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Thread: dead rooms

  1. #1
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    Angry dead rooms

    You ever notice that all room acoustic treatmeant stuff is geared towards bright rooms? As if everyone has the exact same problem: bright rooms. Well what if you have the exact opposite problem: a dead room? If you by the room correction stuff it'll only make it worse. I now I'm not thee only one with this problem.

  2. #2
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    Yes you are...

    Quote Originally Posted by kevin66
    You ever notice that all room acoustic treatmeant stuff is geared towards bright rooms? As if everyone has the exact same problem: bright rooms. Well what if you have the exact opposite problem: a dead room? If you by the room correction stuff it'll only make it worse. I now I'm not thee only one with this problem.
    Yes, you are the only one with this problem. Acoustic treatments are marketed as sound-absorbing or deadening materials. These treatments are typically used in overly bright rooms to achieve a better acoustic environment. What makes a room bright? Hard reflective surfaces. What kind of surfaces are those? Things like Sheetrock, Masonry, Wood, Ceramic Tile, Vinyl. All of these are very common materials in construction, and therefore most rooms tend to be bright unless designed specifically for acoustics.

    If your room is overly dead, it is cheap and and easy to install some reflective architectural finishes such as those listed above, why would anyone pay for a high-tech reflective surface that would undoubtedly cost a lot (to make the psuedo-audiophiles think it's a great material...I'm sure Monster would market it) when they can put up drywall or roll up a carpet and install wood/vinyl/ceramic, change out drapes, etc., which would in most cases also have the added effect of changing/improving the look of the room...

  3. #3
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    reply to, "Yes, you are the only one."

    Quote Originally Posted by DrJeff
    Yes, you are the only one with this problem. Acoustic treatments are marketed as sound-absorbing or deadening materials. These treatments are typically used in overly bright rooms to achieve a better acoustic environment. What makes a room bright? Hard reflective surfaces. What kind of surfaces are those? Things like Sheetrock, Masonry, Wood, Ceramic Tile, Vinyl. All of these are very common materials in construction, and therefore most rooms tend to be bright unless designed specifically for acoustics.

    If your room is overly dead, it is cheap and and easy to install some reflective architectural finishes such as those listed above, why would anyone pay for a high-tech reflective surface that would undoubtedly cost a lot (to make the psuedo-audiophiles think it's a great material...I'm sure Monster would market it) when they can put up drywall or roll up a carpet and install wood/vinyl/ceramic, change out drapes, etc., which would in most cases also have the added effect of changing/improving the look of the room...
    I can't except the fact that I'm the only one with an acousticly dead room. If I'm breaking some weird audiophile rule then so be it but there are people out there in so-so apartments that don't have the same sounding rooms as people like you who live in luxurious houses.

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    Unhappy

    Quote Originally Posted by DrJeff
    Yes, you are the only one with this problem.
    That's a little harsh don't you think? He just asked a question. The rest of your answer was very helpful towards his question. Why the sarcasim?

    ~C.C.~

  5. #5
    Forum Regular TinHere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevin66
    I can't except the fact that I'm the only one with an acousticly dead room. If I'm breaking some weird audiophile rule then so be it but there are people out there in so-so apartments that don't have the same sounding rooms as people like you who live in luxurious houses.
    Relax Kevin66 the rules are still in discussion and haven't been finalized.

    DrJeff isn't really a doctor and he lives in a condemned building with only three walls and a cracked foundation. I'm kidding [not sure] but it doesn't really matter. The point I think he was making is that usually room treatments are used control reflections in an attempt to deaden the room. The problem you feel you have may lie elsewhere. Have you heard your speakers in another room? Did they come alive in that room? What are they and what are you powering them with? Where are they placed? How big is the room? Shape? Ceiling height? If you supply more info you might get some help.
    TinHere

    Enjoying a virtual life.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevin66
    I can't except the fact that I'm the only one with an acousticly dead room. If I'm breaking some weird audiophile rule then so be it but there are people out there in so-so apartments that don't have the same sounding rooms as people like you who live in luxurious houses.
    You're not the only one with this problem, lord knows I have recorded in many studios that were dead as a coffin and then the engineer added some effects at the final mix-down to make it sound like the room was brighter than it really was. Of course, they always say it sounds canned, because it is canned. If only they had used some wood flooring instead of carpet, or removed some of the treatments, they would get the effect they want, but that's another story...

    The whole point of my post (admittedly somewhat sarcastic, but that's just me) was that there is no need to develop some high-cost method of making a room brighter, it is achievable with common building materials. Deadening a room (using sound-absorbing materials) is much harder, as the materials actually have to absorb energy, whereas livening materials simply have to reflect it.

    It also has nothing to do with cost, I've been in great sounding apartments and dead 8000 square foot homes...it's all in the design and construction of the room, and sometimes entirely by accident you get a great (or a horrible) acoustic result.

    Go back and read my post again - If you have a dead room, go to Home Depot...

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by GaToy
    That's a little harsh don't you think? He just asked a question. The rest of your answer was very helpful towards his question. Why the sarcasim?

    ~C.C.~
    Naw, I don't see anything in it.
    mtrycrafts

  8. #8
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    Kevin, can you be a bit more specific about the sound deadening material in the room? Maybe I'm not able to think that far outside the box, but I'm finding it difficult to picture a room that dead in a home. By no stretch does that mean it doesn't exist.

    Dr. Jeff is right in that most materials used in a home are reflective and it's the materials you put into the rooms that will control the sound.

    Have you done anything with moving the speaks to determine it's not something besides the dead room?

  9. #9
    Forum Regular FLZapped's Avatar
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    Question I shot the sherrif

    Quote Originally Posted by kevin66
    You ever notice that all room acoustic treatmeant stuff is geared towards bright rooms? As if everyone has the exact same problem: bright rooms. Well what if you have the exact opposite problem: a dead room? If you by the room correction stuff it'll only make it worse. I now I'm not thee only one with this problem.

    Okay, so the question becomes, how did you arrive at the conclusion that your room is "dead." You do realize that it probably became that way from the choice of decorating you used.

    -Bruce

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