carpet vs. concrete in project studio

[Kasey]

i record and mix in the same room, like most home studio users. My room is unfinished and untreated. the ceiling is bare with vents and pipes, etc. because the walls are unfinished, there are weird irregular shapes in the walls everywhere. anyways, i have the option of having either carpet or just concrete floor. if i go with concrete, i'll still have two large rugs in one area for drums, and another to set my amps on, but thats not too much. acoustically, for a tracking and mixing situation, which is the best option?

[Kasey]

anyone? please?

[Ethan Winer]

Kasey,

> i have the option of having either carpet or just concrete floor. <

The quote below is from my Acoustics FAQ.

--Ethan

HARD FLOOR, SOFT CEILING

The following is from an exchange that took place in the rec.audio.pro newsgroup in May, 2003:

Bill Ruys asked: Why it is recommended to have bare (un-carpeted) floors in the studio? One web site I visited mentioned that a bare floor was a prerequisite for the room design with diffusors and absorbers on the ceiling, but didn't say why. I'm trying to understand the principal, rather than following blindly.

Paul Stamler: Carpet typically absorbs high frequencies and some midrange, but does nothing for bass and lower midrange. Using carpet as an acoustic treatment, in most rooms, results in a room that is dull and boomy. Most of the time you need a thicker absorber such as 4-inch or, better, 6-inch fiberglass, or acoustic tile, and you can't walk around on either of those. Hence the general recommendation that you avoid carpet on the floor and use broadband absorbers elsewhere.

Lee Liebner: the human ear is accustomed to determining spatial references from reflections off of side walls and floor, and a low ceiling would only confuse the brain with more early reflections it doesn't need. Everywhere you go, the floor is always the same distance away from you, so it's a reference that your brain can always relate to. Top

John Noll: Reasons for having wood floors: they look good, equipment can be rolled easily, spills can be cleaned up easily, provide a bright sound if needed, sound can be deadened with area rugs.

Ethan Winer: In a studio room, versus a control room, a reflective floor is a great way to get a nice sense of ambience when recording acoustic instruments. Notice I said reflective, not wood, since linoleum and other materials are less expensive than wood yet sound the same. When you record an acoustic guitar or clarinet or whatever, slight reflections off the floor give the illusion of "being right there in the room" on the recording. It's more difficult to use a ceiling for ambience - especially in a typical home studio with low ceilings - because the mikes are too close to the ceiling when miking from above. And that proximity creates comb filtering which can yield a hollow sound. So with a hard floor surface you can get ambience, and with full absorption on the ceiling you can put the mike above the instrument, very close to the ceiling, without getting comb filtering.

Dave Wallingford: I've always preferred wood floors for a few reasons: 1) It's easier to move stuff around, 2) You can always get area rugs if you need them, And the main reason: 3) Pianos sound like crap on carpet.

[SonicClang]

Good post. Very informative. There's no reason you can't just go with concrete either.

I remember a while back, John Sayers told me about a coffee shop he went into that had concrete floors that looked like the owner had poured honey all over them and let it dry. He asked how they got that look and they told him they first cleaned the concrete with an acid wash, then stained it with regular wood stain, and then used a sealant on top of that. I'm not sure if polyurethane would work on top of that like it does on wood. That's what I'm planning on doing any way. I think that'll have a very similar look to wood and will cost me about $6000 less.

[notbradsohner]

another cheap option is peel and stick flooring from somewhere like home depot. Just clean the floor, and stick it down. You can put some flooring adhesive down if you want, but for light use it should stick fine.

[cpl_crud]

Heh, i'm in the throngs of actaully building a studio at the moment (a three-year project, so the floor's about 6-8 months away) and I've been giving this a bit of thought.
I was going to go with wood, but since I'll have the time I might give that "honey coated concrete" a go... sounds interesting...

[Kasey]

so a concrete floor would be optimal in a mixing setting as well? with no other treatment?

[SonicClang]

Originally Posted by Kasey

so a concrete floor would be optimal in a mixing setting as well? with no other treatment?

From what I'm gathering from that conversation above, it's not as critical in the mixing room. Speakers aren't an acoustic instrument, and from what I got out of that is the hard floor is more for making an acoustic instrument sound more live by letting the sound live before being deadened. Speakers don't have the same sound as an acoustic instrument, therefore I'm guessing you could put carpet in the control room. Hell, I have carpet in my control just temporary until I get to the point of finishing my floors, and I've never had any problems with having mixes turn out really bad. Go to www.doctortangent.com and check out the music they have for download. I recorded, mixed, and mastered 4 songs for them last November. They sound fine to me.