Robert Harleys 'listening room

[cjf]

I'm not sure what the file upload size limit is here on WBF but another alternative could be to make your recording then do a direct upload here instead of shoe horning it all thru UTube and losing most of the recording quality.

One question I would have about these video recordings of ones system is what was the method used to capture the in room sound?

1. Mobile phone Mic?
2. Using some Free App from an App Store?
3. What was the file format used during the capture?
4. Was it done in Stereo or Mono?

I could go on but I'm not convinced that using #1 above as a starting point to capture the sound of your room is doing anyone any favors. If you used a "Real" Mic (or two) and good recording equipment then we can start to get somewhere.

Just messing around I used #1 & #2 above and set the capture to .wav and tried both Mono and Stereo options. Made a few recordings while playing a few songs. I couldn't convince myself that the phone recording was even remotely representative to the in-room sound and that was at supposedly Redbook 16/44 quality.

But that's just my experience trying it out. Maybe others feel its a worthwhile effort.

 

[ssfas]

Oh nay nay… I am not of the opinion an engineered room is the final word. Every engineering solution is a set of compromises. But my room after it was gutted and rebuilt is far superior to what it was before. Compromises for sure, my budget was not unlimited. But I have also had four completely different speaker designs in the room (Wilson Alexia, Alsyvox Botticelli, Bayz Counterpoint, and Diesis Roma) and other than placement no additional tweaking necessary. And it is a warm and inviting environment. The engineer says she designs to make a room sound good, but feel good as well. And I wanted one that also looked nice (and pleased my wife!)

Fortunately for me, I am not obsessive and constantly fussing — I am about enjoying and sharing music. My room for sure sounds different from, for example, PeterA’s room. I don’t make any claim I have the “best” room or the answer to anything. But I will argue an engineered room can and should look like a warm and inviting space you’d want to spend time in. But those are my criteria, not everyone will agree.

I‘m not a photographer, so the picture below I needed to pump up the room lights to grab a morning photo — but no way I’d give up my view to chase the last degree of sonic “perfection”. Others feel differently I’m sure.

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That's a lovely looking room - in a forest?

I've read about Robert Harley's room on several occasions, including his two long articles describing it. His book (5th edition) is the only book I've over bought about audio. Where I live, suburban, real estate prices are around $1,200 per square foot, so unless you have a lot of money or live on your own, a large dedicated room is rare. Plus the walls are brick. RH's design requires stud walls and frames to absorb bass energy. I've yet to see any explanation of how to deal with brick walls other than to build an inner frame, which loses too much space when space is at a premium.

For me any form of visible acoustic treatment was out of the question, both for my wife's and my aesthetic. We did change the windows and put in glass that was -40dB the normal stuff and much less reflective.