-Advancements in digital media are the result of advancements in digital signal processing, microprocessor and circuit design technology in general. Audio is just one application for these advancements.-
Ok. I totally agree, but IMO we’ve been seeing these advancements through the years and I didn’t get how you were saying it was something that would ‘eventually’ happen? It’s been happening IMO.
And then you mentioned SACD and DVD-A which are not processes that trickled down from other fields.
I’ll just drop it though.
‘room correction’ opens up a whole can o’ worms.
First, it doesn’t actually fix the room of course so deceptive name IMO.
What it’s doing is taking a measurement of the sound at your seat and then applying DSP to distort the audio signal to ‘counter’ the room.
If you don’t move your head it can work if it’s advanced enough to not just e.q. the diff. but also correct for phase ‘cuz room effects have a delay from the speaker’s signal.
Complicated stuff and did this processing on the fly do nothing to effect the quality of the original signal? Many say adding more processing damages the signal when altering it -digital or not.
Next, do you actually want to totally ‘erase’ your room? Most don’t want a totally dead room, but then stuff like the TacT gear lets you choose how you want to distort your sound to change this so you don’t totally kill the room, but then from the posts of a lot of TacT users it mostly becomes a bass e.q. and/or a crutch for a bad/easily fixable room problem (for much cheaper).
Then move your head and the room effects will change but the room ‘correction’ doesn’t know where you are sitting right?
You could move from a null to a peak and make the sound even worse.
Again, the TacT stuff lets you make a listening ‘window’ instead of just one seat ‘correction’ but then no seat will be exactly right.
The better sounding your room, the better this ‘window’ will work, but then... uh...’cuz the room sounds better you need it less in the first place.
Then there’s the fact that the system might be trying to fight a null by really boosting a certain freq. This could cause a dangerous prob. for your speakers and/or electronics and still not fix the null.
The room e.q. doesn’t know or care if it damages your other gear.
Then in a broader sense I just feel that a really good speaker well set up in a room that doesn’t suck (it’s not that hard to make a room sound good and certainly doesn’t need to look like a mad tweaker hovel to do it) will not need any advanced room correction, but could use a few parametric e.q. points to hit the bass which is usually the main problem that’s not easy to treat in the ‘actual room’.
Plus other stuff. hehe
I know on the surface it sounds awesome to think about digitally correcting your audio so it’s dead on perfect in any room. There’s just a lot more to it than that. Feel free to want it and dig it though. Just thought I’d mention some of these issues I have with the concept.
As for loudspeaker technology...
I think I named several advancements in this area that you even quoted back to me yet you said they’re just trickle down effects? I disagree.
The things I mentioned were specific to the audio industry and not things simply pulled/developed from other fields.
You don’t think they’re advancements or what?
What about all the diff cone materials that’ve come out?‘W’ cones, Hexacone, carbon-fiber, Kevlar, aerogel, etc..?
Modern plastics like Mylar, Kapton, Kaladex used in assorted elements of diff. drivers?
Beryllium, Plasma, and created diamond tweeters?
Corian and marble cabinets. Black Hole 5 damping sheets?
Yes those materials were not developed for audio, but as used in audio there certainly took audio-specific design development.
Small neo magnet push/pull planars, pure alum. ribbon tweeters?
Large electrostatics and Maggie’s planar magnetic panels?
Acoustic Reality’s new mega buck full midrange/treble 60" ribbons look pretty advanced to me.
I’m sure there’ll be more but I don’t see this as an area that’s been neglected or stagnating in the least.
I mean you could say cars haven’t advanced at all if you look at the basic idea of all their parts which have been around for many decades.
The stage of a loudspeaker in the audio chain is simply an ‘object’ to move air.
I think people have come up with a LOT of ideas of how to do this and you can’t get around the matter of pushing air through a room unless you go to headphones or this crazy idea I read about where they shoot two very high freqs. at you and when they cross where you’re sitting they both get canceled out ‘cept the slight diff. in the beams which is the audio signal.
You hear the sound and other people can’t hear anything, you only need special super tweeter to project the signal and you eliminate room effect too.
It seemed too crazy to be practical though and maybe something that could be damaging to someone’s ears?
