Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Pigmy Pony]

That's for the bedroom surely?

Where's your sense of adventure?

[Barry]

Have to say I am not much for the Youtube videos on the subject - either they are made by people selling room treatment products, so their advice amounts to 'You can never have enough' or they don't even understand the basics of what they are talking about.

My thoughts exactly.

[Jimbo]

Not sure which to choose from - Youtube video or someone talking Boll*cks on a forum?


Personally I go with my own evaluation and assessment because really that's all that matters as its my cash and my ears. However having said all that its good to get a confirmation sometimes from folk who have been down the same path and experienced the same thing.

[Macca]

Not sure which to choose from - Youtube video or someone talking Boll*cks on a forum?

.

I like to go to the source - the research papers and textbooks. But that's not for everyone.

[Jimbo]

I like to go to the source - the research papers and textbooks. But that's not for everyone.

Yeah I do plenty of that too but sometimes you have to be careful who is funding the research and who is writing the conclusions.

[Macca]

Yeah I do plenty of that too but sometimes you have to be careful who is funding the research and who is writing the conclusions.

Absolutely.

[Barry]

Yeah I do plenty of that too but sometimes you have to be careful who is funding the research and who is writing the conclusions.

So do whenever possible.

But theory isn't everything, or even guaranteed. It is salutary to note that some of the best concert venues were built long before the science of acoustics was started: the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna, amongst others; whereas some of the poorest-sounding venues were designed following acoustical theories: The Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank, and the Barbican, both in London.

I ought to add that active echo cancellation has been installed at the South Bank, and that at the Barbican, the best seats where the acoustics are good are just in front of the control booth and upper tier seats.

[Jimbo]

I pop into a major concert Hall quite regularly in Birmingham which is meant to be one of the best sounding concert halls in Europe and I must say I have heard some great stuff there Jazz, classical and rock music. But occasional you get a muppet on the mixing desk with cloth ears and it all goes horribly wrong and I have heard some dreadful poorly mixed stuff which have completely ruined my experience and that was usually with fantastic artists I had been waiting years to hear!

Best ever sound was Kraftwerk a few years back and it was utterly spellbinding and magnificent but I am sure they had absolutely everything under very tight control.

So even concert halls with great acoustics can sound terrible if you have amplified sound that is out of control. Not even the acoustic design of the hall can save you from thunderous amplified bass that swamps everything.

[Macca]

So do whenever possible.

But theory isn't everything, or even guaranteed. It is salutary to note that some of the best concert venues were built long before the science of acoustics was started: the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna, amongst others; whereas some of the poorest-sounding venues were designed following acoustical theories: The Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank, and the Barbican, both in London.

I ought to add that active echo cancellation has been installed at the South Bank, and that at the Barbican, the best seats where the acoustics are good are just in front of the control booth and upper tier seats.

RFH was designed in the 1940s so modern research has come some distance since then both for auditoriums and domestic rooms. Only to discover that the ancient Greeks and later the Muslims pretty much knew it all already.

The problem with the RFH was they made it too absorbent. there was not enough reverb. Allegedly because it wasn't built exactly to spec.

[Barry]

The ancient Greeks certainly knew how to build open-air auditoriums. I have visited several in Europe and North Africa. If you stand in the right spot (the acoustic focal point) you can be heard clearly anywhere in the tiered seats.