advice on acoustics

[nathank333]

OK, so I'm looking for advice on managing the acoustics of a newly set up control room. It's a dining room - 13'x9'x8'h, hard wood floors, coved ceilings. Mix position faces the 9' wall, the opposite 9' wall has a large opening to the next room (4'x6.5'). Been doing a little mixing with it bare and bass definitely seems to be problematic , less so with the mids and highs (or at least from my impression). I got 6 bass traps (corner piece style - 2'x1'x1'). My monitors are mackie mr5.

-Where would be my best monitor placement? (still mixing in the front half of the room)
-Do I need to focus on the corners behind the monitors much, vs. the corners they face?
-Do the coved ceilings help or hurt? (coved=rounded plaster between the top of the wall and the ceiling)
-What's a good starting placement for the 6 traps I got?
-In a room like this how valuable will a panel hanging from the ceiling be? And if so it should be a diffuser correct? (just getting some of the acoustics lexicon diffuser vs absorber vs reflector)
-should I put down a rug, how does this interplay with a panel on the ceiling?

[Light]

You can probably find everything you need right HERE.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[Ethan Winer]

Just to offer specific links:

Acoustics FAQ
RealTraps Articles
RealTraps Videos

[Chili]

Originally Posted by nathank333

OK, so I'm looking for advice on managing the acoustics of a newly set up control room. It's a dining room - 13'x9'x8'h, hard wood floors, coved ceilings. Mix position faces the 9' wall, the opposite 9' wall has a large opening to the next room (4'x6.5'). Been doing a little mixing with it bare and bass definitely seems to be problematic , less so with the mids and highs (or at least from my impression). I got 6 bass traps (corner piece style - 2'x1'x1'). My monitors are mackie mr5.

-Where would be my best monitor placement? (still mixing in the front half of the room)
-Do I need to focus on the corners behind the monitors much, vs. the corners they face?
-Do the coved ceilings help or hurt? (coved=rounded plaster between the top of the wall and the ceiling)
-What's a good starting placement for the 6 traps I got?
-In a room like this how valuable will a panel hanging from the ceiling be? And if so it should be a diffuser correct? (just getting some of the acoustics lexicon diffuser vs absorber vs reflector)
-should I put down a rug, how does this interplay with a panel on the ceiling?

Yup, Ethan has provided a wealthe of knowledge free for the taking. Definitely check out the links.

I'm no expert, but from what little I know:

You're using Mackie MR5's, my own experience with 5" monitors is you're not going to get the bass response you want. Others on the boards have expressed the same sentiments. The published spec for the MR5 is 60hz.

Don't know about the coved ceilings, these might be bass magnets. Honestly, I don't quite understand how corners are such generators for low freq standing waves, I'll take people's word for it. So, I'm thinking a curved corner might do some kind of focusing and you would see it as a narrow spike on a spectrum analyzer. Just guessing.

The rug will help with high freq stuff. If it's thick, it might help with mid-high freq and flutter.

I think you've got your monitors placed in the best spot. There is some advice about how far away from the wall to put them, but in a small room, you don't have much space to sacrifice and it may not make much of a difference.

If I were putting up bass traps, which you should, I'd put them on the opposite wall from the monitors in all the corners; wall to wall and wall to ceiling. The more, the better.

Do a lot of listening to commercial releases that you know well. Get a feel for how the room sounds while listening to the stuff you are familiar with.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
peace.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Heres my suggestions.

[pandamonk]

Originally Posted by RICK FITZPATRICK

my suggestions.

Very nice images rick! What about side and back wall reflections though?

[nathank333]

Thanks for the links and information y'all. I had been checking out ethan's other pages before getting your responses, it's clear that this stuff is as deep as you wanna make it. (Saw a video on the Real Traps page of The ultimate home studio - Doug's ---Wow)
The images are great and I've made some adjustments in that direction. Was wondering about some specifics for the dimensions of the monitor placement and what type of treatment is represented in teal, traps or diffusers - and more specifically what do I want on the ceiling and how high/what angle given my room dimensions, monitors, and the fact that the walls and ceiling are hard plaster, not even wall board. Also on the wall you face in mix position there is a large window, approx 3 ft of wall left on either side on either side, is it more crucial to get some traps flat against the wall behind the monitors or angled in the corners? Thanks again for the info, and any more responses are well appreciated.
also I found the program/calculator but still no mac version, any mac versions out there?
edit: caught the monitor height of 50" but what's the distance between them?

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

What about side and back wall reflections though?

I didn't get that far. My wife had other plans for the morning. I'll be back.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

See my upcoming thread on the subjects above
fitZ

btw, I didn't address the rear wall because of lack of knowledge regarding the door. Let me know the location and I'll post some ideas. This color/design can be changed at will.

[nathank333]

So the rear wall has a large arched opening into a large living room, the dimensions of that opening are 4'x6.5'. So for all the traps I imagine your recommendation would be the real traps - mondo traps (just guessing). Any other products or DIY plans for all those traps, and should those be diffusers on the side walls? Thanks again rick.

[nathank333]

So. . . Rick or anybody else, any more tips on the last few things mentioned? all and any responses are well appreciated.

[nathank333]

See my upcoming thread on the subjects above
fitZ