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Computed

22 × 23 × 12 ft room

Every standing wave this room supports below 300 Hz, solved from its geometry alone. Lowest mode 24.5 Hz on the length; 29 axial, 206 tangential and 372 oblique modes in total.

Mode distribution to 300 Hz

Every mode this room supports, at its exact frequency. Even spacing reads as a well-behaved room; a wide gap followed by a clump is where it will sound hollow and then boom.

Schroeder 0.3 sSchroeder 0.6 s050100150200250300 Hz
AxialTangentialOblique

Volume

171.9 m³

6072 ft³, 194.4 m² of surface

Worst axial gap

22.2 Hz

widest hole between adjacent axial modes under 200 Hz

Densest cluster

17 modes at 187 Hz

modes within 5 Hz of each other, below 200 Hz

Bolt criterion

outside

ratio 1 : 1.83 : 1.92 (height : width : length)

The three fundamentals

One per pair of parallel surfaces, at c/2L with c = 343 m/s. These are the loudest and most audible resonances in the room; everything else is built on them.

length

24.5Hz

23 ft · half-wavelength fit

width

25.6Hz

22 ft · half-wavelength fit

height

46.9Hz

12 ft · half-wavelength fit

Axial modes in full29 modes

The modes that run between one pair of parallel surfaces. They carry the most energy and are the ones worth treating first.

FrequencyAxisOrderIndices (nx, ny, nz)
24.5 Hzlength11, 0, 0
25.6 Hzwidth10, 1, 0
46.9 Hzheight10, 0, 1
48.9 Hzlength22, 0, 0
51.2 Hzwidth20, 2, 0
73.4 Hzlength33, 0, 0
76.7 Hzwidth30, 3, 0
93.8 Hzheight20, 0, 2
97.9 Hzlength44, 0, 0
102.3 Hzwidth40, 4, 0
122.3 Hzlength55, 0, 0
127.9 Hzwidth50, 5, 0
140.7 Hzheight30, 0, 3
146.8 Hzlength66, 0, 0
153.5 Hzwidth60, 6, 0
171.2 Hzlength77, 0, 0
179.0 Hzwidth70, 7, 0
187.6 Hzheight40, 0, 4
195.7 Hzlength88, 0, 0
204.6 Hzwidth80, 8, 0
220.2 Hzlength99, 0, 0
230.2 Hzwidth90, 9, 0
234.4 Hzheight50, 0, 5
244.6 Hzlength1010, 0, 0
255.8 Hzwidth100, 10, 0
269.1 Hzlength1111, 0, 0
281.3 Hzheight60, 0, 6
281.3 Hzwidth110, 11, 0
293.6 Hzlength1212, 0, 0

Questions this room answers

What is the lowest room mode in a 22 × 23 × 12 ft room?

24.5 Hz, set by the length (23 ft) dimension. A half-wavelength has to fit between the two parallel surfaces, so the first mode is c/2L — with c = 343 m/s at 20 °C. Below this frequency the room cannot support a resonance at all, and bass output falls off regardless of the loudspeaker.

Where will a 22 × 23 × 12 ft room sound uneven?

The densest clustering below 200 Hz is 17 modes within 5 Hz of each other around 187 Hz — expect that region to sound louder and to ring longer. The largest gap between adjacent axial modes below 200 Hz is 22.2 Hz, and wide gaps are heard as a hole, not as neutrality.

Are 22 × 23 × 12 ft proportions good for a listening or control room?

The ratio (1 : 1.83 : 1.92, height : width : length) falls outside the Bolt area, the region Bolt published in 1946 for comparatively even low-frequency mode distribution. In practice that means modes bunch in some places and leave gaps elsewhere — treatable, but it is working against the geometry rather than with it.

Above what frequency do modes stop mattering here?

The Schroeder frequency for this 171.9 m³ volume is 84 Hz if RT60 is 0.3 s, and 118 Hz if RT60 is 0.6 s. Above it the modes overlap densely enough to behave statistically rather than individually. RT60 is a property of the materials in the room, not of its shape, so this page can only bracket it — measure your own to place the crossover exactly.

One dimension different

The comparison worth making before you build: change one dimension by a foot and every mode moves.

Method and limits. Frequencies solve f = (c/2)·√((nx/Lx)² + (ny/Ly)² + (nz/Lz)²) for a rectangular room with rigid boundaries, at c = 343 m/s (20 °C). Real rooms have windows, doors, soffits and non-rigid walls, all of which shift and damp these frequencies — treat this as where to look, not as a measurement. The Schroeder crossover additionally depends on RT60, which is a property of the room's materials and not of its shape, so it is quoted here against two assumed values rather than as a fact about this room. Nothing on this page is fetched or estimated; it is solved from the three dimensions in the URL.