Changed room - lost bass. ARGH!

BenPremium

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Hi guys

I'm currently running a Boston Acoustics VR2000 sub (which for reference in terms of output is about equal with my old Servo-15 but not quite as deep.)

In my bedroom at home it absolutely fills the room with bass and hits very low. It's fantastic.

However, in my uni room (which is about half the size - approx 11' x 8') the sound is terrible. Output above about 40hz is fairly reasonable but the low stuff is completely non existant. I used to think it was because I had the sub underneath my desk in the footwell but now I've put the sub in the corner and it's just the same. Completely and utterly rubbish.

It's gutting. I've tried fiddling a bit with positioning but it's just nowhere near as good as it is at home. Am I completely shafted, are there some rooms that you just can't get low frequencies in?

Anything I can do to get them back?

Cheers
 
You may be sitting in a null point. Try playing something with deep bass and wandering round the room listening for strongest bass. You may find it when you are sitting with your back to the wall. You may not.

The theory is that small rooms are easily pressurised at very low frequencies. So your ears should really be popping. :blush:

Try downloading the lowest test tones descending from (say) 40 Hz from <snapbug> and play those through your sub direct from your computer while you wander round listening for best seating position.

That should make you incredibly popular with your neighbours. :devil:

My guess is that your room is so small that all the room standing wave resonances are way up in the audible region and are simply drowning out the lower frequencies.

Try headphones? Become hugely popular overnight! :cool:

Nimby
 
Agreed, sounds like a placement problem. I do wonder how many films or music tracks contain information below 40Hz
 
Tried wandering around but can't find any spot where the deep bass is hitting.

Trust me there's a LOT of my music that has deep bass. In fact, sooo much of it that it's gutting having it missing. It's definitely nowhere to be found in the room - I'm wondering why it's completely gone.
 
It took me several days to find a good spot for my sub. Unfortunately the zones where the sub will drive the room correctly are small. I am sure I have seen software which can predict this kind of thing but I cannot remember where. Sorry, this is probably of little help.

Out of curiosity, what music contains sub 40Hz information?
 
Londondecca said:
Out of curiosity, what music contains sub-40Hz information?

Blue Man Group: "Complex"

Satriani (various try "Engines of Creation")

Mike Oldfield (various try "Millenium Bell")

Peter Gabriel (various)

Madonna (various try "Music")

Chek out the SVS website for more.

30Hz bass is quite common to all of the above and some go much lower.
BMG reach 15Hz believe. I can believe it as well! :D

Try "True RTA" software for real time waterfall charts of any music you think sounds bassy. Sometimes it only goes as low as 40Hz, but sounds much deeper.

Of the acoustic instruments only large organs go as low as 16Hz as standard.
Then piano goes down to roughly 28Hz, bass guitar roughly 40Hz.

Here's a fascinating list of frequncies matched to actual instruments.
Read it and weep! :devil:

http://www.contrabass.com/pages/frequency.html

Nimby
 
Londondecca said:
Out of curiosity, what music contains sub 40Hz information?

Ever since my sister in Australia sent me over a DVD and CD by The Cat Empire I have been listening to it daily. This fusion of jaz, funk, swing and everything else has very deep and driving bass lines and is a definate must buy for anyone who likes this type of music and bass too.

Ezydvd.com.au have it here and it is well worth the £11 plus a small amount for P/P
 
Interesting information, thanks :thumbsup:

Are these sub 40Hz information primary notes or sub harmonics.
 
Londondecca said:
Interesting information, thanks :thumbsup:

Are these sub-40Hz information primary notes or sub-harmonics?

It depends. On some of the deep notes on the CDs mentioned our floors, walls and ceiling vibrate madly. (Mike Oldfield "Millenium Bell" is an example) Things at the other end of the house vibrate too. I think one can safely say that is the 30Hz fundamental at work. Turn up the volume high enough and one senses a wave of bass slowly crossing the room. Very odd indeed! :blush:

But other examples have stacked harmonics. 30,45, 60Hz (Incubus: "Morning View" is an example of this) which does sound different. More hard-edged than the softer pure 30Hz. Rather like playing a bass very near the bridge instead of the centre of the fingerboard.

Check out True RTA if you want a live view of what is actually happening on your CDs and DVDs.

Nimby
 
Hi Ben,
Just to confirm, are you using it in the same system and configuration at Uni as you were at home?

Also one thing you could possibly try is blocking one of the ports, it might alter the frequency response in your favour (that is if I remember the sub correctly).

Paul.
 
Hi Paul
Thanks for the suggestion - I'll give it a try.

It's exactly the same configuration as at home - the only difference is that the sub has slightly less room around it because the room is cramped. I wouldn't have thought this would kill the low end completely though :(

The bass is definitely stronger/deeper at the back of the room and in the opposite corner to the sub but still nowhere near as deep/powerful as it should be.

Cheers
 
But other examples have stacked harmonics. 30,45, 60Hz (Incubus: "Morning View" is an example of this) which does sound different. More hard-edged than the softer pure 30Hz. Rather like playing a bass very near the bridge instead of the centre of the fingerboard.

Check out True RTA if you want a live view of what is actually happening on your CDs and DVDs.
How does this work? Do you need a microphone or does it analyse the data on the CD?
 
Massive Attack Angels
Usher and Yeah! :)
Nina Sky-Move ya body
So Solid Crew-21 seconds (Yes a crap song but it has some low bass lines!_

i have the same problems, but with my Celestion S8! I've walked around the room with the sub in the corner, and though the bass is stronger the bass is way too weak for a sub! So much that my floorstanders give more bass than the sub! :( Its a downfiring and twin ported at the base, will blocking one port only create more port noise? I've placed it on a slab of MDF which has improved things, but the bass like Ben does not go lower than 40hz!
 
Stone Free said:
How does this work? Do you need a microphone or does it analyse the data on the CD?

Just play any disk in your computer CD/DVD drive and True RTA analyses the content and gives a live waterfall graph of what's happening. You can adjust the bandwidth to taste if you are only interested in the bass content of a disk.
It is very difficult to judge by ear exactly how low bass actually goes.

Nimby
 

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