Microphone orientation during calibration of a room perfect

[Jerome W]

Hi guys,

I was surprised by the Mc guidelines and the advices of Ivan about the fact that except for the focus position, the microphone "should never be directed towards the speakers" during room measures, and should especially be directed in corners and areas of high level reflections.
So I went back in the Lyngdorf manual to discover they only say "random" orientation.
Mc and Ivan guidelines seem pretty logical to me so I made all the calibration again, with only 1 microphone position facing the speakers ( focus ) and all the other as directed by Ivan and Mc.
Very surprising.
First, room knowledge of 90 % was acquired faster this way. 4 measures only. Then, I needed 4 more measures to get to 98 %. Total measures was the same...
Room correction is now 10 %. It was 9 % before, so this is not significant.
But the sound changed radically.
Now It seems to me I'm in a recording studio. I do NOT HEAR THE ROOM anymore. Much less reflected sounds. Quite 0 reverberation. For the ones who
have seen the pictures of my room, you could say : this is really great, I would really not appreciate to hear such a room.
But I wonder if the acoustics is not a bit " dead" now. The music seem to be less alive. I'm not used to this kind of listening so I will need time to see if I prefer it over the former sound or not.
One thing is sure : the music is much more clean and peaceful now.
Usually I prefer the "stress less" sound over the extroverted sound. So I think I will keep the system this way. But still the treble now has not the same sound since there seem to be no more reflections. I will tell you more in a few days.
I wonder really if this is the ideal sound. Listening only to the speakers sound and not the room. In the real life, we hear direct and indirect sounds. The studio listening could be a bit "artificial" on the long term, I don't know by now.
Measuring only the sounds coming from the walls / corners give finally a much bigger effect on the correction and the sound, but is it really what Lyngdorf intended to do with the Room Perfect DSP ? I thought the aim was to get a better harmony between direct and indirect sounds. Not having quite only direct sounds ?
Your opinions are highly welcome.

Very interesting indeed. It proves that this unit is really able to deeply modify the interaction between your room and your speakers. This is not a "gadget".
The effects are spectacular.

Cheers,
Jerome

PS : This site is terrific. Ivan, you'll get my money for the "platinum Aficionado" level today !

I'm trying to modify the title of the thread but can't find how. There was a typing problem with "Microphone"

[Masterlu]

Thank you Jerome!

Title fixed also!

[Jerome W]

Woah.....
You're fast Ivan ( and you wake up early....) !

[NMyTree]

Could you tell me what you are using to take these measurements. What component? What microphones? Is there software involved?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by NMyTree

Could you tell me what you are using to take these measurements. What component? What microphones? Is there software involved?

The MEN-220 comes with microphone, cable and stand. Everything you need to capture measurements for Room Knowledge.
Jim

[jdandy]

Jérôme.......Welcome to Club "Aficionado".

[schaefer11]

Jerome,

I do not have the MEN-220 so only can speak in generalities. One of the reasons to remove the room and only hear the speakers, either by DSP, controlling the directivity of the speakers or other means, is to uncover the ambience of the recording itself.

Adding room reflections to any ambience already in the recording may sound nice, but is technically a distortion. Of course some recordings have very little ambience in them and the added reflections can, again, sound nice.

I suspect as you listen, you will find that your ability to hear the ambience, natural or artificial, in your recordings will increase now that your room has been "removed".

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jérôme.......Welcome to Club "Aficionado".

Thanks Dan !
That's a big investment. My bank offered me a 10 years loan....
Jerome

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

Jerome,

I do not have the MEN-220 so only can speak in generalities. One of the reasons to remove the room and only hear the speakers, either by DSP, controlling the directivity of the speakers or other means, is to uncover the ambience of the recording itself.

Adding room reflections to any ambience already in the recording may sound nice, but is technically a distortion. Of course some recordings have very little ambience in them and the added reflections can, again, sound nice.

I suspect as you listen, you will find that your ability to hear the ambience, natural or artificial, in your recordings will increase now that your room has been "removed".

Very interesting comment Kevin,
Thanks !

[Jerome W]

Kevin,
I think you're absolutely right cause I'm listening to 2 Lps right now and they never sounded so natural and clean :
Rolling Stones "let it bleed" and Bruce Springsteen " working on a dream"...