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Large Wide Yoga Studio Room Advice

Matthias McCready

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Jul 2, 2021
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I love the thought you are putting into this space. :)

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There is a saying in professional audio. "Buy once, cry once."

This is to say that the cost of the correct product can hurt, but that purchasing an inadequate product(s) over and over hurts more. So figure out what your needs are and go from there. Let that define your budget, and what brands you get.

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SPL requirements don't seem too high then; I am going to presume less than 90dBA at the loudest.

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With your budget being fairly high perhaps you could consider Meyer Sound (Something such as a pair X20 or UP4-Slim). You could compliment them with a subwoofer or two down the road. Note that while Sweetwater is technically a dealer now (rant for another time), that a smaller dealer will probably be able to get you some actual pricing (better than list).

This is a premium brand though. The only complaint I usually hear about them is price. ;)

Please note: You can look at coverage of your room but looking at different speakers in MAPP 3D.

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Although what may be more affordable for you would be Martin Audio. They do make some smaller stuff (looks nice), and some passive stuff. I think their powered CDD line is a sweet spot. The CDD line doesn't sound quite as good as Meyer, but it is much more inexpensive. It does sound better than the JBL SRX8xx series (which I own some boxes of), and far better than the QSC K. The coverage pattern with them in fantastic and is quite unique in that it asymmetric. If I remember right it has something to do with the coaxial horn design; either way I have been quite impressed the times I have listened to them.

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Another option, this one passive, would be the Fulcrum Acoustics DX series. If I remember correctly that is Fulcrums highest end-line, and they sound phenomenal.

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100+ degrees ambient temperature should be no problem for most active commercial systems, so don't worry about temp.

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As far as "instructor mic vs music" this is where a real DSP comes into play (ie QSYS, Xilica, AHM, or on the el-cheapo end an XR18 can fit the bill). You can set it up so that the instructor mic causes the music to duck out of the way. This is usually done by putting a compressor, or dynamic EQ, on the music channel (or bus if you have multiple sources) that is side-chained to your microphone input. Thereby when someone speaks it pulls the music back.
 
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roscoepan

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@Matthias McCready This all makes sense and great info.

Oh I didn't know the CDD were active. That makes a difference. I'll dig a little and do some research and be back.

Thanks for the time, and to @EdTice @BlackTalon as well as everyone else chiming in.
 

EdTice

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The one change to the room is that the floor is covered in a 5/8" mat which does a decent job dampening the sound. I can make sound panels all day long as needed.
You can cover that entire rear wall with half-meter thick sound paneling and you still have a group exercise room. That's a beautiful space but I'm sticking to my original comment here. One wall is glass and the other is covered with mirrors. If you use HiFi speakers, you won't be happy with the results.
 

AudioJester

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Beautiful space, and love the thought going into it.
Definitely suitable for Magico M9!! ;)
I have been in venues where there are wall mounted speakers and those closest are blasted with music and can not hear each other, while those at the other end can barely hear the music. Definitely want a diffuse sound with lots of source points for an immersive but unobtrusive experience.

Isnt this type of sound fit out that @amirm company does?
 

EdTice

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SPL? Not sure. I tested a pair of Bose F1 and they sounded great at very low volume and low output on the mixer but they were too directional even laying on their side in a C pattern (top and bottom spread out for a wider dispersion.

For a 70v, will the PA override the music completely or can I adjust the mic level and the music level.

I am not opposed to all ceiling speakers and I think that is my default, screw it just get something in there.

Budget right now is $4,000 with me doing most of the work. In time I am open to a $10K system.

I know what poor sound really detracts from the experience in other locations my wife has taught at and I know we can do better.

Can you be more specific about "too directional?" How close to the corners were they placed? You wont' ever be happy with speakers placed on the floor. They have to be as close to the ceiling as possible.

I don't teach Yoga. I do strength coaching out of a space about half the size of yours. My tweeters are at about ear height when standing up. and whenever I lay down to bench press, the transition is very distracting. It doesn't matter for my situation but it sounds like it would be a disaster for yours. You can get a set of stands for like $30 to try out speaker positions. But those are a tip-over risk so whatever you end up with, those speakers have to be bolted to the ceiling.

Are you sure that you are only teaching yoga or will there be other activities/classes? Because your map says dance/hot yoga room. For yoga. maybe you want some type of automatic gain control that reduces the music volume when the instructor is speaking. But I can assure you that, if you use this type of system for Zumba, Step, or any classes which are actually set to the music (Think BodyPump, Insanity, et cetera), nobody will come back. If the instructor can't hear the music over their own voice, they can't stay on the beat, and things go into the tank quickly. (Remember that was Mariah's excuse a few New Years ago).

As far as input, do you know any group exercise instructors other than your wife? I promise you that half of them will have trouble connecting to Bluetooth. Most will have iPhones but they will show up without enough battery to teach the class and forget their dongles. You will need to have a whole pallet of them. At least one will have an Android phone with only 3.5mm output. No matter how many times you tell them to set their phone to full volume and turn down the gain control on the input, the chances of them getting it right will be less than random chance would predict. The dongles will quickly start to fit poorly. They won't think to put something on top of the cord to keep it from unplugging. Make sure the leads are very short so the weight of the cord won't cause a disconnect. Yes, really.

It sounds like you really want to have multi-channel audio. And I hate to be the guy to talk you out of it. You can't send multi-channel audio over Bluetooth. But you can upmix two channel sources. I like both ProLogic IIx and Atmos music. That's probably cause for some people here to hate me. However, it should be pleasant in your enviornment.

Most things here on ASR are focused on HiFi. Pro audio is a different beast.

What was it about the audio at other locations that ruined the experience?

If you need 90dB, you probably should see if you can hire @amirm or get a recommendation for a custom installer. At lower SPL, you have an "implicit" center channel in the form of the instructor. Without music, in a space that size, you could actually teach class without any microphone. But at those volumes, if the audio system doesn't carry the speech clearly, nobody will be able to follow the cues.
 
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