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The Cost of Treatment Acoustics vs. Equipment

Author Tom Robbins eloquently describes his feelings on mediocrity by saying, But why
diminish your soul being run-of-the-mill at something? Mediocrity: now there is ugliness for you.
Mediocrity's a hairball coughed up on the Persian carpet of Creation (Robbins 58). My hobby for the
last several years has been home recording. I have tried to apply the common axiom, Anything worth
doing is worth doing well to my recording endeavors. Recording equipment can be incredibly
expensive. Many would have you believe that high-quality recordings can only be achieved with high-
priced equipment. The acoustic properties of the room that you are recording in also play a huge role in
the overall quality of your recordings. Of these two approaches, installing acoustic treatment, rather
than buying expensive recording equipment, is the most cost-effective way to improve home recordings.
The discussion of acoustic treatment versus expensive gear is hotly debated. Although I dont
believe there is enough of a difference in modern recording equipment to warrant the price disparity, I
will concede that more expensive recording equipment can sound marginally better and improve work-
flow. No recording enthusiast would decline the best equipment if offered to them.
A rooms size, shape, and materials greatly affect the interaction of sound waves, and The
modal artifacts introduced by the room can be so influential that they dominate the sound (Cox,
D'Antonio and Avis 640). Rooms are acoustically analyzed by playing test tones through speakers and
then those same test tones are recorded with a microphone in the same room. The difference between
the original test tone and the recorded test tone indicates how the room acoustics are affecting all
sound waves in the room. This interaction of sound waves in an untreated room can cause frequency
peaks around 6 dB and nulls (or dips) of up to 30 dB (Winer, A New Approach to Small Room Acoustics
32). A general rule-of-thumb is that an increase in 10 dB is perceived as twice as loud (Vanderheiden).
Recording, and listening to what youve recorded, in a room with large peaks and nulls will significantly
affect the end product.
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The effect on the audio caused by different audio components is slight. Who cares about 0.01%
versus 0.001% distortion, 192 KHz sample rates, or jitter that's 120 dB below the music, when the
frequency response in your mixing room varies by 30 dB or more? (Winer, Acoustics: Good or Bad
Vibes? 32) The amount of additional distortion caused by cheap versus expensive audio gear is
negligible, and this variation is orders of magnitude less than the variations caused by room acoustics.
More benefit is received from spending money on acoustically treating your recording
environment rather than upgrading recording equipment. I was able to construct ten of my own
acoustic treatment panels for $30 each. A $300 investment significantly improved the frequency
response of my room and the quality of my recordings. Conversely, in order to marginally improve the
specifications and quality of my audio interface, I would need to spend around $2000. This pattern only
continues when you find yourself upgrading microphones, pre-amps, compressors, and cables (Winer,
Audios Dirty Little Secret 51). None of these upgrades provide the bang-for-your-buck factor of acoustic
treatment.
People bit by the recording bug are constantly searching for the next piece of the equipment
puzzle to get them to the Pro sound, but often they overlook the critical aspect of room acoustics. A
small investment in time and money treating a recording room will pay untold dividends in every other
aspect of the recording process. Everyone that has every hit the little red REC button wants the results
to sound amazing. Acoustic treatment is the most cost-effective way to ensure that you achieve musical
"Persian rugs" and not "hairballs.





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Works Cited
Cox, Trevor J, Peter D'Antonio and Mark R Avis. "Room Sizing and Optimization at Low Frequencies."
Journal of Audio Engineering Society 52.6 (2004): 640-651.
Robbins, Tom. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas . New York: Bantam Books, 1994.
Vanderheiden, Gregg. About Decibels (dB). 2004. 22 February 2012 <http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/2004-
About-dB/>.
Winer, Ethan. "A New Approach to Small Room Acoustics." Electronic Musician April 2004: 32.
Winer, Ethan. "Acoustics: Good or Bad Vibes?" EQ Magazine February 2004: 32.
Winer, Ethan. "Audio's Dirty Little Secret." Pro Sound News January 2003: 51.