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Room treatments and acoustics…. How to begin?

Hello,

 

I have spent the past year and a half going to town. I have mindfully and exuberantly engaged with every aspect of my system, with one exception… acoustics and room treatments. 
 

I have a 14’x18’ x8’ high living room that is also my current listening room. I live in New York City, queens, and am an architectural designer with some fabrication ability. I am just beginning to get privy to how to approach acoustics and room treatments and find it fascinating. I would very much like to do the following:

 

-maximize the room acoustics in my living room, while maintaining or enhancing its visual appeal

 

-begin learning about acoustics as a whole, so that I may lean into designing architectural spaces intertwined with hifi listening..,, ie: large volume chamber woofers and open baffles incorporated into the architecture, even speakers partially or entirely cast into the floor walls or ceiling. 
 

how to begin? 

thanks for your insight and inspirations, fellow obsessives…!

 

r 

 

whyrichard
mike_in_nc
1,250 posts
 

One step of your beginning would be to request acoustics plans or your room from GIK and/or ASC. They will usually do that for a small fee, applicable to future purchases. The plans will give you ideas and openings to ask questions. If you ask both firms, you'll get an idea about how much ideas vary on best approaches. (Both are highly reputable.)

I would also browse the acoustics fabrics collection of Guilford of Maine. Many cloth-covered acoustic panels can be made with any GoM fabric, and there are many, some of which are gorgeous.

You might consider buying a measurement mic (miniDSP UMIK-1 or UMIK-2 is cost-effective and widely supported) and downloading REW measurement software. That will allow you to get an idea of how your room is working now, and also how that changes as you add acoustic treatments.

Then start reading. I can’t list resources -- I did it by looking around -- but I’ll bet others will have good ideas.

There is a lot about practical acoustics on the Web. (I do not recommend the books by Robert Harley.)

kofibaffour
713 posts
 

you may not need more than deep bass absorbers for your four corners and ceiling cloud absorbers and that is made easier as your room is a Bolt Area/Sepmeyer Ratio approximate.

get a UMIK-1/2 and get to some RTA data using REW @whyrichard 

and design the bass traps with aesthetic wrapping with these videos as guides and target 6 inch thick graduated density bass traps and ceiling clouds - 

1 - https://youtu.be/Zl2YqHURMB0?si=sVPVL9hJtMIXHAeA

2 - https://youtu.be/j1mO5p0W384?si=yf4M2vHwJZ9GIMb2

3 - https://youtu.be/-Lk8xoSHF7g?si=tU-dX3tbqlEjia4I

combine the above with DIRAC ART and you’re going to achieve tremendous tactility, snap and pop and cavernous bass that doesn’t ring endlessly. it is a revelation

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,993 posts
 

I've learned a lot from youtube videos by different people -- including folks at Audioholics.

REW and a miniDSP UMIK-1 are invaluable.

I've had good experiences with bass traps from Real Traps. I'm also interested in active bass traps, but they're a relatively new technology.

willyht
83 posts
 

I second GIK. Great website, nice designs, effective acoustic panels.

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