Eric Valentine: The Importance of Room Treatment

[@gr500music6]

Thanks to Eric for reminding us that the definition of a perfect bass trap is an open window! Haven't heard that for a while.

[@bluematrix5001]

THIS IS WHY OPEN COPNCERST CAN SOUND AMAZING, NO WALLS!

[@SteveOuimette]

"How the f**k are you going to figure out your mix with s**t like that going on? You know". Best line of the day!

[@bveracka]

These vids with Eric are great. 👍 Bass needs somewhere to go; if it doesn't have that, you've got mud, period. Here's the story of how I learned this: Until I was 20, I practiced and recorded in the loft/balcony of my old house. This 18' × 14' loft faced an angled ceiling, overlooking a living room and kitchen behind it-a fully open floor plan. From the floor of the living room, the ceiling was 28' tall. The acoustics in there were amazing. That space below the balcony created a giant bass trap, and the angled ceiling channeled it perfectly. Me and my bandmates didn't fully appreciate the excellent acoustics of that room until we moved to a practice studio. Despite having tall ceilings and acoustic treatment, it was still just a rectangular room and it sounded awful-especially in comparison to the loft. I still daydream of having that house back! Even cheap equipment sounded good in there, which is a testament to how important room treatment and acoustics are to your mixing.

[@EDEN-LIMINAL]

Fantastic information, the more I learn the more I understand this is the most important issue: the room.

[@robheskin]

That was the best 6 minutes of my day

[@nobodynoone2500]

FYI: Clear vinyl window covers seem to kill the harshness of windows without wrecking your view.

[@AgustinDavidF]

So a nice guy Eric Valentine, and very useful information. Thank you!

[@griterlum8964]

Thanks !

[@MoeThermodynamics]

What's the German technology he talked about?

[@OneFingerSnap]

That’s the missing question!

[@gregoryabat3948]

The very thing I was wondering

[@konradc4599]

He could be referring to the Psi audio Avaa but don't quote me on that.

[@aidanknight]

He's talking about VPR panels/bass traps

[@maxmustermann8776]

The winebottle next to the bed tells everything...

[@ViolenDarkstalker]

Where can i learn more about Tube Traps?

[@EasyHeat]

This sounds like "pirate tech", but I took three 3x3 foot by 3 inch thick squares of this super dense foam that's normally used for retail produce displays, cut two in half, and wrapped them all with fleece material. I hung the one remaining 3x3 square directly in front of me behind my display between my Kali Audio LP8s, and used the remaining 4 rectangles to "treat" the 90 degree corner and wall directly to my left via the mirror hack method + an acoustic measurement app, and while yes, that's obviously not even close to a professional level of room treatment?! I could definitely notice a significant improvement within my humble apartment mix studio, and by altering even that slight but measurable low end energy? My mixes now sound fuller across all mediums, and I now don't obsessively run back and fourth to go perform the "car test" nearly as much. Wave physics don't lie. It's not about getting it perfect. It's about managing the inherent issues within that unique environment. Eric Valentine is my freaking hero BTW! Ha!

[@craigjacoway8106]

What’s the name of the German company that manufactures the bass traps Eric was talking about?

[@djbremsespor]

I dont know, but my guess is Renz which appears to create Verbund-Platten-Resonator VPR. Maybe they have made a new beefier 6 inch version.

[@Wuuhduuh]

Hofa

[@Wuuhduuh]

Nevermind, they do the tube traps he's talking about. The 6" things are probably VPRs, as stated above

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

@uh 😂🤣 HOFA are quite bare-bones in their approach. And HOFA don't do the Tube Traps Eric is talking about. Tube Traps is a brand product, and not the same as other, simpler tube traps. 🤗

[@REBELDONOG]

Thank you Eric

[@morbidmanmusic]

Eric, if you need a janitor with an ear and some gear, let me know... I'm miles away.. I'll move in!

[@lesterdiamond12]

Watch “Sam small room” on Acoustics Fields youtube channel

[@miguelluismusic4181]

I would love to know what Erik thinks of the Kali lone pines 8s for 400 ... those are better than the Adams he has in my opinion... this was a volatile interview for those without four feet of mineral wool... no mention of how tube traps cost thousands... Erik’s in space sometimes but I appreciate him still... Kali IN8s V2 would be a supernova development for him... good interview

[@nobodynoone2500]

You realize you can roll mineral wool into a tube right?

[@andytullis8736]

Good video but it would've been really helpful to know exactly how tall and round the tubes need to be!! 😃

[@vvessel_]

depends on the room

[@FrankNobelMusic]

haha he literally dropped the solution but didn’t give any details about how to read about it or find it! 👻 can someone who knows anything about it please share!

[@caspermaster-com]

”Nobody is gonna do that” well I did lol. Its cheaper and more predictable than fancy solutions. Drawback is loss of space, but at that point you really are serious about it and probably will use the room for sound only anyway

[@studieslessonstheoryetc141]

You have 4’ deep panels on your walls?

[@caspermaster-com]

I have 60 cm, 2 foot, not optimal but still very useful, in the back of the room. You dont need 1/4 wave for absorbtion, its just that its optimal for that frequency, 1/8 wave length still does alot (:

[@erickarge1838]

@@caspermaster-com yeah but if you have two feet of rock wool then a small air gap then the wall, then guess what!!! Now you have 4 feet of rock wool because the wave will bounce off the wall and get further absorbed on its vector of return. His math is correct but its 4 feet total wave travel with bounce included. So ur good! lol

[@caspermaster-com]

@@erickarge1838 2/3 right! ;) I have been reading about this as Im sure you have too, and recently I actually got explained to me that for the airgap to work effectively, the space around the panel needs to be sealed, that is labtested. But no acoustic calculator will show this. Ron Sauro at Nwaa labs are the source on this, but I can't find a video about it.

[@nobodynoone2500]

The outer surface should be goodish sealed, but it didn't make a huge difference in my testing as long as you got good coverage. Then again, most of my favorite albums were made in untreated or poorly treated rooms.

[@chrisk6656]

Just mix on headphones, problem solved.

[@rome8180]

I agree. But some people would say that introduces its own problems.

[@rabarebra]

Hans Zimmer speakers? 😂 They are made by Quested in England. I have five of those plus a sub. Sounds fantastic, and they actually doubled in price since I bought them.

[@CarcPazu]

I consciously decide to not give a fuck and accept the fact that I'll release bad sounding music.

[@HalcyonGuitars]

You can't tell us about miracle bass traps without telling us the brand!

[@ParadNorthProd]

What he doesn't mention is that any trap like that costs 10x the price of Rockwool. Yes, Rockwool can't go down to 35hz, but it also doesn't cost over $1000 per unit like an ASC Tube Trap does. This new company he's talking about is likely unaffordable for any home studio.

[@miguelluismusic4181]

@@ParadNorthProd he was scared to say he should of shown some balls and told us instead of saying how all of our studios suck

[@nobodynoone2500]

@@miguelluismusic4181 He had not tried it yet. Why the hell would you promote something you don't know?

[@rabarebra]

Why would you get rid of your bass? This video is full of snake oil and BS.

[@TheBissco]

Well that settles it - no more bass guitar on my songs. Or kick drum. On the other hand, the millions of home recording musicians and songwriters can simply accept the fact that no matter how good technology gets, or how easy it is to record - there will always be things like this where we are told we can only compete if we invest heavily into more "stuff". Lol.

[@NuclearDeathWalk]

I've heard most home recording songs and yes, with little exception, they have sonic issues in the lows, low mids, and usually the highs too.

[@TheBissco]

@@NuclearDeathWalk I don't doubt it. But I will add this: most consumers are not engineers and could care less as long as it sounds decent in their headphones. While home recording musicians should strive to improve and do their best, the very idea of having to treat a room as though it needs to compete wil high-end mixing rooms is unfortunate. To me it is a distraction from the freedom that comes with figuring out how to do well with what we each have, including rooms!

[@Aaa-pz6nh]

@@TheBissco I get your point. I think he makes a point to say that most of the issues are in the low end, and that if you have some appropriate treatment for the low end it can help with a lot of the problems. What he was saying about 20db drops in frequencies is pretty hard to overcome or understand what you are hearing

[@nobodynoone2500]

Funny enough, all my favorite albums were recorded and mixed in shitty rooms. If you think a few inches of rockwool is the difference between you and a grammy-winning artist, you should go practice more, experience life so you have something to write about, and stop worrying about gear.

[@Jasperi]

If you know what good music sounds like on your speakers in your room, you can match that with your track and even check/mix with headphones if you’re worried about the bass. People listen to music on airbuds, bass traps are just a rich people toy.

[@rabarebra]

Agree.

[@funkyjkl]

nice talk, awful eq

[@nobodynoone2500]

Only so much you can do with the ugly filtering and brutal bandwidth compression of Skype+KZbin combined.

[@retepretep3014]

You should indeed have treated the room you choose to do this video in.. 😅✌️

[@wandajames143]

You might want to get your neck checked, there’s a lump.

[@Bellabaddi]

Why does that guy always look like he’s transmitting vid from the space station?