How important is (Physical / Digital) Room Correction?

[RayW]

Ras,

 

I now have about 12 parametric EQ sections per channel. I got to this point after several iterations of choosing parameters to flatten the response, taking care not to apply too much boost at any frequency, and then listening. I fixed the biggest deviations from flatness first, and then went on to the smaller ones. All corrections were below 3 kHz. It's not necessarily the case that more bands are better.

 

As for my remark about not spending $, I was thinking one thing and wrote another. I've spent lots of $ on this hobby and probably will continue to do so. What I meant to say was that the various room correction devices available use different algorithms and I didn't want to commit to one manufacturer's approach based on reading the reviews. I wanted to experiment first. Its not just the destination but the journey that's enjoyable.

 

Thanks for the links. From a quick look, I see in DRC-FIR that the author has put a great deal of effort into developing his system and has provided detailed documentation. I'll enjoy studying it and trying the software. The room EQ I have now sounds significantly better to me than without EQ, but I'm sure it can be improved.

 

Also, there's the obvious issue of compatibility with hi-res. Some room correction hardware is designed to go between preamp and power amp and so consists of A/D conversion, DSP, and D/A conversion. Clearly, you wouldn't want to run the output of your Berkeley Alpha DAC through one of these! I doubt if there are any room correction devices with digital I/O that will run at 176.4 kHz. Software room correction seems like the only viable alternative for hi-res playback at this time. It doesn't have to run in real time; you can pre-process your music files.

 

It may be heresy to some of you, but I have run some of the Reference Recordings HRx material through my Adobe Audition-based parametric EQ. The computations were done at the source sampling rate of 176.4 kHz and 32-bit floating point. What came out was still hi-res, but with a flatter response at my ears and so more realism.

 

RayW

 

 

[MontyW]

Or buy a pair of Dynaudio Air monitors with Air PC-IP software:

 

http://www.dynaudioacoustics.com/Default.asp?Id=333

 

or a pair of Genelec monitors with AutoCal:

 

http://www.genelec.com/learning-center/technology-tutorials/dsp-monitoring-systems/autocal/

 

 

[[email protected]]

For years I set up my stereo in the living room of whatever home I was living in, and the results were satisfactory otherwise I would have given up on the hobby years ago. However when I built a dedicated room in my garage with optimum dimensions for sound, things changed. Putting my same system in the dedicated room transformed it in a way no other equipment change or upgrade had ever achieved. With the system in the family room I would often go to good stereo stores and find systems set up in custom rooms sounded better and more involving than my own. After I built the room, my system now sounded as good or better than the high end stores. That is huge, and since I got the room I have changed few components in my system.I don't think I will ever be without a dedicated room, and I now consider the room a vital part of the equation.

 

I have also had the opportunity to hear many 'high end' systems in many different rooms. I can say I have heard systems composed of top notch components costing many tens of thousands of Dollars placed in inadequate rooms and the sound has been average or poor. These systems lack balanced bass, they either boom or have no impact, the tonal balance has been skewed and imaging and soundstaging have been inacurate or non-existing. On the flip side, a good friend of mine owns a high end stereo store, and in his dedicated room he has made some very cheap components sound quite stellar. I think this shows that you cannot overcome poor acoustics regardless of how much money you throw at it.

 

I have also been fortunate enough to try a lyngdorf room correction device and I must say the results were very impressive. At the store it cleaned up the sound and allowed the system to sound balanced and engaging. When I brought it home it also improved the sound in my dedicated room, but to a much lesser degree. My reservation with the device was that it digitized all sources including vinyl, and that seems counterintuitive since I love my vinyl.

 

If a dedicated room was not possible I think a room correction device along with some sound treatments are a must to get the most from whatever system you own.

 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Andrew Levy

 

[rajupatel]

i am a music lover and took great pride in my earlier setup of EMM LABS SE Transport and DAC, REVEL Ultima SALONS speakers, GamuT monoblocks, Clearaudio turntable, transparent interconnects and Bi Wire cable etc. This is till I heard a live performance of the Nutcracker Suite Ballet. Thereafter i played the same suite cd by Phillips- Valery Gergiev. LIFE CHANGED. My setup was representing only 5% of what i had heard live.

 

I tried a lot of stuff and things to achieve better sound. BUT NO LUCK. Till i met a friend who has a very good pair of ears. He told me that there is a guy who can help to setup a custom room with electronics and speakers. He also told me that he HAS SETUP A system in a studio in Europe way long back and it can be auditioned. I did audition that and i was nothing short of a revelation. THE STUDIO WAS FULLY ACOUSTICALLY TREATED AND WE WERE LISTENING TO A HIGH CD PLAYER PLAYING THROUGH THE STUDIO'S AMPLIFICATION AND SPEAKERS. I learned later that a reknowned reviewer in audio circle HAS heard the system and remarked it to be "the world's best audio system and I still think it was/is".

 

I am not a technical guy, but i will try to explain certain issues which every music lover should understand. Sound below 300 Hz created the greatest anomaly in a listening environment. High frequency sound waves are comparatively easier to control or diffuse. For eg. the sound wave lengths are:

300Hz 45"

250 Hz 54"

200Hz 67"

150Hz 135"

100Hz 135" or 11'- 3"

80Hz 169" or 14'

60Hz 226" or 18'+

How in the world can bass trap 15" or 20" diameter or maybe 12" thick solve/absorb these waves. Beats me!! Unless somebody has changed the laws of Physics.

 

I have taken the plunge long time back and i am grinning ear to ear every time i play a cd/vinyl. And i am using reasonable priced interconnects/ and mediocre speaker and power cables.

 

I FEEL THAT EVERY AUDIOPHILE/MUSIC ENTHUSIAST SHOULD INVEST FIRST AND FOREMOST IN THE ROOM THAN ANYTHING ELSE. Incidentally i have also tried and tested DEQX correction in my room and i felt the sound had lost it's life. Tried bass traps too. Nothing helped. I am now able to ENJOY music all over again. ALL THE TIME.

 

Is any of u come to Mumbai, INDIA, do give a call and I would be willing to share my experience. my contact detail

Cell no. +919867620954. Hope i make sense.

 

 

 

[sshd]

A good room and proper placement of furniture/speakers is a basic requirement for good sound.

 

Nothing will sound good in a room that is too soft, too hard, too small, too assymetric, etc. Sadly I see lots of pictures on the net with expensive gear and rooms that ruin everything.

 

It has been my experience that

- having a large room

- with plenty of carpet

- a large couch

- speakers set up symmetrical

- with proper distance to side and rear walls

- nothing between speakers

- nothing between speakers and couch (like a table)

- having lots of free room behind listening position

gives a pleasent sound.

 

Adding digital room correction on top will give a little more.

 

You should definetely go with your ears. DRC can change the sound drastically. You might not like that linear sound.

 

[rajupatel]

sshd,

 

you are half way there.

 

in the set up you are still listening to a box (spkrs) playing in a box (room).

 

Large rooms are a luxury that not many audio enthusiast's have access to (at least not me).

And also that many do not have a lot of time to continously experiment with audio products and tweaks (at least not me).

Hence I decided to go and enlist the services of a person who has implemented a great set up and which is heard by audio reviewer's, heard it myself, and finally implemented the setup in my home.

 

Of course what you say helps only after doing a setup like what i have done. DRC only helps to solve a small part of the problem according to my experience.

 

Wish you great listening......