Room correction

[Pete Penrose]

There are various forms of room correction devices available on the market which claim to be able to 'correct' the inconsistencies in the room modes.

Have any of you tried them?

what was the outcome?

 

[Tenson]

Yes, the technology is very effective in most of them. I prefer the Behringer DEQ2496, (which is the one I offer modifications for) as it allows very simple and direct correction EQ to be input. Others get you to specify a 'target curve' and you can not directly adjust the correction.

It is important to know its limits though. The 'corrective' power of IIR (infinite impulse response) EQ, as used in these correction units is only good for the modal range of the room up to about 300Hz. Above that point it acts simply to adjust the balance, and in fact it will make the time domain worse. It is also only valid over a specified listening area, and outside that area it can sometimes make things worse too.

The DEQ (even unmodified) is certainly an affordable way to experiment. As you can understand from the above, experimentation is required since it is such a powerful tool. In the wrong hands it can do more harm than good, but in the right hands...

It is not a replacement for physical room treatment though, as some advertising would lead you to believe! You will get the best results using physical treatment and electronic correction together.

 

[digital convert]

I had the original TacT room correction which was very effective However i never felt i was skilled enough to get the best out of it and it become a tweaking nightmare to the extent that I forget its about listening to music.
i now have the fully integrated Lyngdorf system which is better in many respects (certainly easier to use and gives better more even results as it doesnt rely on my (lack of) skill at setting it up.) Its not however as user definable as the Tact for that very reason and i would prefer to be able to adjust the voicing curves supplied which you cant at present.
Clearly, the worse your room is the better these products work but i would still suggest making the best of both the room and speaker position to reduce the amount of work they have to do but if you are stuck with a rubbish room like i am they can be very effective if used correctly

 

[jaspal kallar]

'digital convert' if you have an all Lyngdorf system then it must sound good; I heard/demoed one at local dealer (including their DP-1 dipoles and subs). Very nice but also expensive.

I was impressed with what RoomCorrrection did but in the end it's expensive if you get the standalone component and plus you need then an extra IC cable. It's hard for me explain what actually happens with it switched on but it seems the bass does not interfere, although still there, with other frequencies which come to the foreground or in the case of the all Lyngdorf system from a very black/silenent background. The sound is just not muddled and the imaging improves greatly... you can place the signers and instruments without having to try hard to do this.

After my demo I listened to Helicon 400 speakers with some decent NAD amplification (so I was told). I gave up listening to this after 10 minutes ... just too tiring in comparison to the Lyngdorf system with RoomCorrection. In the end I wasn't sure how much this was down to RoomCorrection or thr other Lyngdorf components.

Another alternative is the Copland DRC 205 (not heard this though -- just consulted others in the USA who have). It is very much plug and play but you can also via your pc change the curves.

In the end the demo brought it home to me that my room is at great fault. I'm looking into some basic acoustic treatments in an aim to get close to what room correction does... we shall see.

Alot of others also give good opinions of the Behringer DEQ2496, although it's not quite plug and play.

Ok hopefully someone can describe the sound with Lyngdorf Room Correction or other room correction devices (better).

jaspal

 

[bottleneck]

I think Tenson has it right.

I have 2 of his bass traps, and 4 custom audio design absorbers on the walls.

If I ever did any room correction now, I'd need to do a lot less than before.

I wouldn't even consider room correction without buying a couple more panels now (could ideally do with 2-3 more in a certain place).

Less is more with digitally correcting the sound IMO.. or changing the sound with an analogue eq either really.

 

[digital convert]

'digital convert' if you have an all Lyngdorf system then it must sound good; I heard/demoed one at local dealer (including their DP-1 dipoles and subs). Very nice but also expensive.

jaspal

Sadly not a full Lyngdorf system (unless i win the lottery) just the TDA2200 with room correction through B&W nautilus 803's.
My room is a real bass trap and the bass used to overload the room very quickly but this has been tamed beautifully with the room correction.
I still believe that the more you can physically do to improve the room accoustics the better as the room correction has less to do and is therefore likely to be less audible to those with golden ears.
To my untrained hearing the system is about as good as it gets in the room.

 

[Snoopdog]

I have installed the Acustica Applicata DAAD's to tame resonances and 'tune' the room. I have 12 pieces strategically placed according to the bespoke room plan computer generated by Acustica Applicata in Italy based on the information and pictures I supplied.

Bass is now tuneful and present everywhere in the room (not just in the peaks) and refections at higher frequencies are nicely controlled.

It was definately worthwhile dealing with 'room' issues to get the maximum benefit out of my system components.