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Surround sound studio monitors8/8/2023 This image shows the sound pressure of the first-order length axial mode. The evil null at 50% of your room’s length. Left-right symmetry is vital for helping you localize sound sources in the sound stage. However, for accurate stereo imaging you do need to be halfway between the sidewalls. These same two rules apply to your speaker positioning. Also, avoid having your ears halfway between the floor and ceiling. This causes a nasty dip in the bass response.įor the sake of your sound and your sanity, don’t sit at the halfway point of your room, lengthwise. In rectangular rooms there is a null at the halfway points between parallel surfaces (front and back wall, parallel sidewalls, floor and ceiling). The dreaded bass null at the center of your room You can run these tests on your room using the free software Room EQ Wizard. But to find YOUR optimal monitoring position I recommend you take frequency response measurements at various locations. The 38% rule may give you the flattest low frequency response in an ideal world. Avoid positions that are known nodal points, like 50% and 25% (nodes for first and second-order axial room modes). If you can’t place the listening position at 38% from your front or back wall, experiment with different positions between 35%-43%. That’s the worst position for comb filtering (unless you have the wall behind you treated with massively thick absorption).Īlso, if you plan to use diffusion on your rear wall, you’re going to need some space behind you for the scattered sound waves to disperse! Bass peaks and nulls are worse further back due to strong reflections happening at the rear of your room.Ībsolutely, avoid sitting right against your back wall. But it’s better to be closer to the front wall. This is the first spot I recommend you try as a listening position.Īs an alternative, you can place the listening position 38% from the rear wall. Like most rules of thumb, it’s based on compromise, but you can use it as a starting point for your room setup (later, you can use acoustic measurements to fine tune everything).Ĭalculate 38% of your room’s length, and put a mark 38% back from the front wall, centered widthwise between the left and right sidewalls. It’s a theoretical optimum listening position in rectangular rooms, assuming ideal soundproofing and flush or soffit-mounted speakers. If your rear wall is reflective, it should be at least 10 feet from your ears… otherwise it needs treatment (more on this later).įirst off, this is not a rule, but a guideline created by world class studio designer Wes Lachot. This tends to give a flatter bass response.Īlso, this lets you maximize the distance between the rear wall and your ears. It’s usually better for the listening position to face the short wall vs the long wall. Start by facing the short wall of your room, so your speakers fire down the length of the room. The same is true for the best studio monitors.īefore placing your speakers let’s choose a starting point for your listening, monitoring or mixing position. The best hi-fi speakers will only reveal their full glory if you set them up right, in an acoustically treated room. These rooms may have different goals, but they all yearn for high fidelity sound reproduction. But most of this advice applies whether your room is a mastering studio, hi-fi listening room, project studio or home theater. The guidelines I’m going to give you are based on best practices for both pro and home recording studio setup. In this guide we will view a flush-mounted main monitoring system as the ideal setup… but I don’t expect you to be this hardcore with your setup! These are called main monitors, or ‘mains’. ![]() The Ideal World: High end recording studio control rooms usually have flush-mounted (or soffit-mounted) monitors that are set into the wall. If your monitors are placed on a desk or console, you need isolation stands to decouple them from the surface. Your World: I’m going to assume you’re using nearfield or midfield studio monitors, or hi-fi speakers, on speaker stands. ![]() ![]() ![]() You can use this room setup guide as a compass as you embark on your quest for sonic clarity. We’ll also touch on surround sound speaker and subwoofer placement for mixing rooms and home theaters. This tutorial will show you the easiest way to lay out a listening or control room for high fidelity, critical listening. To hear the full story, pure and true, you need to set your room up right. But your devious room likes to distort the story and deceive you. Your speakers are trying to tell you a richly layered sonic story. So you’ve spent all this money on speakers and audio equipment… But are you getting the sound you paid for? How to Setup Your Studio / Critical Listening Room Speaker and Studio Monitor Placement Secrets PART: 1 2 3 4
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