Metallic ringing from hand clap test

[blownsi]

My "office" is nearly square with dimensions of 12'x11'x8'. I contacted one of the popular vendors for help with treating the room and they suggested starting with large stacked column style traps in the two front corners (behind the speakers). With two large panels at the back of the room (behind my seated position). With an option to add side panels and a ceiling panel for first reflections. I purchased the first and later added the optional. While the room sounds significantly better than before, I still get a loud metallic ring when doing the hand clap test. Should I be worried about this? Do I need additional panels or something else?

 

[pdub]

I noticed a similar ring in the front (i.e. speaker area) of my 14x19' room, so square isn't necessarily the cause. My investigation indicated parallel walls may be the culprit. Didn't matter how many bass traps I pulled into the room -- the artifact was still there. But my investigations also indicated that it's not really a problem unless you hear it from your seat. When listening I don't hear anything remotely zingy that shouldn't be there in the music. Good luck.
Parker

 

[mep]

My "office" is nearly square with dimensions of 12'x11'x8'. I contacted one of the popular vendors for help with treating the room and they suggested starting with large stacked column style traps in the two front corners (behind the speakers). With two large panels at the back of the room (behind my seated position). With an option to add side panels and a ceiling panel for first reflections. I purchased the first and later added the optional. While the room sounds significantly better than before, I still get a loud metallic ring when doing the hand clap test. Should I be worried about this? Do I need additional panels or something else?

I don't understand the "metallic" sound of the ring unless when you clap your hands it somehow excites something like a loose metal HVAC grate. If you can clap your hands and hear your room ring, it's ringing when you are playing music too. You need to treat the room more.

 

[mep]

I noticed a similar ring in the front (i.e. speaker area) of my 14x19' room, so square isn't necessarily the cause. My investigation indicated parallel walls may be the culprit. Didn't matter how many bass traps I pulled into the room -- the artifact was still there. But my investigations also indicated that it's not really a problem unless you hear it from your seat. When listening I don't hear anything remotely zingy that shouldn't be there in the music. Good luck.
Parker

Rooms will ring when there is not enough absorbing material in the room. A worst case example is a room that has all hard reflective surfaces like a tile floor, flat ceiling, and parallel walls with nothing on them. And, if you can hear your room ring when you clap your hands, I would be surprised that you don't notice it with music or when you suddenly hit mute and your room is still ringing even though music isn't playing.

 

[pdub]

Sounds like the effect described by the OP is flutter echo. Art Noxon explains it better than I ever could in part 5 of a HT series on ASC's website. I had been using my room for over two years when I happened to do something, don't remember what, in the front of the room and heard a weird zing I'd never heard before. And no, whether pausing for a phone call or merely listening to a track that goes tutti to nothing at the end I'd never heard this zing in my seat.
Parker

 

[blownsi]

I believe flutter echo is what I'm hearing. I will seek out additional panels. Thanks to everyone.

 

[Al M.]

I have had a zingy clap echo at my listening spot. Problem solved with moderate sized carpet on wood floor, apparently preventing bounce between floor and ceiling.

 

[slowgeezr]

Having had a similar slap echo issue, I solved it with eight 12" x 12" diffuser panels. Have one person stand in the middle of the room and clap. You will hear the first reflection point. Put a diffuser there. Repeat the process until there are no more reflection points. Problem solved. Good luck with your issue. Here are some pics, showing where the diffuser panels ended up in my room. Note that the other panels are absorbers, except for the curved diffusers between the stacked front bass traps. The absorbers and traps did nothing for the slap echo, but the diffusors eliminated it completely and speaking and music is much more articulate now. This is the view from the hallway entrance. The diffuser over the turntable is actually a couple of feet behind the listening position and actually had the greatest effect in reducing the slap echo. Go figure.

The next photo shows the diffusors on the left wall and back wall. Note the primary listening chair is on the left.

 

[blownsi]

I downloaded the iphone app called ClapIR and according to it there is a large spike around 8khz. I'm guessing this is the ring I'm hearing. Some of the other articles I've read suggested that it often comes from parallel surfaces near the ceiling. This seems to align with Slowgeezr's pictures.

Several people recommended those cheap 2"x12"12" foam wedges. I've always heard that those things do nothing for trapping but maybe they do work for echo. Anyone have any comment on that?

 

[Sharp 2160]

I downloaded the iphone app called ClapIR and according to it there is a large spike around 8khz. I'm guessing this is the ring I'm hearing. Some of the other articles I've read suggested that it often comes from parallel surfaces near the ceiling. This seems to align with Slowgeezr's pictures.

Several people recommended those cheap 2"x12"12" foam wedges. I've always heard that those things do nothing for trapping but maybe they do work for echo. Anyone have any comment on that?

Are you referring to Sonex? I used that years ago and over damped my room when I had Martin Logan electrostatic speakers. There are two options diffusion and absorption. I had to treat my ceiling as that was a major reflective point. It wasn't cheap but made the biggest improvement in my room. If you have carpet that helps also.

 

[blownsi]

Something like that Sonex but significantly cheaper and less complex. Just go to the big river and search for 2”x12”x12” acoustic foam. It’s just some open cell foam that’s supposed to scatter the sound waves. I’ve heard that stuff does nothing for absorption but lots of people say it gets rid of flutter echo.

 

[Phishphan]

Checkout dBA panels for your ceiling. They’re reactively inexpensive and work well. That’s what I have in my room.




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