New Studio

[Nitemare2970]

I am about to set up a "real" studio and I want to do everything right so I have a few questions. I have been recording, with decent quality, in a garage of a house I do not own because I am in college and cannot alter the house. I am now starting to think about how to set up a studio in a new house that can be altered however I want.

1. How would I manage to connect a mixer to my DAW? I have always just used rack mount interfaces and I was wondering how those bigger studios connect like a 16 channel mixer into their DAW. Do I need an Analog to Digital converter or what and If so how does it connect from the mixer to the computer?

2. Acoustic treatment wise, Do I need to buy acoustic foam with the wedges or is there a cheaper alternative aka. matress pads or something of the sort.

3. Can I run a cable snake through the walls (New Construction) Or do they make a special cable with wall mounted interfaces on either end.


Thanks a ton!!

 

[Weasel9992]

2. Acoustic treatment wise, Do I need to buy acoustic foam with the wedges or is there a cheaper alternative aka. matress pads or something of the sort.

Foam will work well for absorbing highs, but it won't do much for low end at all, and that'll be your biggest problem by far. You'll want to trap your corners (floor to ceiling if possible), the back wall and front wall with 4" or 6" panels made from rigid fiberglass (Owens Corning 703) or the equivalent weight in mineral wool. 2" panels work well for the reflection points to your left, right and on the ceiling above your head, but you could use foam in all of those places if you have it laying around or something.

Mattress pads, blankets, cushions, etc., all do *something* acoustically, but mostly they just absorb high mids and highs. They're simply not dense enough to do much below about 500Hz. If your biggest problem is high frequency flutter echo, then all of those things will help a lot...but that won't be your biggest problem.

Frank