Glass walls are rough. If there's ANY possible way for her to hang acoustic clouds on the ceiling, that would be my suggestion. You can make them yourself for super cheap or order them from a company like GiK Acoustics. Minimal issue, just need to cover the holes and paint that part of the ceiling when she moves if she's renting. Also not sure if every single wall in the room is glass, but if you can get paneling up on any of the NON glass windows, that would be ideal.
And one more suggestion would be, if she can stomach it, use adhesive or command strips and hang at least a decent size section at first reflection 4-6" thick of the thicker stuff on the window where her first reflection point is. Or again, buy some panels from GiK for first reflections. With clouds, and first reflections covered, and if her rear wall is not glass, putting some diffusion on there, would help massively! Best of luck to you and to her!
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I also deal with (in my lessor set up) lot's of glass and a spouse who likes the shades open. Shades, curtains, rugs all help. And there's also DSP.
Flipping may help. Putting speakers near windows with some small treatment panels could help..
St Jude?
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Your query reminded me of this video in which the speakers sound pretty damn good in what appears to be an acoustically awful room.
There was also another video (same speakers/room) with different music, but I could not find it.
Was the sound doctored, or did they actually achieve this sound @ the listening position?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGtXhRDpLJU
DeKay
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In extremely reflective envrons there seems to be only two solutions, both mentioned here. 1) dampen the hell out of it (heavy curtains like theater curtains- very expensive) , 2) distributed low level nearfield playback that doesnt energize the room enough to hit the reflective surfaces (Donavabdears post). Also complicated and expensive. Narrow dispersion can help but it has its own problems of being beamy with a very small sweetspot that is hard to find in both planes (vertical and horizontal). But if you can find it, that can at least provide some measure of enjoyment. For most, rooms like this are usually a long process of experimentation and money that usually ends as "cannot be fixed". The Crystal Cathedral story is a great example: still sucks after hundreds of thousands invested. Glass heavy rooms are the one case where being an audiophile and fussing over sound quality doesnt work out well. @winoguy17 is right!
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sounds like a lot of people's wasted time on advising the OP, when OP did not describe the floorplan in the first place - which would have been key to avoiding all these rabbit holes for us.
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Obviously, the easiest audiophile solution would be to move and build a new home with a dedicated listening room and its own electrical source. Other than that, I can be of no assistance. Or... just enjoy life and the accompanying soundtrack to its fullest extent.
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Many years ago the acoustics company I worked for was the 4th company to try to put in a sound system in the newly built Crystal Cathedral in So. California. Clearly it was an impossible job and our Lead engineer said they would have to put in satellite speakers behind every seat. Well that was to expensive but ultimately concessions had to be made to the look of the interior to get the RT60 to something close to intelligible. Sometimes you just can’t win?
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I suggest heavy curtains, a dense rug and DSP! I place acoustic panels along my windowed wall while listening. Gotta work with you have!
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@axpert No, it’s not a loft apartment with a huge open space, and no reflective ceiling, floors are laminate. It’s one bedroom apartment with office room and living room divided by structural wall, but that wall is actually not a full wall and not connected with a glass window wall on the side, the space between them is approximately one feet. The system and speakers are facing this structural wall and the other window glass wall is behind the speakers.
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Lots of glass windows? Is this a loft apartment with high reflective ceilings, hard uncovered or untreated floors. Very little furniture to dampen reflective sound waves?
Large open dimensional space? Starting with the windows is most likely the real killer in the picture, but also, just a beginning. To properly condition a space like this (assuming I'm correct) is a nightmare for an amateur. Hiring an acoustical specialist would most likely present a cost beyond the value of the system.
Sounds like you'll be chasing this problem around without much true acoustical satisfaction, For a long time.
If your daughter is a "serious listener" as opposed to just a casual listener, the sublime answer may be a good quality pair of headphones. Less hassle and less expense in the long run.
Admittedly however, the drapery treatment, as several have mentioned, plus a lot of cushiony furniture will definitely help the situation, without going crazy. Listening at lower volumes will help as well. But don't rule out component placement. Especially the location and positioning of the primary satellite speakers. I'm certain that some experimentation is this area will yield a number of different results.
I don't know what caliber of equipment she has. If it's just "mid-fi" as I call it, trying to treat the listening space is probably not worth it.
If sound really matters to her, the other consideration might be to move at an opportune time. Then choose you apartment listening space carefully as much as other living space considerations.
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Absorbers, absorbers, nothing but absorbing material in a glass room like that. Diffusers definitely not needed. Tubes and all copper cables also a good approach. Try to aim the speakers with first reflection points at solid walls. She sounds like a cool daughter.
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@surfmuz -
With the correct acoustic curtains; the window reflections will be almost infinitely tuneable, with the pull of a cord.
Can't hurt!
Happy listening!
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I would use paravans. Obviously one doesn't live in a glass box to cover it up, there must be views. Having played with deflectors by my speakers, paravans may have the exact affect and a nice Japanese is decorative too
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@ozzy62 Yes, Ozzy a big fluffy area rugs is definitely under construction. I already told her to look this way and she took the advice. Tnx.
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@rodman99999 Thanks Rodman, ripple-fold curtains is way to go. We’ll definitely consider that.
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@onhwy61 Yes, she definitely noticed the problem, but as I see she is too overwhelmed with adapting to the new place, organizing everything there, so sound system is not priority yet. Also she is trying to be more independent and I think she will not complain anyway but probably she will just limit her listening instead.
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I haven’t found heavy, lined drapes make any difference although I haven’t tried the "ripple fold" variety.
Synergistic Research sell small "room tuning" devices called HFT’s that could perhaps be utilized. Pretty sure you can return them if bought from The Cable Company. Might be worth exploring.
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This video from Acoustics Insider says that windows are relatively similar to drywall. Approach reflection points in a similar manner.
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Has your daughter complained or even noticed any problems? Why try to solve problems that don't exist?
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Over-treat what you can treat, and use tone controls. Respect how others listen. Many just want to hear the notes and tempo and the concept of building a 3D acoustical space is unimportant to them.
Control directivity. Small 2-ways with horns like the Hsu satellite speakers can be ideal.
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I would think curtains to be the obvious partial solution.
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@rodman99999 is correct. Also, the use of thick area rugs and overstuffed furniture helps. Anything to absorb some of the echo that will be generated in that room.
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If acoustic treatments are not possible. Then the route to go would be to use very warm components and speakers, less resolving lowering treble.
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