Acoustics development: what sound engineers do and is it possible to create an acoustic system with your own hands

Acoustic assembly at Arslab factory - photo from our “ Hi-Fi World ”

In this article we will try to understand how modern acoustic brands are created, what are the tasks of a sound engineer and R&D department in production, and we will touch on the topic of creating “home-made” acoustics together with Yuri Fomin, sound engineer and speaker design engineer, whose designs are the basis of multimedia systems under the brands Defender, Jetbalance and Arslab.

Acoustic production: unique developments or collaboration with contractors

Acoustic systems of well-known manufacturers are often assembled from components that the company buys from suppliers, rather than producing itself. This may be due to the various conditions in which systems are created and the limitations that exist within these conditions.

For example, in the production of ODM products, Yuri Fomin’s laboratory F-lab (now F-lab or “Fomina Laboratory” is, in fact, the R&D department of Audiomania, under the direction of which the Arslab brand is produced) is often limited by the capabilities of the subcontractor: what it is ready to provide speakers, cases and accessories. In order to acquire unique engineering findings, companies have to spend years - it is important not only to come up with the design of the part or component, but also to produce it (buy equipment, set it up and maintain it properly).

Brands that manufacture equipment in relatively modest quantities and sell it at reasonable prices simply cannot immediately start assembling acoustic systems completely from their components - otherwise the cost of their development and production will have to be completely transferred to buyers. In addition, this production is far from always justified - companies do not need to “reinvent the wheel” if there are those who have long specialized in a particular area:

You can stamp tweeter membranes with some secret additives. But best of all, Dr. Kurt Muller. [...] I mean that there are companies that are indisputable in terms of workmanship. They specialize in this and do the highest quality things for the whole world. It is clear that someone will do everything himself [...]. But they may not succeed so well

- Yuri Fomin

Why sound engineers

It would seem that if you use "alien" components and rely on the capabilities of the subcontractor, you can produce acoustic systems without involving your engineers and the R&D department (or you can assemble the acoustics yourself at home - but more on that below). This is not so - companies need to compete, stand out on the market, form their own loyal audience - and for this you need to "sound" even if the equipment is made from standard elements or subcontractors are invited to work. And for this, experienced engineers are involved in working with the brand.

From a given "set" of elements, engineers need to add the perfect picture, which also must match the company's marketing strategy. For example, making a product is better than that of competitors, but at a comparable price. Yuri Stanislavovich recalls that under such conditions, when working on acoustics for the Jetbalance brand, it was necessary to use inexpensive components of not the highest quality - and in order to get a good sound, modify the design itself.



Workflow Arslab plant - photo of our " World-Fi access Hi »

Moreover, engineers also provide feedback to suppliers - the latter can change the characteristics of components in accordance with the needs of the brand (which is why Yuri Fomin notes that work on the sound of the system begins already at the suppliers' plants - and brand engineers can influence this process also):

We were lucky with Wavecor [company-supplier of speakers for speakers Arslab], they always adequately respond to our requests such as: "Inductance here does not suit us very much, change it." Change, modify

- Yuri Fomin

Moreover, engineers also have to consider how and where the equipment will be used, in what environment the music will be played - and in accordance with this, adjust the sound of the system.

Acoustics as a hobby

Of course, all this does not mean that a decent-sounding device cannot be assembled with your own hands from components available on the market - and without being a high-class engineer. However, there are several important nuances here.

First you need to determine your goals. There can be two of them: creating a system “for the sake of the process” or working for the result. In the first case, we are dealing more with a hobby, in the second - with an attempt to rethink the accumulated experience, to get the desired sound.

Both that and the other goal may well be crowned with success: in the first case a kind of “toy” will turn out - the technique may sound good, at the level of average parameters. Yuri Fomin does not exclude that within the framework of this approach, and even in the absence of special musical knowledge and extensive experience in the industry, something close to the characteristics of “serious” Hi-Fi can be done:

We need to take ready-made developments that engineers share on the network and repeat them. This will be 90% successful. I am not saying 100%, because there may be disagreement in the speaker parameters, which may differ in parts. But 90% success can be achieved

- Yuri Fomin

It looks like a Lego constructor for adults - it’s worth starting with repeating existing solutions without making changes to the electrical part of the product:

Regarding the "climb into the creation": if a person wants to do creativity, he should do it. [...] If a person wants to spend time, this is his hobby, he likes it, then let him do it

- Yuri Fomin

Speaker design

If we are talking about a more “serious” approach, when the goal of the work is sound or characteristics that are different from what is available on the market, you cannot do without special knowledge.

A person must be an engineer, at least in Soviet higher education. Why Soviet? An engineer has a lot to learn. In addition to electrical engineering, material science, the theory of machines and mechanisms, and the resistance of materials are also necessary. This is all used in the design of speaker systems

- Yuri Fomin

Important and knowledge of metrology - in it, according to Yuri, you need to understand at the level of 2-3 semesters of the university. In addition, it is highly desirable to have a musical education or experience in playing music - this will allow you to feel what kind of sound is needed "at the output." Yuri Fomin himself emphasizes that his musical taste was formed under the influence of work as a sound engineer at recording studios:

We had a lot of studio work, we understand how everything sounds live. Yes, perhaps we [...] have a certain taste, instilled in the studios, which we are trying to recreate

- Yuri Fomin

A musical education or work in this industry is what underlies the stories of popular brands when "the founder did not like the existing technology on the market, and he decided to create something of his own." It is this taste for music, a peculiar understanding of its sound, that helps to formulate requirements for the final product. But such success stories are often silent about how the idea was realized - and for this, all the engineering knowledge that was discussed above is needed.



The page of do-it-yourself products on the Audiomania website

Moreover, the speaker system in this case can be perceived as an exact mathematical model - the acoustic design is designed according to a certain mathematical algorithm:

Changing any parameter, this model will immediately unbalance. The efficiency of the columns is at best 5%, so the loss of even one percent is a lot. And this percentage is easy to lose if some little thing is not working correctly

- Yuri Fomin

In order to design a model, have little knowledge of materials, and have basic engineering knowledge, you need to be able to correctly use specialized software for appropriate calculations. The Fomin Laboratory staff themselves use Leap and Clio products to calculate and optimize the parameters of future systems.

The importance of professional software in designing is also noted by Sergey Bat, the author of the book “Amateur Loudspeakers”. Sergey Bat is an example of an amateur engineer who has achieved not only success in the design of acoustic systems, but also recognition from industry representatives.

Do it yourself - is it really cheaper?

It is popularly believed that such a "home" development can sound no worse than a "purchased" one and at the same time it will be cheaper. This is not entirely true. Yuri notes: even if you manage to save money on the purchase of components (compared with the purchase of a finished product) and create a decent-sounding system, you will get "saving money on your own time."

It is impossible to save. If you save money, you lose personal time, and if you are ready to lose time, this can only be considered as pleasure

- Yuri Fomin

In general, even for the assembly of acoustics according to ready-made schemes, it takes time, knowledge and certain experience. If we are talking about creating some kind of unique sound (changing parameters compared to “ready-made solutions”) - time, knowledge and experience are required by orders of magnitude more. Yuri emphasizes: experienced engineers and developers are different from amateurs and beginners in that they can solve the tasks relatively quickly and be sure of the final result:

The project itself [from the development of the model to its implementation] does not last long, about a year, which will include prototyping, listening and making changes. We don’t have to sit for years and wrinkle our foreheads. However, this speed of production is the quintessence of many years of experience. If you learned to calculate a project in two days in 20 years, and before you would have taken a couple of months, it is only because you have been doing this for 20 years

- Yuri Fomin

It turns out that if there is no time and knowledge to create the system yourself, and buying expensive High-End equipment is too expensive, then the consumer does not have the opportunity to enjoy high-quality sound? Not quite so: Yuri Fomin himself suggests looking at the process of building a high-quality ecosystem of sound around you as a gradual movement forward.

Sometimes it’s worth thinking about acquiring devices that will not be much, but still higher in class than what the client is using now - the difference between the updated and the “old” versions will be large enough to linger at this stage for some time.

Sometimes such a high-quality conversion can result in the inclusion in the "chain" of devices, for example, a DAC or amplifierof a higher class, sometimes - the study of various audio formats and the addition of your music library. As for those who prefer to create acoustics with their own hands - we publish useful materials about this here .