Room compensation

Hi all,

I would like to hear your opinion about Room Compensation.

It looks like RC is here to stay. BL50 and BL90 already have it built-in, as well every new audio processor/receiver from any manufacturer.

 

1) Do you think RC is a nice feature to have? Does it really improve the performance of a audio system?

2) If you could choose one device to be upgraded with RC, which one would you choose? Beosound Core, BV, another BL speaker...?

 

Looking forward to hear from you!

 

Cheers, Dante.

I think it does make a good difference. Especially in the bass departement. After it’s tighter and mostly i hear/feel it better. Also my neighbours like me more after, because it now shakes my eardrums and my walls a bit less :p

I would say though that it’s a nice thing to have, but kind of pointless on something like a bl18/bl1/bl3/bl17 etc. To me it only makes sense on the bigger bass driven speakers because it mostly compensates for standing waves.

Imo the bv eclipse could do with some specific bass compensation/tweaking opportunaties.

But probably the best past speaker for this option would be the bl5.

So i do think it’s here to stay, but it shouldn’t be on everything because all this signal processing does induce (a bit of) lag.

All in all it’s good, but there are sort of limits on how usefull it is. Hope this helps

Putzgrilous:

Hi all,

I would like to hear your opinion about Room Compensation.

It looks like RC is here to stay. BL50 and BL90 already have it built-in, as well every new audio processor/receiver from any manufacturer.

1) Do you think RC is a nice feature to have? Does it really improve the performance of a audio system?

2) If you could choose one device to be upgraded with RC, which one would you choose? Beosound Core, BV, another BL speaker...?

Looking forward to hear from you!

Cheers, Dante.

The (listening) room is a major part of a listening experience - the same speaker(s) will sound different in different rooms.

(This is the reason, why these post with ‘which speaker to choose’ are so hard to answer).

 

There are two ways of ‘treating’ a room in order to optimize (....whatever that means) the sound there.

One is the active - where you use carpets, curtains, certain materials for the cealing, bas traps etc. etc.

This is often called Room Correction.

The other is the passive - where you measure the room (acoustically) and let the audio processor work to get the best result.

This is mostly called Room Compensation (that is also the B&O term).

in most cases you should use elements of both.

It is hard to treat a ‘bad room’ just by compensating through filters in the audio engine.

On the other hand we (as B&O users) are talking living rooms (not dedicated listening rooms),

where you - for several reasons - can’t/won’t want to change the interiour that much.

 

Since B&O make products basicly for ‘living room people’, the Room Compensation is very important (it is invisible!).

Room Compensation is a part of the BL90/50 speakers (and partly the 5’s) - and can be, because they are not just speakers, but also pre-processors-/amps.....an all-in-one product.

(Not to forget the room switch, that has been on any B&O speaker for years).

This means that we have to consider the whole audio chain.

The BV’s (or rather the audio part of these) would be optimal for adding Room Compensation - in fact I expect something to happen there in the future.

They already are able to process sound (with different presets and manual settings) and to do some settings using a microphone.

The digital interface with the speakers (WPL/using WiSa) makes things easier and the DPL interface must be coming soon!

Of course you could add these ‘compensation features’ to a product like the BS Core - although I don’t know, if the hardware there has enough power for processing (and you would need a connection for a microphone there, too).

As you point out, with another speaker - with the same concept as the 90/50 - it might also be possible........we’ll see what comes.

 

in the meantime (and as well) the advice would be to treat the room as much as possible - a carpet, curtains often make a big change.

For some inspiration on this aubject this article could be helpfull:

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2014/02/14/bo-tech-but-what-if-my-room-is-scandinavian/

See also (part 1 and 2) of:

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2015/08/31/bo-tech-active-room-compensation-some-details-part-1/

If you want to dig deeper:

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reproduction-Psychoacoustics-Loudspeakers-Engineering/dp/0240520092

 

MM

 

 

The beolab 50 would not sound as good without it.

Going to try the mic this weekend.

I have done my own room correction using the microphone. The result is clearly better. Clearer sound with even more details and it is apparent that the influence of the room is reduced. Definitely worth the trouble.

Carpet doesn't have influence on Bass frequencies

koning:

Carpet doesn't have influence on Bass frequencies

why do you think that?

Only midrange and treble

koning:

Only midrange and treble

Why is that?

Of course it has... you are right that thick carpeting has a higher influence on higher frequencies. But as an exsample, corner bass trapps can be made of materials that closely resembles a thick carpet. Any object with a damping mass you put on a bare surface in your room, will have an effect on the bass notes.

koning:

Carpet doesn't have influence on Bass frequencies

That's not the same.

Maybe geoff martin will tell us the right answer.