Apple MA261Z/A User Manual - Page 571

∏ Tip: A much cheaper alternative to building new walls is to mount angled pieces of material to the existing walls to eliminate parallel surfaces. VIII If the material in a room is very reflective, the room sounds "brighter" because high frequencies are easily reflected. Mounting absorbing material (such as acoustic foam) on the walls can reduce the brightness of a room. A "dead room" is one that has very little reflection (or reverberation). Try to cover any reflective surfaces in your monitoring environment. Speaker Placement and Listening Position Most video editing suites use nearfield monitors, which are speakers designed to be listened to at fairly close range. Speakers should be at least a foot or two away from any walls to prevent early reflections of sound which combine with and muddy up the original sound. Position the speakers as far from your listening position as they are from each other (forming an equilateral triangle). For example, if the distance between the speakers is six feet, you should place yourself six feet from each speaker. The apparent width of the sound stage, or stereo image, increases as the distance between the speakers increases. However, if the two speakers get too far apart, sound information appearing in the center (between both speakers) starts to disappear. Using Headphones Many people use headphones as an alternative to critical monitoring speakers. Headphones provide isolation from ambient noise in the room where you are mixing, adding additional clarity that may not be obvious in your speakers a few feet from your ears. This clarity can be helpful for cleaning up low-level noise and pops created by misaligned edits. However, don't rely solely on headphones when you mix because adjustments you make may be too subtle or delicate for the average viewer listening to your movie on speakers a few feet away. Chapter 41 Setting Up Audio Equipment 571