Basic Room Acoustic Treatments

Contents
1

Introduction

Room Sound Combinations

Good and Bad Reflected Sound

3.1 Reflected Sound
3.1.1

Finding your room resonance modes

3.1.2

Working with room resonance modes to increase sound quality

3.1.2.1 1. There are some room dimensions that produce the largest amount
of standing waves.
3.1.2.2 2. Move the chair or sofa away from the walls or corners to reduce
standing wave effects

3.2 Absorbed
3.3 Diffused Sound

4. How to Find Overall Trouble Spots In a Room

5. References Sound

Introduction
Many people use one or two rooms in their living space as "theatrical" rooms where theater
or music room activities commence. It is a common misconseption that adding speakers to
the room will enhance the quality of the room acoustics. There are other simple things that
can be done to increase the acoustics of the room to produce sound that is similar to
"theater" sound. This site will take you through some simple background knowledge on
acoustics and then explain some solutions that will help improve sound quality in a room.

Room Sound Combinations

The sound you hear in a room is a combination of direct sound and indirect sound. Direct
sound will come directly from your speakers while the other sound you hear is reflected off
of various objects in the room.

The Direct sound is coming right out of the TV to the listener, as you can see with the heavy
black arrow. All of the other sound is reflected off surfaces before they reach the listener.
sound travels in the ground faster than in the air because the particles in the solid are closer
so they vibrate faster and have a quicker reaction.

Good and Bad Reflected Sound

Have you ever listened to speakers outside? You might have noticed that the sound is thin
and dull. This occurs because when sound is reflected, it is fuller and louder than it would if
it were in an open space. So when sound is reflected, it can add a fullness, or
spaciousness. The bad part of reflected sound occurs when the reflections amplify some
notes, while cancelling out others, changing the character of the sound. It can also affect
tonal quality and create an echo-like effect. There are three types of reflected sound, pure
reflection, absorption, and diffusion. Each reflection type is important in creating a "theater"
type acoustic room.

Reflected Sound[
Reflected sound waves, good and bad, affect the sound you hear, where it comes from, and
the quality of the sound when it gets to you. The bad news when it comes to reflected sound
is standing waves. These waves are created when sound is reflected back and forth
between any two parallel surfaces in your room, ceiling and floor or wall to wall. Standing
waves can distort noises 300Hz and down. These noises include the lower mid frequency
and bass ranges. Standing waves tend to collect near the walls and in corners of a room,
these collecting standing waves are called room resonance modes.
Finding your room resonance modes
First, specify room dimensions (length, width, and height). Then follow this example:

Dimension of the room = 23ft length x 11ft wide x 8ft high

F(Length)

= c / 2* Length
= 1130ft/s /( 2* 23ft)

F(Length)

= 25Hz

Main Resonance Mode = 1*F(Length)= 25Hz

2nd Resonance Mode = 2*F(Length) = 50Hz
3rd Resonance Mode = 3* F(Length) = 75Hz

F(Width)

= c / 2* width
= 1130 ft / (2* 11ft)

F(Width)

= 51 Hz

Main Resonance Mode = 1*F(width)= 51 Hz

2nd Resonance Mode = 2*F(Width) = 102 Hz
3rd Resonance Mode = 3* F(Width) = 153 Hz
F(Height)

= c / 2* height
= 1130 ft / (2* 8 ft)

F(Height)

= 71 Hz

Main Resonance Mode = 1*F(Height)= 71 Hz

2nd Resonance Mode = 2*F(Height) = 141 Hz
3rd Resonance Mode = 3* F(Height) = 212 Hz

Working with room resonance modes to increase sound quality

1. There are some room dimensions that produce the largest amount of standing waves.
a. Cube
b. Room with 2 out of the three dimensions equal
c. Rooms with dimensions that are multiples of each other
2. Move the chair or sofa away from the walls or corners to reduce standing wave effects

Absorbed
The sound that humans hear is actually a form of acoustic energy. Different materials
absorb different amounts of this energy at different frequencies. When considering room

acoustics, there should be a good mix of high frequency absorbing materials and low
frequency absorbing materials. A table including information on how different common
household surfaces absorb sound can be found on the
websitehttp://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/learningcenter/home/speakers_roomacoustics.ht
ml?page=2#materials_table

Diffused Sound
Using devices that diffuse sound is a fairly new way of increasing acoustic performance in a
room. It is a means to create sound that appears to be "live". They can replace echo-like
reflections without absorbing too much sound.
Some ways of determining where diffusive items should be placed were found
on http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ShpU9sw2hgbG/learningcenter/home/speakers_roomacoustics.html?page=4:
1.) If you have carpet or drapes already in your room, use diffusion to control side wall
reflections.
2.) A bookcase filled with odd-sized books makes an effective diffusor.
3.) Use absorptive material on room surfaces between your listening position and your front
speakers, and treat the back wall with diffusive material to re-distribute the reflections.
How to Find Overall Trouble Spots In a Room

Every surface in a room does not have to be treated in order to have good room acoustics.
Here is a simple method of finding trouble spots in a room.
1.) Grab a friend to hold a mirror along the wall near a certain speaker at speaker height.
2.) The listener sits in a spot of normal viewing.
3.) The friend then moves slowly toward the listening position (stay along the wall).
4.) Mark each spot on the wall where the listener can see any of the room speakers in the
mirror.
5.) Congratulations! These are the trouble spots in the room that need an absorptive
material in place. Don't forget that diffusive material can also be placed in those positions.
References Sound

http://www.ecoustics.com/Home/Accessories/Acoustic_Room_Treatments/Acoustic_Room_
Treatment_Articles/
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/roomacoustics/roomacoustictreatments.php

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_family_room/article/0,2037,DIY_13912_3471072,00.html
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ShpU9sw2hgbG/learningcenter/home/speakers_roomacoustics.html?page=1