## Room Acoustics compensater

Device/Module Wishlist

Original topic on PlanetZ: https://forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=24118

#### Room Acoustics compensater

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:49 am
by bcslaam
Check out the new IK Multimedia ARC.
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?arc/index.php
I wish we had the equivalent in scope.

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:20 pm
by Neutron
I was thinking of something like this, it might be a bit more "manual" though because of atom limitations.
Keep in mind that it will not be as helpful as treating your room.
if you correct a room mode with an equalizer it is not really helping the problem much. the resonant (time based) smear is still there, but now it is quieter, and the output of that frequency from you monitors direct path to your ears is also now reduced or boosted.
lets say you put the microphone where your head usually is. and you find a big dip at 250hz, so you boost 250hz. then you find out somewhere your producer/musician/buddy is sitting sounds even more crap than before. thats because your head was in a place where the standing waves cancel out, and your producer is in a place where the standing wave is reinforcing itself.
and you can drive yourself crazy because if you move the microphone 1 foot then the peaks and valleys can move around a lot because of the standing waves. sometimes up to 15db at a given frequency.
so you might smooth the room out a bit but you might ruin the direct sound from your speakers.
it would be especially true for small studio and nearfield monitors.
anyways if SC decides i am worthy to have a SDK key ill look into it

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:37 pm
by garyb
bullsh*t!!
this is for lazy people with too much money and not enough knowledge or motivation to make the room sound better. this is the ultimate expression of polishing a turd. yes, it may become shiny, but it's still a turd.
the only way such a device/program would actually work is if the room is already close to good.
spend the money on proper bass traps and diffusion!

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:43 pm
by studioblabla
And what about those http://www.jblpro.com/lsr/lsr4328P.html?
they get good reviews...
Bart

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:22 pm
by Mr Arkadin
Hmmm.. dunno about you but i always think the best speakers are ones that are flat and stay flat - lordy only knows what artifacts to your sound an adjusting speaker would add.

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:33 pm
by bcslaam
Yeah I know your right Neutron and others. And indeed I have spent money on bass traps. I need to look into it further however.
Placement of panels etc would be the key because there is something I just cant change and thats the shape of my room. It definitely wouldn't leave it on all the time. I would just use it as another comparison at mixdown. And use the graphics (to compliment my ears) to help with the placement of panels etc.
Anyway Neutron you should have an SDK. I always liked your devices.
Thanks
Ben

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:22 pm
by Neutron
I think the best thing as well as bass traps is to put some absorbers on the wall and ceiling where you can get the first reflection from the speaker at your listening position.

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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:40 pm
by astroman
yeah, great advertizer's language on the IK page

> • Sonically 'treat' your room so you can finally trust the sound of your studio

indeed, a very good advice - and it's just the print style suggesting that this is a program feature, after all it remains... an advice

> wrote:...It then combines this information to provide an accurate representation of the room’s acoustical problems. The equalization solution then corrects for both time and frequency response problems more effectively and efficiently than any other room correction EQ on the market...

it does not say that it will correct the problem - it just treats them more 'effectively and efficiently' than the competition
cheers, Tom

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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:04 am
by wolf
SpEQtrum owners can do this already in a manual way as it can show input and output spectrum at the same time.
Basically you just need a sweep or pink noise and a spectrum/fft analyzer.
However before actually adjusting a EQ it's indeed always better to find the place where the frequency issue or echo is coming from (as already mentioned above).