Basic Room Acoustics

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Kartiknibjiya

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Hi friends,

I am setting up a 5.1.4 home theatre in a dedicated room in my new flat with Dolby Atmos. Room size is 14.5ft x 10.5ft and height till false ceiling is 8.5ft. Screen will be on wall measuring 10.5ft. My purpose for home theatre is for viewing 70% movies or live sports screening and rest 30% music.

I want to setup floor carpet matt and acoustics wall panels for getting the best sound. Please advice me on the same. How should i go about to get the best sound experience ?

Regards
 
Cover as much of the front wall as possible with broadband absorption to minimize reflections from your surround speakers and height speakers. Sounds from those speakers should be heard around you and above you, NOT coming from the same direction as the front speakers (and thereby muddying up the soundstage).

The next location I would place absorption is in the middle of the back wall, directly opposite the centre speakers. Sounds (especially dialogue) shouldn't be heard reflecting off the back wall, even if it is subtle. So it is helpful to place a large piece of broadband absorption in the middle of the back wall.

Side wall reflections come down to personal preference. I happen to like them because they widen the soundstage and provide imaging outside the left & right speakers. Others prefer to absorb them to keep the imaging tight. No right or wrong answer. Let your ears decide.
 
Hi sanjay.. thanks for your answer..

Please suggest with which material i should cover the walls ? Where do i get it from ?

Is there any company in india which provides this acoustics ? Please let me know
 
I'm not local to you so I don't know what sort of absorbent material you have available or where to buy it. That's why I used the generic term "absorption".

Whatever material you end up getting, make sure your panels are thick enough to absorb broadband (across all frequencies, down to about 100Hz).

If the panels are too thin, then they will only absorb higher frequencies, acting like a tone control. At that point, better to save money on panels and instead just turn down the treble knob on your receiver (will have the same effect).
 
I had observed in one of the PVR movie theatre I recently gone to see movie had covered all the walls from top to bottom end to end with thick soft cloth.

Does this work in home theatre rooms also on the side walls to absorb sound if I hang a thick sofa cloth with lot of filts ?
 
Hi sdurani,

i have some confusion with your answer. In your reply, you mentioned about front wall and back wall. Front wall means the projector screen side wall or the listening side wall ?

Please clear my doubt !
 
Didn't realize those labels would confuse anyone. Front wall, as the name implies, is at the front of the room. Likewise, back wall is at the back of the room.
 
sdurani said:
Cover as much of the front wall as possible with broadband absorption to minimize reflections from your surround speakers and height speakers. Sounds from those speakers should be heard around you and above you, NOT coming from the same direction as the front speakers (and thereby muddying up the soundstage).

The next location I would place absorption is in the middle of the back wall, directly opposite the centre speakers. Sounds (especially dialogue) shouldn't be heard reflecting off the back wall, even if it is subtle. So it is helpful to place a large piece of broadband absorption in the middle of the back wall.

Side wall reflections come down to personal preference. I happen to like them because they widen the soundstage and provide imaging outside the left & right speakers. Others prefer to absorb them to keep the imaging tight. No right or wrong answer. Let your ears decide.
Click to expand...

hi sanjay,

Further to your points its also better to cover the ceiling and floor reflections.

Even for the rear wall installing broadband absorption will be great to tame
frequencies more thicker the better, recommended min 6inch...,this was
suggested by manoj in one of my thread.

rajesh
 
rajesh srinivas said:
Further to your points its also better to cover the ceiling and floor reflections.
Click to expand...
Depends on preference. Reflections outside and above the soundstage can give a greater sense of spaciousness; some people like it, others don't. Folks should try it to see what they prefer rather than automatically assuming one is better than the other.

As for floor reflections, there was some interesting research done on the topic. Absorbing the floor bounce improved the measurement (eliminated the boundary cancellation notch) but ended up not being preferred in listening tests (our human hearing is expecting that notch and listeners didn't like it when it was removed).
 
A good starting point will be to contact a local HT vendor and check whether they have connects with someone who does room acrostics. That route will lead you to some professional hands for sure.
 
Caution Dont use rockwool as absorption panels , it is health hazardous .

Your room is pretty small , if you put broad band panel 6 " thick at least , you should leave 3" inch for airgap . So if you cover from and rear walls then roughly you ill loose 2 feet in your 14.5 feet foot room. You ill loose too much space. Even broadband panel dont have control on low frequency signal (Atleast below 80 hz) .
Use 2" panels and treat your first reflection point for front stage and surround speakers. It ill give you major difference, if you want more than that you can cover either floor or ceiling and either front wall. If you cover all the wall s , your system efficiency will be come down, so allow some room dynamics as it is.
 
sound_cycle said:
I've read and call F/U/D. Will be glad to correct if you help me learn otherwise, esp. so, since I have the stuff all over my room.

Source please.

ciao
gr
Click to expand...

Its my personal experience , i have rockwool bass trap on my room (http://www.hifivision.com/diy/63966-super-chunk-bass-traps.html), i have one layer of cotton fabric and one layer of acoustic fabric over it. There is an off-gassing. Now i have removed all the rockwool and replacing with regular foams. If i stay in room more than hour, i can sense the strong chemical smell followed by wheezing problem. My friends also feel the same while we watching movies , so removed it.
 
mano2ht said:
Its my personal experience , i have rockwool bass trap on my room (http://www.hifivision.com/diy/63966-super-chunk-bass-traps.html), i have one layer of cotton fabric and one layer of acoustic fabric over it. There is an off-gassing. Now i have removed all the rockwool and replacing with regular foams. If i stay in room more than hour, i can sense the strong chemical smell followed by wheezing problem. My friends also feel the same while we watching movies , so removed it.
Click to expand...

Proves nothing. My rockwool stays in place.

I have had the stuff in my room for over a year. No wheezing, while watching movies or listening to music.

I don't recollect reading any other reports on hfv either.

BTW AFAIK rockwool is inert and does not release any gases.

ciao
gr
 
sound_cycle said:
Proves nothing. My rockwool stays in place.

I have had the stuff in my room for over a year. No wheezing, while watching movies or listening to music.

I don't recollect reading any other reports on hfv either.

BTW AFAIK rockwool is inert and does not release any gases.

ciao
gr
Click to expand...


Information provided by me are my personal experience, if it does not proves anything for you , sorry for that.

In between For Forum members who are starting now have many other option to make panels, let it be caution for those members that rockwool may sensitive to some people and dont play with his/family/friends health.
 
mano2ht said:
Information provided by me are my personal experience, if it does not proves anything for you , sorry for that.

In between For Forum members who are starting now have many other option to make panels, let it be caution for those members that rockwool may sensitive to some people and dont play with his/family/friends health.
Click to expand...

ummm how does your experience trump mine ?

I have them in place for over a year now. 0 smell. 0 wheezing. etc.

Please note i am not laughing at your suffering, or dismissing your concern.

I am trying to say that your problem is very likely from something else.

i repeat i have not wheezed, nor have my rockwool absorbers farted noxious gases - they cannot by the way, they are inert, Mine are wrapped, they do not shed particles.

take care.

ciao
gr
 
MODERATOR NOTE:
Please stick to the OP's topic. Start a new thread for the safety or lack thereof of Rockwool.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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