Room finally treated...

**cruzmisl** · **08-25-07, 03:09 PM**

Hi All,
I finally have all my acoustic panels and bass traps installed. Pretty easy to do too. I took some measurements today and surprisingly not a huge difference. Smoothed out some areas but nothing significant. I spoke with Brian P and he stated that the treatments will not fix the room response. Seating position, room dimensions, sub location will change that. What will change is the decay times which are measured with the waterfall plot. Problem with that is the waterfall plot will change unless the mic is situated on a stand which I don't have.

So, with the graphs useless to me I'll focus on my subjective sound analysis.

The sound, especially the dialog, is greatly improved. It sounds much more like a "theater" than it did before. The bass is much tighter, more controlled and a lot less boomy. The impact is also improved. Overall I am very impressed and the investment was well worth it.

I will now focus on my EQ to smooth the response a bit so it will only get better from here
Front of the room

Back of the room

and one more over in an obscure corner of the room.

**Sonnie** · **08-25-07, 03:13 PM**

Excellent job cruz... it looks very modern and professionally done...

Those would be some great pics for upload to our Featured Photos section in our Image Gallery.

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **08-25-07, 07:31 PM**

Quote:

I finally have all my acoustic panels and bass traps installed. Pretty easy to do too. I took some measurements today and surprisingly not a huge difference. Smoothed out some areas but nothing significant. I spoke with Brian P and he stated that the treatments will not fix the room response.
What will change is the decay times which are measured with the waterfall plot.

Yup. Although Ethan has charts showing that bass traps can diminish the difference between the peaks and dips (i.e., at least some response improvement). But primarily the reduced decay times will make the room more “dead.” With bass, reduced decay times get you...

Quote:

The bass is much tighter, more controlled and a lot less boomy

Regards,
Wayne

**bpape** · **08-25-07, 10:47 PM**

If one has the luxury of a dedicated space and also the luxury of putting treatments wherever they need to be, we can change the frequency response to a point. Generally, positioning of speakers, seating, and sub will make more difference in the purely frequency domain.

As you can see, this room is a challenge with the speakers being very close to the wall behind and non-symmetric compared to boundaries around them. The seating is back close to a corner with not much other way to go with it. Sub location is also somewhat limited in the ability to adjust. VERY long portion of the room off to the left where you see the lone treatment in the corner that's difficult to justify putting more treatments in terms of benefit for the money. This leaves very long reflections and long, deep modes side to side in the space where the seats are sitting very close to one of the 'side' boundaries.

That said, the primary goals of the treatments were still met:

- Improved dialog clarity
- Better surround field and front imaging
- Tighter, cleaner, punchier bottom end
- More impact and better dynamics

Now we turn to EQ to tame a few of the peaks.

Congrats on doing a very nice job of hanging everything. It looks very good in that space. I'm glad you're pleased with the improvement that our products made and that you feel it was money well spent.

He asked me several times during our consultation and design if this would really make a difference. I get this question from people all the time. Until one really hears for themselves the differences that room treatments can make, it's hard to describe. Once you hear it though, you're a believer and will never do without again.

Bryan

**cruzmisl** · **08-26-07, 02:27 AM**

Quote:

bpape wrote:

I get this question from people all the time. Until one really hears for themselves the differences that room treatments can make, it's hard to describe. Once you hear it though, you're a believer and will never do without again.

Bryan

Well said. Even my wife says she can tell a difference and she could really care less about all this home theater stuff

I will say that the money, while hard to part with initially, really polishes the system. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks for all the kind words.

**F1 fan** · **08-26-07, 08:03 PM**

Wow very very nice ,those panels blend in perfectly with your room.I noticed the same improvements as you describe when I treated my room.Its certainly a very cost effective uprade worth every dime.

**Bob_99** · **08-27-07, 08:40 AM**

Yes, I would agree with the other posters: very nice job especially the way it blends into the room. Exceptionally nice! In the future, you may want to think about treating a few more wall/ceiling corners and also think about ceiling reflections.

Bob

**JCD** · **08-27-07, 01:48 PM**

First -- as many have already said, you did a great job of implentation. It looks very professional and of course, it all blends in well.

Thought I'd also give you a link for a mic stand -- I bought this one. Cheapest I could find for a boom mic stand -- and it included a cable and mic for only $20.

JCD

**cruzmisl** · **08-27-07, 08:31 PM**

Thanks for the link. $20 for a mic stand is a good deal!!!

**eugovector** · **08-28-07, 05:49 AM**

With a mic, no less.

Stand only for $13, you'll need a mic clip if you don't have one already:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...and?sku=450448

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...and?sku=450826

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...and?sku=450829

Buy in Bulk and SAVE!!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ack?sku=450835

**JCD** · **08-28-07, 11:47 AM**

Quote:

cruzmisl wrote:

Thanks for the link. $20 for a mic stand is a good deal!!!

I was looking for one too, and came across this. Unfortunately I had found this deal AFTER I had already purchased a mic cable. That cable cost me about the same as the mic stand/cable/mic package.

Oh, and the package does include a mic clip.

JCD

**bpape** · **08-28-07, 12:03 PM**

Just be very careful with cheap mics and trying to take absolute frequency response readings. Using one for relative changes is OK as you can still see what you're doing - but don't count on it to tell you what's really going on in absolute terms.

I usually recommend just a Radio Shack meter because there is a calibration file for it that can be loaded to compensate for the mic inaccuracies.

Bryan

**eugovector** · **08-28-07, 12:14 PM**

Yeah, I'd hope no one was infering that the $5 mic in that package should be used for measurement.

Other popular measuremet mics are the Galaxy CM-140 and the Behringer ECM8000. You can find some nice threads on here about each of these.

**JimP** · **09-09-07, 04:03 PM**

What color and fabric was used on your panels?

**cruzmisl** · **09-09-07, 09:55 PM**

Standard fabric and off white is the color.

**Fred33** · **09-10-07, 02:30 PM**

very nice room. I like the use of the multi-colored lamp. Adds flavor to the room.

**Bob_99** · **09-10-07, 02:37 PM**

cruz,

You don't have pets do you?

Bob

**JimP** · **09-10-07, 02:44 PM**

Questions

The bass absorber that's straddling a corner, I've also seen them in solid triangular chunks and as an L shape with two retangular slabs.

Asthetically, I think I might prefer L shape.

How does effectiveness vary among the three methods?

**bpape** · **09-10-07, 03:01 PM**

The L will be the least effective in terms of deep bass - but it has the most surface area.

The chunk will reach the deepest assuming the same face dimensions as the straddling panels.

The straddling panels will do 90% of what the chunk will do down to say the 70's then the chunk pulls away.

From a DIY perspective assuming the same material, the chunk will cost 50% more than the straddling panel. The L will cost double what the straddling panel will.

Bryan

**cruzmisl** · **09-10-07, 03:26 PM**

Quote:

Bob_99 wrote:

cruz,

You don't have pets do you?

Bob

I don't, why do you ask?

**eugovector** · **09-10-07, 03:46 PM**

Quote:

bpape wrote:

The L will be the least effective in terms of deep bass - but it has the most surface area.

The chunk will reach the deepest assuming the same face dimensions as the straddling panels.

The straddling panels will do 90% of what the chunk will do down to say the 70's then the chunk pulls away.

From a DIY perspective assuming the same material, the chunk will cost 50% more than the straddling panel. The L will cost double what the straddling panel will.

Bryan

And that's why he does what he does for a living folks. Great post Bryan.

**JimP** · **09-12-07, 02:54 PM**

Another one for Brian,

I have 12' ceilings and would like to minimize the "look" of a corner bass trap.

How much of a difference is going from a one 4' section to two or three?

**Bob_99** · **09-12-07, 04:05 PM**

In bass treatment, more is always better.

Bob

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