Dok's guide to monitor placement in your home recording studio NOW W/Pt. 2: SUBWOOFERS

[Dok]

I’ve mostly stayed out of this thread bc my approach to acoustics in a working or listening space diverges quite a bit from what has been presented here overall

The more info the better, Brad! Any debate or discussion is welcome - I'm just a dude on the internet, after all, and certainly not the last (or first) word in room acoustics.

[øøøøøøø]

Okay then, the main areas where I diverge--

1) I may place a greater value on rooms that sound as uniform throughout the room as possible. This is admittedly a tall order and an expensive proposition, but tailoring a room to a single "sweet spot" totally discounts practical realities like attended sessions (where I want the client to hear something representative), making adjustments to gear (located outside of the sweet spot) while listening, etc.

2) Acoustic treatment isn't trying to "beat physics." It's a matter of utilizing physics (ideally in an intelligent, targeted manner) to improve a listening environment. It's not magic--smart acoustic treatment must observe applicable laws (like the conservation of energy). Sometimes the physics is challenging--and in this case the treatment can become complex, large, and/or expensive. The more control you have over your fixed parameters (like room dimensions), the less-herculean the lift becomes.

But management of energy is my preferred strategy--it's the only way, as far as I can tell, to make a room that doesn't utterly break (and get very confusing) when you move a couple of feet out of the sweet spot.

3) Flush-mounting of monitors in a correctly-designed front wall is superior to stand-mounting in free air in almost all cases. Granted this is impractical in many circumstances, but it's worth mentioning (and is a big enough deal to me that I've deferred a buildout until I can afford to do it that way).

I do support using the largesse that is the free REW software (and AMROC room mode calculator) to understand empirically what is going on in your room--whatever the level of ambition and budget. Reliance on data is a lot better than the combo of magical thinking, gut feel, and received wisdom that is usually relied-upon.

And as always I support anyone doing anything that gets results for them, and I love to see people excited about the strides they're making.

[Dok]

Yeah I don't think anything you've said is at odds with this thread, which I meant to focus on home recording studios after all, where flush-mounting speakers in most cases isn't likely to happen nor are attended sessions. If you're doing any of those things you should definitely consult a professional acoustic designer! If you read any of the Carl Tatz articles on his website that I posted here, he states rather emphatically that the only way his system works with reproducible results is if you're exclusively focused on one listening position. Optimizing an entire room for a completely even frequency response in multiple positions takes measurement, treatment, and planning expertise far beyond the capabilities of any of us DIYers!

[øøøøøøø]

The broader thing I think worth emphasizing is that there’s no single way to proceed

As always, whatever is working for someone is fantastic!