Hearing the Room vs Hearing the Speakers

[Yardstick]

I keep coming across this idea that you're "hearing the room" without context. That phrase, "hearing the room", doesn't lend itself well to searches either. I know different speakers can sound different in the same room, so what's the full explanation?

 

[ski2xblack]

Entire books have been written on the topic, notably Floyd Toole's. Highly recommended.

The simplest metbod to get "more source/less room" (more direct sound, less reflected sound) is near-field listening. Controlled directivity speakers can mitigate room influence as well. And some reflected sound pays dividends as well. Prevailing conventional wisdom calls for speakers with *uniform* and wide off axis performance, so that the "room" part of what hits your ears doesn't detract from the direct sound. A speaker like a Philharmonic BMR monitor is an example of such a speaker, and functions well in myriad acoustic environments.

 

[everettT]

I keep coming across this idea that you're "hearing the room" without context. That phrase, "hearing the room", doesn't lend itself well to searches either. I know different speakers can sound different in the same room, so what's the full explanation?

The room, to a very large degree, dictates how a speaker's sound arrives at your ears. As just mentioned there are some speakers that will minimalize negative effects and are referred to as room friendly. Ideally you'd want to design your speakers for your room, since that is unrealistic to most, you look for speakers that are room friendly or have the ability to be EQd without causing more issues.

 

[fmw]

The simple explanation is that you hear the sound of the speakers in the acoustic environment of the room in which they reside. Both the speakers and the room acoustics affect what you hear. And they are the two most important things that make your system sound the way it does. The rest of the equipment is trivial by comparison.

 

[lovinthehd]

Take one pair of speakers and set them up in several different rooms for a hands-on example. Kinda how it came home for me back before I heard the concept, just made the concept make a lot more sense when I came across it. The speakers and the room comprise most of the sound you hear, especially compared to the electronics, which if sufficient, won't be particularly important.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Just imagine what the speaker sounds like totally outdoors. That is just the speaker.

 

[j_garcia]

You will know it when you hear it in a "bad" room. In a "live" or highly reflective room, you are likely to hear as much reflected sound as directly from the speaker and this typically will have a negative effect.

 

[Swerd]

@Yardstick A great question, and welcome to Audioholics!

Sound waves behave quite different in an enclosed room, with 4 walls, a floor and ceiling – as opposed to outside. Sound waves will reflect off of walls, ceilings and floors. Some of these reflections can add to the sound coming directly from the speaker (primary sound), and others can partially or completely cancel the primary sound. This varies widely with the dimensions of the room, as well as the locations of speakers and the listener.

Importantly, this also varies with the frequency of the sound. In the rooms in most homes, bass sounds are affected by this much more than higher frequencies are. See Transition Frequency or Schroeder Frequency below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_acoustics

Room acoustics is a subfield of acoustics dealing with the behaviour of sound in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces. The architectural details of a room influences the behaviour of sound waves within it, with the effects varying by frequency. Acoustic reflection, diffraction, and diffusion can combine to create audible phenomena such as room modes and standing waves at specific frequencies and locations, echos, and unique reverberation patterns.

Transition Frequency (also known as a room's Schroeder Frequency)
To understand room acoustics, it's important to know about the Schroeder frequency, sometimes called the transition frequency. In most residential rooms, it's between 200 and 250 Hertz.

The Schroeder Frequency: A Show and Tell, Part 1

Even if you live in a studio apartment, you have at least two listening rooms. Well, in a sense. Every listening room is, in essence, two listening rooms when you look at it from the perspective of sound.To midrange and treble frequencies, your listening room is like a billiards table. Like...

www.soundandvision.com

The Schroeder Frequency: A Show and Tell, Part 2

In part 1 of this article, we discussed the Schroeder frequency — a frequency above which your listening room works primarily as a sound reflector and diffuser, and below which your room works primarily as a resonator. As I showed in part 1, this is not merely a theory, it's a law of physics...

www.soundandvision.com

 

[highfigh]

I keep coming across this idea that you're "hearing the room" without context. That phrase, "hearing the room", doesn't lend itself well to searches either. I know different speakers can sound different in the same room, so what's the full explanation?

Unless our rooms are anechoic, we have no choice but to hear the room. The effects are more pronounced at higher SPL, but it's always audible above extremely low levels. Ever notice sounds from a recording that seemed to come from behind or to the outside of the space between your speakers? This is sometimes most noticeable when one speaker is closer to a hard wall than the other.

Clap your hands- you WILL hear echo or reverberations. Might not last long, but that's all caused by your room.

 

[Kingnoob]

You will know it when you hear it in a "bad" room. In a "live" or highly reflective room, you are likely to hear as much reflected sound as directly from the speaker and this typically will have a negative effect.

Yeah I got one room that lfe sub bass will rattle the closet door and walls and downstairs lights . But my Klipch sounded bad in that room. I hated them move them to another room more out in open space an aired out they ate amazing . Yes the room greatly affects the speakers why do you think pro speakers are so huge beside max spl? No room gain ??

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah I got one room that lfe sub bass will rattle the closet door and walls and downstairs lights . But my Klipch sounded bad in that room. I hated them move them to another room more out in open space an aired out they ate amazing . Yes the room greatly affects the speakers why do you think pro speakers are so huge beside max spl? No room gain ??

Pro speakers need to fill a large space. That is why they are separate arrays of multiple drivers.

 

[MrBoat]

Sometimes, the room effect can still sound awesome, even if it's not true to the recording or anything even close to reality. It seems to be much more difficult with the open floor plans of modern architecture and the abundance of hard surfaces. At least with regard to music in the living space, instead of a dedicated and designed room for it.

I am the only one I know who is into audio, that has a wall next to each speaker in a rectangular living room. Everyone else has one speaker near a wall, with the other one just out in the open that leads elsewhere in the house. It's basically set up against an L wall. It's not spectacular and does indeed sound like the sound emptying out. Add in vaulted ceilings and whatnot and it can get tricky. One friend mostly uses his headphones instead.

Best houses for music for me has been those with heavy, padded, wall-to-wall carpet, heavy curtains, comfortably soft furnishings and enough of everything. Basically like grandma's house or the ones we lived during the '70s. Even the mid grade audio equipment could sound good in those spaces.

 

[Yardstick]

@Swerd Thank you for that explanation! Looks like I have some reading to do.