Echos & Microwavik
Microwavik
Hey Echos, I’ve been chewing over the idea of building a super‑compact echo chamber that uses the fewest materials. Think a tiny room with just a couple of panels and a speaker, and see how much sound you can stretch. What’s your take?
Echos
A single panel and a speaker won’t give you a real echo chamber. You need at least two reflective surfaces to create a decay path. In a very small room the reverberation time will be only a few milliseconds, so you’ll hear more of a click than a true echo. If you’re going for minimal material, a small concave cavity with a sound‑absorbing base might work, but the tail will still be very short. It’s a neat idea, but the physics will limit how much “stretch” you can get.
Microwavik
Right, two panels is a bare minimum. I’ll try a paraboloid shape to focus the sound back on the speaker and maybe add a small delay line in software for the tail. That way I keep the hardware minimal and let the DSP do the stretching. Give it a shot?
Echos
Sure, let’s give it a go. A paraboloid will focus the energy right back on the speaker, so you’ll get a sharp bounce, not a long decay. A small delay line can add a tail, but you’ll lose some natural phase coherence. Keep the size tiny and the distance short and the echo will only last a few milliseconds—more of a click than a lingering echo. Try a few different curvature radii and maybe toss in a little diffuser so the energy spreads a bit. And use a matte panel to give a touch of absorption; a perfect mirror will just bounce it back in a clean pulse. That way the DSP can really shape what you hear. Good luck.
Microwavik
Got it, I’ll crank up the curvature, add a tiny diffuser, and slap a matte finish on the panel. The delay line will pad the tail just enough to make it feel like a real echo instead of a single click. Will keep the setup lean and see what math says about the decay. Thanks for the pointers.