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Does near field listening render room correction less necessary?

AudioStudies

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In my systems, things are arranged such that I can sit relatively close to my speakers (powered monitors) and I do incorporate a subwoofer. I am therefore asking this question with respect to 2.1 systems. In my Den, I have Focal Shape 50 speakers, with the room arranged so that I am about six feet away from them. The room is small and the first reflections would be near the corners of the room. I am very satisfied with the way the system sounds. So, if one is seated close to the speakers, in approximately a triangular arrangement, is room correction less necessary? I realize that room correction and bass are intimately related, but many subwoofers have adjustments to tailor the sound. So could a person with these types of setups get by without room correction -- without paying too much of a penalty? I have a feeling the answers to this are very room dependent.
 

Willem

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By and large near field listening changes the balance between direct and reflected sound, so yes, in near field the impact of room modes is less. The same applies to using dipole speakers. They drive the room less, so there is less need for room eq.
 
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AudioStudies

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By and large near field listening changes the balance between direct and reflected sound, so yes, in near field the impact of room modes is less. The same applies to using dipole speakers. They drive the room less, so there is less need for room eq.
Thanks so much. Are there any disadvantages to near field listening?
 
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AudioStudies

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In my Family Room, I am also going with a 2.1 system. This room is much larger than the Den. The system is set up against the long wall in the room, though, so I have arranged things where I can be about 8 feet away from the speakers.
 

whazzup

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In my case, with a 11 x 9 feet room with asymmetrically placed speakers (relative to room), I used REW eq

1. to knock down subwoofer peaks below 100hz (allows me to turn up my sub volume and get better 20-30hz response without excessive 30-100hz craziness, giving better integration with speakers)
2. kill the boost from side wall reflections (left speaker)
3. reduce mid/low end boost from 100-300hz (specific to my speakers)
4. put in sharper roll-off for subwoofer and speakers

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...all-rooms-fire-your-speakers-backwards.14968/
*much experimenting involved (also in part as I learn more and related what I'm measuring to what I'm hearing). Speakers used have changed from first post in thread, but room size and placement remains the same (sadly).
 
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AudioStudies

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In small rooms, does leaving a door open, or windows open, help the room mode situation?
 

Willem

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A bit, but a big room really helps a lot more:) My personal view is that in small rooms it is best to avoid deep bass, and hence the need for equalization.
 
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AudioStudies

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A bit, but a big room really helps a lot more:) My personal view is that in small rooms it is best to avoid deep bass, and hence the need for equalization.
So a 10-inch subwoofer may serve just as well or better than a 15-inch subwoofer in a small room?
 

Willem

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I would never put a 15 inch sub in a small room, and not only because of the physical size. In fact, I might not use a sub at all, depending on how small the room is. I really hate boomy bass, and I would prefer no bass at all to boomy bass.
 

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Firstly you need to be aware that multi driver speakers require a minimum distance to integrate properly. The designer can tell you what that distance is. In your case it seems to be 30"/80cm.

So could a person with these types of setups get by without room correction -- without paying too much of a penalty? I have a feeling the answers to this are very room dependent.

Even with one sub I'd say 'I doubt it'. Depends how accurate you want to be. You would still need some control of the sub at least.
 
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AudioStudies

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irstly you need to be aware that multi driver speakers require a minimum distance to integrate properly. The designer can tell you what that distance is. In your case it seems to be 30"/80cm.
If you are talking about the distance between my L and R, they are more than 30 inches apart. The sub is relatively close to the left speaker, I think likely pretty close to 30 inches.
 

Thomas savage

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No, there will likely be issues below 200-500hz that exist no matter how near field your listening.

Near field may help with direct Vs reflected sounds however above that but most who use room correction do so with the idea of controlling the room dominated frequently areas .
 

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I don't think it renders it unnecessary. First of all, below Schröder frequency room dominates anyway, so for proper bass, DRC is a no brainer.

Then, when you think back to the harman curve, it is a combination if direct and diffuse field at the listening position. Sitting in the near field, chances are high the treble is too loud, even when using good speakers since you're getting a lot more direct sound.

I personally listen in the nearfield, I have a stereo triangle of about 80cm. DRC is clearly noticeable and the biggest improvement of anything I've ever done.

e: Here some before and afters in the listening position. You can clearly see how it lifts up the bass and gets rid of the 140hz peak.

 
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AudioStudies

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DRC is a no brainer.
Are there some simple ways of accomplishing this DRC? For example, could I use my RME DAC that is equipped with 5-band equalization in the digital domain, rather than a full blown room correction software? If so, would I need anything other than an SPL meter? Real Time Analyzer (RTA) perhaps? I suspect that I could get some improvements that way, but likely not as effective as full blown.
 

Soniclife

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My personal view is that in small rooms it is best to avoid deep bass, and hence the need for equalization.
My home office is tiny, and my sub sounds great in there, used in the nearfield, bass is really satisfying in this room, so this isn't a firm rule.
 

Willem

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The filters in the ADI-2 will deal with the worst problems. What you need to do is get a UMIK-1 measurement microphone and measure the in room response using the free REW software. This then allows you to identify the worst peaks, and set filters to deal with those. It will help quite a bit, though obviosuly not as much as a full blown system.
 

digitalfrost

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Are there some simple ways of accomplishing this DRC? For example, could I use my RME DAC that is equipped with 5-band equalization in the digital domain, rather than a full blown room correction software? If so, would I need anything other than an SPL meter? Real Time Analyzer (RTA) perhaps? I suspect that I could get some improvements that way, but likely not as effective as full blown.
You need a calibrated microphone and the ability to measure correctly. When using two separate USB devices (for example RME DAC and UMIK-1) you will have issues with clock drift, at least I did. How you implement this DRC is up to you. Given you got a good measurement there are multiple ways.
If you only use a PC as source it it the easiest since you won't have to worry about integrating other sources. You can do a simple correction with REW and apply using foobar2000, JRiver, or EqualizerAPO for example. Proper DRC in my opinion will also take care of the time domain, something that REW does not do.

For a simple and inexpensive start, correcting things with the RME EQ based on measurements is ok.
 
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AudioStudies

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The filters in the ADI-2 will deal with the worst problems. What you need to do is get a UMIK-1 measurement microphone and measure the in room response using the free REW software. This then allows you to identify the worst peaks, and set filters to deal with those. It will help quite a bit, though obviosuly not as much as a full blown system.
So basically, I just download the REW to a laptop, and follow the help pages within REW, as I adjust the RME? Will the UMIK-1 plug into a laptop via USB? Would I even need to have the RME connected to the computer?
 
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