[jacked]

Mod edit: Please use this thread as a continuation of part 1 which can be found here...Maximising image contrast.

Originally Posted by Rich H

Could you please tell me: I understand that the Devore Silk/Viscose Velvet Black material is thin and acoustically transparent...but is it also soft? As I mentioned, I'd like to use it as a curtain, and of course material that is too stiff (like some of the coated speaker grill materials you can buy) will not be soft enough to behave as a curtain - e.g. stack and fold like curtain material.

I ask because what I'm doing is adding a new set of curtain tracks so that the black acoustically transparent curtains will hide behind the nicer looking brown velvet ones I have now. The thinner, softer and more pliable the material, the better it will stack behind the regular curtains without too much bulk.

I see that the Devore is labelled "silk" so that does suggest to me it should be thin, soft and will fold, but I thought I'd double-check.

(My local fabric outlet store has acoustically transparent black material I was going to use, which is really nice, thin, soft. But if the Devore will be darker but similar in softness, I'd go with the Devore).

Thanks,

Rich,

It is a very soft velvet indeed, but if you wanted to see it for yourself before you commited you should be able to order a free sample of it.

I know a guy in Australia who asked for a sample and they sent it overseas no problem.

Dave

[bravogolf]

Wow, I've finally read the entire part 1 thread. A lot of posts with lots of interesting nuggets of information. I'm completely and utterly sold on the Devore, will be measuring the room tonight and ordering over the weekend I've rearranged my calibrator to April to give me time to get the room up to scratch.

One quick question, is there a specific batch of Devore I should get or do I just order online the black devore?

I'm buying quite a bit, probaby around 30m of it so if anyone wants a small order they can throw it with mine to avail of a discount. If you're not sure how much you need, but would like to take advantage of the order, I'll hold off ordering it until you're ready

I'll post my learnings here and will update my own cinema room thread with my learnings for everyone else

[kbfern]

One thing to remember when using Devore is that it has a "nap" so when putting it up make sure all the strips are going in the same direction otherwise you will end up with what looks like a mowed lawn.See post 66 in the thread below otherwise you could be in the same boat

Dedicated HC Workshop Conversion

[bravogolf]

I meant to ask that too, thanks. Is there a technique to perceiving or correcting this? What I mean is - is it immediately obvious when fitting to the frame which orientation it should be in?

[bravogolf]

Here's a great pic from Phil's thread, it shows how the Devore matches against a black matte ceiling, amazing!

[kbfern]

I would just mark it in some way as you cut it from the roll which is the top,either mark with a safety pin or some other removable marking implement.

[bravogolf]

Oh yeah! Wow, I'm so very impractical, I was thinking of some complicated mechanism for validating the nap direction with some ability to retrospectively correct and what not. I think your way works better

[Rich H]

Ok fellas, I'm about to order a bunch of the Devore material to use as acoustically transparent black curtains in my room.

This is the material I'm going to order:

Whaleys

"Silk/Viscose Velvet Black (Devore)"

Can someone please confirm that it is the acoustically transparent black material?

(I don't want to order the wrong material, and end up with non-acoustically transparent velvet or something).

Thank you!

Rich H

[Ideal AV]

thats it Rich

[Rich H]

Word from the man! Thanks Mr. AV :-)

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by bravogolf

Here's a great pic from Phil's thread, it shows how the Devore matches against a black matte ceiling, amazing!

image

Amazing pic!

Steve W

[Rich H]

Well, since I'm in a bit of a hurry (due to travel plans) to update my room, I rolled the dice and ordered a bunch of the Silk/Viscose Velvet Black (Devore).

My main worry was the word "velvet" in the description because I'm looking for as dark as possible, but also as acoustically transparent as possible, because the curtains will be pulled across the rear FX speakers and I don't want to impede their sound. As well, I've already got lots of fabric in the room and I don't want to deaden the sound more, if possible. I'd already chosen a local acoustically transparent fabric, which was essentially a black, soft speaker grill fabric. But it wasn't the blackest material - not near my Fidelio. The promise of the Devore was super black, light absorbent, but fully acoustically transparent. But I thought it couldn't really be velvet, since I've never encountered a velvet I'd consider anywhere near acoustically transparent, so I thought it might look more like silk (as per "silk" in the description).

When I opened the package and looked at the material, at first my heart sunk. It WAS velvet. For a moment I wondered if I'd been sent the wrong material. Then I picked it up and noticed I could somewhat see through it, held up to the light. I blew through it, and it passed pretty well. So I thought "Well, I guess I can see how some could consider this acoustically transparent."

I put the sample up in front of some speakers playing music and, given that it was velvet and had a pile, it was surprisingly acoustically transparent. But also, unsurprisingly, not fully. It subtly but detectably affected the sound coming from the speaker - rolling off the sound, killing the sense of "air" and openness, and in that way muffling it somewhat. Drat.

The other acoustic material I'd chosen was more transparent, much harder to tell it was in the way of the sound.

So...I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. I'm both concerned that the Devore isn't quite acoustically transparent enough to put in front of the rear speakers, and also concerned that it's thickness and pile (relatively)
will add more sound deadening to the room.

I'll update my impressions/decisions later...

[Ideal AV]

Hi Rich

i`ve had my inwall 150/95/85`s`s covered with Devore for 3 years and my son in law couldn`t measure the difference if any it made to the audio, also another moderator on here has his S150`s covered with Devore and he`s of the same opinion.

Its making me wonder if the makeup of the material may have been changed at all

[Rich H]

Could be. I mean, it IS surprisingly acoustically transparent given that it's not made for those purposes and is an actual velvet.

Still..

I just did a test using my son who has excellent hearing. I first asked him to describe the sound with the Devore in front of the speaker vs off, and he described what I heard. Next I had him stand with his back to the speaker and listen. I raised and lowered the Devore in front of the speaker, without saying a word, and he told me every time, correctly, when I was holding the Devore in front of the speaker. We tried the same test with the other acoustic fabric and he had trouble identifying when it was in front of the speaker. FWIW...

[Rich H]

I'm still considering using the Devore and see how it works out.

But in case it's of interest: I just did some comparisons of the Devore velvet with the Fidelio black velvet. I have employed the Fidelio black velvet extensively in my room, as masking panels, surrounding my screen, covering my speaker boxes, covering the floor beneath my screen.

The Devore is indeed very dark, but has a sheen. The Fidelio also has a sheen that is visible from certain angles as well, especially visible when the lights are turned on in the room. But overall the Fidelio definitely has less visible sheen from various angles. With the only light in the room coming from my projector screen, placing the Devore and Fidelio at spots around the room, the Fidelio was the one that remained a black hole, impossible to pick up any texture of it's surface, whereas I could often see the texture and sheen of the Devore. My huge centre channel speaker under my screen is covered in Fidelio and it is completely invisible even when bright images are on the screen, just over it. Placing the Devore on half the speaker, I could see the Devore covered parts become lighter and visible, due it seems to the greater sheen on the Devore.

I think the Devore is cheaper than the Fidelio (it's been a while since I bought the Fidelio) and someone looking for excellent light-killing qualities would do well with it. But from my observations, the Fidelio beats it for sheer "black-hole" quality, and I haven't seen any material yet match the Fidelio.

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by Rich H

Could be. I mean, it IS surprisingly acoustically transparent given that it's not made for those purposes and is an actual velvet.

Still..

I just did a test using my son who has excellent hearing. I first asked him to describe the sound with the Devore in front of the speaker vs off, and he described what I heard. Next I had him stand with his back to the speaker and listen. I raised and lowered the Devore in front of the speaker, without saying a word, and he told me every time, correctly, when I was holding the Devore in front of the speaker. We tried the same test with the other acoustic fabric and he had trouble identifying when it was in front of the speaker. FWIW...

Rich, just a thought. The fabric may just be making the sound a little quieter, in which case you'd just run your amp a little louder.

If it's muffling a particular frequency your in-amp acoustic calibration (Audyssey, etc) would probably take care of that.

Steve W

[Marky1973]

Thinking of replacing my bat cave Wilko sheets with Devore, but i would need to put the bat cave up and take it down after viewing. From searching part 1, I get the impression that this is not a good idea and the wear and tear on the fabric will create "sheen" via creased and folds.

Has anyone tried a temporary system like this and had decent results? Or should I stick to the sheets? If you'll pardon the expression........

[Rich H]

The velvet will always be better. Go black velvet.

I have velvet curtains that I've had for years, and velvet screen masking, and continual use and movement of the velvet has not had any impact I can see on it's ability to absorb light.

[Marky1973]

Might get a few metres and see how it looks then! cheers!

[bravogolf]

Sample of Devore arrive yesterday. Surprisingly my partner said it looked lovely and thought it was a good idea! She did ask later though whether we could use plum colour instead

One side of the Devore is velvety, I assume that's the side that faces the user?

[kbfern]

Most definitely yes the velvety side that is.

[bravogolf]

Originally Posted by kbfern

Most definitely yes the velvety side that is.

Heh, I presumed as much but better safe than sorry

[HAWK-EYE]

Received my Devore velvet for curtain customising, pegged to curtain to check there is no sheen at the angle from my screen/seat and its fine as Allan stated BLACK.

But you will see a sheen at certain angles so careful placement is required for max effect.

[Marky1973]

Is that at certain angles if you hang as a curtain with same "wave" to it? Or does it need to be flat and perpendicular to the screen for best effect? Ordered a sample to have a play with.

[HAWK-EYE]

Originally Posted by Marky1973

Is that at certain angles if you hang as a curtain with same "wave" to it? Or does it need to be flat and perpendicular to the screen for best effect? Ordered a sample to have a play with.

I received a sample 2 inch square useless
Pegged Flat hoping a slight wave will be OK will report when finished.

[HAWK-EYE]

Sheen shown at 45 degrees open door.

[bravogolf]

That's interesting, Hawk-Eye. Is the sheen distracting? I'm to make some panels upon which to staple the Devore and fix those panels to the wall but this isn't practical for the ceiling (awkward angles and curves), how are you all fixing to ceiling and what not? Do you glue it or staple it or something?

[gingerone]

Hi all, I'm going to be moving in to a new house shortly and will have a dedicated room for my home cinema.
The room will be 3.25m wide by 3.5m long so its not a big room.
My plan is to paint the ceiling and coving matt black and hang lined black curtains all around the room.
How will this work for both sound and light absorbtion in your opinions? its a rented house so i dont think devore panels is and option.

[kbfern]

Well that will certainly be a huge improvement on a light coloured room.

[gingerone]

Thanks kbfern. Cant wait to get in there and have a dedicated room