Media Room Acoustics/REW help

[Robert Holt]

Hi, I am new to this forum and to the REW software. I have been a closet audiofile for a long time, but have never truly tried to set up a room optimized for audio.

Having a lot of time on my hands lately (can't imagine why), I have been trying to make changes to my listening room. I have, what I consider to be a pretty good set of speakers and surround sound system (see below), but the audio just lacks punch. Music lacks the dynamic quality I am used to and often sounds muddy and just not well defined. As a starting place, I purchased a MINIDSP UMIK-1 Mic and downloaded the REW software.

Speakers: Klipsch Reference Series 7.1 surround
AV Receiver: Denon AVR-X3600H
Room:16' 9" L x 17' 4" W x 11' H, Two doors(opposite walls), 2 windows (Same wall), 90 degree corners behind listener, shorter wall behind front speakers with 45 degree walls.
Carpet on Floor
Large sectional couch

This is the first time I have ever used Audio measurement software, and don't have a clear understanding of the graphs, or how to use the information they contain to make changes to my room. From my first few sets of measurements, it appeared that there are a lot of reflections, nulls in the base frequency (See attached files). After reading this forum and several other sources of information, I decided that Base Traps and sound absorption panels would be a good place to start. I fabricated 2 panels (4'x2'), placed behind listener, and built Base traps for the 2 90 degree corners. I couldn't go clear to the ceiling, because of obstructions, but in both corners, they run to within 3 ' of the ceiling. I have now run a second set of measurements (attached). It appears (to me) that there has been some improvement in the room, both from the graphs and listening to the audio, but it appears (again to me) there is still room for improvement. There are still peaks and nulls at various frequencies; although some have smoothed out, others have shown up that weren't there initially. I've reached the limit of my understanding of the graphs and I'm looking for suggestions on what additional steps I can take to improve the sound.

I would greatly appreciate any insight and suggestions.

Robert

 

[DanDan]

Best to post the .mdat file. Make a copy and delete any extraneous measurements. Label each one clearly enough for a stranger to understand what it means.