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©Ac
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 Cont
ent
s:
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Direc t&Reflec tedEner gy..
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Cont rolRoom RearWal lDiffusionTi ps..
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HomeTheat erAppl ica ons .
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.10
Subwoof erPos ioni ng...
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.11
Press ureAr easWi thinOurRooms ..
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.11
SpeakerSoundFi eld..
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.12
Hor izontal&Verc alSoundFi elds..
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.12
Cent erImagei nTwoChannel Audi o..
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TheRul eofThi rds .
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.13
NearFi eld&F arFi eld..
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.14
Frequenc iesExpl ai
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.14
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.15
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The3DSoundFi eldsinourRooms ..
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.16

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 1.
AirBor
neEner
gy

Mostofwha twehea rassoundtravelsthrought

heair
.Airbor
nenergyha
sitsownsetoflawsofphysi
cs.Oncetheairborn
ener
gys t
ri
kesas ur
faceors ol
i
dobj ect,
itnowbecomesvibra onener
gyandmustobeyanews etofla
wswhi charesimil
arto
ai
rbornbutdifferent.I
tistheunder s
tandingoft
hosefr
equenc ya
ndampli
tudedi
fferencestha
tma keforasucces
sfulbar
rier
agai
nstnois
etransmissi
on.

2.
Aver
ageLi
steni
ngRoom SoundPr
ess
ureL
evel

Theaverageli
steni
ngl
evel
inmosta udi
oroomswhetherj
usttwochannelpl
ayba
ckmixi
ngormaster
ingi
s83dBSPL.
Us et
his
numberasagui del
i
newhenloweri
ngRT- 60 mes,
ma xi
mizi
ngtheamounttypeandl
oca onofl
owf r
equenc
yabs
orp on
tec
hnologiesandanyot
heracous cparamet
ert
hatneedsanoutputlevel
.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 3.
Bes
tRoom Ra o

Starngwi t
hthec or
rectrooms i
zeandvolumet hatma t
chedus agei
sthemos timportantfir
sts t
epinanyaudioroomdesign.
Starngwi t
hthes i
zethatreducesunwantedmoda lpressuresandal
lowsforproperreflec onma nagementwill
goalongwa y
foryouasyourroommovesf or
wa r
d.Thissi
zebelowisagoods tarts
ize.La
rgerisbe erbutthisminimums i
zeal
lowsfor
enoughspacetotreatthelowfrequencyis
suescorrec
t l
ya ndenoughsidewalldis
tancetoproperlymanagethe mes i
gnatur
e
ofreflec ons.

4.
Room Si
ze&Vol
umeChar
ts

Rooms i
zeandvol umec hartsarea vai
lablefromma nyengineersa ndstudiobui
lder s
.Thesea rea l
lchart
sa ndgraphsthathave
beena roundf oryears
.Theya reas tarngpoi ntbutyoudon' twa nttorelyonthemc ompletely.Theydomi ni
miz
el ow
frequencyissuesinthe"justroom"s iz
ea ndvol umewi thouta nyc onsi
dera onf orabsorp ont echnology/t r
eatmenta ndthe
spa c
erequirement stotr
ea t
.Ever ysmallroomneedsl owfrequenc yenergymana gementa ndi ttak
esal otofsur
f a
c etoimpact
roomr esponse. Mostofthec hartsandgr aphss howing"correct"roomwi dt
hs,heights
,andl engthra osa rebaseduponmoda l
ba ndwidthstha tar
etool a
rgef ortoday'shighr es
olu ondi gi
talforma t
s.Theywor kedwel li
nt hepa s
t,but mesha vechanged.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 5.
GoodRoom Si
zeandVol
umeChar
t

Rooms i
zeandvolumea r
ecricali
noura udi
or ooms .
Wemus tstar
twithaminimumvol umeanddist
a nc
etoacc
ommodate
firs
tlowfrequencywavesandthenmiddleandhi ghfr
equencyr
a ys
.Sta
rngwi thcert
ainrooms i
zesandvol
umewil
lgoalong
waytominimizi
ngtheamountoftreat
mentr equiredasyoumovedownt heroadtowardsthet
uningofyourr
oom.St
arng
wit
hami nimums i
zeandvolumewilla
lsoassi
styouwi thl
owertrea
tmentcosts
.Thist
ableofferssomegoodstarngpoi
nts
wit
ht her
eda r
eaanogoa cous cal
lyandtheyellowproblema cwitht
reat
ment .

6.
FloorandCei
li
ngReflec ons

Floorandceil
i
ngr eflec onss t
ri
keourl
ist
eni
ngpos ionsfirs
t.Thesetwos ur
fac
ea rea
sarethecl
osettothelis
tener.
Ceili
ng
reflec onscanimpos eashrinki
ngeffectonoursoundsta
ge.Theceili
ngreflec onint
ermix
eswiththedirectsoundfromour
speakersandproducesthisquashi
ngeffect.
Youcanhearalowc ei
l
ingevery mei namixorpres
enta on. T
reatmentop ons
areabsorp on/di
ffus i
onorac ombina onofbot
hdependingonus age.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 7.
Dir
ect&Reflec
tedEner
gy

Directenergyisthestr
aightl
ineenergyf
romours pea ker
s.Iti
stheenergythatt
ravel
sinastr
aightl
i
nefr
omours pea
k er
stoour
ears.
Reflec tedenergyisdir
ectenergyst
ri
kingther oombounda rysurf
acesandthenint
ermixi
ngwitht
hedi
rectenergy.Bot
h
thedirect(
speaker)andreflected(
room)sounda c
c ountsforthetot
a l
soundanditsqual
it
ythatwehear.
Nearfiel
dmoni tori
ng
i
sawa ytomi ni
mizerooms oundandma ximiz
edirec ts
ound.

8.
Dir
ect&Reflec
tedSound

Thesoundwehearinaroomisac ombina onofthedir

ectsoundorstr
aightl
inesoundfr
omours peakersandthereflected
soundenergyf
romourroombounda rysur
faces.
Ceil
ingandfloorreflec onsreac
hourea r
sandmi cr
ophonesfir s
tsincethey
arephysi
cal
lyt
hecl
osestsur
facestoourearsormicr
ophones.I
tist
heba l
anceofthedir
ectandreflectedenergythatproduces
thesoundwehear.
Alla
udioroomsmus ttakeint
oaccountbothdir
ectandreflect
edenergyinbothproducingandrecording
music.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 9.
Not
es&Fr
equenc
yChar
t

All
mus i
calnoteshaveafr
equencyass
ignedtothem. Musici
sproduc edateachnotewit
htheoscil
la onofsometypeof
membr a
nea taparc ul
arfr
equency
.Eachinst
rumentt ha
tproduc esmusichasapa rcul
arf
requencyresponseas
soci
atedwit
h
i
t.Drumsarefullr
angewheretuba'
saremorerestri
c veinthefrequencyrangetheyr
epres
ent.Thesechart
srepr
esentthe
notespl
ayedbya ninst
rumentandt
hef r
equenciestheyr
epresent.

10.
Deal
ingWi
thRearWal
lReflec ons

Reflec onsfromroomsurfacesint
ermi xwiththest
ra i
ghtl
ineordir
ec tener
gyf r
oml oudspeak
ers.Ourac
ous cgoali
sto
achieveamixbet
weenthedi recta
ndr eflectedenergy.Reflec onsfromt herearwallar
eprobl
ema ca tt
hemixposionwhere
accuracyi
scrical
.Wewa nttohea rwha ti
sinthemi xandnotintheroom. Thisphenomenonc anbeaddres
sedusi
ngquadr
ac
di
ffus ions
preadacr
osst
her ea rwal
lsurfac
es.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 11.
RearWal
lDi
ffus
ion

Rearwa l
ldiffusi
onispopula
rintwochannelmixi
ngandplaybac
k.Diffusi
onsequenc
esmus tmat
cha ndcovertheen rerear
wa l
lsurf
acea r
ea.Fr
ontwalldi
ffusi
onisal
sowelcomei nt
woc hannelpl
ayba
ckrooms.Youmustchooseadiffusionsequence
thatworkswiththedis
tanceyouhavetoyourli
steni
ngposion.Youneeddist
ancef
orthel
owestoc t
averepresent
edbyt he
diffusersequencetoexi
tthediffus
erandfull
yform.

12.
Cont
rol
Room RearWal
lDi
ffus
ionTi
ps

A ervis
inghundr edsofstudi
osovermy40yea r
sinthisbusines
s,Iseecer
tai
npa ernsinacous c
altr
eat
ment.I
a l
soheart
he
endproductt
hes t
udioproduces.Ofa l
ltheproductIhear,t
heonest hatc
onsist
entl
yproduc
egoods oundi
ngr
ecordi
ngshave
quadr
a cdiffusionontherearwa l
lofthec ontr
olroom.Herei sal
istofwhatIhavel
ear
nedtobemi nimumswhenitcomesto
thedi
ffusionsequence,
orienta on,ands urf
aceareacoverage.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 13.
Verc
al&Hor
izont
alDi
ffus
ion

Quadra cdiffusersareverc al
andhoriz
ontali
ntheirphysic
alor
ienta on.Averc al
l
ypos ioneddi ffus
erdiffusessoundi
na
hori
zont
al di
rec on.Ahor i
zont
all
yposioneddiffuserpos ionssoundinaverc aldi
rec on.Us i
ngbothtypescanproduc
e
twodimens i
onsofdiffusionwhenneeded.I
tistheunder s
tandi
ngofthisenergyr
adia onintoourroomsthatenabl
esusto
psyc
hoa cous call
yless
ent hei
mpa c
tthatr
eflec onsha veuponourea rsandbra
insattheli
steni
ngposion.

14.
HomeTheat
erAppl
ic
a ons

Homet heaterappli
ca onssuchas5.1a
nd7. 1ha vemulpl echannel
sthatemitsoundenergyintotheroom.St a
ndard
i
nstal
la ontechniquesshowthatal
lchannelsdirect
lyfireintotheroom.Themet hoddepict
edint hi
svideoshowsa nother
methodt ha
tbe erc orr
espondstothel
isteningrequir
ement sofhometheater
. Fr
ontchannelsfiredir
ec t
lyi
ntotheroom, s
ide
andrearchannelsfirei
ntodiffuser
stocrea t
et ha
tnonl oca
lizedsoundfieldtha
tmor eclosel
yresemblesrealacous cal
fields.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 15.
Subwoof
erPos
ioni
ng

Subwoof ersar
elowfrequencyenergyproduci
ngstruc
tures.
Theirabil
itytoproduc eunwa nt
edresona
ncesins
ma l
lroomsis
welldocumentedintheli
ter
ature.Theamountoflowfrequencydevicesandthei rrel
a veposionswithi
ntheroom
contri
butestotheamountofissuestheycanpr
oducewheni tcomest oas moot hroomr es
ponse.Thes
egraphi
csshows ome
sta
rngpos ionsformulpl esourcesandthei
rrel
a veposionswi thintoday'ssma l
lrooms.

16.
Pres
sur
eAr
easWi
thi
nOurRooms

Press
ureareaswithi
nourroomsa recreatedbyourle andr i
ghtchannel s
pea kers
.Thesepressurezonesc a
nbehea rdbyr i
si
ng
abovethepressurear
easandlis
teningclosel
y.Si
mplystandupa tthel
isteningposiona ndr i
seabovet hedirectenergyfrom
yourspeak
er sa
ndyouc anheartheout putofthespeak
ersa ndtheenergyfiel dseachchannelproduces.I
tist hi
s
underst
andingofreflec onsandpressureinthele andrightchanneldoma insthatwemus tma nagecorrectl
yt oachievethe
mostoutofourt wochannels
ys t
ems .

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 17.
SpeakerSoundFi
eld

Thea r
eaorsoundfieldcr
eatedbyourspea
kerst
hatweusetohearmostofoft
hes oundcr
eat
edbyt hosespeaker
sext
ends
fr
omt hetopofourspea
kerstothebo om.Al
lyouhavetodotoreal
i
zethi
sisst
andupa ndpl
aceyourearsabovethet
weeter
.
Youwillhea
rthedi
fferencebetweenthedi
rec
tenergyf
romthosespeak
ersandthereflect
edenergyfr
omourr oomboundary
surf
aces.

18.
Hor
izont
al&Verc
alSoundFi
elds

Soundfieldsarecreatedbyourspeakersi
nbothverc alandhori
zonta
ldomains.
Wemus tma nagethesedomainsaccur
atel
y,i
f
wea ret
oma ximiz
et heperfor
ma nceofourtwoandforthatma er,mul c
hannel cha
nnelsystems.Theunderst
andingof
theseacous cfiel
dsi scr
ic al
tooursounds t
agepres
enta on.Whenwer eal
izetheextentandfocusofthesefields
,wec an
thenbegint
or eal
i
z ethei
rli
mita onsandthenmaxi
mi z
eper f
ormanceandminimizeli
mita ons.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 19.
Cent
erI
magei
nTwoChannel
Audi
o

I
ntwochannelaudi
o,weha veari
ghtandal e channel
.Wet ryanda c
hieveas t
rongcenterimagebyse nga l
lofourdi
sta
nc es
f
romsur
faceboundari
esanddista
ncesfroms peak
ertoli
s t
ener.
Onea ch" si
de"ofthecenterimagei
sanareathatwecan
s
ome mesfindahol einthesoundsta
ge. I
tdependsont hema t
eri
alsplayedandtheSPLlevel Onemet
hodt ofilli
nthi
scenter
i
mage"s
ide"ar
eaistousediffusi
ontechnologyonthefrontandrearwa l
ls.

20.
TheRul
eofThi
rds

Soundtravel
satac ons
tantspeedt hr
ougha ir
.Thisspeedisdi
rectl
yrela
tedtodistanceandspeeda nddis
tancemustbe
respec
tedifwea r
et oachi
eveas tr
ongc enteri
ma geinourtwoc hannelpres
enta ons.The mes i
gna t
ureofreflec onsfr
om
sidewall
smuststartwi
thequa ldis
tancessowec a nachi
eveaba la
ncebet weenthereflectedenergyfromoursidewall
sand
thedir
ectenergyfr
omourl ouds peaker
s .
Ther ul
eoft hi
rdsgi
vesusas t
a rngpointtobeginthetuningprocess
.

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 21.
NearFi
eld&F
arFi
eld

Therea r
etwo" fiel
ds"ofsoundinfrontofourspeakers
.Thereisfa
rfiel
da ndnearfield.Fa
rfieldmeansthatwesitandli
sten
far
therawa yfr
omours peakerst
hannea rfiel
d.Farfieldli
steni
ngall
owsforawidersounds ta
geandlar
gerpres
enta on.There
i
smor erooms oundorreflectedenergyinourfarfieldpresent
a on.Nearfieldmeanswes itcl
osera
ndhea rmoredir
ector
st
raightli
nesound.Nearfieldminimizesroomsoundorr eflec onsbec
aus ewesitc
losertothesour
ceandwehea rmoredirect
orstrai
ghtli
nefromthespeakersound.

22.
Frequenc
iesExpl
ained

Lowf r
equencyenergyisal
lenergybel
ow100Hz .Thisisdefinedbythea mount,type,andsur
facearea
sr equir
edtotreat
energybelow100Hz .Lowfrequencyener
gyrequi
rest r
eatmentstha
thavelargerdepthrequi
rements.Energyfrom100-
2,000Hz .i
smiddlef
requencyenergyandcanbetreatedwithma t
eri
alst
hatarethinnerindi
mensionandr equir
eles
ss pa
ce.
Thisra onalf
oll
owswithhigherfr
equencyener
gya bove2,000Hz .

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 23.
STCChar
ts

Noiseanditstr
ansmissi
onthroughs t
ruc t
uresmus tbeunderstoodfir stinordert
obema nagedpr operl
y.Certa
inmateri
al
combina onswor kbe erthanothersa nditsthi
srela ons
hipofma teri
aldensi
tythatmustbeunder s
toodinordert
o
succ
essful
lyma na
get heextentofnoisetransmissi
on.Tostopnois e,
webui ldbarr
ier
s.Thec ompos ionoft hosebar
rier
sis
fr
equencya ndamplit
udedependent .Eachs tr
ucturewitht
hea ssoc i
ateddensiesha saSTCors oundtransmissi
oncl
a s
sra ng.
Thera ngisbasedupont hestruct
uresa bi
li
tytos t
opvibra onsa ndmi nimi
zetransmis
siona bove125Hz .

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016
 24.
The3DSoundFi
eldsi
nourRooms

Therea r
ethreedi mens i
onsorfieldsofs oundwi thi
nourr ooms .Therei
sfronttorears
ound,cei
li
ngt ofloorsound, andsidewall
tosidewa l
lsound. All
ofthesethreea reasrequir
et r
ea tmentt ypes ,amounts,a
ndpos ionstoma na getheener gythatoccurs
betweent hesebounda r
ysurfaces.Fl
oort oceil
i
ngener gyr equirementsareusual
lythegreat
estbec ausethi
sist heshortest
dimensionofa l
lthreeinmos tsma l
lrooms .Lowf r
equenc ya bsorp onisamus thaveinthi
sarea.Sidewa l
ltosidewa lli
ssues
arenextfortreat
menta nds i
dewa l
l r
eflec onsa nd mes ignatur earecr
ic ali
nthewidthofours ounds t
agepr esenta on.
Absorp oni sthec hosentechnologyfors i
dewa ll
s.Frontwa ll
t orearwall
energyrequir
ementsaret helongestindimens i
onbut
requir
eac hoicebet weena bsor
p ona nddiffusiontec hnologies .

©Ac
ous cFi
elds2016