Simply a "plug" for my friend Ethan whose book is coming out this Spring:
 
http://www.ethanwiner.com/book.htm

I notice that the front cover includes a screenshot of Sonar.

Ethan's a longtime SONAR user. This book has been a long time coming, and I have great expectations for it. After all, it purports to teach you everything you need to know! I may have spent hundreds of dollars over the years for nothing!

I've always looked forward to Ethan's glowing reviews of ARC. 

I'm worried he's going to evade that subject this go-around.  I hope I'm wrong! 

OTOH, he's always helped my acoustic 'priorities' and has a lot to say about 'expectation bias', iirc.

Interesting.

A bit pricey, but I'm thinking it could be useful to take to gatherings where audio might be discussed. So that if, for instance, people start arguing about which dithering algorithm is best when going from 32 bits to 24 bits I can pull out the book...





...and whack them in the head with it (since people like that would refuse to read it or wouldn't believe it even if they did). 

Philip, you're probably right in that Ethan will likely refrain from attacking any specific product. However, the book would be lacking if it failed to explain why equalization, no matter how sophisticated, cannot compensate for room resonances. That's the crux of his criticism of room equalization: it's oversold and over-hyped. I share that view.

Drew, I have always considered books to be weapons, albeit on a more intellectual level. But now that you mention it, the Master Handbook of Acoustics has enough heft to get the attention of even the most inattentive back-row slacker. Ethan's book could fill the same role, but with the advantage of knowing you're giving money to an author who's still alive to spend it.

Dave King


Simply a "plug" for my friend Ethan whose book is coming out this Spring:
 
http://www.ethanwiner.com/book.htm

Thanks for the heads up.  I look forward to this one for sure.  On the other hand ... 55 bucks?  Ouch!

bitflipper


Philip, you're probably right in that Ethan will likely refrain from attacking any specific product. However, the book would be lacking if it failed to explain why equalization, no matter how sophisticated, cannot compensate for room resonances. That's the crux of his criticism of room equalization: it's oversold and over-hyped. I share that view. 

 
Two things I've always considered when I've seen him rant about this stuff that I can't get my head around.
 
1. His competition is room equalization stuff.
 
2. He bashes on products he has never tried nor owned. Each time I've gotten into a discussion with him about said products, I ask "but do you own it...have you tried it?" And I never receive an answer. It's like, everyone knows I'm a die hard ARC user. That said, I wouldn't bash on KRK's ERGO if I have never tried it based solely on what I may have read about it. Even if I looked deeper into the stat sheets at what they supposedly do that may not compute to me....the moment I rant while I sell acoustic products is the day I stick my foot in my mouth and make my motives obvious.

You can be an absolute genius in a field and still have something work for you that you think in your mind shouldn't work at all.
 
-Danny

His competition is room equalization stuff.

Not really. Room equalization is not a substitute for acoustic treatment, and even IKM is quick to point that out. ARC is meant to augment, not replace, acoustics management. If they'd be more up front about that, I don't think anyone would quibble over it.

He bashes on products he has never tried nor owned.

We all do that. I've never purchased a $2,000 power cable despite many fervent endorsements from satisfied customers. And I won't until somebody provides a reasonable scientific explanation for how such a product might even work. You wouldn't, either.


Not that I'm equating ARC with obvious snake oil. It's not. It's based on real science and it really does help mitigate the effects of bad rooms. Same with the SE Reflexion device; it too will help mitigate the effects of a bad room, but a good room doesn't need it. A good room doesn't need ARC, either.


I am not surprised that Ethan doesn't own or use it. Somebody like him simply has no need for ARC. He has a bigger room than most of us, purpose-built with extensive acoustical treatments. A good room does not need equalization. In fact, it could actually be counter-productive in an already good-sounding room. 


Everyone should take the time to study the physics of the problem before deciding to buy any product. Until you understand what the problem is and why it is that way, you're just shooting in the dark. If this book lives up to its promise and really is as complete as it's advertised to be, then I'd say $55 is a real bargain. I know I've certainly spent a whole lot more than that on books!

Thanks Dave for the heads up on this thread. Yes, SONAR is not only on the cover, but is used for many examples throughout the book. I can't get post quoting to work, so I'll do it manually:
 
> I'm worried he's going to evade that subject this go-around. I hope I'm wrong!
 
I worked hard at being unbiased, sticking just to the facts. I quoted some lame advice from audio magazine editors to reader questions, but didn't mention the magazines by name. However, I do address the futility of expecting EQ to substitute for bass traps, and I mention specifically my tests of the Audyssey system that ARC is based on. Graphs of actual measurements prove the point better than 5,000 words. Now, whether the publisher and copy editor will let me name names is another matter!
 
> Room equalization is not a substitute for acoustic treatment, and even IKM is quick to point that out. ARC is meant to augment, not replace, acoustics management. If they'd be more up front about that, I don't think anyone would quibble over it.
 
Exactly. I've made the point before, and did again in my book, that I use the one-band cut-only parametric EQ in my subwoofer to reduce a 40 Hz modal peak 2 dB in my living room system. I have plenty of bass traps, but 40 Hz is tough to target with bass traps. This minimal use of EQ is just icing, not the cake itself as some EQ proponents claim.
 
As for the price, the publisher set that based on the size of the book. The printed text will be about 650 pages, and there were two more chapters they couldn't fit in that allotment. So instead of going to 700 pages and charging even more, those chapters will go on a web site for the book. There are also 68 audio example files on the site, and 31 videos totaling more than 3-1/2 hours.
 
Thanks guys.
 
--Ethan