Yes, when a multi-way speaker does not sum on-axis, placing it outdoors only makes things even worse (no walls will return the off-axis sound to you, that kind of designs are useless). Also, other problems arise outdoors, like uncompensated baffle step, low spatial loads and a tremendous lack of SPL (in a room most of the perceived loudness comes from the sound reflected in the walls while direct sound from the speaker contributes little, outdoors you only have direct sound), but otherwise things sound more like they are supposed to outdoors.
Let's suppose we have a not perfect room, and play some music there. As Eva said, we are going to have multiple reflections, a lot of other artifacts, and as a result our brain is not fooled. That thing doesn't sound like a live drum kit. Ok, so the room is to blame in some way.
But what if we put a drum kit in that very same room? The reflections, modes, and room sins are still there. My question is: would our brain think there is a real drum kit playing? I guess it would, so maybe there are more things than room acoustics to fool our brain.
But what if we put a drum kit in that very same room? The reflections, modes, and room sins are still there. My question is: would our brain think there is a real drum kit playing? I guess it would, so maybe there are more things than room acoustics to fool our brain.
I've spent a fair bit of time playing electric guitar with drums. There has been a lot of focus so far on the kick drum when in real life it's the quietest part of the kit. If you're going to mic just one drum, thats the one.
I always thought reproduced cymbals sounded the least real. In person they're very loud and very "complicated" sounding, tons of detail and different pitches ringing at once. They seem to lose their pitch and sound more like white noise sometimes in recorded music.
The other thing I learned from band practice is that for me the audiophile goal of perfect reproduction of a drum kit in your living room is completely undesirable. I believe the drums cause more hearing damage than my guitar amp and I don't want to wear ear plugs in my living room.
I always thought reproduced cymbals sounded the least real. In person they're very loud and very "complicated" sounding, tons of detail and different pitches ringing at once. They seem to lose their pitch and sound more like white noise sometimes in recorded music.
The other thing I learned from band practice is that for me the audiophile goal of perfect reproduction of a drum kit in your living room is completely undesirable. I believe the drums cause more hearing damage than my guitar amp and I don't want to wear ear plugs in my living room.
We cannot build our speakers into drums. 
Real drums are omnidirectional... I guess if they are recorded in an anechoic environment, they could be let loose in a room with an omnidirectional speaker. OTOH, if they are recorded in a room, maybe they should be reproduced in an anechoic chamber.
Comments? Headphones anyone?
Real drums are omnidirectional... I guess if they are recorded in an anechoic environment, they could be let loose in a room with an omnidirectional speaker. OTOH, if they are recorded in a room, maybe they should be reproduced in an anechoic chamber.
Comments? Headphones anyone?
Real drums just have a huge dynamic range. If you recorded a track to capture the reality of drums, everything else would be so quiet that the average person listening on radio / car stereo would not hear much coming out of the speakers at all.
A few years ago I was at a bash that had a pianist/singer with a drummer. The drums were not miked. At about 30' away from the drums I could still feel a nice 'thunk' from the bass drum. It wasn't loud really, but there was a warm feeling coming from the bass drum. I'd guess its pretty low, high spl stuff, the kind you don't hear but feel.
Rob.
A few years ago I was at a bash that had a pianist/singer with a drummer. The drums were not miked. At about 30' away from the drums I could still feel a nice 'thunk' from the bass drum. It wasn't loud really, but there was a warm feeling coming from the bass drum. I'd guess its pretty low, high spl stuff, the kind you don't hear but feel.
Rob.
Tenson said:
Be careful with these assumptions, a typical 15m^2 room produces far more gain at 40Hz than at 130Hz in most listening positions, as gain increases at 12dB/oct for lower frequencies. Also, notches are likely to happen above 80Hz, so it's quite easy to end up with a lack of SPL in the 80Hz to 400Hz range when you just place two direct radiating speakers in such a room (unles you listen at 20cm from the woofer).
I think that room gain is a good thing as it improves LF efficiency without causing much trouble, all what is required is some equalization if too much SPL imbalance results (I know that audiophiles hate equalizing, but that's because they enjoy uncompensated acoustic aberrations).
There are other much worse room phenomena, like standing waves and big notches due to strong wall reflections, that prevent any chance from faithful reproduction (it's not a matter of going in favour or aginst some "spirit", it's just a measurable fact).
There are other much worse room phenomena, like standing waves and big notches due to strong wall reflections, that prevent any chance from faithful reproduction (it's not a matter of going in favour or aginst some "spirit", it's just a measurable fact).
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