If room correction software can fix so much digitally, does acoustic room treatment still matter at all? In this follow-up Tech Talk, Roland Hoffmann of Lyngdorf Audio and Steinway Lyngdorf returns to explain why physical treatment and digital correction aren’t competing solutions — and why diffusers, absorbers and bass traps, powerful as they are, are professional tools that punish anyone who reaches for them without first understanding the actual problem.
Why acoustic room treatment alone doesn’t solve everything
Hoffmann’s starting point hasn’t changed from the previous episode: always begin with a good sounding room — one with drapes, carpet, furniture and bookcases, the kind of space where a conversation doesn’t sound echoey. Electronic room correction was never meant to replace good speaker placement and a naturally pleasant-sounding room. But acoustic room treatment, on its own, runs into a hard limit: high-frequency reflections off a bare window or wall are intuitive and easy to address, but the low frequencies are a different story entirely. We can’t see sound waves, and bass problems come from standing waves in all three room dimensions plus the speaker’s and listener’s own boundary interactions with nearby walls — problems that are, in Hoffmann’s words, largely invisible and difficult to diagnose by ear.
Why bass traps are the trap
Hoffmann is direct about the most commonly misused tool: the bass trap. A typical room problem sits at one specific frequency — say, 90 Hz — but a bass trap absorbs broadly across a whole range, often 60-100 Hz. Kill that narrow problem with a broadband bass trap and you don’t just remove the boom; you remove the bass itself, leaving a lean, weak low end. The instinctive fix — turning up the volume — doesn’t help, because the trap keeps absorbing regardless, forcing the woofer and amplifier to work harder for a worse result. It’s killing a fly with a very big stone.
These are professional tools, not decorating choices
Diffusers, absorbers and bass traps were designed for studios, where sound engineers work with sound eight or nine hours a day and genuinely want a dead-sounding room. That’s not what most people want in a living room or dedicated listening space. These tools do exactly what they’re built for — absorbing a certain amount at a certain frequency — but without knowing your actual problem frequency and decibel level, buying and placing them becomes trial and error. Hoffmann sees this constantly: customers who cover side walls in foam, solve one problem, and end up with a duller, more lifeless room instead of a genuinely better one.
The natural absorption most people already have
Before reaching for any professional treatment, Hoffmann recommends what he calls natural absorption: drapes, carpet, and ordinary furniture. You don’t need to study acoustics to notice that a rug on a wooden floor, or curtains on a bare window, audibly improves a room. Move things around, follow your ears, and you’ll notice real, if incremental, improvement without ever touching a diffuser or a decibel meter.
Why golden guidelines like first-reflection treatment can backfire
There’s a well-known rule of thumb: treat the first reflection points behind the speakers, behind the listening position, and above the listening area with diffusion. Hoffmann agrees it’s a reasonable starting principle, but warns it’s easy to overcorrect — thick foam at exactly the “correct” first reflection point can remove too much side reflection, and pushed to its logical extreme, killing every reflection in a room leaves a space that’s unpleasant to sit in for an entire evening. Some room interaction is desirable, even in the bass; a favourite speaker played outdoors, with no room around it at all, sounds noticeably worse than the same speaker indoors.
Why data beats guesswork
The core problem with DIY acoustic room treatment isn’t that it doesn’t work — it’s that most people apply it without measuring anything first. A room correction system like RoomPerfect collects genuine data about the room and lets the algorithm optimise from that data, rather than relying on a rough sense that “it sounds a bit hard here.” Hoffmann’s advice: have a good sounding room, be careful with how many acoustic panels you add and where, and let the mathematical, digital process handle what physical treatment alone can’t reliably solve — especially in the low frequencies, where the problems are real but genuinely difficult to see or hear precisely.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need acoustic room treatment if I use room correction software?
Yes, to a degree. Hoffmann recommends always starting with a good sounding room — furniture, carpet, drapes — since electronic correction isn’t a replacement for good speaker placement and natural absorption, only a way to handle what acoustic room treatment can’t reliably fix, especially in the bass.
Why do bass traps sometimes make a room sound worse?
Because bass traps absorb broadly across a wide frequency range, while most room problems sit at one specific frequency. Using a bass trap to fix a narrow problem often removes far more bass than intended, leaving a thin, lean low end that you then try to fix by turning up the volume.
Are diffusers and absorbers worth buying for a home listening room?
They’re effective, but they’re professional tools designed for studio environments. Without first measuring your actual problem frequency and decibel level, buying and placing them is trial and error, and it’s easy to overcorrect and end up with a duller-sounding room.
What’s the easiest way to improve room acoustics without professional tools?
Natural absorption: drapes, carpet, and ordinary furniture. These noticeably improve a room’s sound without requiring any acoustic measurement or specialised equipment.
Is a completely “dead,” reflection-free room actually the goal?
No. Some room interaction is desirable — speakers are designed to work with a room, not in isolation. A room with every reflection eliminated is not pleasant to listen to music in for an extended period.
