficient, it is unfortunately necessary to take into account the different regional prices of the materials, the craftsmanship, the equipment of the available workshop or, on the other hand, the suppliers of the individual components. I would venture a prog: if we were to publish a construction plan and this construction plan were to be built by different people in different places, or if we were to buy a product of the same construction, the cost of the purchase alone would probably double from the lowest price to the highest price. Let me give you an example: the diffuser that is always quoted, which is supposed to have a bad cost-benefit ratio, is actually very difficult to produce on my site at a reasonable cost. Already 10km further (over the district border) the disposal costs for furniture are so high that a diffuser is feasible at 0€ material costs and beyond that only the costs of the collection of the old furniture and the work of the construction are consumed. The question I would like to ask is until when do you think we will have to wait for the metamaterials to save space and still have the full absorption available. Greetings Roland
Jesco, I have a question about the question you asked: Room Modes: Do spots other than the listening position matter? When you have a room in the shape of a parallelepiped, like a shoe box, you have the typical modes of 1-0-0, 0-1-0, 0-0-1, 1-0-1, 1-1-0, etc. , these generate very easy ways to know where they are going to be presented, they are proportions and divisions where the nodes and antinodes will always be created. So I think the question is that knowing where these nodes and antinodes are going to fall, you have to avoid those areas as a listening place since the modes do not depend on the position of the speakers but on the proportions of the room. Thinking like this, the listening place should be able to be measured and find the place where the modes interfere the least, but those modes are not everywhere in the room, that's why when he writes ".. all do the effects of room modes impact listening to ALL position? ". Perhaps the answer is NO, since it is not heard the same in all positions, the strongest modes must be avoided, especially the armpits, the tangential ones a little less and the oblique ones that bring less energy.
They do matter in terms of decay times. Typically lower frequencies bounce around the room way longer and placing your absorption where the problematic mode is (better yet is where multiple modes intersect). The better your treatment is, the larger your listening sweet spot becomes and you can move your chair more before things sound different. In practice, commercial studios will always have the guest couch where the bass really builds up so the record label people don't turn the engineer to turn up the bass.
@@Hamachingo Of course that is the question, the bass or low frequencies have more energy and are more difficult to control and above all to absorb. You will not be able to control them with absorbent material of 4" or 10 cm, that does not happen, you will require more space and Helmholtz resonators at least... But in any case, the mixing and master room should listen well, it is the one that works in the sweet spot. And that place must be optimized, not another listening place, we understand that it is a home studio and not a professional one with enough space and above all with a greater capital. But I insist on the nodes and antinodes above all of the most serious extremes, the 1-0-0, 0-1-0, 0-0-1, which are axial, it will be very difficult for you to control or absorb them, it is better to change the location of the one where you are going to work mixing and optimize that place where it least affects resonance, that can be calculated and measured. The modal problems of the room depend exclusively on the dimensions of the room and not on the position of the speakers in the room. Obviously there are better places to work and that is exactly the question here.
Modern Yamaha monitors sound unpleasant indeed but it also makes them pretty great (and cheap) tools for mixing. Love my HS80M, they just need lots of room behind them to breathe.
Hey, it was my question. Just got some new, bigger ones the other day and the bass is back. Must’ve been the room bass that was removed which revealed the speakers’ real (harsh) sound 😅
Hi Jesco! Thanks a lot for the reply! I was afraid there might not be a 'magical trick' to it without proper measurements with dedicated tools. I do have another question though. Recently I have set up my room using your guides, results exceeded my expectations - thanks a ton!! However, couple of days ago, with the start of the heatwave in Germany, I have noticed my DIY acoustic panels started to warp. I used the cheapest wood I could find for a frame, rockwool wrapped with single layer of stretch film, and garden fleece for aesthetics. Do you think it is feasible to replace wood with very thin aluminum (the panels are 10cm deep) in this case? Would introduction of high frequencies reflections be a drastic downgrade? Cheers!
