[Scott Dorsey]

Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:

Really, not with any system. In every case, what you get on playback is
the sum of the effects of the original hall, combined with the effects of
the playback. Consequently, the original recording needs to be drier than
it would be if it were intended for playback in an anechoic chamber. But
not really very much so.

I think the BBC did some research into this in mono a long while ago.
They were mainly interested in the point at which the acoustics of the
listening room began to become audible behind those of the original
studio.

I would like to see that research! It's a lot simpler in mono than it is
in stereo, but it would certainly be worthwhile.

I seem to recall they concluded that as long as the listening room had a
shorter reverberation time than the studio, the listener would only be
aware of the studio acoustics. That assumed a listening room with no
obvious vices (i.e. a fairly flat reverberation/frequency curve) and did
not test for any effects on stereo imaging.

Makes good sense in that situation.

One factor we have not touched on (another can of worms) is whether the
whole of a listening room needs to be treated. When using an empty
cloakroom as a temporary control room for a portable recording session,
I found that it was possible to put the monitors (BBC LS3/5As) at the
same level as my ears and only treat the room at that height above the
floor. Luckily, the rows of coat pegs allowed me to hang several
thicknesses of blankets away from the walls at the correct height.

This was because you didn't have any low frequencies to contend with,
so you only really had to worry about direct high frequency reflections.
If you'd been using more full-range loudspeakers you would have noticed
more of a problem.

In the case of direct slapback issues, and this might have been one also,
you really only need to deal with the surface that is causing the slapback.

I am of the mind that a room can be too dead as well as too live, and
that the worst possible room is one that is too dead in some frequencies
and too live in others (as was often popular in the seventies).
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."