RealTraps - Educational Videos & Demos

You have to see it to believe it

..REALTRAPS VIDEOS..

It's been quite a while since RealTraps principal Ethan Winer showed the treatment in his living room home theater in our video How To Set Up And Treat a Listening Room below. All of the information in that video is still valid, but a few things have changed since then so it's time for an update. This newer video shows how you can enjoy state of the art sound (and video) without spending a fortune on audio "gear."


ETHAN'S HOME THEATER TOUR

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 10:21.

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This video lets you hear RealTraps' amazing new modular treatment solution as if you were right there in the room. If you have the desire - and budget - for the very highest quality, this is the treatment solution for you. It's also ideal for regular 2-channel hi-fi listening. Presented by RealTraps partner Doug Ferrara, graphs show the huge improvement in frequency response and decay times at all frequencies. You'll also hear music as recorded from both the front and rear of the room.


HEARING IS BELIEVING:
THE ULTIMATE SMALL MIXING & MASTERING ROOM

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 10:41.

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This video is a greatly expanded version of our text article How to Set Up a Room. It explains the basics of room layout and acoustic treatment, and presents practical solutions to many common problems. The focus is on home theaters, but all of the information applies equally to professional recording studios and mastering rooms.


HOW TO SET UP AND TREAT A LISTENING ROOM

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 13:54.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


RealTraps offers a number of Room Kits to fit many rooms and all budgets. They're a fabulous match for many rooms, and even if your room is unusual they're still useful as a starting point for developing your treatment strategy. We're glad to advise you to determine the best combination of traps for your particular room and budget.


REALTRAPS ROOM KITS

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 6:54.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


This video shows how to use RealTraps products to create a very clean and intimate sounding recording in a highly reverberant environment. For this demo we recorded a solo artist singing and playing 12-string acoustic guitar in a large factory warehouse. This video also shows how to take advantage of microphone directional patterns to get an acceptable amount of isolation in this common recording situation.

Music written and performed by Robb Kavjian
Music mixed by Jonathan Wyman


RECORDING STRATEGIES USING REALTRAPS

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 15:52.

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Many people have asked how our products are made, and this video shows all. We start with a tour of the metal fabrication, then proceed to our painter, fiberglass supplier, packaging company, and finally the RealTraps factory. You'll see first hand the incredible attention to detail that goes into manufacturing all RealTraps products, and learn why we make the finest acoustic treatment available at any price. If you enjoy the sound track Men At Work, you can download an MP3 file HERE.


MADE IN CONNECTICUT REALTRAPS FACTORY TOUR

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 14:42.

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Tony Maserati is one of the most in-demand mix engineers in the world, having mixed hits for Robin Thicke, Pink!, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and many other high profile artists. Tony is also a RealTraps fan and customer. In this interview from August 2014 Tony shows us his personal studio in upstate New York.


TONY MASERATI INTERVIEW

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 11:37.

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This video explains what MiniTraps do and shows how they are installed. Along the way many related acoustic issues are described, and you'll also see the huge improvement MiniTraps make in a typical listening room.

If you use Sonar version 4 or later you can download the project file below used in this video to measure the low frequency response in your own room. If you don't have Sonar go HERE to download a similar set of MP3 files that can be burned to an audio CD.


MINITRAPS DEMONSTRATION

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 18:53.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


The two short "slide show" videos linked at right demonstrate the RealTraps Portable Vocal Booth. The second one features the fabulous Kelly Mittleman. Both let you hear how truly effective the Portable Vocal Booth is for reducing room ambience, and capturing a much more intimate sounding vocal track.


PORTABLE VOCAL BOOTH DEMONSTRATION

Click HERE to view Doug's demo. Running time 1:33.
Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.

Click HERE to view Kelly's demo. Running time 1:26.
Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


All About Diffusion is part of our "See and Hear" video lecture series. It explains diffusion in plain terms with no math, then lets you hear an acoustic guitar recorded in close proximity to five different surface types. We're confident you'll agree that a real diffusor is less colored and more natural sounding than the other devices tested. The video is 16x9 widescreen, and the audio is at 256 kbps for accurate sound. The narration microphone is an audiotechnica 4033, and the surface testing microphone is a DPA 4090. No EQ or effects were used on the acoustic guitar recordings.


ALL ABOUT DIFFUSION

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 12:32.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


This video tour shows RealTraps partner Doug Ferrara's fabulous basement home studio. Doug and Ethan explain how it was treated and why, and present many interesting and related topics.


THE ULTIMATE HOME STUDIO

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 21:05.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


Most RealTraps panels are available in Standard and High Frequency (HF) styles, a concept we pioneered. This video lets you hear how to tell the difference. Standard panels have a semi-reflective plastic membrane behind the front fabric which increases absorption at bass frequencies. It also reduces absorption at mid and high frequencies so you can put as many bass traps as needed into a room without making it dead sounding as can happen with acoustic foam or plain rigid fiberglass. HF style panels absorb mid and high frequencies as well as bass, and are more suitable for use at reflection points or for taming general ambience.


STANDARD VERSUS HF ACOUSTIC PANELS

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 1:51.

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This video explains comb filtering, using both acoustic and electronic examples. You'll learn what causes comb filtering, why and how to avoid it, and hear how it sounds.


COMB FILTERING

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 8:16.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


This is another in our "See and Hear" video lecture series. This video explains ringing and resonance using an electronic filter to simulate the way rooms behave at low frequencies. You'll see and hear ringing and resonance, and learn how the frequency and Q of a room's modes affect its sound.


MODAL RINGING AND RESONANCE

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 6:55.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


Is it live or is it Memorex? One goal of music recording is to capture a true sound, so when played back it sounds like the musicians are right there in the room with you. This experiment proves it's not an easy task! We weren't entirely successful, but we did manage to get fairly close with some of the instruments. While not about acoustic treatment, this video will appeal to both recording engineers and audiophiles.


RECORDED REALISM

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 7:55.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.


We created this video to show that peaks and nulls occur at all frequencies in all rooms, not only those frequencies related to the room dimensions. This is very significant because it proves that all rooms need broadband bass trapping, not trapping that targets specific frequencies as many people wrongly believe.


NON-MODAL PEAKS AND NULLS IN SMALL ROOMS

Click HERE to view the video. Running time 7:11.

Can't view Flash videos? Watch this video on YouTube.

Click HERE for the Non-Modal Peaks and Nulls presentation text.


If you own Sonar version 4 or later you can use this Project File to measure the low frequency response in your room. It plays one-second sine waves in 1 Hz increments from 40 to 300 Hz on Track 1. While that track plays you'll record an omnidirectional microphone onto another track, then afterward you can read the response at each frequency from the new track's Play meter. You'll probably need to resize the screen, and also change the sound card's input and output to match your own setup.

Note that RealTraps now uses and recommends the fabulous ETF Windows program from Acoustisoft. It is priced very reasonably, yet does all of the important measurements required for a complete room analysis. For Mac users we suggest Fuzzmeasure.


SONAR PROJECT DOWNLOAD

Click HERE to download the Zip file used in the MiniTraps demonstration video (22 MB).

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