What Credentials Should An Acoustician Have

[JackD201]

Steve... I don't really see a lot of high-end "listening rooms"...

If I had to do it all over again, I'd call on the following people

Walters-Storyk
Martin Pilchner
Bob Hodas
Wes Lachot
Keith Yates
Michael Chafee


That's what I should do... start a thread on the 2yr. build for my rooms.

That's a veritable who's who list. I'm big on WSDG albeit I've not really heard the work of the others on the list, only heard great things about them like Keith. John was my teacher at Full Sail and I studied and worked hundreds of hours in the control and recording rooms he built there. Obviously I couldn't afford their services even if they now have an Asian office. We did incorporate many of his ideas and especially materials choices though. The resource page of wsdg is priceless for anybody with the interest in acoustics.

Looking forward to seeing Steve's room competed. I'm very excited for him.

 

[cjfrbw]

Yup, looking forward to Steve's pics, and would love to visit Bruce's studio some day.

 

[KBK]

I want somebody skinny with really thick glasses who never brushes his teeth.

I'm sorry, Taras brushes his teeth all the time. Fail.

(A world class acoustics expert who wipes the floor with theoreticians and department heads, even the NRC theoreticians. Results trump theory and pocket protectors.) (This is indeed true, he just doesn't like me to talk about it)

 

[JackD201]

Yup, looking forward to Steve's pics, and would love to visit Bruce's studio some day.

Same here. I've been to Steve's former room and even if his new one is just as good as the old one, he'll have a winner on his hands.

 

[Steve williams]

Same here. I've been to Steve's former room and even if his new one is just as good as the old one, he'll have a winner on his hands.

from your mouth to God's ears Jack

I'm getting real close. Final painting today. Electrical and HVAC get completed Monday and Tuesday with carpet going in on Wed. That will pretty much finish off the room except to wait for the drapes to be finished which should be another 7-10 days. Once done I will start moving everything from the garage to the room and get the speakers assembled and set up. I am anticipating splashdown by the end of this month.........an 8 month wait

 

[mep]

from your mouth to God's ears Jack

I'm getting real close. Final painting today. Electrical and HVAC get completed Monday and Tuesday with carpet going in on Wed. That will pretty much finish off the room except to wait for the drapes to be finished which should be another 7-10 days. Once done I will start moving everything from the garage to the room and get the speakers assembled and set up. I am anticipating splashdown by the end of this month.........an 8 month wait

That's what happens when you buy a house that has no place to set up your stereo system.

 

[Steve williams]

Well when you sell your house at $200K above comps and the buyers wanted a 30 day escrow I really had very little chance. It was for me a no brainer in spite of the inconvenience and down time

 

[microstrip]

from your mouth to God's ears Jack

I'm getting real close. Final painting today. Electrical and HVAC get completed Monday and Tuesday with carpet going in on Wed. That will pretty much finish off the room except to wait for the drapes to be finished which should be another 7-10 days. Once done I will start moving everything from the garage to the room and get the speakers assembled and set up. I am anticipating splashdown by the end of this month.........an 8 month wait

I can imagine your expectation. Happily February is a short month...
Will you keep us waiting for the pics and details 8 hours, 8 days or 8 months?

 

[Steve williams]

Hopefully not. I do want to get everything set up and dialed in before I make any comments

 

[mep]

I think you could give us some sneak peaks at the room itself as its undergoing its transformation.

 

[Ethan Winer]

I know of one very prominent acoustician who started as a salesman in a hi fi shop. So how does that credential him as an acoustician

Agreed 100 percent. Many of the high-end (read: very expensive) home theaters I've seen have terrible acoustics. Often they're too dead at high frequencies, so both the designer and customer hear no echoes and wrongly conclude the room is acoustically "good." I've seen plenty of high-end rooms with no attention to acoustics at all. I recently watched a popular webcast where the "expert" host bragged that his bedroom size HT room is THX approved. A phone-in caller asked him what sort of bass traps and other treatment he has, and he said he has none at all. How could a small untreated room possibly qualify for THX approval?

most who call themselves acousticians have something else to sell you beyond their services with most having no background other than a general interest

Agreed again. Acoustics is not simple, but acoustic treatment is a relatively low-tech product. So anyone can hang up a shingle and proclaim themselves qualified to offer advice. We've all seen web sites selling "sound proofing foam," where it's clear the company doesn't even understand the difference between sound proofing between rooms and acoustic control within a room.

--Ethan

 

[Steve williams]

Gosh Ethan

Good to be on the same page as you

 

[mep]

Isn't claiming the title of "acoustician" as fungible as claiming to be an audio engineer? Unlike people who have real degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or chemical engineering and all of the course work those degrees require, anyone can call themselves an audio engineer or an acoustician without a degree of any type can't they?

 

[microstrip]

Agreed 100 percent. Many of the high-end (read: very expensive) home theaters I've seen have terrible acoustics. (...)
--Ethan

It seems we all agree on the terrible experiences, specially on the too dead at high frequencies. However, while waiting for Steve's room , I would love to know about the ones you consider excellent.

BTW, I see that you seem equate high-end with very expensive - IMHO they are different thinks. We have different views on that one. Also the high-end term when applied to home theater and stereo may be means two very different thinks.

 

[Steve williams]

It seems we all agree on the terrible experiences, specially on the too dead at high frequencies. However, while waiting for Steve's room , I would love to know about the ones you consider excellent.

BTW, I see that you seem equate high-end with very expensive - IMHO they are different thinks. We have different views on that one. Also the high-end term when applied to home theater and stereo may be means two very different thinks.

Even though my goal is to have a room as good or better than my last,working within the constraints of room size I am going to be happy getting my X2s to perform in there. That's why I took so long to make a build out decision until I settled on an acoustician. If there is a positive to the time taken it is the satisfaction of doing the entire project from a set of architecturally designed plans rather than trying to make an existing room work.

 

[microstrip]

Even though my goal is to have a room as good or better than my last,working within the constraints of room size I am going to be happy getting my X2s to perform in there. That's why I took so long to make a build out decision until I settled on an acoustician. If there is a positive to the time taken it is the satisfaction of doing the entire project from a set of architecturally designed plans rather than trying to make an existing room work.

I am particularly interested in your project as it seems your room is a case where every inch counts. When we have a very large space and we can afford plenty of volume for the acoustic treatments and bass traps everything seems to be easier. What were your starting and ending dimensions?

 

[Steve williams]

I ended with 14 W x 20 L x 9 H

I am using another product made by my acoustician which act like a tuning tube for specific frequencies. These are 1" in diameter and fit above my crown moulding which i dropped 2" from the ceiling (for these as well as my rope lights) and 5 " in from the wall for the drapes which are lined with another product used by this acoustician which looks like a thin piece of cotton white appearing material but has the absorptive abilities identical to stuffing my walls with 2" of fiberglass

 

[JackD201]

Isn't claiming the title of "acoustician" as fungible as claiming to be an audio engineer? Unlike people who have real degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or chemical engineering and all of the course work those degrees require, anyone can call themselves an audio engineer or an acoustician without a degree of any type can't they?

Over here in Manila, there are a whole bunch of guys who call themselves acousticians but have no formal training. As far as I know only four have degrees or certification. There's an easy way to spot the con men and it has nothing to do with their having degrees and such.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Isn't claiming the title of "acoustician" as fungible as claiming to be an audio engineer?

Sure, and the same goes for auto mechanic, acupuncturist, master chef, home builder, and pretty much any other profession besides law and medicine. You don't need a degree to be excellent, and having a degree doesn't guarantee excellence either. Hey, someone has to graduate at the bottom of their class!

--Ethan

 

[Ethan Winer]

I would love to know about the ones you consider excellent.

I think my living room HT is excellent. I can play a concert DVD at realistic volumes, yet easily carry on a conversation with someone next to me on the couch. This is no small feat!

Most of the other excellent rooms I've heard are professional recording studio control rooms. Studio A at Criteria is amazing. One of my former studio partners recently built a 2-channel mix room above his garage, and that too is excellent. So you can definitely get great results in a domestic situation.

As for high-end versus high-cost, I definitely do not consider them the same. I've been in multi-million dollar rooms that were only so-so at best.

--Ethan