Living room studio

I

Iamlion123

New member
I had my studio crammed in a little room where i would always ding my new taylor 814ce... so i convinced my gf to let me use the living room as my studio. I have a 50 inch tv and leather couches so its really nice and easier to work in but i wanted advice on how to sound proof it and how big of monitors i should buy because of how far I am from the tv... I have a set of rokit 5's they sound really nice but i don't know how accurate they are for the distance i am sitting from the tv, my ears are about 6 feet from them. another big issue is my living room is set up short ways and not long ways. the room is not square it is rectangular and usually you want your set up to be on the short wall but my set up is on the long wall if that makes sense. im gonna try and add picture. I want to know if i could turn this into a good studio/recording room. the room has a closet i could turn into a vocal booth as-well i would like advice on that... I saw some diy videos on acoustic panels using oc 703 insulation. I was thinging about making a bunch or maybe just randomly thorwing foam 2x2 pannels everywhere? please asses my picture and let me know what you think... my recordings sound awful and i cant properly mix my awful recordings
 
Iamlion123 said:
I had my studio crammed in a little room where i would always ding my new taylor 814ce... so i convinced my gf to let me use the living room as my studio. I have a 50 inch tv and leather couches so its really nice and easier to work in but i wanted advice on how to sound proof it and how big of monitors i should buy because of how far I am from the tv... I have a set of rokit 5's they sound really nice but i don't know how accurate they are for the distance i am sitting from the tv, my ears are about 6 feet from them. another big issue is my living room is set up short ways and not long ways. the room is not square it is rectangular and usually you want your set up to be on the short wall but my set up is on the long wall if that makes sense. im gonna try and add picture. I want to know if i could turn this into a good studio/recording room. the room has a closet i could turn into a vocal booth as-well i would like advice on that... I saw some diy videos on acoustic panels using oc 703 insulation. I was thinging about making a bunch or maybe just randomly thorwing foam 2x2 pannels everywhere? please asses my picture and let me know what you think... my recordings sound awful and i cant properly mix my awful recordings
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View attachment 20150530_222705.jpg
 
Are you using the tv as your video monitor for your DAW? IF you are 6' from the KRKs, then they need to be about 6' apart - it also looks like you have them sitting horizontally, not vertically, and enclosed by a tight shelf, all of which will affect their sound. What are you recording - acoustic guitar and vocals? You can't make the room soundproof, but you can acoustically treat it - corner bass traps, for a start - but you're right - you've got the set up going the wrong way in the room. Consider a set up on the short wall with a regular monitor - not the tv. And forget the 'vocal booth' for now, unless you absolutely have to have a dead space to do mic work due to other noise in the place.
 
The monitors are also aimed at your feet.

If you are hoping to get reasonable recordings, you will have to think about the recording environment in a different way. Instead of adapting recording requirements to living room requirements, think about it the other way: adapting living room requirements to the recording requirements.
 
Thank you for all the replies. I know it is set up horrible for the time being but i do plan on getting stands for me krk 5's or stands for my next set of studio monitors if you guys recommend i get bigger/better ones. unfortunately i will need to keep the living room sideways... ill be recording vocals and acoustic guitar mainly. i was gonna just throw up panels everywhere and base traps but i was wondering if there's a better way i can do it before i make them all/spend money on them. because of my horrible set up i need more treatment i'm assuming? i was gonna throw down some carpeting and place 2x2 foam panels every 6 inches apart on every wall, then where the black curtains are covering the 3 windows i was gonna buy more curtains and triple the curtains up over the windows. then i have a decent sized empty closet, i was gonna plaster foam on literally every surface in the closet. I want to be able to get the best recordings i can in this room, i may bring in my friend the odd time to play drums wich is another reason i had to switch to the big room (livingroom) BTW ill be moving next year and i will have a dedicated studio! this is just my studio for a year.

Also im about to by an AI... I have an m audio fast track c400... i was gonna sell it for 100 bucks, is that a good selling price? and could you guys let me know a really good solid audio interface/mixer with 4 or more inputs (mic guitar ect) i was steering toward beringer but i hear a lot that they are crap :s

Thanks guys!
 
You need to do a LOT more reading.

1) Forget 'acoustic foam'. It's absorption is marginal, at best - and only higher frequencies.
2) Forget 'mixer' - get a dedicated audio interface If you need 4 inputs, look at the Tascam US-1200, Focusrite 6i6, Steinberg UR44.
 
thank you for the AI suggestions. I know i do need to research more. I looked into making a studio before, and was planning on building acoustic panels out of wooden frames and insulation like a lot of tutorials suggest. i know when your in your mixing position you should have a cloud above you and the panels on your walls which you can line up properly using a mirror.. diffusers at the back wall, bass traps ect... and in my room its gonna be bad for mixing because of my layout... but It can at least be a good room for recording right? In theory the more i can deaden the room of all frequencys (low,mid,high) the better for recording and mixing? you said to forget the foam acoustic pannels and i do understand that they would cut the highs and high/mids and leave the low/mids and low end to reflect back into the recordings making it really muddy.

So i should build all proper panels from safe and sound insulation... I need lots of base traps because of the size of the room say two 2'x4' base traps in every corner, carpeting on the floor... and for the walls ill have proper panels spaced every 6"? should that be good? is there anything i should make extra effort towards when it comes to the positioning of my monitors... im 6' away so they should be 6' apart on stands ear level (not sideways i already knew that) should i get bigger monitors like rokit 8's or another brand? because of my distance from them... and should diffusers be used anywhere in my room to help mixing/recording?
 
Holy Christ. It took me a minute realize the picture was turned sideways. I thought you mounted a couch in the corner of your room to act as a bass trap!!!!!

Frickin' funny. I couldn't decide if you were a genius or just crazy. :D
 
Safe&Sound is marginal insulation - it's not as dense as OC703 or OC705, try to get that first.

Never saw an answer about your mixing - are you using that big screen tv as your computer monitor? You would do a lot better setting up a desk where the small couch is.
 
mjbphotos said:
Safe&Sound is marginal insulation - it's not as dense as OC703 or OC705, try to get that first.

Never saw an answer about your mixing - are you using that big screen tv as your computer monitor? You would do a lot better setting up a desk where the small couch is.
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Yes, I was planning on just using the large tv. I literally just bought the couches for my gf they have to stay! lol I know my situation sucks but i live in a small apartment :/ You guys are making me want to move back to the small room lol... I plan on using the big tv at my monitor while i sit on the couch. all my gear can just sit on the table or wherever it has to. I love mixing off the tv. please keep in mind im amateur when it comes to mixing, im sure if i had the best equipment and senario my songs would suck so even if my set up isnt the best im sure i can make it work until i get a better set up... dont some people actually mix off headphones? if thats true i have to be able to make this room work.
 
Iamlion123 said:
I had my studio crammed in a little room where i would always ding my new taylor 814ce... so i convinced my gf to let me use the living room as my studio.
Click to expand...

What are your living room dimensions?
How wide is the furniture, TV Stand, ect…..?
You might be able to lay it all out in a way that could actually work.
Put some numbers up.
 
Iamlion123 said:
Yes, I was planning on just using the large tv. I literally just bought the couches for my gf they have to stay! lol I know my situation sucks but i live in a small apartment :/ You guys are making me want to move back to the small room lol... I plan on using the big tv at my monitor while i sit on the couch. all my gear can just sit on the table or wherever it has to. I love mixing off the tv. please keep in mind im amateur when it comes to mixing, im sure if i had the best equipment and senario my songs would suck so even if my set up isnt the best im sure i can make it work until i get a better set up... dont some people actually mix off headphones? if thats true i have to be able to make this room work.
Click to expand...


We're mostly amateurs here. If you want to record/mix better, you've got to set things up better. IF you just want to fart around, then continue the way you're going.
 
I am using removeable diffusors and absorbers in front of my cupboards in the living room in order to quickly turn it into a music room and switch over to a mixing room too, if necessary. This takes something like 2-3 min only and apperears unprofessional at first sight, but for me as a non professional studio user, this is the better investment. all sound treatment devices together were below $2000 and the result is superb according to an acoustic speacialist's measurements.
 
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