The March 2022 issue of The Absolute Sound is hot off the presses and we are thrilled that once again TubeTraps are TAS Editors Choice for acoustic treatment.  The March issue features the Editor’s choices for outstanding products for your hifi room and beyond– we are honored to be chosen among other top-quality hifi room components. Their review reads:

ASC Tube Traps

TubeTraps from Acoustic Sciences Corporation are indispensable to improving your system’s sound. They can solve a wide range of acoustic problems with strategic placement and orientation. Boomy bass can be cured with a pair of 16″ Full Rounds in the corners behind the loudspeakers. Placed along the sidewalls between you and the loudspeakers, TubeTraps kill unwanted sidewall reflections, prevent flutter echo, and aid in diffusion. A single TubeTrap in the center of the wall behind the loudspeakers can expand soundstage depth. There are lots of question­able acoustic products on the market, but TubeTraps are the real deal. New IsoThermal version (not yet tested) claims to double absorption below 60Hz.RH

New to Acoustic Sciences TubeTraps? Here’s a little about what they do for your listening experience.

The TubeTrap bass trap diffuser is the original portable acoustic device. Invented in the fires of a concrete poured basement with uncontrollable bass reverberation, these devices tamed the muddy booming sound like nothing seen before them. Let’s take a closer look at why you need bass traps with treble diffusers as the foundation of your high-end audio listening or critical mixing space.

What Exactly is a TubeTrap?

A TubeTrap is a simple yet complex passive physical device that converts large wavelength sound energy to heat through friction. In other words, it is a compact bass trap. The mechanism by which it operates involves “lumped parameter” modeling, for which the lengths of the waves being affected are large compared to the object. The outer membrane was selected for its specific flow resistivity properties, while the dimensions of the internal air cavity were selected to optimize the capacitive energy storage rate properties. Each of these parameters were optimized to maximize sound energy conversion across the most critical bandwidth. To maintain a natural spectral balance in your room, an acoustic choke is added atop one half of the exterior surface to provide polycylindrical diffusion in the upper frequencies, starting about an octave above middle C.

Acoustic Sciences Corporation is proud to say Congrats Dr Vibb on Grammy number 7!

Our old buddy AttackWall user mixed the winner for Best Jazz Instrumental Album: “Trilogy 2”, by Christian McBride, Brian Blade and (the late) Chick Corea.

Working professionally since 1991, multiple Grammy Award Winner Brian Vibberts evolved in audio production at a time when analog equipment was still used for the majority of recording and mixing. With the continuous evolution of recording and mixing technologies, he has built a career with the best of both worlds – analog and digital. Brian embraces both and still uses them both for the best of what each has to offer. In combination with his experience in the music industry, a guaranteed high-quality final product is assured. Brian mixes creatively with years of experience. Even though the budgets are different, he brings the same quality of mixing to major label artists and emerging artists.

Brian has learned from the best in the industry: Al Schmitt, Mick Guzauski, and Bruce Swedien… working with Michael Jackson for an entire year on HIStory in 1994. Only 3 years out of college and Brian is working with the King of Pop! In 2007, Brian first worked with Chick Corea, won a Grammy Award, and started an ongoing flow of 33 discs mixed for him so far… (album = “The New Crystal Silence” by Chick Corea and Gary Burton) side note: Gary Burton was one of Brian’s teachers at Berklee College of Music! Brian has won a Grammy Award in 2008, 2009, a Latin Grammy in 2010, another Grammy in 2011, and then won again in 2015, 2016 and 2021.

An interesting fact (and a very difficult record to keep going !) = Brian has WON every Grammy Award that he has been nominated for! Whether it’s recording, mixing, or producing, Brian’s track record speaks for itself. All styles of music… from emerging bands to the biggest artists in the world…

Keep on rockin, Brian!

Once again, ASC Ships a Container to Europe! Our European dealer of ASC products will be receiving a large shipment of TubeTraps and assorted ASC acoustic control devices.  Owner Alan Grindheim has been working closely with a number of HiFi enthusiasts to carefully tune the sound of their rooms over the past many months. When the demand reached critical mass, the container was called in and the ASC shop loaded it up.

European audio enthusiasts of all walks will benefit from this influx, as Gjallarhorn’s order included ample stock quantities of ASC staples like Isothermal TubeTraps and StudioTraps for recording studios.  Call or email today to find the products you need.  Special thanks to Mr. Grindheim and the entire Gjallarhorn staff for their continued support of ASC acoustics!

Gjallarhorn Audio specializes in the import and sale of hi-fi & home cinema products in the high-end segment. They also offer advanced services in room acoustics (including measurements of sound quality in the listening position) and setup of turntables (mainly fine-tuning of the tone arm and pickup using the special tool AnalogMagik ).

Their business is competence-driven and their experience enables us to assist our customers with heavy expertise in their stereo and surround installations. Challenges can be room acoustics, speaker placement, integration of speakers and subwoofers, setting up EQ units, fine-tuning pickups, matching equipment, etc.

Gjallarhorn Audio is pr. today represented in the market by its online store and its specially built showroom located above Heggedal in Asker. Product demonstrations are held here by agreement with our customers. The room is 62 sqm and has a ceiling height of 3 meters. Interior walls and ceilings are designed floating to minimize vibrations at high sound pressures and the room is also acoustically optimized using TubeTraps from the American Acoustic Sciences Corporation.

In 2018, we opened showroom no. 2 outside Moss. This showroom focuses on products other than those in the main showroom so that we can offer product demonstrations of as many products as possible from our large portfolio.

In addition to being able to shop with us, it is possible to shop some of our brands at our retailers. In the city of Oslo this is Norsk Audio Teknikk, in Bergen it is Renaissance Audio and in Ålesund it is Bebop HiFi.

Learn more about ASC’s role in Gjallarhorn’s story then visit Gjallarhorn online.

Acoustic Sciences Corporation is extremely saddened that recording and mix engineer legend Bruce Swedien passed away on November 16th.  He was a passionate devotee of ASC studio acoustics, in particular, the AttackWall and QuickSoundField.  But much more than that, he was a friend, always cheerful and polite, never afraid to speak honestly and let his feelings be known.  The world has lost a truly great man.  Bruce, you will be missed and always loved.  We are all better for having known you.  You truly brought light to the world through your beautifully recorded and mixed music.  The world may never see another Bruce Swedien.

A Youthful Pair of Strapping Gentlemen Having fun in the Studio (left: Art Noxon, right: Bruce)

Art Noxon ASC President, founder, and inventor of the TubeTrap had this to say about Bruce:

Bruce passed over to the other side Monday night, Nov 16, 2020.

He fell about 4 months ago and busted himself up pretty bad. He stayed in the hospital and never made it back home. Bea and Roberta, his loyal wife and daughter are left behind with their many memories and the world he created around them.

Bruce was a highly successful recording engineer.  Over the last 15 years Bruce began to give back. He shared stories and secrets in a number of books. He opened up his studio to mentoring classes filled by engineers from all over the world. He opened his studio to the talent in his community, aspiring musicians living in town around him. One of the fruits of his community work is “Keep the dream alive.”  For this song, Bruce volunteered to work with a group of people from a local church and record them.  It is a heartfelt song about passing the torch from one generation to the next, and now, even more, it is his song to us, to listen to as we begin to endlessly miss him.

“Keep the Dream Alive” (YouTube)

Bruce was unabashed. Sometimes he’d boom out with his big voice “Artie”, he’d say “I loooove my TubeTraps” and real loud, especially when we were in a big crowd of people, at a show. Something else, he always ended a visit or work session with the famous line by Duke Ellington who used it to close every show…. Remember, “I love you, madly.”

Probably his most important saying for me is …”You gotta Hear it to Believe it”. It applied to so much of what Bruce was about. It pretty much sums up his approach to work and life.

Bruce was the boss in the studio, but when he realized he just might believe in you, he would just sit back and let go of the reins. He’d let you take the lead … and him on some wild ride. And he was a great and loyal friend to so many people.

In his mentoring classes I was always taking notes when he was talking or demonstrating. He asked me one day what I was doing. I told him I’m keeping track of what is going on so I can write the equation that explains it. He shook his head and said, “Artie, you can’t capture imagination.”

Bruce Swedien became a star in his lifetime. Now he’s become a star in the Heavens above, forever.

Bruce will be deeply missed.

-Art Noxon

For those of you unfamiliar with Bruce’s role in the music industry and contribution to the world you know, please take a moment to read a short biography here.

Even before his AttackWall days, Bruce and Bea hung out with Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.  Not bad!

West Viking Studios with its full complement of ASC Studio Acoustics.  Gorgeous!

this is what the walls of your office look like when you are a master of your craft.  The TubeTraps helped a little too.

Acoustic Sciences Corporation – manufacturer of the iconic TubeTrap – recently completed and shipped another container load of high end acoustics, our main distributor in southeast Asia and #1 international dealer: Dien Hi End of Vietnam.

This container contained a plethora of specialty acoustic items for use in HiFi listening rooms.  TowerTraps, CoolTraps, MatrixPanels, PCADs, SoundPlanks, and of course TubeTraps will be spread throughout Vietnam this holiday season.

“I’m really pleased to see high end audio systems, carefully put together, so alive and well in Vietnam,” says Art Noxon, Founder and President of ASC and inventor of the TubeTrap. “It continues to be a growing market for our business.”

Jordan Goulette, Shop Manager of ASC echoes this notion: “Dien Hi End has emerged as a very consistent and reliable fan of TubeTraps of all types,” says Goulette.  “Their orders cover all the major bases of room acoustics: corner bass trapping, mid-high diffusion, and flat panel treble control.  The Dien rep obviously understands room acoustics, and the Hi-Fi enthusiasts in Vietnam obviously understand what it takes to get the most out of their systems.”

All of the products are manufactured by hand in Eugene, OR at the ASC facility. The order was a few months in the making and filled an entire shipping container.

No award could be greater than this! US Patent Awarded to Art Noxon for IsoThermal TubeTrap.

We’ve created a new technology to increase bass absorption by 60% over our original design. It provides more structural rigidity and is currently used across our entire TubeTrap line.

Read the full patent here: Art Noxon Iso Thermal Patent 10,767,365

We’ve been pioneering, building and improving bass traps since 1984. Our flagship then remains the same today….theTubeTrap.

The TubeTrap bass trap diffuser is the original portable acoustic device. Invented in the fires of a concrete poured basement with uncontrollable bass reverberation, these devices tamed the muddy booming sound like nothing seen before them. Let’s take a closer look at why you need bass traps with treble diffusers as the foundation of your high end audio listening or critical mixing space.

What Exactly is a TubeTrap?

Bass Traps absorb low frequency sound. They are mostly used in small rooms in which a high power audio system is being played, such as recording studio control rooms, mastering rooms and audiophile listening rooms. There are many types of bass traps.

Traditionally acoustic designers or acousticians designed bass traps to be built into the construction of the room. In the mid ’80s the first portable bass trap became available, invented by Art Noxon, an acoustic engineer. The TubeTrap is a cylinder shaped bass trap that is frequently found in the corners of high power audio playback rooms.

It’s the corner of a rectangular room that funnels bass pressure into a high pressure zone. Bass traps are usually placed in the corners of the room. The TubeTrap is a unique type of bass trap because it includes a suspended sheet of material that has been perforated in such a way that it backscatters the treble range of sound, diffusing it into the room.

The curved treble diffusers act to retain room ambience, while enhancing the sense of spaciousness in the listening room. The corner loaded bass traps act to minimize the reverberant buildup of bass energy in the room. Used together, the feeling of being in a small room disappears, replaced by the feeling of being in a large ambient space.

Today we’re remembering Albert von Schweikert 1945-2020. Acoustic Sciences Corporation is saddened that loudspeaker titan Albert von Schweikert passed away on May 29th.  He will be missed by many in the audiophile community.  Our founder and CEO has a few words to say about him.

Please take a moment to read a short biography for Albert here.

Here we see one of the last audio shows in which ASC and VSA partnered to create the best sound in show.  Special thanks to Damon and Leif for carrying the torch!

Here we see Albert at the Waldorf Astoria in 1996 with his breakthrough speakers and some special acoustic treatment built by yours truly.  The longer story can be found here.

Let’s all remember the innovations brought to the loudspeaker industry by this great man and thank the world for gracing us with his presence.

The 2019 Rocky Mountain AudioFest (RMAF) is being held at the Gaylord Rockies resort in Aurora, Colorado.  TubeTraps were used at Rocky Mountain AudioFest 2019. YG Acoustics has partnered with Acoustic Sciences to help make the Homestead Room one of the premier listening demos in the entire show.

YG Acoustics supplied the loudspeakers, VTL the amplification, VPI the turntable playback, and the system is connected using Nordost Cables.

If you are in the Denver area, stop by, enjoy the beautiful accommodations, fine sound systems, and check out the TubeTraps!

TubeTrap Science – With Enhanced Bass Absorption

Audiophiles & Recording Engineers have relied on the Award winning TubeTraps to get their room sound just right.  The IsoThermal TubeTrap continues this tradition with our new patented technology by delivering twice the bass absorption power, a fully adjustable diffuser with dynamic broadband sound absorption and diffusion.  As the acoustic workhorse for solving your room’s sonic problems, the Isothermal TubeTrap offers extended bass absorption and treble range diffusion to help your room sound lively and tight.

Isothermal TubeTraps are modular, self-contained, broadband acoustic absorber/diffusers that improve the quality of music playback.  No tricky installation required. Simply place them in the corners of your listening room or studio, and they go to work—giving you a clean musical bass-line, along with added high frequency ambient sparkle.

Show Dates:

Friday, Sept 6th, 2019
10:00 AM- 6:00 PM

Saturday, Sept 7th, 2019
10:00 AM- 6:00 PM

Sunday, Sept 8th, 2019
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Where:

Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center
6700 N Gaylord Rockies Blvd,
Aurora, CO 80019

We are excited to announce that Isothermal TubeTrap production surpasses 1000!

One thousand new-generation TubeTraps in approximately 200 rooms…providing listening pleasure and protection from bad room sound.  Special thanks to all of you brave enough to try out the Isothermal TubeTraps during the Beta stage… we knew you would love them!

Here’s to the next 1,000 Isothermal TubeTraps!  Join the Isothermal Party by picking up closeout-price units brought back from the CAS9… very lightly used, with several custom colors to choose from at no extra cost!  Check out our Shopify portal here.

We developed the IsoThermal TubeTrap to aggressively manage typical HiFi rear wall bounce phase-cancel effects.  What we got was a major performance boost across the entire bass spectrum.  And we did it without altering the fundamental voice of a TubeTrap.

Check out the absorption data for the new 16″ Isothermal TubeTrap compared to a standard 16″ TubeTrap.  Power is doubled in the sub-bass range, while the LF rolloff is extended by over half an octave!  The efficiency of the unit is a solid 40% greater all the way up through the “muddy” range of bass.

We were even more impressed when third party theoretical calculations made in ESI’s NOVA software (a multi layered acoustic simulator used in advanced acoustic engineering) corroborated our data to an uncanny degree.

As with standard TubeTraps, larger diameter units reach to lower frequencies.  However, with the IsoThermal upgrade, the operating frequency of each size TubeTrap has come to match that of the next model size larger, approximately.  This means that if you previously used and loved the sonics of a 16″ TubeTrap, you can now replace your old tubes with new 13″ IsoThermal TubeTraps, with very similar voicing.  Better yet, if you always wished you had the space in your room and money in your wallet to fill your corners with deep-breathing 20″ TubeTraps, now you can simply upgrade your system with 16″ IsoThermal TubeTraps to manage that 35 Hz rumble.

What is the IsoThermal effect?  The short story begins with the statement that when you compress gas, it heats up, while when it expands, it cools down.  High pressure sounds entering the acoustic capacitor of a TubeTrap cause a rise in pressure, or compression.  When the air pressure inside the TubeTrap reaches that of the ambient air outside it, the capacitor is essentially “full.”  The air then cools off fairly rapidly due to thermal and hydraulic losses, and returns to low pressure, ready to be filled up again.

The frequency of this “filling-up” is proportional to – you guessed it – the frequency of the sound.  Therefore low frequency sounds “fill up” the capacitor much more quickly, due to the slowness with which they propagate through the media.  A larger capacitor (think of a 24″ TubeTrap) takes the longest to fill, and so reaches the lowest frequencies.

The conversion of the capacitive section of a TubeTrap into an isothermal vessel alters this behavior in a very beneficial way.  The low-pressure air inside the capacitor is prevented from rising in temperature upon being subjected to a high-pressure pulse.   Through this action, the effective size of the capacitor is increased by 40%, almost as though the IsoThermal TubeTrap is 40% larger than it appears!  (This comparison is not quite accurate, since other factors come into play regarding the resistance of the absorptive material among various TubeTrap models, but it is a good approximation).

ASC is excited to announce that TubeTraps Will Be Featured At CAS 2019. The California Audio Show (CAS) is produced by an audiophile who shares the passion of stereophonic playback with other music lovers in the San Francisco Bay Area. High-end audio is a beautiful hobby, and as with all hobbies, there is an affordable way and then there is the extravagant approach. Hence, at the CAS, attendees will find Exhibitors showing budget equipment systems that scream value, and others with price tags that make your jaw drop.

Acoustic Sciences Corporation will be sending a small fleet of our IsoThermal TubeTraps to the show to be used in various listening rooms.

Listen longer! There will be enough time to visit all the rooms at the CAS during the 3 days. Find the system that is right for you and enjoy!

Show Dates:

Friday, July 26, 2019
10:00 AM- 6:00 PM

Saturday, July 27, 2019
10:00 AM- 6:00 PM

Sunday, July 28, 2019
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Where:

Hilton Oakland Airport (Building 5)
1 Hegenberger Rd,
Oakland, CA 94621

The California Audio Show (CAS) is founded and produced by an audiophile who shares the passion of stereophonic playback with other music lovers in the San Francisco Bay Area. High-end audio is a beautiful hobby, and as with all hobbies, there is the affordable way and then there is the extravagant approach. Hence, at the CAS, attendees will find Exhibitors showing budget equipment systems that scream value, and others with price tags that make your jaw drop.

Although Acoustic Sciences Corporation will not have a booth at the upcoming Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2018, we will certainly be well represented. We will be sending a small fleet of our IsoThermal TubeTraps to the fest for the listening rooms of Bricasti Design and Bending Wave USA.

Bricasti Design are the makers of high-end audio amplifiers and converters. Bricasti Design was founded in 2004 by former Harman Specialty Group employees Brian Zolner and Casey Dowdell. Zolner started working at the original Lexicon in 1984 and held various positions in sales, including development of its international sales network for both the professional and the consumer markets. In 2011, Bricasti introduced the M1 DAC to the hi-end consumer market. Since that time, the M1 has been acclaimed by the high-end audio press as state-of-the-art in digital audio reproduction. As with all of Bricasti’s products, the M1 is designed and built entirely in the United States, mostly in the Shirley, MA, facility.

Bricasti Design will be located in Room: 7013

Website: www.bricasti.com

Also requesting some of our TubeTraps for their listening room is Bending Wave USA. Bending Wave USA is an exclusive U.S. distributors for Göbel High End
patented loudspeakers and cables made in Germany. The fledgling company’s very first product in 2004 was the bending wave loudspeaker series called Detaille, which consisted of the bending wave emitter Detaille S, which was capable of covering a frequency range from 150 to 28,500 hertz, and a perfectly adapted subwoofer for the low-frequency section. Additionally in 2004 Göbel High End unveiled their first cable line Lacorde, which was also used inside of the Detaille loudspeakers. The Detaille series and Lacorde series really captured the heart of any audio fan who was lucky enough to ever get to listen to the curious and unique loudspeakers and cables: even the ears of high-end enthusiasts were rarely graced with such a sound, which was unbelievably natural on account of the exceptionally fine detail and outstanding impulse response of the Göbel bending wave driver.

In 2005 the patent for the Göbel bending wave technology was granted and Oliver Göbel built up an in-house sales structure for his products. The next venture was the wall-mountable loudspeaker series Modul, which was just as well received as the Detaille series.

Bending Wave USA will be located in the Room: Iris

Website: www.bendingwaveusa.com

So, if you have an opportunity to make it to the Rocky Mountain Audio Show, October 5-7, 2018, be sure to check these listening rooms out to hear some of the most incredible audio sensations on this planet!

After a long time in production, Acoustic Sciences Corporation will be Unveiling Of The New MiniTrap Desktop AttackWall system at the ASCAP Show this May 7-9, 2018 in Hollywood, California!

The ASC Mini-Desktop AttackWall redefines world class mixing environments. It’s a modular, free-standing workstation that fits right on your desktop or table. It helps to produce a reliable, repeatable and accurate sonic space in which to track, mix and master regardless of room or speaker system.

For those on the go, the Mini-Desktop AttackWall is the perfect solution for creating professional mixing results in small rooms, hotel rooms, office space small venues…basically anywhere, all while placing the sound in front of the engineer for the best desired results. Unveiling of  the new MiniTrap desktop AttackWall was a success and is a great desktop solution from ASC.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS:

• Lightweight & portable, easy to setup when on the road
• Create professional mixing in limited space areas
• Affordable on your budget, with BIG studio results
• Basic setup of 8 MiniTraps, with larger setups available
• Creates clear perception of signal at the mix position
• Have the same mixing environment wherever you go
• Delivers the type of mix that will stand-up anywhere
• Small diameter allows more space on desk

Technical Information:

The DeskTop AttackWall casts large acoustic shadows onto the front 2/3rds of the room, eliminating the need for wall mounted absorbers/diffusers across the front and down the sides of the room and bass traps in the corners.

Mini 8 Destop AttackWall Setup:

The basic setup is for smaller speakers, listening triangles and tables. Placing a pair of MiniTraps on either side of each speaker. Set two across the front of the desk and 2 down each side of the desk. MiniTraps are positioned to contact the side of the speaker but not the front baffle or corner.

Mini 12 Destop AttackWall Setup:

An advanced setup is used for larger setups, speakers, listening triangle and desk. Minis are run all the way across the front of the desk and most of the way down each side. Develops a stronger, more well defined acoustic shadow zone all across the front and well down the side walls.

MiniTrap Construction:

The MiniTrap like all TubeTraps is a fiber sealed sound trap. It’s tall and narrow so it is easy to setup without taking much space on the desk. It sits on a wide soft-rubber ring so it stays where you put it. Because of its slim height to width ratio it is fit with a steel counter-weight for increased stability. The Mini is 6” in diameter and 20 inches tall. A chamber in the top adds wide band resonant absorption in the octave of middle C. Its shell is double wall welded diamond perf stainless steel inside of which is an acoustically transparent low flow resistance folded seal. The assembly is sonically dead all the way around.

MiniTrap Specifications:

• Diameter x Height: 6.125” x 20”
• Weight: 52 Oz
• DC flow resistance: 460 Rayls mks
• DC Resistivity: 2300 Ohms (acoustic)

For more information on the ASC Mini-Desktop AttackWall, contact your closest ASC dealer, or you can contact Acoustic Sciences Corporation through our website.

ASC & Von Schweikert Audio Win Positive Feedback Audio at AXPONA 2018 in The Audio Company room featuring Von Schweikert Ultra 11 loudspeakers ($295,000 per pair) with VAC 450iQ power amplifiers ($120,000 per pair).

It is no small accomplishment when the fruits of the painstaking, exhaustive, indefatigable, and passionate labors of some of the world’s most exceptional designers and engineers combine to provide a listening experience so profound, so stunningly real, so inescapably authentic. This room featured the work of Louis Desjardins (Kronos), Jeff Jacobs (J-Corder), the entire engineering team at MasterBuilt Audio, Art Noxon (ASC), and the Von Schweikert design team (consisting of now semi-retired Albert Von Schweikert, his son Damon Von Schweikert, and their new VP, Leif Swanson). Also featured in this audio room was Esoteric, Aurender, Critical Mass Systems, Air Tight and J-Corder.

The TubeTrap’s claim to fame is its unrivaled ability to absorb low-frequency sound energy. After its release to the public, it quickly became the de facto standard for acoustic room treatment. Generally set up in the corners of the room where they act like sonic shock absorbers, TubeTraps eliminate excessive build-up of bass energy in the room while their built-in diffusers minimize flutter echo by horizontally scattering mid-high frequency sounds to provide fine grained lateral ambience.

Learn More About Our TubeTraps »

AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) is the largest high-end audio show in North America. The three-day experience features multiple hotel floors packed with listening rooms, The Exhibit Hall featuring Ear Gear Expo and The Record Fair, seminars and live musical performances. Whether you’re a serious audiophile, a newcomer to high-end audio or simply a music lover, you’ll find everything you need to immerse yourself in your favorite sounds.

The event features over 150 high fidelity listening rooms, providing guests the enviable opportunity to experience the newest technology in high-end consumer audio products. Attendees are encouraged to go from room to room and sit, listen and compare the various systems. The Marketplace and Ear Gear Expo play host to thousands of products and accessories from cables to headphones to LPs and SACDs.

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! is an upcoming live television special, scheduled to broadcast on NBC on April 1, 2018 on Easter Sunday, and Acoustic Sciences Corporation will be helping with the live sound, right on stage! The reason they contacted us was to help with the drum sets that will be live on the stage during this broadcast. The problem they were dealing with was the drums, specifically the bass drums, were generating too many low sounds across the stage and affecting the other live microphones. ASC & Jesus Christ Superstar were about to team up!

After some consulting with the stage director, we decided that one of our floating drum platforms would be the best solution to get the drums up off the floor. The reason for wanting to get the drums up off the floor is to minimize what you call secondary pickup. If you don’t get the drums off the floor, the low sounds—from the kick drum and toms and so on—will couple to the floor and they’ll spread, and end up having a huge impact with the other microphones on the stage. So by building a heavy-duty drum platform eight-feet-square and about 8 inches off the floor—heavily braced and with the surface not painted or varnished in any way, so that it’s porous and there’s a little bit of sonic absorbency to that—really did the job!

This drum platform uses Acoustic Sciences IsoDeck technology, a non-rubber based solution for deck isolation. While rubber has long been regarded as an excellent isolator, it’s density under load actually transmits sound. We engineered our IsoDeck with technical woven, high density felt, the only isolator that won’t transmit sound. Plus, we don’t stop with just floating the deck on felt…we add WallDamp, a visco-elastic dampening material that stops vibration cold! What you get with the ASC IsoDeck is superior isolation plus vibrational dampening

These are the same type of drum platforms that ASC built for the legendary Bruce Swedien for his recordings of Michael Jackson to help capture the sound of his dancing, using the drum platform and reflecting those dancing sounds back to the microphone.

How It Works

The natural process of sound vibration creates friction and unwanted energy buildup through the bending and slipping of adjacent surfaces. This, in turn, causes the floor to add unwanted acoustic coloration to your room. The IsoDeck isolates the floor, using a unique high density 1” felt strip called a slot loaded spring, inserted into the bottom of every joist to float the deck. The felt is lightly glued into a 3/4” x 3/16” rabbeted groove.

The top of each joist is covered with strips of damping polymer called WallDamp. Two layers of subfloor rest on the joists, separated by squares of WallDamp. With this system, even high power sub-bass energy is isolated and rapidly dissipated. You get real sound isolation, reduced floor resonance, and damping even when there’s thunderous sound.

So, if you do happen to watch this live performance and think to yourself; “man, that sure does sound good!”, well, we would like to take credit for some of that!

So what is a Magnepan 30.7? It is a four-panel (two panels per side), line-source, ribbon/quasi-ribbon loudspeaker system of considerable width (a little under four feet across per side!), height (about six-and-a-half feet), and just a couple of inches in depth. As the four panels that comprise a stereo pair are completely separate (not hinged to one another, as the panels on each side of the Tympanis once were), you will have considerable latitude in placement, which is both a blessing and a curse. (With great latitude comes great responsibility).

Magnepan’s Marketing Manager Wendell Diller has been taking the new 30.7s on a tour—a road trip to visit dealers all over the U.S. with initial stops in The Pacific Northwest, such as Seattle, Portland and Acoustic Sciences hometown of Eugene, at Bradford’s Home Entertainment. As you might have guessed, this quartet of sizable panels—two per channel comprising a four-way system—requires a rather large room to work their magic, and Bradfords does not have this type of room..

Enter Acoustic Sciences Corporation. Bradford’s Home Entertainment reached out to us as they had concerns in regards to the size of the room vs. the size of the speakers, and how to maintain the beautiful sound that these speakers produce.

Here’s What ASC Did:

Bradford’s HiFi store is 70’ long 18’ wide and 10’ tall. Acoustic tile overhead with a lower entry soffit and glass front, street wall and double entry doors. About 33’ into the showroom a storage space was created about 4 1/2‘ wide down the remaining length of the showroom. The showroom is walled off at the back, some 55’ into the room, in with two offices, each 15’ deep. The front desk is L shaped and is composed of two 7’ straight sections, joined together by a ninety-degree turn. One end is at the wall and the other end is out in the showroom with a half round cylinder.

The basic strategy is to rearrange the room. The glass wall will become the front of the listening room. The face of the storage room, 33’ in from the front glass wall, becomes one side of the back wall of the room. A similar wall needs to be created on the other side of the room, opposite the face of the storage room, similar in size and acoustic properties, which will leave an open 6’ wide doorway in the middle of the back wall.

Cabinets and other objects will be arranged to create the effect of a section of back wall that matches the reflectivity of the face of the storage room. The display desk will be rearranged to create the effect of a section of back wall, parallel to the face of the storage room.

The goal is to use the two back walls, one real and one fake to give the impression of a room that is 18’ wide and 33’ long, with a 6’wide opening (a bass vent) in the back of the room which leads to a second reverberant room. The office doors at the very back can be opened or closed to dial in the base modes and reverb level. Acoustic objects will be added to the face of the storage room and on top the front side of the display case to further dial in a similar sonic signature off the two back corners of the listening room.

Dipoles produce a semi flat/cylindrical figure 8 shaped wavefront with the front side being in phase and the back wave being out of phase with the signal but otherwise identical. Early reflections off the side walls are generally discouraged by adding sound absorption, otherwise they mix with the direct and create a foggy direct signal.

In addition to minimal early reflections, time delayed lateral reflections are beneficial. They cause a sense of spaciousness to be developed in the listening area. It is a specific type of signal, low level, -10 to 15 dB down from the direct signal, delayed 25 to 60ms and arrive at the listener’s ears from the sides, as if due to lateral reflections.

A spaciousness type of reflection can be derived from the back wave of the dipole. By splitting the back wave in half and redirecting the splintered fractions of the back wave to either side of the front of the room, a set of side to side multiple reflecting side to side reflections that slowly “walk” down the length of the room to eventually engulf the listener with side to side sounds that are derived from the direct signal, time delayed and amplitude reduced….

Another aspect of dipoles is the strength of the front wall reflection in the bass range, which needs to be minimized. Phase add and cancel effects are one reason to minimize bass wave reflection and another is so that the huge lightweight diaphragm is not pushed around by the reflection off the front wall. TubeTraps along the front wall, with the diffuser panels oriented into the room is the traditional way to manage the back wave bounce. Typically four 6 to 8’ stacks of 16” TubeTraps are more than sufficient to minimize the low frequency reflections and to establish treble range lateral diffusion.

Acoustic Sciences Helping With Magnepan 30.7 Speakers

This event happens:
Friday, March 16
4:00pm – 8:00pm

High definition acoustic playback requires great equipment and great room acoustics. The equipment produces one kind of sound, the direct sound while the room produces another kind of sound, reflections and reverberation. These two kinds of sounds, the direct and the reflections are acoustically mixed at the listening position into one composite signal, the perceived sound of the system at the listening position.

Why It Sounds The Way It Sounds…
We Control The Impact Zones!

The acoustic setup for the Crestone Peak Room was designed by ASC using only the floor plan for the room along with manufacture’s estimate for speaker position and a few photos. The room will initially be setup as shown and then “tweaked” until the best sound is achieved. The room is divided into 5 basic zones, as shown in the floorplan. What happens in each zone is different. It happens at different times and at different stages of the evolution of the wavefront from the speaker which is why the acoustic setup in each zone is different.

ASC supplied all the acoustics for this room. We are using our new patent pending IsoThermal TubeTrap which provides extended bass, literally twice the absorbing power compared to the standard TubeTrap below 60 Hz, in the sub bass region.

1) SPEAKER PLANE TRAPS:

Trapping the walls in the plane of the speaker defeats the otherwise powerful buildup of lateral and vertical bass early reverberation, which greatly improves musical clarity, punch and overall dynamic response. It also softens the hard wall reflection which otherwise imposes a phase add/cancel effect onto the speakers and results in a more smooth speaker frequency response curve.

2) FRONT WALL TRAPS:

The front of the room experiences two kinds of bass wave front impacts. The first is the direct reflection of the wave off the front wall, back down the length of the room. If left untrapped, these waves creates phase add/cancel problems for the speaker and again at the listening position. It also begins to buildup reverberation and modes along the length of the room. Bass is mixed mono so the playback equipment can deliver the required bass power to the room without overdriving most speakers or amps, which means we have identical wave fronts expanding out of each speaker.

These wave fronts crash together along the midline between the speakers. At the midpoint of the front wall the sound pressure becomes quite high, just as loud as in the other two front corners. This midpoint “virtual corner” gets the same TubeTrap as the other two real corners in the front of the room.

The second kind of wave impacts in the front of the room is the buildup of lateral, side to side reverberation and as well vertical reverberation. The front corner traps are very powerful in damping down this “head end ringing” or storage of sound in the front 1/3rd of the room.

3) MID WALL TRAPS:

Mid–wall traps deal primarily in the treble range do clean up the sonic image, stage, ambience and spaciousness effects. Here the “early reflections “ are processed, of which there are two types. The least well known and yet the most serious is the LR cross talk reflection, which is when the left speaker signal reflects off the right wall into the right ear, and visa versa. This cross talk signal bleed ruins stereophonic perception process and converts stage imaging into a sonic fog bank. The more commonly known and less worrisome early reflection, the near wall reflection, acts to widen and distort the sonic stage.

In this room we have the racks of electronics lined up along the left wall which act as treble range diffusers. They block the hard left wall reflections and replace then with multiple lower level diffusive reflections. We use StudioTraps to add similar sounding diffusive reflections from the right wall. Now we have achieved a LR balance in the strength and nature of the low level lateral reflections.

4) REAR WALL TRAPS:

The rear wall is split in half, one side has the back doors which are kept ajar. The other side is a hard walled cavity. The bass air pressures near the doorway are vented out of the room, which minimizes their bass buildup. The hard walled cavity on the other side of the room is not vented and so stacks of bass traps have been added to balance with the bass venting at the door. Again, the treble diffusing panels are rotated so they backscatter sound into the room, as does the angled door set.

5) STAGE DETAILING TRAP:

In some cases adding traps up close, in the nearfield of the speakers, can absorb and diffuse sound long before it expands out into the room. With Martin Logans, a tradition has developed where a trap is positioned just to the outside of the focal point of the curved diaphragm. This absorbs compressed rearward moving bass energy while the reflector is rotated into the focal point to side scatter the treble backwave. By moving this stage trap left and right, back and forward the right balance of front wall reflection (stage depth) and lateral diffusion (ambience) can be setup.

We are excited to announce that ASC Will Be Featured At 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest! The 14th Annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) is the largest consumer audio and home entertainment show in the United States. Simply put: “mega stereo systems!” Denver’s own audio wonderland now features over 160 exhibit spaces representing more than 400 companies from North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Acoustic Science Corporation will have our IsoThermal TubeTraps and StudioTraps on full display in the MIT (Musical Interface Technologies) listening room, where they will have MartinLogan’s flagship loudspeakers, The Neolith, pumping out the sounds. The listening room will be in the Crestone Peak Room, part of the main event center. If you have never heard how our products help create the perfect sound, this would a good opportunity for you to hear the difference, if you can make it to the event.

Furniture will be removed from over 150 of the hotel’s sleeping rooms and manufacturers will set up complete stereo systems for attendees to audition. You are encouraged to go from room to room, have a seat and casually listen. In fact, feel free to bring your own music on iPods, USB sticks, compact discs, or vinyl (YEAH!) to the show, as most exhibitors will be happy to play some of your favorite music.

RMAF also features live entertainment, informative seminars, equipment show specials, and prize drawings throughout the weekend.

The show will be October 6 – October 8, 2017 in Denver, Colorado at the Denver Marriott Tech Center.

For more information:
www.audiofest.net

David Jacobs-Strain has appeared at festivals from British Columbia to Australia, including Merlefest, Telluride Blues Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly, Bumbershoot, and Blues to Bop in Switzerland. He’s taught at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, and at fifteen years old was on the faculty at Centrum’s Blues and Heritage workshop. On the road, he’s shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, Boz Scaggs (more than 60 shows), Etta James, The Doobie Brothers, George Thorogood, Robert Earle Keen, Todd Snider, Taj Mahal, Janis Ian, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Weir, T-Bone Burnett, and Del McCoury.

Someone had mentioned our IsoThermal TubeTraps to him, for recording purposes, and that we were located in Eugene, Oregon, his home town…so he came by and picked up some TubeTraps and an AttackWall for his recording studio he is currently working on, and is 100% sold on them now!

He is trying to get a more acoustical, organic sound while he is building out his studio, and our products worked perfectly for him. These images were from a visit to his studio, while they were laying tracks down for a song that might be on his upcoming album.

Art Noxon, the inventor of TubeTraps and owner of Acoustic Sciences Corporation, offered some advice on the laying out his setup, for maximum results. It’s laid out diagonally across the room, to best utilize the combination of the AttackWall and TubeTraps.

I was there to hear them record, and can honestly say, that the sound coming out was absolutely incredible!

There is a little video of them recording.

Visit Website:
www.davidjacobs-strain.com

We are excited to announce that this year ASC will be featured at 2017 California Audio Show!  ASC will have our new IsoThermal TubeTrap^TM products at the 7th California Audio Show 2017 going on July 28-30, 2017. If you are able to attend this show, try to make a point of hearing how our new IsoThermal TubeTraps dramatically improve the music coming out of the speakers. We should have our IsoThermal TubeTraps in several of the listening rooms…not sure of all the details quite yet, but will keep you posted on the room numbers we will be featured in.

Some details about the show:

The 7th California Audio Show will be held in the Hilton Oakland International Airport on July 28-30, 2017. The Hilton OAK was built in the 1960’s, and it features 7 large- to medium-sized sound rooms on the 1st Floor in Building V, a 3-story building reserved entirely for audio exhibits. Building V is joined by the adjacent Building IV that will house the CAS Registrar, vendor booths area and four additional large sound rooms.

The purpose of the CAS is to address the passions of the enormous group of music lovers/audiophiles, and to introduce the hobby to a new generation of audience. High-end audio is a beautiful hobby, and as with all hobbies, there is the affordable way and then there is the extravagant approach. Hence, at the CAS, you will find Exhibitors showing budget equipment systems that scream value, and others with price tags that make your jaw drop. Find the system that is right for you and enjoy! This will be a fun event for everybody, and one you will always remember.

We have invited top manufacturers, importers and dealers from all over the country to participate. Come bring your favorite music on analog or digital discs and let us present them to you in sonic splendor you will never forget.

www.caaudioshow.com

The photo above is a group of our IsoThermal TubeTraps getting ready to ship out to the 2017 California Audio Show! Pretty Exciting Indeed!

The new IsoThermal TubeTraps from Acoustic Sciences Corporation were in full display at the LA Audio Show 2017 Show…and we won another Positive Feedback Award!

Acoustic Sciences Corporation’s IsoThermal TubeTraps shared the award in the VAC / Von Schweikert room featuring their ULTRA 11 large floorstanders,  with Shockwave V12 subwoofer. This award-winning sound could never be achieved without the IsoThermal TubeTraps.

Senior Contributing Reviewer Ron Resnick from Mono & Stereo writes about his favorite room at the Los Angeles Audio Show 2017 (Von Schweikert Audio/VAC/MasterBuilt/Kronos/Artesania):

“When you are playing direct-to-disc vinyl on a state-of-the-art speaker system driven by top-of-the-line VAC tube electronics you expect to hear something amazing, and I was not disappointed! I heard life-like dynamic range and sound-staging, incredible transparency, and, as I expect with a loudspeaker as tall as the Ultra 11s, scale which leads to realistic grandeur. I would have been very happy to listen to this system all evening!”

“The reproduction of these two favorite tracks of mine was as good as I have ever heard them. The Ultra 11 driven by tubes achieves a level of realism which I find very satisfying and which I would be happy to enjoy forever. This is what the highest end of high-end audio is all about.”

You can read the full article here: www.monoandstereo.com/2017/06/best-of-los-angeles-audio-show-2017.html

Acoustic Sciences Corporation is always proud to help in producing award-winning sounds, from listening rooms to recording tracks. If you ever get your own listening room, make sure it becomes “Award-Winning” as well by adding some of our patented IsoThermal Tubetraps!

Learn More About Our TubeTraps »

Acoustic Sciences Corporation will have their New IsoThermal TubeTraps At the Los Angeles Audio Show June 2nd – June 4th. This is California’s premier consumer audio show!

Acoustic Sciences Corporation is just coming off the AXPONA 2017 show, where they shared the Gold Show Award for best sound, along with Von Schweikert Audio, MasterBuilt Audio, Kronos and some other very notable audio manufacturers in the industry.

We will be featured again with the team of Von Schweikert Audio in listening room #214, along with Valve Amplification Company. Stop by and be prepared to hear some amazing audio coming from this setup.

It is no small accomplishment when the fruits of the painstaking, exhaustive, indefatigable, and passionate labors of some of the world’s most exceptional designers and engineers combine to provide a listening experience so profound, so stunningly real, so inescapably authentic. Come on by and hear for yourself!

The LA Audio Show, hosted in collaboration with The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society, is the US West Coast’s epicenter for discovering the best and latest audio technologies from leading global manufacturers and dealers. we, at SASC, are proud to have our new IsoThermal TubeTraps at the Los Angeles Audio Show

www.laaudioshow.com

The new IsoThermal TubeTraps from ASC Helps Von Schweikert Audio Bring In The Gold At AXPONA 2017 Show…and we won another Gold Award for Best Sound!

The new IsoThermal TubeTraps from Acoustic Sciences Corporation ($26,000) were used for room treatment, and all equipment rested on Artesania Audio stands, including the Exoteryc 4-shelf Rack ($7,000), an Exoteryc 3+3 tandem Rack ($10,000), the Exoteryc Turntable Platform ($3400) and the Aire Monoblock Amplifier Platform ($7,400/pr.).

Acoustic Sciences Corporation’s IsoThermal TubeTraps shared the Gold Award for being Best Sound At AXPONA 2017 in the VAC / Von Schweikert room featuring their ULTRA 11 large floorstanders ($295,000 per pair) with Shockwave V12 subwoofer ($11,500 each). The equipment listing for the room reads like a who’s who.

It is no small accomplishment when the fruits of the painstaking, exhaustive, indefatigable, and passionate labors of some of the world’s most exceptional designers and engineers combine to provide a listening experience so profound, so stunningly real, so inescapably authentic. This room featured the work of Kevin Hayes (VAC), Louis Desjardins (Kronos), Hisayoshi Nakatsuka (ZYX), Lukasz Fikus (LampizatOr), Jeff Jacobs (J-Corder), Kevin O’Brian (YFS), Cayetano Castellano (Artesania Audio), the entire engineering team at MasterBuilt Audio, Art Noxon (ASC), and the Von Schweikert design team (consisting of now semi-retired Albert Von Schweikert, his son Damon Von Schweikert, and their new VP, Leif Swanson).

The TubeTrap’s claim to fame is its unrivaled ability to absorb low frequency sound energy. After its release to the public, it quickly became the de facto standard for acoustic room treatment. Generally set up in the corners of the room where they act like sonic shock absorbers, TubeTraps eliminate excessive build-up of bass energy in the room while their built-in diffusers minimize flutter echo by horizontally scattering mid-high frequency sounds to provide fine grained lateral ambience.

You can watch the experts at AXPONA 2017 talk about this incredible sound setup in this video:

Learn More About Our TubeTraps »

Press Release

ASC To Unveil New Product at T.H.E. Show Newport
Oregon-based company unveils the IsoThermal TubeTrap at T.H.E. Show Newport in Irvine, CA

IsoThermal TubeTrap Press Release- Eugene, OR. May 11, 2016: Acoustic Sciences Corporation (ASC) – manufacturer of the iconic TubeTrap – recently added a new product to their expansive line of acoustic treatment products: The 16×3 IsoThermal TubeTrap.

The IsoThermal TubeTrap delivers twice the sub bass absorption of a traditional TubeTrap below 60 Hz. That’s why the IsoThermal TubeTrap has two chrome dots along the rim instead of the traditional single dot: double dots means double power! And like the entire line of ASC products, the IsoThermal TubeTrap is also a high-speed trap.

“It happens at the speed of sound,” says Art Noxon, Founder and President of ASC and inventor of the original TubeTrap and the new IsoThermal TubeTrap. “We only have milliseconds to capture energy out of each pressure pulse, particularly those early reflections.”

The ASC IsoThermal TubeTrap sets the standard for the next generation of bass traps: IsoThermal BassTraps. This new class of bass trap essentially enlarges the effective air volume inside the bass trap which results in twice the sound absorbing power below 60 Hz without changing any aspect of the bass trap other than a 10% increase in weight. Unlike traditional acoustic effects, which become weaker as the frequency goes down, the IsoThermal BassTrap effect does not. Its enhanced performance remains steady below 60 Hz and the roll off occurs in the frequency range above.

The 16×3 ITTT is ASC’s introductory Isothermal TubeTrap and it is available at a 10% increase in cost over the standard 16×3 Original TubeTrap and in any standard color. A TubeTrap cannot be retrofit with an isothermal core which means the IsoThermal TubeTrap is only available as a new product.

The factory also announced that any TubeTrap can be modified during manufacturing and converted into an IsoThermal model. They anticipated that the primary application for the isothermal upgrade will be in the larger sizes, the 16”, the 20” and 24” diameter, both full and half round TubeTraps. For pricing call the factory 800-ASC-TUBE (272-8823) or info@acousticsciences.com.

ASC Unveils IsoThermal TubeTrap at THE Show Newport to much excitement! Acoustic Sciences Corporation – manufacturer of the iconic TubeTrap – recently added a new product to their expansive line of acoustic treatment products. It’s called the IsoThermal TubeTrap and they are unveiling it to the public June 3-5 at T.H.E. Show Newport in Irvine, CA.

The IsoThermal TubeTrap delivers twice the bass absorption of an equivalent-sized TubeTrap between 30 Hz and 250 Hz. That’s why the IsoThermal TubeTrap has two chrome dots along the rim instead of the traditional one dot: two dots means twice the power! Technically speaking the IsoThermal TubeTrap is an isothermal-class RC time constant bass trap combined with the adjustable treble diffusion of our regular TubeTrap.

“It happens at Mach 1, the speed of sound,” says Art Noxon, Founder and President of ASC and inventor of the original TubeTrap and the new IsoThermal TubeTrap. “We only have a split second to minimize the phase add/cancel effects of the rear wall bounce. The direct signal pulse rushes past your ears, impacts the rear wall and springs back upstream to interfere with direct signal at your listening position.”

Look for various ASC products throughout T.H.E. Show in Newport and stop by the ASC booth in the Ballroom (M20 on the map) to see the new IsoThermal TubeTraps and to talk with Art Noxon directly. Also, make sure to sign up for the raffle, where you could win a copy of the ASC MATT & Acoustic Test CD that gives you a detailed analysis of the acoustics of your listening room or home theater.

Learn more about the IsoThermal TubeTrap here.

Update: August 3rd, 2016

Acoustic Sciences Corporation – manufacturer of the iconic TubeTrap – recently completed and shipped another container load of high-end acoustics, our main distributor in southeast Asia: Dien Hi End of Vietnam. This was Dien Hi End’s third fourth major ASC order in less than two years and came in just as their previous order was in route.  Another order has already been placed and is in process of fabrication.

The sale continues a growing trend of international business, which includes sales to HiFi markets throughout Europe, Russia, South America and many parts of Asia, most recently Korea & Vietnam.

“I’m really pleased to see high-end audio systems, carefully put together, so alive and well in Vietnam,” says Art Noxon, Founder and President of ASC and inventor of the TubeTrap. “It seems to be a growing market for our business.”

Jordan Goulette, Shop Manager of ASC echoes this notion: “I find it pretty encouraging that the Hi-Fi industry is doing so well in Vietnam.  They obviously have very good taste in room acoustics!”

Unlike most container orders of this magnitude, which generally consist of larger quantities of a single product, the Dien Hi End order consisted of a wide variety of ASC products including the new line of IsoThermal TubeTraps, TowerTraps, Half Round TubeTraps, Sound Panels, PCADs and traditional TubeTraps.

“Dien Hi End has emerged as a very consistent and reliable fan of TubeTraps of all types,” says Goulette.  “Their orders cover all the major bases of room acoustics: corner bass trapping, mid-high diffusion, and flat panel treble control.  The Dien rep obviously understands room acoustics, and the Hi-Fi enthusiasts in Vietnam obviously understand what it takes to get the most out of their systems.”

All of the products are manufactured by hand in Eugene, OR at the ASC facility. The order was many weeks in the making and filled a shipping container.  The next order is due to ship at the end of September.

“To me, the importance of detail in music is huge and it is crucial to have an accurate room and a monitoring system that shows the absolute truth.” – Mauricio Gargel

Mauricio Gargel is an accomplished audio engineer from São Paulo, Brazil, who is considered by his peers to be a multi-task professional. His passion for sound and constant effort to improve the quality of recorded music is exceptional.  Gargel has been working as a sound engineer for 15 years now with a successful career which includes recording and mixing of CDs and DVDs. Credits as a recording or mixing engineer include: Tribo de Jah, Palavra Cantada, Rosana Lanzelotte, Ceumar, Tri-Fi Jazz, Phil Palombi, among others.

After living in the US and gaining contacts in a prolific music industry, Gargel returned to Brazil to start his own mastering place. Gargel’s ultimate goal is to run a mastering room that differentiates not because of the amount of gear in the room, but a place that would help musicians to get their art to the next level without compromising sound quality. Since its creation, Maurico Gargel audio mastering has mastered records for Brazilian artists like Arnaldo Antunes, Camila Honda, Samuel Rosa, Lô Borges, Dani and Debora Gurgel, Mani Padme and Sepultura as well as international artists from Australia, Canada and United States. For a list of records mastered at Mauricio Gargel audio mastering please refer to http://www.mauriciogargel.com/#!discos/c1zy6

We reached out to Gargel to discuss his mastering facility, his history, audio techniques and his studio gear, including his use of ASC TubeTraps and StudioTraps.

Q: Tell me about how you became interested in working with music. How did you get into audio work?
A: I started in 1992. My first job was in an audio visual department in the state water company. At this stage my main functions were to assist field-recording crews, preparing audio, video, and lighting equipment. I also provided support in the post-production of intra-company communications material. After 2 years I moved to a studio in a town called Be Bop where I worked as an assistant engineer doing basic sessions preparation and studio organization. I helped a lot with Pro Tools implementation and was one of the most demanded Pro Tools in-house operators. I have also worked at an audio school (IAV) for nearly 10 years, throughout which I have always been highly engaged. In parallel, I set up a studio to work with advertisement and radio spots. I think that happened because I had a degree in Communications and since I always had a passion for music, I thought it would be logical to combine studio work and advertisements.  The line of work I selected early on proved to be quite appropriate and fitting, as I soon realized that studio work was my strongest ability.  However, shortly after establishing the studio, I decided to dedicate myself exclusively to music and the making of records and I abandoned the realm of advertising. I have undergone different experiences, each of which has contributed uniquely to what I know today.

Q: Tell me a little about your mastering facility. When did you open and how did it start? What gear do you use? How important is the layout of your room?
A: I opened my mastering room when I came back from Nashville. This was in 2012. My set-up is very simple but efficient. I do not have a lot of gear, basically consisting of two compressors (an Opto and a VCA), a mastering equalizer and a de-esser. I like to have just a few pieces and know how to work them really well. This way I keep myself focused on the music. If I need something different I rely on plug-ins quite often. Without a doubt, the layout of the room is the most important part of the “system”  in conjunction with the loudspeaker. My monitoring system consists of a very clean path from the D to A converter to the speakers. The only thing you will find in this path is a passive volume control. The goal is to listen to the truth and understand what I am supposed to do to improve the music that comes to me.

Q: You use ASC TubeTraps and StudioTraps. How did you hear about them and what made you interested in using them?
A: I first heard of the TubeTraps when I was with Bruce Swedien in his studio. He is a mentor for me and the TubeTraps were one of the many lessons he taught me.

Q: What have ASC TubeTraps done for your work? How have they changed your working environment?
A: Technically speaking, the TubeTraps worked really well in the low end and helped me to have a flat and smooth response around the 100Hz area.

Q: How did your room sound before using ASC TubeTraps?
A: My room sounded quite reasonable without the TubeTraps mainly because I spent a lot of time thinking about dimensions and speaker location and stuff like that. I have optimized the most I could before bringing the TubeTraps in. I could still play around with the TubeTraps as they are so light and easy to reposition. I ended up finding a very efficient use for the TubeTraps positioned really close to the speakers… sort of grabbing the sound wave at its origin point. When the project was complete (with the TubeTraps in the room) everything worked perfectly and the low end punch was amazing.

Q: What are some mastering techniques you use to achieve best results?
A: I love to have the client in the room with me. This is what really tells me what the “best technique” is. I think creativity is much stronger if you can kick ideas around with somebody. Especially in music. The best results come if the client is inspired and relaxed. That works the same way for me.  So, in this way, I think the best technique is to have a good comfortable room that allows creativity to flow.

Q: How important are room acoustics to your projects and to sound and music in general?
A: I spend most of my time listening and judging what music sounds like. Room acoustics is the most important element of what I do, no question! I don’t like acoustically dead rooms so much.  I prefer to have a room that has a few elements of a normal listening room just like the room a listener will have when listening to a record. The elements consist basically of some lateral diffused reflections that contribute to the sound image. I had some success using the reflective side of the TubeTrap to achieve this.

Q: What are some of your favorite projects that you have worked on?
Working with Arnaldo Antunes was great. I was a huge fan of his music when I was a boy and having the opportunity to eventually work professionally with him was special. Working with Samuel Rosa and Lô Borges on their DVD and CD was amazing too as I love the music from Minas Gerais. I worked with a jazz trio named Mani Padme Trio. Very powerful music  – one of those [bands] that make you cry somedays. That was a very special project too.

Q: What are the biggest successes, failures and challenges of your career?
A: Success: I feel very honored when an artist decides to trust me for their music. This means a lot to me! They keep me inspired and I try really hard to keep them inspired too. Failure: When I have to say “no” to a client. I did that once and it was awful. Challenge: I wish I had more time to dedicate myself to my family, friends and other personal projects. I work 12 hours every day, 5 or 6 days a week. It is a challenge to balance between my life and my mastering work.

Q: Any advice to someone wanting to get into sound production or mastering?
A: Do it! Be careful with the gear-game though, because that’s all it is: a game. And never forget to listen with your heart!

Hailing from the beautiful island of Cyprus situated in east of the Mediterranean Sea, Mic Roussos is one of a kind. He’s a man of many hats, finding work as a producer, an engineer, a multi-instrumentalist, a composer and a piano tuner. And he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Enjoy our exclusive interview with Mic Roussos.

As an producer/engineer, he’s had his hand in numerous projects from the Cyprus area and beyond, working with everyone from pop stars to metal bands. Since 1999, he has been the owner and operator of Mic R. Studios LTD. In 2012, he decided to move to a new studio and this time build from the ground up.

Mic Roussos recently made his first trip the United States for business in Los Angeles, CA and as part of his journey to the states, he headed north to Eugene, OR to visit the Acoustic Sciences Corporation to see the facility in person, to visit with Art Noxon and the crew and to see the products being built right before his very eyes. While he was here, we sat down with Mic to discuss a multitude of topics, including his early career, his studio, his love for ASC, the importance of acoustic treatments and much more.

Q: Tell me first, what made you interested in music in general? What was the first moment in your life that you were like, “music is what I need to do”?
A: Going back 35 years, at the age of 5, I started being into music, with my first instrument – the violin.

Q: Was it a difficult instrument when you first started?
A: It was not that difficult. At five years old, if they give you a space ship to drive, it’s not difficult, because you’re a still a small age. Whatever they give you, you will learn it. So it wasn’t like someday I woke up and decided to be involved in music. From the time that I was born…my family are musicians. It’s in the DNA.

Q: Was violin for you or did you want to do something different?
A: Yes but that was after violin. After the violin I learned how to play electric guitar, then bass guitar, then drums, then blah blah blah. I just bought the instrument and I learned how to play.

Q: Self taught.
A: Yes, I play 11 instruments now.

Q: What drew you into recording music?
A: When I was 15, I had a band and we went to a recording studio in Cyprus to record our songs. The result wasn’t what I expected.  Because I was writing music from the age of 12, I wanted to be able to record my music and be able to make the sound that I like. So I decided to study sound engineering to learn the techniques.

Q: What was your first setup?
A: A digital Yamaha 01V, a Fostex 16 digital hard disc track and a PC running Cubase. That was in 1998.

Q: Were you just recording your stuff or…
A: My stuff. My first studio was in my bedroom. I destroyed my bedroom. I put glue and wool on the walls, I modified my bedroom…

Q: What did you parents think of that when you were destroying your room?
A:  It was OK. It was something natural. You are doing that for your music.

Q: So they were good.
A: Yes, I had support. I always had support from my parents. (smiles)

Q: From that point, when did it evolve into recording for others?
A: After I rented a place and I made it a studio, my first studio, with a bigger setup. I had two Yamaha 02R, I had a Macintosh running Digital Performer with a huge amount of 2 gig of RAM (laughs). That was 1999. My home studio was just for two months.

Q: When you were first starting out, were you working odd jobs? What did you do to support yourself at that time?
A: I am a piano tuner.  It was a second job. I was working as a live engineer, I was working on radio. I did so many jobs. I was a sound engineer at a radio station. The schedule was awful.  I had to wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning because at 5 we had news. But my studio was fully booked like, I had bands. I did what I’m doing now. (laughs)

Q: So you’ve maintained this life the whole time, you didn’t have to do other things like work in a restaurant or…
A: No, after I finished my studies, all of my work was around my field.

Q: So you were blessed in that regard, because a lot of people have to do a lot of extra work to support themselves while they pursue their passion.
A: Yes, I feel blessed.

Q: What is the music industry like in Cyprus?
A: I’m working with some local bands and artists. I’m also working with people from abroad. Basically in Cyprus, I’m doing lots of TV music, soundtracks and theater. I generally have international collaborations.

Q: How did you get turned on to the TubeTraps?
A: I search a lot. I did a lot of research. I had a recording studio with foam. I had a recording studio with cork, wood and many different other materials. I wanted to make something special because I owned the building. It was very interesting, the thing with the floating walls – the IsoDamp. When you read the description of what it’s doing, it’s impressive. When you install it, it’s…I can play drums in my room and everything is closed, no windows, no anything. And you don’t hear that ‘Vvvm, Vvvm, Vvvvm’, that boomy thing from the kick. You just listen to a real kick in your stomach. The question is why do I go to the TubeTraps. OK. TubeTraps are like a room in a room. It’s an empty cylinder with a very special material inside. The sound you have is a room sound without the room. It’s the natural way to hear what you are doing. What I like apart from the design and sound and concept of that is that it’s very unique. There’s nothing like it on the market and that is removable. I can carry TubeTraps or AttackWalls anywhere. And if you just put TubeTraps in any room, you have a studio.

Q: Right…Which is different than the average concept of a studio. You build a studio intentionally in the beginning, but if a room isn’t set up right, there’s not much you can do. But the TubeTraps change that.
A: Yeah. But not only that. The Attack Wall offers something unique. With the AttackWall you have your monitors on a monitor stand, which is a TubeTrap monitor stand that makes any speaker sound amazing with 100% performance. So the way that the monitor spreads the sound is far from any other monitor installation.

Q: It’s kind of like a cockpit.
A: Yeah. A cockpit. Pilot’s view. (laughs)

Q: Did you find it online when you first heard about the technology?
A: Yeah. I found it online. It looked interesting. I was searching for something different. And I found it.

Q: So you saw this stuff online and you ordered it.
A: Yeah. I spoke to Chris Klein at ASC for one year until I finish the design and the combination because when I was talking to Chris, the studio wasn’t built. No building! (laughs). We decided the size of the rooms and what to build. Chris was extremely helpful on my studio design and I’m 100% satisfied with the results.

Q: So the addition of the traps changed the way you produced, right?
A: Of course. It was a big studio upgrade for me.

Q: What were some of the changes that happened?
A: If you don’t treat a room the proper way, you don’t actually hear what you are recording or what you are mixing. A pair of excellent monitor systems is not enough. You need a good acoustic treatment in your room. My room is flat. It’s an X-ray. What you listen to is the real thing.

Q: So when you started working with Traps, you didn’t have to work as hard, you’re not trying to fix problems.
A: No. You just put it in the room. ASC helped guide me to put the TubeTraps in the right positions. It sounds correct. I have my listening position of course. Now with the AttackWall, you can find the center of your speakers and you have an excellent stereo image.

Q: When you started using the AttackWall did it help your stature as a producer?
A: When I finished the studio and I uploaded some pictures to my page many people were very impressed. When you open the door, you are in a very high tech environment. The impression of the clients, the design, how it looks…I ask many of them to sit in my chair to listen, they were very impressed. Not just my people, but major singers, actors and theater-tv-film producers. I had 100% positive feedback from everybody, appearance-wise and sound-wise.

Q: Most producers have a good ear. They know when something sounds good or sounds bad. When did you realize you had that skill?
A: From the experience of working with different genres and as a multi-instrumentalist, I learned the genre of each instrument I play. So to have that skill, it’s a matter of experience and practice. You must be a good listener.

Q: How does one go about tuning their hearing? Is there a way you have learned to hear better? Like, when you hear a bad note, you hear dissonance. But a good tune it’s harmonious. Is that the same principle that’s applied to your listening?
A: It’s a combination. It’s like a false note with a bad sound. Sound is not just the tone. If the performer is not good, an electric guitar or violin will sound not very real. It’s not the same with a false note, but it’s similar. Like a violin. It’s an instrument of a specific frequency range. Like a piano has a very large range. It’s a matter of taste and then of knowledge. All of these things are based on the experience of every person.

Q: What helps you get better?
A: Reading. Watching. Have my mind open. Books, articles. I like to search to see different techniques of how you record that, that or that. When I have free time, I’m watching YouTube tutorials because in that field, every day you are learning something. You can’t say, I know everything and I’m taught. When you say that it’s like you fell down from the 9th floor. Every day you are learning.

Q: When you look back on some of your previous work do you criticize it? Do you see how you could improve it?
A: Yeah, of course. Sometimes you learn from your old self. Sometimes I find some production that I don’t really like. But it’s good to know you are getting better. You will not see that result on your recordings, but in the way that you are thinking. When you are in your first step as a sound engineer, you are excited and passionate, and you put that here and put that there, and you have this nice salad and you give it a good dressing and then it’s ready for the dust bin, you know. Now you are more mature. It’s how seriously you are getting the profession. Like some sound engineers, before they listen to the instrument that they will mix, their hands are still on the equalizer. Listen first to see what you have, to work on and then decide. There are so many things to do that I have learned over the last 18 years. Listen first, then decide.

Q: What are some recordings that really inspire you?
A: Prince’s Sexy Mother F***er is one of the best recordings and it’s a full sound. I’m a big fan of Bruce Swedien. Everything is tidy in the mix. All these years later “Thriller” is still a top-notch production.

Q: Do you use triggers?
A: Sometimes. Depends on the genre. Especially metal. In metal, you need triggers. Every genre, if you want to be a good producer, you must know what genre you are working on. You can’t have, let’s say, in metal, the drum kit of Deep Purple’s first album. It’s impossible, because the fan of metal knows that, tchng-tch-tchng, that type of kick and snare. But it’s a matter of taste of the producer or the engineer and how to blend the trigger with the real sound. Because many of the drums you can listen to sound like midi. No life. Or if you’re producing jazz, if you never listen to live jazz, just don’t take the job. Send it to someone else who can do it.

Q:  Any last words?
A: I have to say that I hear many people who own an AttackWall or some TubeTraps say that TubeTraps are expensive. I’m not a millionaire, but how many studios have very expensive microphones that cost $20,000? Professional studio equipment is not cheap. In my list I have some outboard gear and the cheapest unit is around 2 or 3000 euros ($2200-$3400) for a single unit. So I can’t say it’s expensive compared to what you get.

ASC Participates on a Panel at AES 139 as Art Noxon, PE lends his expertise. Check out the AES site for more convention info.

Low Frequency Behavior in Small High Accuracy Listening Environments

Thursday, October 29, 2:15 pm — 4:15 pm (Room 1A22)

ASC President and TubeTrap inventor Art Noxon will be joining a panel of some of the industry’s finest acoustic minds to discuss low frequency control in small rooms. While most people are familiar with LF patterns in mid-sized to large rooms, bass acoustics in close quarters have not evolved in the public conscious in quite the same way. The workshop will pertain to small room acoustics, LF acoustic modeling and explore real world and software solutions to bass predictions in environments like this. Stop by to see how the ASC product line fits into this picture and how it change the way you think about any frequency below 250 Hz.

Chair:

John Storyk, Architect, Studio Designer and Principal, Walters-Storyk Design Group – Highland, NY, USA

Panelists:
Renato Cipriano, Walters Storyk Design Group – Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Eddie Kramer, Audio and Technical Consultant for KPFK 90.7FM Studio Upgrade – Los Angeles, CA, USA
Richard Lenz, RealAcoustix LLC – Ogdon, Utah
Art Noxon, AcousticSciences Corp. – Eugene, OR, USA; Tube Trap
Dirk Noy, WSDG – Basel, Switzerland
Roger Roschnik, PSI Audio

Guitar-and-Bass Magazine’s Exclusive: Pete Townshend’s The Who Live Rig, including Pete Townshend’s revolutionary use of TubeTraps to control and refine his amplified sound.
Pete is one of our longest term customers and one of the first to apply our modular acoustics to the stage.

​”Myer also brings out the TubeTraps, bass traps made by Acoustic Sciences Corp, invented by Art Noxon. On the top is written, ‘this half is a treble diffuser and usually faces the listener, the full perimeter is bass absorptive’.

I contact Marcus Thompson from Acoustic Sciences, who very kindly directs me to Chris Klein, the company’s studio acoustic specialist. Klein was directly involved with setting up the TubeTraps for Townshend. He tells me: “Pete has used them in his studio for years. When I was working with Zak Starkey, and involved in his stage set-up, Pete was interested to know how they would work with his own stage amp set-up”

“They make an amp punchier, and where Pete stands will reach about 92dB. The large 16-inch traps are 55Hz absorption, but if you turn the trap around, it will exceed 400Hz diffusive.” Pete used four of them for the Hyde Park gig, and Tim used a plan layout showing the precise placement for this gig.

“I measure from the amp grille cloth to one of the traps and place them strategically to diffuse the volume hitting Pete. Small pieces of white gaffer tape are then placed on the floor around them in case they’re moved accidentally. Pete likes to have as close to a studio sound as you can get, and these traps are very effective – even for an outdoor gig.”

“Pino Palladino’s traps are set up in a different way,” Chris explains, “because of the frequencies he generates, in order to get rid of the peaks and valleys. This is done in order to produce the sound Pino wants to hear.”

~excerpt from guitar-bass.net powered by Guitar-and-Bass Magazine

Get the full story here courtesy of Guitar Magazine: Exclusive: Pete Townshend’s The Who Live Rig

Finally! You can get control of the rear wall bounce! Acoustic Sciences Releases the IsoThermal TubeTrap

We’ve added a new model to our TubeTrap line, brand new for 2015.  It’s an isothermal-class RC time constant bass trap combined with the adjustable treble diffusion of our regular TubeTrap. It delivers twice the bass absorption of an equivalent sized TubeTrap between 30 Hz and 250 Hz. That’s why the IsoThermal TubeTrap has two chrome dots along the rim instead of the traditional one dot: two dots means twice the power!

By eliminating the thermal component of acoustic pressure, The IsoThermal TubeTrap has an effectively 40% larger internal volume below 150 Hz, which doubles its absorbing power while retaining all of the other familiar sonic characteristics of the TubeTrap you know and love.

Audiophiles & Recording Engineers have relied on the Award winning TubeTraps to get their room sound just right.  The IsoThermal TubeTrap continues this tradition with our new patented technology by delivering twice the bass absorption power, a fully adjustable diffuser with dynamic broadband sound absorption and diffusion.  As the acoustic workhorse for solving your room’s sonic problems, the Isothermal TubeTrap offers extended bass absorption and treble range diffusion to help your room sound lively and tight.

Isothermal TubeTraps are modular, self-contained, broadband acoustic absorber/diffusers that improve the quality of music playback.  No tricky installation required. Simply place them in the corners of your listening room or studio, and they go to work—giving you a clean musical bass-line, along with added high frequency ambient sparkle.

Buy yours today!

1-800-272-8823

www.acousticsciences.com/products/isothermal-tubetrap

​

The Norsk Innspillingsbyrå Studio in Oslo, Norway features a beautiful AttackWall with double Monitor Stacks for mixing and a Quick Sound Field for recording. Espen Lind’s Studio chosen by Mix Class of 2014, the studio designed by Jeff Hedback is the production and mixing studio for musician/producer Espen Lind.

The studio also utilizes a Quick Sound Field for recording and TubeTraps to condition bass.

More Info

• Espen Lind’s site
• Wikipedia: Espionage

Sound is conveyed through waves in the air. Waves that exist between a pair of surfaces can create standing wave resonances whenever the distance between the surfaces is any even multiple of one-half of the wavelength. At resonant frequencies (tones), the sound is louder and decays much more slowly than at non-resonant frequencies, causing uneven tonal quality and interference with clarity. Resonant frequencies occur mainly in the bass range, due to the relationship between the wavelengths of low-frequency sounds and the typical sizes of people’s rooms.

Every room has its associated resonant frequencies. Rooms built using preferred dimensions ratios have potentially more even distributions of these resonant frequencies. Room built with angles walls or ceilings have more complicated resonant modes than typical rectangular rooms and the resonances can be potentially less severe. But, no matter what the size or shape of the room, resonant frequencies can be controlled through the use of bass traps.

“Bass” frequencies occupy all the notes on the left half of the keyboard (Everything below middle C). Since this is such a large portion of the musical spectrum, and because every room has potential resonant frequency problems in this bass range, it is imperative that the low frequencies be the first issue to address in improving any room’s acoustics. Of course, each specific room’s geometry, setup, and application dictate how to best optimize the bass performance. However, there are some general enhancements that can be made using ASC Tube Traps that are sure to offer improvement in any room.

Panels calm reverb at yoga a center with large, hard surfaces, causing noise to build-up, which makes it difficult to practice yoga. Large custom ceiling panels ordered by Goodwin’s High End calm excessive reverb at a nearby yoga center.

Problem

The yoga center has large, hard surfaces, causing noise to build-up, which makes it difficult to practice yoga.

“It’s hard to do yoga in reverb chamber,” explains Art, President of ASC.

Solution

The solution was to create a perimeter of sound absorbing panels and install them as a traditional soffit. “The panels cast an acoustic shadow about a double their size, due to placement in the corners.” says Jordan, who oversaw production. The panels are a flat-mounted, budget version of the ASC Acoustic Soffit, which works more aggressively at the lower frequencies in situations where critical listening to audio is paramount.

One issue that had to be overcome was the irregularities of the building. “It’s an older building, and not all of the walls are straight,” says Art, “We recommended that the customer use 18″ cardboard strips to build a template of the sound panels they wanted directly on the ceiling.”

The staff at Goodwin’s carefully created the templates to fit around existing fixtures and match the unique shape of the yoga facility. Many were irregularly shaped to allow space for obstructions and fit the features the building.

They disassembled the cardboard soffit, numbered the 37 templates, created diagrams for both rooms and and shipped it all to ASC.

Templates Become Panels

Each cardboard template was laid out and the final panel built right onto the back of it. The fiberglass was cut to fit the cardboard, with a few millimeters shaved off here and there to allow for the thickness of the final layers of fabric used to seal and cover the fiberglass.

The finished panels will go right back into the same positions they were in as templates.

The cardboard backing also serves to strengthen the lengthy panels. The largest of the panels were 10 feet long, which is an unusually large size. “We were able to pick up the largest panels without them flexing too much,” explained Jordan. “The cardboard will also wick up the adhesive and allow it to out-gas while it cures.”

Stress Tests

The panels went through a series of stress tests to make sure they would hold up, due to their unusually large size. The cardboard solution held up well while carrying and worked great during the glue test.

Jordan was concerned about the additional weight of the large panels, but was confident after the successful glue test.

Finishing

The oversized panels required extra attention in the finishing area. “I had to build a custom workstation just to accommodate the large size,” says Victor, ASC’s Finisher. “They’re the biggest panels I’ve ever finished.” The panels were covered in Terra colored Guilford FR701.

Shipping

“I had to play Tetris to get it to fit tight, so they don’t get damaged,” said John, ASC’s Shipper. He packed the whole order on a custom-built, oversized pallet, taking extra care and cardboard to reinforce the corners and ensure safe travel across the country.

Installation

Goodwin’s will install the numbered panels in the positions they created them, except now each cardboard cutout will have a sound-absorbing acoustic panel built to fit. Installation is scheduled for late June.

Luxury apartments above and a new busy restaurant below had become a noise problem. The restaurant was too noisy for patrons inside and too noisy for the neighbors overhead during busy hours. Acoustic Sciences was happy to help provide 123 Main Street’s brand new sound.

Property managers went looking for some help with restaurant acoustics and found ASC. We worked with them on various designs and a cost-effective solution was selected.

“People now constantly remark about how quiet the space is, but not unnaturally so.”

Gary Schotland

For more about this restaurant acoustics project, see the project page.

Sound Control

ASC SoundPlanks are the perfect companion to ASC TubeTraps for complete control of the acoustics in your room.  After the bass range is under control, the SoundPlanks further improve imaging and flutter echo without taking up any floor space.  Install approximately 16″ on center near early reflection points for optimal results.

The SoundPlank is Essential for any listening environment and are the most effective tool for managing perimeter reflections and keeping the RT-60 of your room optimized.

The SoundPlank manages mid-range and upper bass is absorbed while the integrated diffuser strip keeps your room bright and not over-damped.

Other acoustical panels are large and cover lots of wall space and are marginally flexible to any doors, furniture, windows and other features of your space.

Sam Lynn Halonen, a longtime friend of ASC, passed away on Christmas Day 2013 after a valiant battle with bone marrow disease.

Sam inherited the family capacity for making music, writing music and playing guitar with his father Gene and brothers Brian and Dean. He eventually established multiple recording and mastering studios, becoming focused on designing systems for delivering high quality audio.

When Sam started experimenting with TubeTraps, he found a product that allowed his creativity to flourish. He was instrumental in the development of the AttackWall, expanding on of the benefits of the Quick Sound Field, an arrangement Halonen also helped to pioneer.

Though Sam will be greatly missed for his exuberant spirit and unconventional sense of style, his legacy lives on in the world of music production. Engineers all over the world have used the concepts he championed, ranging from the legendary Bruce Swedien and new wave rocker Sting to the progressive-house producer deadmau5.

During his prolonged struggle with his illness, when anyone asked, “How are you doing?” Sam characteristically replied, “Everything I can!” He exploited every opportunity to live life to its fullest and most creative.

Sam is survived by his wife Penny and children, Rachel and Graham.

The family requests that donations be made to Rush University Medical Center for the Bone Marrow Transplant Fund. Please send memorial gifts to Rush University Medical Center, 1700 W. Van Buren St., Suite 250, Chicago, IL 60612.

The 4th annual California Audio Show was a great success, showcasing the latest in high end audio. ASC handcrafted 50 “Original” TubeTraps for CAS4 to provide the acoustics necessary to appreciate the amazing technologies represented. ASC also provided free copies of its proprietary Acoustic Test CD, which includes the Music Articulation Test Tones.

MATT  – The ASC Acoustic Test Signal

….play it first over headphones and then in your room.  You hear a scale of rapid tone bursts that any HiFi system should be able to reproduce.  Your system could but it can’t because the room keeps getting in the way.  Then concentrate on the sound stage.  It’s a mono signal and the image should stay stage center, tight and focused.  But it doesn’t.

This test is a rapid gated slow sine sweep.  It demonstrates the musical clarity vs frequency of the HiFi system in your room.  In some ranges of sound you will hear strong rapid dynamic sound level changes while in other ranges the tone bursts blur together in reverberant chaos.  You can also hear the more familiar peaks and valleys of your room.  Then play it again but this time close your eyes and concentrate on the sound stage of this perfectly mono signal.  In some tone ranges the image stays put; stage center, small and tight, where it belongs.  But the next tone range sees the image lose focus and fluff up into a ball of fog. And yet another sees the image up and wander off, flying around the sound stage like Peter Pan.

The objective of performing the MATT test in your listening room is to determine where you might move your speakers, listening position, and/or where to add acoustic treatment to your room to obtain the highest quality sound possible from the components in your listening environment.

To explore the musical intelligibility and the sonic image-ability of your audio system…

How fast is your room? Most audiophiles know how loud they can play their room before it begins to breakup. Even the speakers have a breakup threshold, above which we begin to hear cone breakup and box buzz. The MATT test is an easy way to ring out your room without risking doing damage to structure or gear due to sustained power at one frequency. At lower sound levels it checks out the room acoustic part of your listening experience, sorting out clear dynamic bandwidths from blurred bandwidths.

TubeTraps Win TAS Editors Choice Award…again and are featured in The Absolute Sound’s Editors Choice Awards issue. The editors and writers of The Absolute Sound hand pick the audio gear they feel is “most worthy of your consideration.” The excerpt reads:

“Unless you have a professionally designed and treated room, TubeTraps from Acoustic Sciences Corporation are absolutely indispensable to improving your system’s sound. They are able to solve a wide range of acoustic problems with strategic placement and orientation. Boomy bass can be cured with a pair of 16″ Full Rounds in the corners behind the loudspeakers. Placed along the sidewalls between you and the loudspeakers, TubeTraps kill unwanted sidewall refelctions, prevent flutter echo, and aid in diffusion. A single TubeTrap in the center of the wall behind the loudspeaker can expand soundstage depth. There are lots of questionable acoustic products on the market, but TubeTraps are the real deal.”

Acoustic Sciences Corporation is proud to have received this recommendation and endorses The Absolute Sound as a great resource for any audiophile.

TUBETRAP SCIENCE – WITH ENHANCED BASS ABSORPTION

Audiophiles & Recording Engineers have relied on the Award winning TubeTraps to get their room sound just right.  The IsoThermal TubeTrap continues this tradition with our new patented technology by delivering twice the bass absorption power, a fully adjustable diffuser with dynamic broadband sound absorption and diffusion.  As the acoustic workhorse for solving your room’s sonic problems, the Isothermal TubeTrap offers extended bass absorption and treble range diffusion to help your room sound lively and tight.

Isothermal TubeTraps are modular, self-contained, broadband acoustic absorber/diffusers that improve the quality of music playback.  No tricky installation required. Simply place them in the corners of your listening room or studio, and they go to work—giving you a clean musical bass-line, along with added high frequency ambient sparkle.

Recently, we here at ASC had the amazing opportunity of working with The Who in providing TubeTraps for The Who’s Quadrophenia Tour.

Guess “who” we just worked with?

Once again we are working with the Pete Townshend and the Who, this time it’s on stage for their present 50 stop tour. 25 years ago we renovated Pete’s synclavier sampling room, the boat house at Eel Pie Studios, using the Quick Sound Field technique for mic’d sound. This time we are apply the AttackWall technique to the kick drum speaker located on stage right behind Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey, who is playing drums on this tour.

As the project progressed, it was realized that there would have to be a way to safely transport the bass traps from site to site. We here at ASC then worked with Anvil Cases to develop a case that could store the TubeTraps. We then sent Chris down to Florida to meet with The Who and help set up the cases.

Chris Klein, project manager for Acoustic Sciences Corporation, said that he loved working with The Who. “I met them at rehearsals in the Silver Spur Arenain Orlando, Florida. It was fun, they’re all really nice guys and very professional.” Acoustic Sciences provided an array of TubeTraps, ASC’s corner-loaded bass traps, to be placed behind the drums. “We used TubeTraps in order to cut down on resonance from the kick drum coming out of a subwoofer behind Zak.” Zak Starkey is the drummer for the Quadrophenia World Tour, and has worked with The Who since 1994.

Pete Townshend has been a longtime supporter of our products, having been one of the first celebrities to purchase ASC TubeTraps. We’re honored to have been able to work with such an amazing group of people and hope to work with them again.

The TubeTraps were on display behind The Who during the 12/12/12 benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The Who’s Quadrophenia Tour information and dates are available at www.thewho.com.

Photos provided courtesy of Ute Vergin.

ASC Builds Acoustic Panels For Falling Sky Brewery in our hometown of Eugene, Oregon.

ASC is famous for our corner-loaded bass trap, the TubeTrap, but some people don’t know we also do many other things, including restaurant acoustics. Falling Sky, a brewery here in Eugene, Oregon, had been having a problem with their restaurant acoustic caused by a high noise floor. With the reverberant noise being too loud for some restaurant customers, Falling Sky called us and asked for our help.

As you can see in the picture, Falling Sky has a really fascinating interior architecture so we wanted to keep our visual footprint as small as possible. After the panels were installed, the room was noticeably quieter, making conversation much more pleasant.

ASC Gives Away Four TubeTraps in EnjoyTheMusic.com’s Contest. Enjoythemusic.com’s high-end audio sweepstakes lucky winner received four 13″ TubeTraps, with an MSRP of $2168.

The TubeTrap

We’ve been pioneering, building and improving bass traps since 1984. Our flagship then remains the same today….theTubeTrap.

The TubeTrap bass trap diffuser is the original portable acoustic device. Invented in the fires of a concrete poured basement with uncontrollable bass reverberation, these devices tamed the muddy booming sound like nothing seen before them. Let’s take a closer look at why you need bass traps with treble diffusers as the foundation of your high end audio listening or critical mixing space.

What Exactly is a TubeTrap?

Bass Traps absorb low frequency sound. They are mostly used in small rooms in which a high power audio system is being played, such as recording studio control rooms, mastering rooms and audiophile listening rooms. There are many types of bass traps.

Traditionally acoustic designers or acousticians designed bass traps to be built into the construction of the room. In the mid ’80s the first portable bass trap became available, invented by Art Noxon, an acoustic engineer. The TubeTrap is a cylinder shaped bass trap that is frequently found in the corners of high power audio playback rooms.

It’s the corner of a rectangular room that funnels bass pressure into a high pressure zone. Bass traps are usually placed in the corners of the room. The TubeTrap is a unique type of bass trap because it includes a suspended sheet of material that has been perforated in such a way that it backscatters the treble range of sound, diffusing it into the room.

The curved treble diffusers act to retain room ambience, while enhancing the sense of spaciousness in the listening room. The corner loaded bass traps act to minimize the reverberant buildup of bass energy in the room. Used together, the feeling of being in a small room disappears, replaced by the feeling of being in a large ambient space.

We had a great turnout at the RSPE AttackWall/Focal Speakers Event on June 26th. It featured Focal’s SM9 speakers, and the ASC AttackWall. ASC’s Art Noxon was there to show the benefits of ASC’s products.

One of the highlights of the event was the salesman hearing the effect of the AttackWall for the first time. Listening to an album they frequently use to demo sound equipment, they heard a low level voice in the background of a track. They had never heard it before.

To show the effectiveness of the QuickSoundField, the lovely Amanda Ply sang with the QSF, then without it. Attendees were impressed by the results. Follow her on FaceBook at Facebook.com/AmandaPly.

The RSPE AttackWall/Focal Speakers Event hosted by RSPE is the premier professional audio dealer for Southern California. You can visit them at their website www.rspe.com.

No Control Room?
No Problem

Customize Your AttackWall Workstation
Used all over the world, the AttackWall is created from a series of StudioTraps and custom MonitorStands that decouple your speaker and serve as deep bass traps. This combination serves to control the entire bandwidth of sound to deliver mixes that translate perfectly.

AttackWall redefines mixing environments.
It’s a free-standing workstation that consistently produces the most amazingly clear sonic space you’ll ever work in. When you need reliable, repeatable and accurate sonic conditions to do your work, nothing beats the AttackWall. Equally adept for tracking, mixing and mastering, you can achieve the same quality results regardless of room dynamics or monitor speakers used.

ASC’s QuickSoundField provided for Yo-Yo Ma Cinecast live from  Boston of his latest CD release–“The Goat Rodeo Sessions”.   Joining Yo-Yo Ma are world-class bluegrass musicians Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile.   For more info, please visit Yo-Yo Ma’s site here.

Control Your Signal From Talent To Mic

The QSF is the acoustic technique which adds abundant, clean, low level early reflections to the direct signal at the mic. This creates reverberant-free, very life-like and robust, natural sounding tracks. It is the same “sound fusion” recording technique recommended by F. Alton Everest in his Critical Listening workbook in 1982, who later discovered the QSF in 1991 and endorsed it in his 3rd edition of The Master Handbook of Acoustics in 1993.

Sonic structure inside the QSF is so consistent, you can break the kit down, put it away, and days later you can casually set it back up anywhere and get the same sound you had before.

The Quick Sound Field is created by an arrangement of Studio Traps, whose number varies between 8 for vocals and up to 20 for large trap sets. Recording engineer Bruce Swedien uses 14 StudioTraps in his QSF, and he “never leaves home without them.”

The StudioTrap is a two sided acoustic cylinder. The front half is live, treble diffusive and the back half is dead, treble absorptive. The silver dot marks the center of the live, the treble diffusive side. The StudioTrap is a free standing, adjustable height, portable studio acoustic, useful in any room to form gobos or to soften walls and corners.

Originally patented in the early ’80s, and ubiquitously also known to engineers, producers and artists as simply,”TubeTraps” (owing to their tall and slender cylindrical shape), many recording engineers as well as numerous custom-designed commercial studios use them to achieve better recording (and mixing) results.

One of the strongest benefits of the Quick Sound Field is it’s ability to be moved around into an ATTACK Wall, a legendary producing space. When you’re done recording your talent with the QSF, move it into the control room and place it around the speakers, and watch and hear the mic placement in the mix become more clear then it’s ever been before, while it simultaneously improves the sound from your speakers.

Summarizing his affection for ASC’s products, the famous producer Bruce Swedien wrapped up a recent interview by once again offering his personal endorsement of the Eugene, OR firm’s products, “ASC’s StudioTraps have been one of my ‘secret weapons’ all these years. They are an incredible product—durable, portable, extremely flexible and most important, they give me the ability to achieve precise, repeatable sound results with whatever microphones I choose, wherever I work. I haven’t done a project without them.” These projects include albums by Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and LL Cool J.

Why Do You Need a Quick Sound Field?

The QSF is a nearfield acoustic environment that improves the quality of the signal at the mic. It uses StudioTraps to surround and separate both mic and talent from the room. The QSF creates a controlled and very stable acoustic workstation and completes the missing link, the acoustic part of the mic environment in todays digital studio. Sonic structure inside the QSF is so consistent, you can break the kit down, put it away, days later you can casually set it back up anywhere and get the same sound you had before.

The Quick Sound Field is an amazing resource for producers. Ask your talent to step into the opening at the base of the QSF setup and drop your mic into the middle. The mic becomes decoupled from the room. That means that you can finally free your tracks from that close mic, proximity sound effect. Dig out your good figure 8 or omni, don’t be afraid to back it off the talent, up and away into that dense set of early reflections that live, alive and well, inside the QSF.

And then, ask your talent to project, to play into and fill up the QSF space in front of them. And also, to feel free to move around, because the sound inside that space doesn’t change at the mic, it just stays there, rock solid. Best of all is that what the talent hears is what it sounds like on playback. And, yes it pans, mixes and runs through the effects rack just like ay other dry signal, except better. Remember: “you gotta hear it to believe it.” So, call us now for an audition.

ASC was asked to provide a Custom Acoustic Soffit For Skywalker Sound with a modified acoustic soffit to accommodate a projector they planned to install in one of their two primary Sound Design suites.

What Was Needed

The soffit would need to fit the pre-existing soffit system (also provided by ASC) both mechanically and aesthetically and be large enough to ultimately encase a projector, its mounting system, and all of its wiring. The projector would then project its image through a small, glass opening in the soffit. The entire thing would need to be ventilated to allow for the projector’s exhaust, but remain sealed to prevent the projector’s sound from leaking out. Of course the entire unit still needed to function as an acoustic soffit. Due to time constraints, ASC decided to proceed with production without a working prototype. Based off an initial concept, and working from the list of requirements that needed to be fulfilled, ASC’s R&D/Manufacturing department worked closely with ASC Engineering, modifying and designing as the highly focused production progressed. In the end, ASC produced a soffit that maintained the same proportions as the pre-existing soffits, with the exception that the modified soffit would be thicker, hanging down from the ceiling two extra inches below the soffits on either side of it.

How It Works

The hollow cavity inside the soffit encases the projector, isolating it with intense sound deadening materials, while the large opening on the soffit’s right side allows the projector’s exhaust to be channeled out and away from the unit without ever breaching the sound seal. Additional neoprene sealing on the back of the soffit further seals the projector’s sound, preventing it from ever entering the room. The glass in the front opening of the unit was provided by Skywalker Sound, and is so clear that it is nearly invisible, even from a close distance. One of our salesmen had to tap the surface of it with a pencil to determine it was actually there. ASC completed and shipped the highly customized unit on deadline thanks to the large amount of cooperation between our engineering and manufacturing departments, and the incredible level of skill and knowledge both departments approach each project with.

ASC’s Art Noxon is Guest Lecturer at Bruce Swedien Studio Workshop

Bruce Swedien mentored 9 recording engineers from all over the world, once again in his home studio in Ocala, Florida. Art Noxon, Bruce’s acoustic design engineer, taught “Swedien Acoustics” to the group each morning session for the first 3 days of this 6 day session. Martin Kanola, Bruce’s microphone design engineer, took over the morning sessions for the last 3 days. Art taught the group about:

1. The design and construction of Bruce’s studio
2. Sound, rooms and microphones,
3. MATT testing monitor playback performance,
4. The midfield wrap-around AttackWall Bruce uses for mixing,
5. How he uses sound fusion and QSF for gathering full bodied “direct” signals in the live room,
6. The difference between and uses for coherent and incoherent diffusers,
7.  How signal masking or clarity in the mix depends on the reverb setting.

This was the 4th of Bruce’s present series of mentoring workshops: “In The Studio with Bruce Swedien” is a comprehensive one week “reprogramming” course for recording engineers who come from all over the world. They hope to discover and take home some of Bruce’s technical tricks but who they meet is an engineer who does not even use compressors, limiters or EQ and who never even tries to fix it in the mix. He’s a sound recording artist who does his mixing at the mic. And that’s just the beginning. Bruce’s mentoring classes are a rare, life changing opportunity for studio engineers to relearn how to approach their work in recording from one of the true and great Master Engineers in recording history. Bruce’s discography starts early with such names as Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, through Dinah Washington, Quincy Jones, The Wiz and Michael Jackson, Burt Bacharach, Sergio Mendes, James Ingram, Michael McDonald and Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Jennifer Lopez and many many more…

When it comes to conference & classrooms, the reverberant acoustics in most traditional classrooms makes the unfamiliar speech common in a learning environment harder to process, making it harder to learn.

High Intelligibility Classrooms

A technical brief by Art Noxon, Acoustic Engineer

There are classrooms and there are high intelligibility classrooms. Who gets high intelligibility classrooms?

• Hearing and learning disabled
• Language Arts
• Vocabulary oriented classroom
• Music and practice rooms
• TV learning centers
• Multilingual population classrooms
• Larger classrooms and lecture halls

Normal classrooms are quite reverberant, due to the hygiene tradition of public spaces. Unfamiliar speech is much harder to understand in a reverberant space. Familiar speech can be more easily understood in a semi-reverberant space than is unfamiliar speech. For example, instructions in a gym class will contain almost no new words. The familiar context and expectation of word sequences will help the listener hear, actually guess/expect what is being said.

Learning a foreign language in a gym would be almost impossible because there is no backlog of experience that can lead to expected word sequences. This applies also to classes steeped in new vocabulary such as biology.

Children who are hearing or learning disabled are much more easily distracted by the reverberation of sound. They seem to fall short in their ability to discriminate between the intentional, direct sounds from the teacher and the time delayed cacophony of these same sounds after they have undergone multiple reflections within the room.

For bilingual students, the classroom language is their adopted language. They are not used to the context of this second language and therefore have reduced confidence in expectation of word sequences. They cannot hear through classroom noise as easily as primary language based students. These second language students operate with a learning disadvantage due to poor room acoustics.

Larger classrooms and lecture halls lose yet another cue factor that does exist and helps students to “see through” noisy, reverberant classrooms. This is the visual cue. In small classrooms, the student can focus on the mouthing of words to help understanding. Over long distances, this lip reading factor disappears leaving only body language as support for sentence detail.

Even normal sized classrooms suffer from the loss of visual cues. In the back of the room, reverberant levels are greatest and the direct signal is weakest. The distance from student to teacher is greatest and visual cues are weakest. This is complicated as the heads of other students are often in the way. We can next add or factor in the general attitude of the students who choose to sit in the back of the room. Accompanying all this is the shuffle and murmur or “self noise” noise levels. There is little wonder these far field student positions will be accompanied by lower levels of attentiveness. The conglomeration of these effects serves to suggest that wide shallow classrooms ought to be preferred over long narrow classrooms.

Music practice rooms are like language classrooms except students anticipate not their own voice but the voice of their instrument. Still their ears must synchronize their own sounds to those of the ensemble and the conductor’s expectations. Excessively reverberant spaces isolate the student. Rather than perceiving themselves set into a teamwork relationship with other members, they find themselves playing against a wall of sound, the reverberant sound field. They cannot practice and develop the skill of hearing themselves within the context of other individual instruments if they cannot separate out to render distinct the other instruments from the reverberant sound field.

Another area for enhanced intelligibility is the rapidly growing TV monitor education format. In this setting there often is no visual available for the student, no lip movement and no body language need be present. Additionally, the fixed sound source associated with TV sets is very different from the ever moving source of a live teacher. Audio speakers have sound dispersion characteristics, high frequencies radiate forward while the lower tones radiate equally in all directions. The human voice is the same in this regard. The difference is that a person continuously moves head and body. The higher frequency beamy part of the soundfield is always being cast about, not so with the fixed position TV monitor. With the lower registers, a fixed TV or audio monitor will acoustically couple very easily to room resonances which establish those monotonous drone tones and room boom that accompanies the presentation. Sound is quite different with an animated source, where every movement changes the coupling to room resonance and so the coloration is continuously changing and much less dreary. Acoustic control of the walls and ceiling near the TV monitor is very important in developing a comfortable fit for student audition.

I have reviewed the more important consequence of classroom cacophony. I am confident you are fundamentally aware of these factors but I must say that architects in general are one to two decades behind most current practices in acoustics. It is imperative that any school plan for the 90’s include considerations for the intelligibility factor. The architect is presently familiar with absorption coefficients and decay rate criteria for sound in various types of spaces. The sound system and acoustic engineers have testing equipment such as sound level meters, octave band and RT-60 analyzers to support this level of understanding.

As with all science and practice, sophistication and experience produce new levels of understanding and competency in manipulating the variables. So it is with psychoacoustics. And the emergent topic these days is intelligibility. There already exists intelligibility standards and intelligibility testing equipment. Crown International (U.S) makes one piece of gear and B & K (Denmark) makes another. Most of the top acoustic engineers and sound system designers already have this equipment and use it regularly in setting up churches, halls, or any area of amplified sound. The technology can easily be extended into the acoustics of the classroom.

The important point to remember is that different intelligibility standards will go with different applications. Some of this criteria for the classroom no doubt has yet to be developed.