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New Post 1/13/2008 10:44 AM
  Peter M
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using a graphic EQ to handle room issues 

Hi all,

Proper room treatment can cost quite a bit of money, and I'm wondering if there is a low cost - or no-cost - alternative. The use of a graphic EQ is not new, and generally not recommended, but what is wrong with this approach:

  • Download the real traps test tone CD and with the help of a decibel meter plot the bass response at the listening position
  • Insert a good EQ plugin in the master bus of your DAW software to correct the most prominent issues.
  • Repeat test until the result has improved.

Anyone ever did this? Why shouldn't I do it? Which EQ plugins should be avoided?

Peter M

 
New Post 1/14/2008 11:22 AM
  flingishmoo
12 posts
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Re: using a graphic EQ to handle room issues 

There are two things that make me think this will not work as effectively (or at all) as you would like.  The first reason is straight from the Real Trap website describing the test tone CD:

"They do not identify modal ringing or other time-based errors which are just as important. But they will give you an accurate assessment of the low frequency response of your loudspeakers in your room."

Thus, while you may compensate your frequency response, it will not do anything for any time based irregularities and they may be causing more of the problem than just the frequency response.

Second, I don't think there is such a thing as a "perfect" EQ, or any effect for that matter.  So, what happens when your EQ is introducing artifacts that you don't recognize because your room sound is flat.  You mix you recording so that it sounds good, remove the "room calibration" EQ and then your recording sounds not quite right in the world outside your studio.  What do you change next?  That seems like just as big of a problem.

I'm not an expert, but those two problems seem like deal breakers to me, when it comes to the idea of creating a "room calibration" EQ

Good luck,

Jeremy

P.S.  If you head to Ethan Winer's (The real traps designer) web site, he has some tutorials on how to build your own room treatments at a fraction of the cost.  They aren't as tightly engineered as the real traps, and you have to supply the labor and materials, but they do offer an alternative for those of us who can't afford to treat a room the professional way.

 
New Post 1/19/2008 9:21 PM
  Bill Park
13 posts
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Re: using a graphic EQ to handle room issues 

You cannot solve time domain problems with frequency based solutions.

 
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