room treatment

Jeff19 · 11th August 2005

so i did a search on room treatment, spectrum analyzers and such and i'm not really finding what i'm looking for so i'd appreciate any help.

i'm looking to adjust my room to get some better monitoring. i guess i could just throw in some bass traps, acoustical foam and the such, but i have this feeling that i would be trying to fix something that has not been proven to be broken in the first place. and how do i know i've even positioned everything corretly. my room has carpet and a bed i'm using near-feild monitors (event 20/20 bas). my biggest concern is the mid-low to low frequencies. i've had a little problem with translatability of my mixes.

so my question is: can i buy a spectrum analyzer like say the phonic PAA2 and see what my major problem frequencies are, then try to fix the room with traps, foam and the such? i'm a recording hobbiest and i may move one day so i'm really not up to hiring a person to fix my room. the monitors are not ideal, but i have a "slutz list" that will need to be satisfied before i get new monitors.

how can i fix my room? are there other spectrum analyzers out there...mind you this is posted in low end for a reason.

thanks. any help is appreciated.

jeff

tINY · 11th August 2005

You can't analyze the response of a small room with and RTA. If you must do measurement, you need to do sweept sine or MLS response curves with 1/10th octive resolution or better.

Then, you'll probably want to measure reverberation and generate some waterfall plots.

And you'll need to do this for several listening positions and speaker placement options (maybe move the bed a few feet and try again).

Or, take some good advice and start by building a half dozen bass traps and see if it helps.

-tINY

Ethan Winer · 11th August 2005

Jeff,

> can i buy a spectrum analyzer like say the phonic PAA2 <

As Tiny said, that's not going to help in the small rooms typically used these days for mixing. Though it would have been useful if you mentioned the size of your room.

Besides needing to assess the response to 1/10th octave (or finer), that's only half the problem. The other half is modal ringing and early reflections, and an RTA can't show you that. Even more to the point, it doesn't matter what you measure anyway, because the solution is always the same: broadband absorption that works well to as low a frequency as possible.

--Ethan

tedcrop · 11th August 2005

You can guarantee a small room with no treatment does not sound good. Put up the bass traps LNRD from Auralex. Monitors also have alot to do with mixes not translating I am sure.

If you go to auralex down load the template they will tell you exactly what treatment needs to go where. I would trust them, buy the treatment and buy some killer monitors.---that is if that is what you want to do. Or you could analyze the room.

11th August 2005	#1
Jeff19 Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 96 Thread Starter	room treatment so i did a search on room treatment, spectrum analyzers and such and i'm not really finding what i'm looking for so i'd appreciate any help. i'm looking to adjust my room to get some better monitoring. i guess i could just throw in some bass traps, acoustical foam and the such, but i have this feeling that i would be trying to fix something that has not been proven to be broken in the first place. and how do i know i've even positioned everything corretly. my room has carpet and a bed i'm using near-feild monitors (event 20/20 bas). my biggest concern is the mid-low to low frequencies. i've had a little problem with translatability of my mixes. so my question is: can i buy a spectrum analyzer like say the phonic PAA2 and see what my major problem frequencies are, then try to fix the room with traps, foam and the such? i'm a recording hobbiest and i may move one day so i'm really not up to hiring a person to fix my room. the monitors are not ideal, but i have a "slutz list" that will need to be satisfied before i get new monitors. how can i fix my room? are there other spectrum analyzers out there...mind you this is posted in low end for a reason. thanks. any help is appreciated. jeff

11th August 2005	#3
Ethan Winer Gear Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: New Milford, CT, USA Posts: 12,048	Jeff, > can i buy a spectrum analyzer like say the phonic PAA2 < As Tiny said, that's not going to help in the small rooms typically used these days for mixing. Though it would have been useful if you mentioned the size of your room. Besides needing to assess the response to 1/10th octave (or finer), that's only half the problem. The other half is modal ringing and early reflections, and an RTA can't show you that. Even more to the point, it doesn't matter what you measure anyway, because the solution is always the same: broadband absorption that works well to as low a frequency as possible. --Ethan __________________ Ethan's audio book is coming!

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11th August 2005	#2
tINY Gear Guru Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Orygun Posts: 10,206	You can't analyze the response of a small room with and RTA. If you must do measurement, you need to do sweept sine or MLS response curves with 1/10th octive resolution or better. Then, you'll probably want to measure reverberation and generate some waterfall plots. And you'll need to do this for several listening positions and speaker placement options (maybe move the bed a few feet and try again). Or, take some good advice and start by building a half dozen bass traps and see if it helps. -tINY

11th August 2005	#4
tedcrop Gear addict Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 318	You can guarantee a small room with no treatment does not sound good. Put up the bass traps LNRD from Auralex. Monitors also have alot to do with mixes not translating I am sure. If you go to auralex down load the template they will tell you exactly what treatment needs to go where. I would trust them, buy the treatment and buy some killer monitors.---that is if that is what you want to do. Or you could analyze the room.