KVR Audio

phreaque · Post by **phreaque** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 9:18 pm

Hello folks,

Well, last time I used my studio, it was on April, the weather was nice as the temperature didn't exceed 25 cel.
In that time, I was working on a remix, it sounded good enough, so I left the process of adding SFX and do the final touches for later..

Now, I went, opened that project, and the sound coming from the monitors is terrible!
But I have to tell you, the temperature now is above 42

and inside the studio it is almost 38. Humidity also.
Does that effect? Well physically it does, but I mean does it really effect to a limit which makes the song sounds harsh in mid-low region and the high end is so distorted?

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:40 am

Play one reference track. If that still sounds good, your project truely was subpar...

camsr · Post by **camsr** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:42 am

The temperature inside the monitor cabinets is probably more important. Many entry-level active monitors suffer from bad cooling.

phreaque · Post by **phreaque** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:00 am

Yeah, forgot to tell you guys, that I tried a couple of references tracks, the 1st sounds "okay ~ not so pleasant", the 2nd. was more pleasant.

So yes, seems it is a matter of monitor cabinet cooling. Any suggested fix? They are Yamaha HS5's.
Thanks a lot guys.

pc2000 · Post by **pc2000** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:55 am

phreaque wrote:Yeah, forgot to tell you guys, that I tried a couple of references tracks, the 1st sounds "okay ~ not so pleasant", the 2nd. was more pleasant.

So yes, seems it is a matter of monitor cabinet cooling. Any suggested fix? They are Yamaha HS5's.
Thanks a lot guys.

Considering the numerous variables that could be at play,I don't believe there is conclusive evidence that temperature is at all to blame, especially when referring to near-field monitoring. The mere placement of speaker monitors can produce varying results in itself. Ear fatigue (or damage) can be greater in summer months due to exposure to various sounds like continuous fan noise, Air conditioning noise, driving with the windows down, where your ears are battered with the force of air,etc.

Recently, a damn truck drove past my parked car on a narrow 2way street before I could roll up my window and exit. The loud air brake pressure nearly caused deafness in my left ear because the truck released it at ear level within 3ft. of my ear directly! My hearing seemed to have some weird 3D effect that affected my sense of sound direction for a few days. My monitors would've certainly sounded horrible.

Taking a break for a few days from a mix can sound drastically different. What sounded great in the beginning- can sound horrible just a few days later. It's no surprise what it would sound like some months later. If you've been listening to other speakers while on break from your studio, your ears may have adopted to those.

Side note: A couple of months ago, I connected my audio interface via usb (with the same JBL monitors still connected) from my desktop to my notebook computer. The sound seemed significantly different and less punchy. I don't know if there was any real difference or a placebo effect of going from dual monitors on my desktop to a 15.6" notebook monitor.

camsr · Post by **camsr** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:26 pm

Temperaure does affect the speed of sound and coincidentally the appearant size of an acoustic environment. When temperature is up, the speed of sound goes up, and resonant frequencies do as well.

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:45 pm

Breaking News

Producer goes back to old project and thinks it sounds shitter than the last time he heard it.

phreaque · Post by **phreaque** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:11 pm

[quote="pc2000"][/quote]
First of all, thanks goodness that you survived from that, hope you're feeling well after all.
And yeah you talked about hearing fatigue. Recently I was caring to make a sound pack for 3 weeks on my laptop and it has many kicks & basslines so seems that effected much.
Regardless to say, I believe it is the audio interface also involved, as I'm using Steinberg's UR824 in the studio while I use the legendary RME's Babyface, so the rumors are true

Thanks mate

phreaque · Post by **phreaque** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:12 pm

camsr wrote:Temperaure does affect the speed of sound and coincidentally the appearant size of an acoustic environment. When temperature is up, the speed of sound goes up, and resonant frequencies do as well.

Well, I had these acoustics basics in my head for the first time, then I thought: I'm going crazy

phreaque · Post by **phreaque** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:14 pm

tehlord wrote:Breaking News

Producer goes back to old project and thinks it sounds shitter than the last time he heard it.

Don't forget to mention: he's from Iraq

- We have a terrorist?

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:40 pm

tehlord wrote:Breaking News

Producer goes back to old project and thinks it sounds shitter than the last time he heard it.

Lol

I'm going to add 'temperature' for possible reasons why a client might not like my mix

"Are you listening at the right temperature?"

camsr · Post by **camsr** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:42 am

speed of sound at 42 celcius is 357m/s
at 20 it is 343m/s
at 10 it is 337m/s
from 42 to 20 it's a large deviation, it can make a room sound 4 percent bigger!

Terrafractyl · Post by **Terrafractyl** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 1:20 am

camsr wrote:speed of sound at 42 celcius is 357m/s
at 20 it is 343m/s
at 10 it is 337m/s
from 42 to 20 it's a large deviation, it can make a room sound 4 percent bigger!

Which can dramatically change the way the rooms modes and SBIR are affecting the frequency response at the listening position. So yep.

pc2000 · Post by **pc2000** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:34 am

Terrafractyl wrote:
camsr wrote:speed of sound at 42 celcius is 357m/s
at 20 it is 343m/s
at 10 it is 337m/s
from 42 to 20 it's a large deviation, it can make a room sound 4 percent bigger!
Which can dramatically change the way the rooms modes and SBIR are affecting the frequency response at the listening position. So yep.

I think the OP has concluded that temperature wasn't his issue? Most of the articles I've come across on the subject seems to be related to the affects that temperature can have on live sound outdoors taking into account distance. It doesn't appear that indoor temps have any significant affect on indoor sound? When using near field monitors-you're usually in close proximity to them, so-I can't see such a short distance from the sound source as having measurable impact.

Presumably, this wouldn't be limited to studio monitors. Wouldn't your TV,home theater or stereo system also sound horrible? Wouldn't live conversations also be impacted? Why don't manufacturers of studio monitors state that temperature can impact performance and accuracy if environmental heat in a studio setting could be detrimental to your mixes?

I think you're far more likely to have an issue with ear fatigue affecting your mixes than indoor heat temps!

camsr · Post by **camsr** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:32 am

Well, if they did, people would be confused and probably think their gear wasn't any good, possibly losing a sale. Most stuff is designed to be used in room temperature without too much variance. But the sound is just one factor, more importantly is how heat will cause electronics to fail faster. I notice different sonics on hot days generally, from the same sources, it's just not too big of a deal.

Discussion: temperature vs. monitor audio quality