Boing goes the spring.

W

Wabbit

Junior Audioholic
First, if I stand at my front mains and clap my hands, I hear a spring. But, if someone else stands there and claps, it's very dead at my listening position. Is that normal?

Secondly, from the listening position, everything sounds dead except for my front heights way up there on the ceiling. They sound like a spring bouncing all over. I'm not sure if it's the corners, or the flat walls themselves.

Any thoughts on where to place treatment? I obviously want it to look good, and that's where I'm running out of ideas. I'd think anything on the front sloped ceiling would just be a distraction to the picture below and wash of light that projects on it.

Obviously not a square room. :)
 

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H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
First, if I stand at my front mains and clap my hands, I hear a spring. But, if someone else stands there and claps, it's very dead at my listening position. Is that normal?

Secondly, from the listening position, everything sounds dead except for my front heights way up there on the ceiling. They sound like a spring bouncing all over. I'm not sure if it's the corners, or the flat walls themselves.

Any thoughts on where to place treatment? I obviously want it to look good, and that's where I'm running out of ideas. I'd think anything on the front sloped ceiling would just be a distraction to the picture below and wash of light that projects on it.

Obviously not a square room. :)
Sounds like what's called 'flutter echo'- the sound is hitting the wall closest to you , then reflecting from the opposite wall. As long as the echo doesn't repeat too many times, it's really not a big deal but it can be audible at high SPL when the sound of some kind of impact occurs, like gunshots, sticks hitting drums/drum rims/percussion instruments.

How long does it last- once and done, several repeats? If it's several repeats, look at the opposite wall- maybe you can move a piece of furniture in front of where the sound hits the wall. If the delay between repeats is very short, it's likely from the walls that have the shortest distance between them.

You can download smart phone apps for this- one is called ClapIR and it's used to check the RT60, which is the time required for the reflected sound to decrease by 60dB.

Think of sound as if it's a ball on a three dimensional pool table- if it hits at a 90 degree angle, it will bounce straight back to where it came from and if it hits on an angle, it will reflect at the same angle as it came from- this assumes there's no friction and the ball won't change its direction because of spin.

Parallel walls will cause this- the first time I noticed it, I was a kid and I clapped my hands while I was standing between two garages.
 
W

Wabbit

Junior Audioholic
The RT60 was just a hair below 3 if I recall. Except for the front heights. The slap is tight, but significant in delay. I suppose it could be from the upper side walls. I'm unsure of how much from the front angled ceiling. And so I debated to treat the side walls, the upper side wall ceiling corner length, hanging a baffle, or the front slope. Not the easiest to test when it's something like 16' high.
 
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H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
The RT60 was just a hair below 3 if I recall. Except for the front heights. The slap is tight, but significant in delay. I suppose it could be from the upper side walls. I'm unsure of how much from the front angled ceiling. And so I debated to treat the side walls, the upper side wall ceiling corner length, hanging a baffle, or the front slope. Not the easiest to test when it's something like 16' high.
You won't have standing waves or flutter between two surfaces when one of them is angled.
 
W

Wabbit

Junior Audioholic
Then this would mean the down firing speaker is bouncing off the left and right walls well above my head and existing treatment. Hope that's the case and explains why it's only from the heights. Perhaps some absurption at their first reflection point will help. Curious if that's problematic for anyone with high ceiling heights. Treatment for heights isn't discussed much.
 
H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Then this would mean the down firing speaker is bouncing off the left and right walls well above my head and existing treatment. Hope that's the case and explains why it's only from the heights. Perhaps some absurption at their first reflection point will help. Curious if that's problematic for anyone with high ceiling heights. Treatment for heights isn't discussed much.
The location of the sound source has everything to do with whether you'll hear this, or not and your height speakers have three boundaries to reflect from, but you can test their effect- if you have a pole that's long enough (I use a painter's pole for things like this), put a paint roller on it and hang a towel over the roller, then raise it so it blocks the reflection points. If it helps, you know what to do. If not, move the towel until you find the place where some treatment is needed.

Do you hear this effect as you walk through the room?
 
W

Wabbit

Junior Audioholic
The towel on a poll is a great idea! I'll give that a try this weekend.
 

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