Minimum Room size

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jingleheimer

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I have a pretty simple question, what is the minimum size a room should be to avoid noticable standing waves and the "boomy" base shound without very much work done with base traps or absorbers etc. PS i know there is no "set" room size for this i am just looking for personal opinions and general findings.
 
I'd be curious to see how my room stacks up as well. Its an un square room that is approximately 17' X 12' and it had hardwood floors with a 12' + ceiling.


Ryan.
 
jingleheimer said:
I have a pretty simple question, what is the minimum size a room should be to avoid noticable standing waves and the "boomy" base shound without very much work done with base traps or absorbers etc. PS i know there is no "set" room size for this i am just looking for personal opinions and general findings.
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Even a gymnasium will have those problems. They don't go away with size.
 
This might help a little bit. From what I've read it's not really the room size so much as the ratio of the room. Length:Width:Height

I used ModeCalc

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/roomacoustics/ModeCalculatingroommodes.php

It's a pretty easy program and it gives you the reccommended ratios.

But there are a million sites out there talking about room sizes and freqs.

I'm sure others can add more to what I've said, and correct anything if I'm steering you wrong.
 
If you are trying to get room ambience then size is important, if you just want a good clean sound room treatment will play a more important roll. Celing hight and wall covering materal make a lot of difference too.
 
apl said:
Even a gymnasium will have those problems. They don't go away with size.
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They do. By the time sound returns from a far surface, its amplitude is greatly reduced. If you are mixing outside, you don't need bass traps!

Gyms have the problem of being all reflective, although most new school gyms I've seen have tried to address that. Even so, a solo performer in a gym is usually OK, in the nearfield anyway. It's when you try to get a PA system to work for the whole hall that creates a problem, but that's usually due to poor articulation of consonants in the 2-4kHz range, which is caused by long decay times and low gain before feedback.
 
read Ethans artices several times.

my understanding is to keep the mix seat at 38% from the wall, stay away from the 50%... amongst others.
 
No matter the size of the room (within reason) and the ratios, you'll still have modal issues. You can help by where you sit but the issues are still there - even WITH bass absorbtion.

What the absorbtion does is smooth the response between the peaks and nulls AND bring the decay times down to where they should be.
 
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