I've been consuming a lot of information on low frequency reproduction, room modes, correction via DSP, brand wars etc.
Something keeps bugging me. For all the effort expended on LF, I wonder if the science really backs it up.
I have the first edition of Floyd Toole's book. Reading that, and lots of material from ASR and elsewhere, I learn that flat FR measured in an anechoic chamber correlates with subjective preferences when listening tests are done double blind.
Is there research like the above specifically for low frequency? Do we have solid evidence on what correlates with subjective preference in the <100Hz range?
Are there studies like the Toole studies specifically about subwoofers? And how about subwoofer integration? That seems arcane too.
The assumption in Toole's book, the work of Welti, Geddes etc. is to try to achieve a flatter response in LF, and more even spatially.
But they open a big can of worms. Not only do you need to get >1 subwoofer, you need to place them carefully, do mic readings, generate individual filters for each sub, etc.
Not for the faint of heart.
If you're not willing to do that kind of homework, is >1 sub still recommended? Does it at least serve to even out the FR a bit and the spatial variation a bit? a lot?
Also, I see from the Psychoacoustic filter in REW that for low frequencies, human hearing seems to be a lot less sensitive.
In that case, is a flat FR still the goal? Can some deviations from flatness pass unnoticed?
How flat is flat enough?
Something keeps bugging me. For all the effort expended on LF, I wonder if the science really backs it up.
I have the first edition of Floyd Toole's book. Reading that, and lots of material from ASR and elsewhere, I learn that flat FR measured in an anechoic chamber correlates with subjective preferences when listening tests are done double blind.
Is there research like the above specifically for low frequency? Do we have solid evidence on what correlates with subjective preference in the <100Hz range?
Are there studies like the Toole studies specifically about subwoofers? And how about subwoofer integration? That seems arcane too.
The assumption in Toole's book, the work of Welti, Geddes etc. is to try to achieve a flatter response in LF, and more even spatially.
But they open a big can of worms. Not only do you need to get >1 subwoofer, you need to place them carefully, do mic readings, generate individual filters for each sub, etc.
Not for the faint of heart.
If you're not willing to do that kind of homework, is >1 sub still recommended? Does it at least serve to even out the FR a bit and the spatial variation a bit? a lot?
Also, I see from the Psychoacoustic filter in REW that for low frequencies, human hearing seems to be a lot less sensitive.
In that case, is a flat FR still the goal? Can some deviations from flatness pass unnoticed?
How flat is flat enough?