- #REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH FULL VERSION#
- #REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH FULL#
- #REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH SIMULATOR#
Figure 2 shows the response I measured in the small “lab” room at my company’s factory. Again, you measure, move, then measure again until you’re satisfied that you achieved the best response at frequencies below 200Hz to 300Hz. They’re greatly affected by speaker and listener position, and require large thick absorbers to tame. Further, low frequencies are the most difficult to control. Bass waves get to every nook and cranny in a room, depending on the frequency, speaker location, and other factors. Not that the improvement isn’t audibly obvious! But you can quickly find the best location for bass traps by measuring the response as you experiment with their placement. Measuring is also useful to assess the improvement after adding bass traps and other acoustic treatments.
#REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH SIMULATOR#
The simulator includes several other controls and options not shown here. Of course, measuring is still needed to confirm, and the Room Simulation should be considered more of a starting point than the final arbiter.įigure 1: In the REW Room Simulation module you enter the room’s dimensions, then move the virtual listener and speakers around to find the best low-frequency response. This is a lot easier than actually moving things around and measuring dozens of times. The Room Simulation also accommodates up to four subwoofers, though the screen capture in Figure 1 shows only one subwoofer in the front left corner. You place a virtual head where you sit while listening, then move the speakers and head to find the flattest response. REW also includes a fabulous Room Simulation module that shows the listener response vs. Measuring shows all frequencies at once, ensuring that for a given location no frequencies are excessively raised or reduced at the expense of other frequencies. But that same location might have a deep null at 65Hz making a track in the key of C sound thin and weak.
#REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH FULL#
A speaker placement that sounds good for music in the key of A might sound full because 55Hz is emphasized at the listener’s seat.
Trying to tweak your setup by playing music is doomed to failure because music contains mostly specific frequencies-those related to the key of the current music. One important reason programs such as REW are better than going by ear is that REW measures all frequencies. With REW you can confirm the best locations in an afternoon. I’ve seen audiophiles experiment for years with speaker placement going by ear alone. You put a measuring microphone where your head would be while listening, measure, move, and measure again.
#REVERB REFLECTION GRAPH FULL VERSION#
Even better, REW is “donationware” and the full version can be downloaded for free. One reason to measure your room is to find the best locations for your speakers and listening seat. I use the Room EQ Wizard program (REW), which can measure every aspect of a room’s acoustics in about 10 seconds. Measuring can also highlight other ills, such as excess ambience, early reflections, and modal ringing-extended decay times at specific bass frequencies related to the room’s dimensions. Poor acoustics is the elephant in the room, and most people don’t even know it. Most people have no idea how badly their room damages the sound because they never measured their room’s frequency response and other properties. But the problem I see most often is a lack of acoustic treatment.
Other poor setups have the tweeters higher or lower than ear height, which also skews the response, or the listening seat has a leather or plastic back that extends above their ears. The reflections also skew the frequency response on only that side. This pulls the sound toward the side with the wall, because reflections from the wall make that side louder. One common problem is a lack of symmetry, with the left speaker next to a wall while the right side is 10’ from the other wall.
Unfortunately, almost every system I see is poorly set up. And every day I see people proudly posting photos of their setups, hoping for an atta-boy from their online friends. Every day I visit audio web forums and Facebook groups to offer help and guidance.
0 kommentar(er)
