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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Acoustics in Motion => Topic started by: bblackwood on August 23, 2006, 09:42:42 PM

Title: Basic room treatments
Post by: bblackwood on August 23, 2006, 09:42:42 PM

So Fran, what are the basic things one needs to consider when treating their room? If you had to list the basics, how would you do it? What are the mistakes you see most people making and what are the easiest improvements to make in the average room?

All very general questions, I know, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks in advance...

Title: Re: Basic room treatments
Post by: cerberus on August 24, 2006, 02:31:05 AM

in terms of basic goals for basic room treatments:  what would be the typically optimal rt60 for a control room configured for tracking and mixing?  an edit suite?  a mastering suite?

jeff dinces

Title: Re: Basic room treatments
Post by: jfrigo on August 24, 2006, 11:00:36 AM

cerberus wrote on Wed, 23 August 2006 23:31

in terms of basic goals for basic room treatments:  what would be the typically optimal rt60 for a control room configured for tracking and mixing?  an edit suite?  a mastering suite? jeff dinces

RT60 can vary pretty widely per octave band (lower is usually longer), and when quoted without reference to the octave band, one will generally assume that it is referring to the 500 Hz or perhaps 1 kHz band as the time in that range will usually coincide with a person's general impression of a room when walking in and talking or clapping one's hands.

However, if you are going to design with decay times in mind, it is important to have RT60 design goals for different frequency bands, because having 5X the decay at 125 Hz that you have at 1 kHz is not going to be very pleasing. Such disparity can happen in a room with lots of foam or thin fiberglass, but no bass trapping. If you just plan and measure at 1 kHz, you'll be left scratching you head as to why the room isn't working out as expected.

Looking forward to Fran's answer, and hopfully he will address the differences per band as well.

By the way, do you prefer Francis to Fran? How would you like to be addressed?

Thanks!

Title: Re: Basic room treatments
Post by: franman on August 24, 2006, 12:17:15 PM

Quote:

However, if you are going to design with decay times in mind, it is important to have RT60 design goals for different frequency bands, because having 5X the decay at 125 Hz that you have at 1 kHz is not going to be very pleasing. Such disparity can happen in a room with lots of foam or thin fiberglass, but no bass trapping. If you just plan and measure at 1 kHz, you'll be left scratching you head as to why the room isn't working out as expected.

Fran or Francis is fine.... just not Frank or Mr. Manzella Please!!

Good point on the RT-60 being a pretty useless description for Reverb Time... We as a society seem to have a need for short, single term (or number) answers and descriptions for everything. This happens in acoustics all over the place. RT-60 is an effort to express the reverb characteristic of a room with a single number expression. Of course, if the room has a huge low end decay and a short HF one, it will sound completely different than a nicely treated (and dimensionally sound) room that decays more evenly...

RT-60 for control rooms?? Short!! Less than 0.5 seconds for sure. I tend to err on the dead side if anywhere. Just my personal preference. Control Rooms should sound natural with speach. This is a very good indication for me when I walk into a new room. I just walk around talking a little.... then I start yelling a little... then I start "Whoo"ing and "Ahhh"ing (really loud) and everyone starts to look at me like I'm totally mad!! But I can tell a lot about a rooms response even in the low end with my voice.

With regards to the general throughts on small room treatments see Small Rooms post

Title: Re: Basic room treatments
Post by: organica on September 03, 2006, 12:51:10 AM

franman wrote on Thu, 24 August 2006 12:17

Control Rooms should sound natural with speach. This is a very good indication for me when I walk into a new room. I just walk around talking a little.... then I start yelling a little... then I start "Whoo"ing and "Ahhh"ing (really loud) and everyone starts to look at me like I'm totally mad!! But I can tell a lot about a rooms response even in the low end with my voice.

right on......
is that something you find yourself doing at any particular point of a room treatment process ?
later on perhaps ?
or ...right away  because you're trying to feel  things out ?
maybe these are odd questions but I do something similar  often to gain info in a room that  I may be about to work in by clapping my hands

Title: Re: Basic room treatments
Post by: franman on September 04, 2006, 08:11:27 PM

It's not uncommon for me to be speaking (to a client) as I walk into a control room and I will just "turn on" my critical listening as I walk around the room talking. It's one of the first things I listen to in a room (before any music).. I will also use this test when I walk into one of our rooms that is under construction, after the shell is sealed up and before the treatments are installed. I can get a good impression of the low end response (not the bottom two octaves, but above that) with my voice...