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Using a measurement mic to improve room acoustics?
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| LfmC |
I know this isn't the best solution, and can't fix all probs, but I heard from quite a few ppl that it helps. And since I just spent 2000$ on monitors, I'm not gonna be investing in acoustical treatement anytime soon. :toothless
So.. how do I go about doing this? I'm a complete n00b when it comes to room acoustics, so any advice is apreciated. But keep in mind I'm broke, so any investment is out of the question right now. I know this won't magicaly make my room flat, but AFAIK I should be able to fix those mayor peaks and make the response a bit more even in the "sweet spot".
I heard there should be some (free) programs designed to automate the proccess, but I don't know where to look. I could try it manually, using some pink noise and an EQ, but I'm guessing a program could do it better.
Any ideas? |
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| echosystm |
| accoustics can't really be fixed by EQ. frequencies boom and drop throughout the modes of your room, so trying to change them at the source won't really do anything. likewise, the main problem is reflections, which eq will not solve at all. |
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| LfmC |
| quote: | Originally posted by echosystm
accoustics can't really be fixed by EQ. frequencies boom and drop throughout the modes of your room, so trying to change them at the source won't really do anything. |
okay.. so are you're saying is there is no benefit? that would make tons of products like IK ARC or even JBL LSR monitors pretty much pointless.
I'm not trying to fix the sound of the room. But it seems to me that if i have, for example, a 10dB boost at 120Hz, I'd benefit from ironing that out. no? |
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| echosystm |
| quote: | Originally posted by LfmC
okay.. so are you're saying is there is no benefit? that would make tons of products like IK ARC or even JBL LSR monitors pretty much pointless.
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basically, yes.
eq CAN help... but really not much. it's certainly not enough to bother going and buying a reference mic and eq for. also, do you think it is a good idea to have extra (an eq unit) in your signal path? 0db in your daw will no longer be 0db on the line.
you do realise, also, that you can't do this with any old mic, right? mics have their own frequency response...
| quote: | Originally posted by LfmC
I'm not trying to fix the sound of the room. But it seems to me that if i have, for example, a 10dB boost at 120Hz, I'd benefit from ironing that out. no? |
this is an oversimplified example, but basically you have booms and troughs as above. cutting certain frequencies is going to be of little help, since you're still going to get severe booms and troughs, depending on where you are sitting. also, equing will do absolutely nothing to stop reflections and phasing/comb filtering etc. which are all more important.
you don't need a lot of money for accoustics. if you make some rockwool panels for the sides and get an ikea bookcase for the rear, you should be able to get it sounding decent. |
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| LfmC |
| quote: | Originally posted by echosystm
basically, yes.
eq CAN help... but really not much. it's certainly not enough to bother going and buying a reference mic and eq for. also, do you think it is a good idea to have extra (an eq unit) in your signal path? 0db in your daw will no longer be 0db on the line.
you do realise, also, that you can't do this with any old mic, right? mics have their own frequency response...
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I'm not buying anything. I've got the flat mic from a m8(+-0.5dB 20-20kHz), and as far as EQ's go, I'd prolly use the DSP EQ on my soundcard which works realitme in the card's mixer.
Damn.. :confused: I think i'm gonna try it out anyway, just to see what happens. You never know..
As far as regular acoustic treatment is concerned, it's on my to do list, but nothing in the next month, and I have to make music NOW! :D |
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| echosystm |
| well, personally i think this is something that could cause more harm than good? its up to you though. i think if you just arrange things in your room well, you should be fine. |
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| cryophonik |
echosystem is right - it can be done, but you're not going to get the results you're looking for. I've tried doing the exact same thing using a Nady reference mic and running a series of sine waves (Ethan Winer has them available on his website) into the mic, then compensating for peaks and troughs by slapping an EQ on my master bus to compensate. But the problem is obvious - if you move forward, back, left, right, up, or down by as little as a few inches, your entire curve is thrown off.
A MUCH better way of compensating for bad room acoustics is to constantly take breaks from mixing and listen to reference tracks. Get a good feel for what your speakers should sound like. |
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| Eldritch |
| You bought monitors for $2000 and won't do any acoustic treatment? That's a serious waste of money. |
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| CReddick |
| quote: | Originally posted by echosystm
basically, yes.
eq CAN help... but really not much. |
Full disagreement. I used to run FOH sound at my last job. Until we dropped an RTA on the room and EQ'd appropriately, I don't care how badass your sound system is, it never sounds as good as an EQ'd room.
So obviously large conference centers and venues are an exaggeration in this case, but it always helps to balance things out. We used a DBX driverack PA. I think they make a studio version. |
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| richg101 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Eldritch
You bought monitors for $2000 and won't do any acoustic treatment? That's a serious waste of money. |
not really. a good set of monitors that perform and give a good response will yield better results than ty ones in the best dampened room. most clubs dont have proper acoustic treatment, so why is it 100% neccesary in studios to get a benefit from expensive monitors?
with well positioned speakers, a pair of curtains and some furniture will be more than enough room treatment for a home studio imo. |
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| Lucidity |
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/arc/
Read this, I know you can't invest but, those that say no eq blah blah blah. Read it, Computer Music Magazine also just rated it 9\10. It fixes phase problems and makes many sweet spots where you want them,and takes up to 32 measurments. I just ordered it, and is supposed to come by the 3rd of June. I use Event Sp8 Monitors and no room treatment since my landlord won't let me. So I am gonna try this and I will let ya'll know how it sounds. It might not make the room 100% perfect but, it should make it pretty flat and consistant and that is what I am looking for. |
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| Derivative |
| quote: | Originally posted by LfmC
I'm not buying anything. I've got the flat mic from a m8(+-0.5dB 20-20kHz), and as far as EQ's go, I'd prolly use the DSP EQ on my soundcard which works realitme in the card's mixer.
Damn.. :confused: I think i'm gonna try it out anyway, just to see what happens. You never know.. |
m8 is a bi directional capsule. Dont use this because it rejects sound from the sides. If you think it mirrors the position of your ears be aware that your ears don't reject sound directly in front or behind you. Don't use a cardiod either (rear rejection).
You need to use an omni mic which is equally sensitive to sound from all directions.
Run pink noise out of your speakers and observe a spectrum of it. Be careful with your ears and don't play it too loud. Place the mic approximately where you are sitting. Record the pink noise coming out of your speakers and run a spectrum analysis of the recording. It should be flat as pink noise has equal power in all octave bands. If it isn't flat then that is because of the influence of the room ( modes, standing waves etc.).
You can equalise the spectrum so it is flat and this is one way of compensating for ty room acoustics (it isn't a permanent fix but it does work provided you know what you are doing and don't it up). However, the equalisation you perform only applies at the the point of the mic so if you move around then it will all go ed up. You will need to sit still when monitoring. Also be aware that your ear is not equally sensitive to all frequency. The point of equalising a room is to try and create some sort of consistency between what you see on screen (like a spectrum) and what you hear.
The best solution is to treat your room properly but this is expensive and to do it properly would probably require you to partially rebuild your house. |
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