A simulation study on the auditory effects of early reflections from work desks in home studio acoustics

In acoustics, the rooms in which the music is created, recorded, mixed and mastered are classified under critical listening rooms. In professional recording studios, these rooms are meticulously built, based on detailed architectural and acoustical design processes and one of the main principles of the room’s acoustic design is to carry the direct signal from the speakers to the listener with as minimal acoustic coloration as possible. Nowadays, home studios also function as important critical listening spaces. Nevertheless, home studios show acoustical inconsistencies, difficulties, and even impossibilities in providing the acoustical criteria related to critical listening room acoustics. Early reflections are the cause of important aural deteriorations in small critical listening environments such as home studios. The “fidelity” of the direct sound emanating from the speakers is affected by the early reflections - bouncing off the lateral surfaces, ceilings, floors, work desks and the objects on the desks – which cause unwanted comb filtering in the frequency response. In this article, the acoustical deteriorations based on early reflections will be discussed, the adverse effects of early reflections reflecting from the desks in home studios will be evaluated through acoustical simulations. In the light of the measurement results and evaluations, it has been observed that the early reflections originating from the work tables have significant negative effects in the aural perception of lower and middle frequencies.