please help me set up my control room properly . . .

[mykie_a]

ok so here is a rough drawing of the room (note angled ceiling & sorry pic is upside down)


here is the mixing position facing the (covered)sliding glass window (note I have some rigid fiberglass behind monitors and in corners)


this is the wall to the right of the mixing position (facing drum room door/bass stack)


and to my left of the mixing position (note above the couch I have an opening to the kitchen, half covered with a bookcase and fans directed towards mixing position)


this is behind me to the left of mixing position (laundry room is missing door, the brown board is my makeshift door)


and the opposite corner (just barely showing the door out)


THis older pic (prior mixing position) shows the angled ceiling a bit better (still have the auralex on ceiling above mixing position and above both monitors)


So my questions are . . .

should I fill in behind the rigid fiberglass corners (w/laundry,pillows,etc)?
should I rearrange anything?
do i need to buy more rigid fiberglass and/or place in more strategic areas?

thanks so much for any and all input!

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by mykie_a

should I rearrange anything?

See this:

How to set up a room

--Ethan

[mykie_a]

Thanks! Those dimensions are very close to my own! I am assuming that the advantage to having the speakers facing the long side of the room outweigh the fact that the ceiling angle is not symmetric? Also, are the corner 'bass traps' more effective if I just fill in the void behind the 4" panels? (with laundry, old pillows, etc) THanks again!

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Also, are the corner 'bass traps' more effective if I just fill in the void behind the 4" panels? (with laundry, old pillows, etc) THanks again!

No. If they are REALLY bass traps, why would you need anything? Thats like saying....is my car more effective if I put wheels on it.
DUH!

[mykie_a]

Thanks for your answer RIck. I kinda remember a source that said if you don't have much cash, you can stuff the corners of your "studio" with mass and it will act kinda like a "bass trap". In all the corners I have a few pillows stuffed behind the panels and stupidly (duh) assumed that the cheap "bass trap" described above still had an effect. Way off! I will take the pillows out. Thanks again.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

if you don't have much cash, you can stuff the corners of your "studio" with mass and it will act kinda like a "bass trap".

I think the key word here is..."kinda". Thats why REAL materials for this application have whats known as ABSORPTION COEFFICIENTS. From TESTING in a lab. "kinda" materials have UNKNOWN absorption qualitys so its purely theoretical and unproven.

Oh, by the way, absorption materials have VERY LITTLE MASS. The more mass, the less absorption. Think MARBLE.

[mykie_a]

Thanks again Fitz.

But I'm still confused. Do I want more mass or less mass in the corner (more or less dense matter) ? Or is this unanswerable due to not knowing the absorption coefficients? I am under the impression to take the pillows out.

The corner behind my right monitor illustrates my dilemma.



The bottom of the corner is a near full (heavy and dense = little absorption?)metal file cabinet. My logic is that the cabinet will a)help eliminate the characteristic of the bottom corner as being a 'true corner' because now it is 'less resembling of a corner' 2) makes the room less symmetric.

I don't think this will help to absorb the bass fq but I OBVIOUSLY have a very limited knowledge of this subject and just know that bass build up is primarily in corners. So the inverse must be true? ie. if that corner is less of a corner now?

Above the file cabinet I have a 4" OC 703. THere is nothing absorptive behind this void (like pillows) making that part of the corner less dense.

Now, above that there was still the top corner exposed so I put an auralex bass corner trap there. The properties of that are clear, filled in void,absorptive, matter is not dense.

Perhaps that last sentence answers my own question. This is what I need to shoot for . . . independent of what the assigned definition of 'professional bass trap' might be because I am out of material, but can still move things around.

This leads to my last question do I need all of the corner to be covered, top to bottom?

This is because in my top post , the second pic (behind my other monitor) I do have qty 2 OC 703 4" (void filled) stacked on top of each other but it stops just short of the ceiling by 5 inches. If need be I can cut some 703 from my drum room and fill that in - if it's worth it. Perhaps I should not use the words 'fill it in' as at this point I am under the impression to just 'cover it up' I just ran out of the 703 (wish I could have bought yours!) to do the like, top to bottom, for all corners. But I did make a drum cloud that I can take some from. Think no funds, but can shuffle things around and improvise.

I am prolly way off again (DUH - don't even want to go into my 2nd to last pic, rolled up carpet? lol wtf is he thinking!) but I really do appreciate you taking your time to share your knowledge.